NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Technology

Mac Planet: The Great Switcheroo

NZ Herald
17 Mar, 2013 10:17 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Photo / AP

Photo / AP

Opinion by

Apple was for so long the little outsider, we referred to people who came over to the Mac platform as 'switchers'. Six years ago, when I started training for myself, most clients were long-term and/or professional Mac users who wanted to get more out of their machines, and I'd show them ways to work more efficiently, throw in some handy tips and tricks and solve a few problems.

These days, I hardly ever see such users. The last three years in particular, I have been mostly training switchers, which has meant I've even had to learn a few features of Windows simply so I can explain how they are different on a Mac. (Notice I said 'different', not 'better'. Of course, I mean 'better', I'm just trying to be diplomatic. It's the New Me.)

Mind you, six years ago, Macs were at about three per cent of the New Zealand PC market. Now they are at nearly 12 per cent, going by last year's IDC figures, anyway. Those new users had to come from somewhere.

Many like me to set their Macs up - I make them do it themselves. Not because I'm lazy, but because it's so easy and it's a good first point of contact with the new platform, and to save them paying me. Some people just like the reassurance of having someone alongside them, I guess. Note there are plenty of sites for the Mac basics, starting with Apple's.

For those with more comprehensive PC experience, there are sites like lifehacker's guide.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

(Near the bottom of this page there are further posts expanding the theme: '10 things every new Mac owner should know' and 'Common new Mac user mistakes', but some of this advice is pretty dated - for example, you now resize a Mac window from any edge.)
There's a kind of expanding guide compendium at Switching2Mac.

By the way, this is how your defragment your Mac: leave it on. Tough, huh?
Another change is that I am training more and more people on iDevices - as an older Apple user (perhaps I should use 'experienced' in place of 'older') an iPad looks so simple to me, I didn't expect to be training anyone on it, but there are three compelling reasons I do:
1/ There are people so inexperienced it really is completely new to them, including many older users who get iPads as communication devices to stay in touch with distant kids and grandkids.

2/ There are people who want a lot from an iPad, far more than casual use dictates, and they need to hit the ground running.

3/ Finally, there are people who switch from a PC to an iPad as their primary computing platform, or in the case of some institutions, from existing mobile devices like the once all-conquering Blackberry. They don't have time to work things out themselves, they're on the company clock and their time is oh-so-precious.

Mind you, with the competition between Apple and Google, it's hardly one-way traffic. Veteran Mac user and commentator Andy Ihnatko (the surname may be Hungarian, but he's a North American) recently shocked the Mac faithful by declaring he is ditching iPhone for Android. This followed Ima Genius, I mean Steve Wozniak, declaring his love for Android, although he still uses both platforms.

Discover more

Opinion

Mac Planet: New media

25 Jan 02:48 AM
Opinion

Mac Planet: Podcaster

28 Jan 08:30 PM
Opinion

Mac Planet: Acting on selling Macs

03 Feb 09:05 PM
Opinion

Mac Planet: More NZ app developments for iOS and Mac

13 Feb 02:01 AM

The be-stetsoned, be-sideburned Ihnatko wrote, in a series on TechHive explaining his defection, "I made a slow, cautious and careful examination of what I want and need from my phone, and at the end of this mobile warrior's pilgrimage, I couldn't escape the conclusion that the best phone for me is no longer an iPhone."

Ihnatko lost an unlimited data plan to do it, so it's a major switch. Partly he didd so for better data speeds available for a Galaxy S III in the US, but there were other reasons, compelling to him, and perhaps they are also compelling for you. At the least Ihnatko might furnish you with some anti-iPhone ammo.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

For me, it's all still missing the point, though. An Android would have to get a lot better than Ihnatko's finer points for me to drop my Apple phone since it fits so seamlessly and functionally into my entire Apple world - my iPhone, iPad and MacBook Pro all supporting and syncing with each other. I don't do heavy lifting on my iPhone. My MacBook is for that. The iPhone is perfectly sufficient for me.

But hey, Ihnatko has four posts of carefully constructed points, so make up your own mind.

Meanwhile, a dyed-in-the-wool Linux guy has dropped that developer's dream platform for Mac OS.

Miguel de Icaza has been a life-long Linux user - in fact, he's the creator of Gnome, a free desktop environment for Linux and other Unix operating systems.

After taking a Mac on a trip to Brazil as his sole machine in 2008, de Icasa found while he missed the comprehensive Linux toolchain and 'userland' ... "I did not miss having to chase the proper package for my current version of Linux, or beg someone to package something. Binaries just worked."

In a blog post, he gradually explains that Linux's fragmentation was the final straw. Can you see the bow I'm trying to draw here? De Icaza's comments about Linux fragmentation mirror what's going on in the Android ecosystem.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In fact, though, it's not as compelling as Ihnatko's switch - de Icaza admits he has always recommended Macs to other people. Still, he has switched his daily and professional platform.

Would I switch from Apple? Of course. If hell froze over. Or if Apple sued me. Or sold. Or maybe if things truly got crappy in the Apple world like they did before Steve Jobs rode back in on his charger in the 1990s (but I didn't, back then).

The Walled Garden is exactly what I like about Apple. Apps and the devices (pretty much) 'just work'. I do appreciate.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Technology

Premium
Business|small business

'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

30 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Business|companies

Tech Insider: Consumer NZ wants 3G phone refund; Council on Amazon site pause

30 Jun 07:00 AM
Premium
World

Is AI rewiring our minds? Scientists probe cognitive cost of chatbots

30 Jun 12:06 AM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Technology

Premium
'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

30 Jun 05:00 PM

Basis plans to install over 50,000 smart panels globally in the next 24 months.

Premium
Tech Insider: Consumer NZ wants 3G phone refund; Council on Amazon site pause

Tech Insider: Consumer NZ wants 3G phone refund; Council on Amazon site pause

30 Jun 07:00 AM
Premium
Is AI rewiring our minds? Scientists probe cognitive cost of chatbots

Is AI rewiring our minds? Scientists probe cognitive cost of chatbots

30 Jun 12:06 AM
Premium
Could a lab blunder replace 1080 poison and solve NZ’s rabbit plague?

Could a lab blunder replace 1080 poison and solve NZ’s rabbit plague?

27 Jun 10:10 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP