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Losing My Mac Virginity
Well, it finally happened. I lost my Mac virginity. Sure I had fooled around before, but I never went all the way. It started with innocent encounters with friends with benefits (Macs). Sometimes it was a bit awkward, as I fumbled my way through unfamiliar territory. I touched the wrong things and was embarrassed at how little I knew. Although I found it playful and gratifying, let’s face it, I was just using them for my own self-gratification and always went home to my current relationship, PC. I wasn’t ready to commit and always looked for an excuse. I had been with PC for decades, although being on the receiving end of many viruses made me feel like something was going on behind my back. Even though for years friends told me PC wasn’t right for me, I ignored them.
And then it finally happened. I had an epiphany and in a Freudian move dropped PC (literally) at the Dallas airport and never looked back. I hooked up with Mac as soon as I got back to Boston and now I wonder why I waited so long. Mac and I do it multiple times a day and truth be told, Mac satisfies me in ways PC never did. I’m doing things now I would have been uncomfortable to even think about doing with PC. Yup, one of them involves the use of video.
It’s like I never knew love before now. I walk around all day thinking about doing it. And let me tell you, I have done it all over my house — kitchen table, desk, floor, outside – not just the bedroom. Mac has no problem keeping up with my insatiable appetite. Sometimes I like to be doing lots of things at once and Mac just goes with it, never stopping to ask for approval like PC always did.
I had always heard “once you go Mac, you never go back.” And now I know why.
When did you lose your Mac virginity?
January 11th, 2009 at 9:16 am
So well written, Kel.
The great news is that Mac just keeps getting better with age.
Instead of slowing down, Mac gets faster. Mac gets bigger. Mac gets stronger. Oh, and better looking too!
Mac keeps the relationship fresh every year which will make you love Mac more and more, like I do.
Have fun – Mac wants you to.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Welcome to Macintosh. I think I just blushed every color of the old striped Apple logo reading this post.
My fruit ripened back when when System 6 was the big thing. We were young, the screen was only 9-inches, the relationship was black and white. You literally could only do one thing at a time back then. Sosumi was just a phrase heard by abmulance-chasers.
When a sticky situation arose, which was often, your only hope of salvaging the moment was starting over with the aid of a carefully inserted paper clip. (yowch!)
There were no marbles of doom, just a backflipping mutant dogcow named Clarus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogcow
But, despite all of the bombs that Mac dropped on me over the years:
http://tinyurl.com/7nr7×8
somehow we managed to make each other smile.
http://tinyurl.com/9ddq29
Now, on to the important question. Is it basso, blow, frog, ping, or purr?
January 11th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Lost it in 1992 in journalism school at the U of Maryland. Back then, Quark rocked.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:56 am
thanks for the positive reinforcement karen! my only concern is that i appear to be getting bigger in the mid-section as i age. mac on the other hand gets slimmer as time goes by. hoping that won’t come between us!
January 11th, 2009 at 10:57 am
chris, i think a lot of people lose their virginity in college. i’m sure you were not alone!
January 11th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I’m a PC and always will be. But I’m very happy that you and Mac have found each other.
January 11th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
abbie, take a walk on the wild side! anyone who goes toe to toe with michael arrington certainly has the balls to jump off the conventional path. haha!
January 11th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Kel;
1984 and I’ve never looked back. All PC friends complain bitterly about problems you just don’t have with a MAC. I’ve watch it improve for more than 30 years. Oh, this dates me!
Susan
January 11th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
No way!!! I’m a right clicka!!!
January 11th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
ric, in my world you are the grand-poobah of mac users. while this sounds like quite an honor, i have the feeling this also will come with being my go-to guy when i can’t figure something out. hopefully that won’t happen often. i just developed a presentation in keynote with kick-ass effects. i think i need a smoke.
January 11th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
susan, 1984 would have been a fun year to lose my mac virginity. i could have done it while wearing pegged jeans and an oversized benetton sweater while listening to the go-gos. good times. good times.
January 11th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
karthick, just let go and let mac take you where no pc has taken you before! you will soon realize you were a slave to the right click. let freedom ring!
