Ten truisms of the Apple universe

Macs are deceptively simple, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs is deceptively complex.

Ruminating on what makes Apple different to other PC companies, a few truisms spring to mind - if you have any others, be sure to add them in the comments section below.

And PC users with bees in your bonnets: any 'Fisher-Price toys for idiots' slanders don't do anyone justice. You included. Leave it out, would you? We've had quite enough of that over the last 18 months. Apple's use on the desktops of top movers, shakers and the intelligent the world over begs the difference.


1. There's no such thing as a cheap Mac:

You might somehow get a tiny discount, for example if you're a teacher or student, but Apple sets the margins and there's virtually no scope for sellers to discount. Sometimes stores run out models that have just been (or which are about to be) superseded, but even run-out prices don't tend to be cut much.

Your best chance when buying a new Mac is to get a great bundle - a Mac plus a printer, monitor, etc. So if it's cheap and it has an Apple badge on it, it's at least questionable.


2. If your Mac develops a fault, you'll take it much more personally than if it was a PC.

That's because Macs consistently rate very highly and have a reputation for developing a low level of faults (despite overly hysterical reports to the contrary sometimes appearing in the media). So if yours does exhibit a fault, it can feel like the sky is falling in.

3. If your Mac fails, no PC user will hear you scream.

4. Macs are deceptively simple. (But Apple CEO Steve Jobs is deceptively complex.)

5. You new Mac probably won't feel that much faster than your old Mac. But if you go back to your old Mac, you will be shocked at just how slow it is.

6. There are at least two other ways to do things than the way you do them.

Apple likes you to find your own preferred work regime, so creates at least two other ways to do everything, and sometimes many more, even in simple operations like The Finder. (And sometimes there are many more ways.)

7. There are applications in your Applications folder and utilities in your Utilities folder you have never used.

And they're all pretty great - even Calculator, which converts currencies and does all sorts of other cool things.

8. Windows runs great on Macs. Or so I hear. (But yeah, I've never tried it.)

9. You don't know what Apple's bringing out next, and nor do I. It's possible Apple fosters off-beat rumours to create smoke and mirrors to conceal real plans.

But hey, Apple also knows journalists like me really don't need much help to speculate wildly about crazy ideas Apple might be involved with.

10. Some people just don't get it.

Some switchers can't understand why Macs don't work exactly like the Windows PCs they're so used to, or why Apple is different, or what benefits they could get from Apple technology.

As I've said many times before, Apple is not a hardware company, a software company or a marketing enterprise. Apple is a software and hardware company with great marketing that engenders terrific support from users without doing anything apart from make great software and hardware.

For example, Apple sure as hell doesn't need to pay people like me to write stuff like this about Apple. Unfortunately. I'd be a lot better off. {;-)

- Mark Webster mac.nz