The Reluctance to Change

Hey all, I was chatting to friend not so long ago about making the change to Ubuntu. Everything went well but there was still the reluctance to change. I'm not sure I understand. He went on to reinstall Windows. I think the main problem is this apathy that goes along with PCs. The same apathy doesn't seem to exist when referring to Macs. It's important to question this. Whatever my, or your, feelings are towards Apple. There has been a shift as to what people think is rational thought when picking a new system or a new environment to work in. 

If you ask your average Joe as to whether they agree with the proprietary nature of Apple Inc. You'll probably be met with an odd look promptly followed by them pulling out their iPhone, changing track and walking on. There is an elitism forming within the computing society. Sadly it's not on merit.

To choose XP over *anything* these days is misguided by anyones' standards. A similar example to this would be choosing a 10 year old Dell laptop instead of a brand new Toshiba just because you prefer the brand. Or that you're "more familiar" with it. That's a common one. I like hearing that, it makes me chuckle. The only familiarity I have with XP systems is just how vulnerable they are.

Another common reason for buying a new PC is that its running slow. What's changed? The space-time continuum? For everyday tasks, you just need it to boot. Facebook doesn't need a million cores all overclocked and 3TB of *EPIC RAM* The only thing that's changed between the time you bought it and now, is you. 

If there are things about your computing experience that you don't like, change the experience. There are hundreds of options for everyone to choose from. Lately I've noticed people convince themselves they need something new because they want something new. This isn't a new phenomena per se. Its always happened. But it grates somewhat when someone says 'Well macs are better at that' when the "that" is eBay. So they spend way over the odds for something you can do on a hundred quid phone.

I don't wish the hate on mac or Apple for that matter. More the new breed of users who think they've made the ultimate choice of their lives by taking the fruit from the tree of knowledge. Their MySpace page is now viewed in Lucida Grande!

In my opinion, (which I know counts for little), its better to prolong the life of old hardware with a newer, lighter environment, that costs nothing, than it is to buy a brand new spanking system for a grand, just to do the same old tasks.

It's good to change. We should all try it once in a while.

Dave