Words can’t even begin to describe the amazing stupidity of CNBC in their recent segment on “Money trend: Mac vs PC”. Gizmodo has an excellent article (with embedded video) about the segment, titled “CNBC Is Ridiculous: Macs Come With Photoshop, PCs Need $600 Extra to ‘Perform As Well As a Mac’“. Basically CNBC decided that the price premium that comes with your Mac is “worth it” because you get all sorts of included software and extras, like Photoshop. That’s right, you get Photoshop for free on a Mac. Own a Mac? Didn’t get Photoshop for Free? That’s ok… no one does, except in magical CNBC land. Oh, and in this same magical land filled with ponies and stoners you can also buy Photoshop for $140. That is, of course, the 3 finger discount price because Adobe.com lists it for $699. Yes, Mac’s are more expensive, no one disputes this, not even Apple. Is the machine nicer/better/etc because Apple does everything? In some cases, yes. You don’t have to worry about hardware compatibility, that’s for sure. Is the OS inherently better? Not really. Apples and oranges and all that.
So let’s take a quick look at the ‘true cost’ of owning a Mac vs a PC. CNBC had a purdy little chart in their video which I’ll replicate with REAL costs for each side.
<
table width=”90%” border=1 align=center>
Let’s be realistic. If Apple has included the software on a Mac, Microsoft has included something similar under Windows. They have to in order to stay competitive. Generally anything you can get for free for one OS you can get for the other for free. If you have to pay on one, you’re gonna be paying on the other. That is of course if the software you want even runs on Mac. Yes there is some software that is Mac-only, but it definitely in the minority compared to that which doesn’t run on Mac (see also: 99% of all video games). Is a Mac bad? Not necessarily, they’re definitely very shiny machines and generally very polished (literally in some cases with the brushed steel looks). Do I want one? Yes. Am I willing to pay a 500$+ premium on a computer when I don’t have to… No.
It’s gonna be running Linux at the end of the day anyways.