January 11th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I loved this article, it could have started out as “Dear Forum Letters…”
I have been having an online relationship with a Mac for over a year and in 4.5 hours I hope that I will meet this Mac in person and take it from there. I had fear making the move away from the dark side of PC Empire, so I’m moving patiently away. I will go slow with this potential Ebay victory and embark on the journey to a more calming experience. I hope that I find a similar satisfaction from my new friend as you have yours. Especially in the kitchen.
January 11th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
mike, you make me laugh! i wish you and your mac much happiness. a guy who lost 140 lbs deserves nothing but the best life has to offer…and mac will ensure that happens.
January 11th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Well there I was thinking how cool (albeit dating myself) by knowing that no matter how slow I am at some things, I have been a MAC user and owner for SO LONG, only tweaked out and beat by Susan by a year. 1986 for me. Beat by a nose. Like her, I never looked back. Funny thing is, as an engineer, with the exception of my 86-90 job which used Macs because the VP was a Mac Addict even then, all of my places of employment used PCs. So I got to use both. I got to see how ever since I met my first Mac in 86, PC copied Mac EVERY STEP OF THE WAY… Every new version of PC copied stuff that Mac had already been doing for years. So many times I’d hear my colleagues say “Wow, look at this new (PC) OS” and I’d say, “yeah, Mac’s been doing that for a long time now”… I think, and this is more your area than mine, Mac priced itself out of grabbing more of a market share. It’s proprietary nature with no open source code etc also kept it from becoming the standard.
So often I hear people say, Mac’s are too confusing, or complicated, or I don’t have time to learn something new… I’m a heavy computer user and in engineering I’ve worked for hears on the same programs (office, photoshop, online whatever…) at work as I did at home. I’d email stuff I was working on from my PC to my MAC and then back without a hitch… There may be a SLIGHT learning curve if you have never used a MAC, but not really much more than when a PC user gets a new operating system.
I’m blown away with MAC’s second life, sparked by iPod, then the iMacs, Powerbooks and the iPhone, etc… now that’s a face life than ended up being VERY SEXY… I can easily see how you fell in love. May you be very happy with your new addition to your home, car, plane, office… I know I never leave my house without mine.
January 11th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
geo, thanks for the insight on your mac experience. it really is crazy that you’ve been using a mac for 20+ years. i feel like such a newbie. i think we are on the cusp of an enormous cultural revolution for the masses. i agree the ipod put apple front and center to a mass audience. i think the mac vs. pc ads have helped amplify mac’s many advantages and made us laugh along the way. everyone in our house is on a mac, including my 6 year old. i am working with apple now to develop a plan to migrate all kel & partners employees over to macs — the designers have been on them from the beginning. i also gave my kids shares of apple stock for christmas. i am drinking apple flavored koolaid like there is no tomorrow. my fingers are crossed that steve jobs’ health remains stable. i think that would be a big blow to the brand if something were to happen to him. he really is the iconic personification of the brand. long live steve…and mac!
January 12th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Kel
I guess you could say I’ve played both sides of the fence over the 20 years since I first used a Mac (with the in and out required to manage larges files, for those who remember the pre-hard drive days). I was using Mac for the looks, easy access, and instant attraction. But was forced into PC relationships when Mac was bad, slow, or non-conforming. As I have matured, and learned to separate work and personal life better, I find that I can be with PC all day, then go home to the safety and freedom that Mac offers. We seem to have arrived at a detente, although the PC gets ignored most weekends, and during the week I don’t get with Mac as often as I like.
January 12th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Wow- lots of responses here..We are new Macbook (the aluminum case) users and love it. Playing with itunes, imovie, and iphoto all weekend long. Goodbye to the “blue screen of death” and here’s to a performing computer…. Hope all is well with ya Kel..
January 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am
david, i guess i would call you a swinger based on what you described. love it!
January 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am
thanks for posting tyson! glad we are on the same bus. should be a fun ride.
January 12th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Not sure about the “once you go Mac, you never go back.” Was a Mac/Apple user from 1986-2004 and now I am pretty much exclusively non-Mac (currently only spending time with the iPod variety). Although, to be honest, I miss Mac and have never been really satisfied with PC.
January 12th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Switched in 1985. Have to use PCs for work but not by choice. Used to take Volkswriter and Lotus 1-2-3 documents home from work PC and do my work in a tenth the time using Word and Excel 1.0 on Mac.
For Ric:blow
January 12th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
laura, you have been swayed by others! come back to the wild side.
January 12th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Aww, we always remember our first, don’t we? I recall making the switch only about 6 years ago and as a web designer, who frequently has at least 6 programs open at one time, there is no way I could go back. The Expose function alone has made my life easier. I kept the same PowerBook for 5 years and just recently upgraded to a new MacBook Pro. I think that’s a pretty good lifespan for a laptop, and it still works great, albeit a bit slower than the new processors. Congrats on making the jump and hopefully simplifying the day-to-day things that we need not worry over!
January 12th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
John Hodgman will be so heartbroken…
January 12th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
lee, just hearing “lotus” brings me back. remember all the other tech brands back then? digital, prime, wang, etc. wouldn’t it be great if 20 years from now we were reflecting back on today’s pc brands in the same way? ha!
January 12th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
sandy, as a web designer mac is really the only way to go. my designers would all quit if they had to work on a pc. wouldn’t it be great if we get to a point in the future when employees outside of creative services feel the same way. world domination….mooohahahahaha!
January 12th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
one more thing lee — i will be sure to let ric know you told him it’s blow. better than telling him to blow!
January 12th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
karen, that’s funny! not sure he will ever be able to dissociate himself from the pc guy in the mac ads. hope he is being paid well.
January 13th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Hi Kel:
I was at the Pub Club last night (the woman who asked about non-profits during the Q&A) and really enjoyed listening to you. You have a way of making people feel comfortable and engaged – awesome!
This is quite a funny blog! My husband is trying to convert me to a MAC (we just bought a new desktop one but i only use it for internet). Like you, I have always been a PC girl and I have a PC at work. I’m a bit nervous, but I may have to convert since all of our PCs at home are about to become AARP members.
Thanks again for a great seminar. Learned something new.
Best,
Kha
January 14th, 2009 at 8:44 am
kha, thanks so much for the kind words. as we discussed the other night, web 2.0 presents a lot of high roi opps for non-profits. it allows you to leverage a viral medium to support causes that have personal meaning to us. your comment about the aarp made me laugh. thanks for the post!
January 15th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Hi Kel,
I second kha’s remarks, we met a few years back when you worked with Burst in the revamping of the site and message. I reached out last year to say hi and mention my recruiting venture. Nice to see things are going well and your natural way of communicating with people is available for more to see! Let me know if I can ever be a resource. I am excited to announce that I am going to be offering temporary services starting this month!
I love this blog! You should contact Apple, be a great addition to their MAC commercials. I am a late bloomer, my fiance bought an ibook last winter & loved it. He’s a natural! I resisted, felt silly too when I couldn’t seem to use it properly, lack of confidence had me easily going back to my pc and not wanting to play with the new toy. He taught me some things and me and the MAC are becoming friends
January 15th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Let me make a correction, it’s a macbook. My bad, see, I said I am just making friends with the MAC….
January 15th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
karina,thanks for the post. i bet it is quite common for someone’s fiance to try to push the envelope with experimentation. haha! i appreciate you reaching out again. i will certainly keep you in mind if our resource needs change and k&p finds itself with a potential fit for you. please keep in touch…and good luck with the wedding!
January 30th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
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January 30th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
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January 30th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
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February 2nd, 2009 at 10:58 am
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February 1st, 2010 at 2:43 am
I’m not so sure about macs I’ve always had pc. But the more this laptop breaks the more I wish I had gone with something else. The only problem is which to choose. I know what I need in a pc to get my job done but I have no idea when it comes to mac. Totally helpless….
I do graphics and need something with some kick ass behind it!
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:31 am
mandy, go into an apple store. their peeps are so helpful. you can play around with a couple of different models until you find the one that is a great fit. the other option is to buy one at best buy. they have 0% interest for 18 months. free money. whoop. whoop.
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:51 am
Ok cool thanks! But I’ve never had a credit card and plan to now. I pay cash for everything. But hank you for the heads up!
I have gateway that I bought about a year a month ago and the hard drive has crashed twice. the wifi went out and had to be replace and it gets so hot I can’t even put it on my lap. Which makes me very mad as I paid 41800 for it. I’ve also been looking into alien ware. I’m not sure what I will go with just yet. But thanks again!