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Hi, I am NOT a Mac…
May 13, 2008

When you watch a Mac commercial, you can see very quickly that I resemble the PC guy in many more ways than the cool Mac guy.  I am a little overweight, I tend to overdress when in doubt, and I get anxious about little details. 

My disconnection with the Mac culture becomes even more evident when I visit the Mac store.  All the staff is in some earth tone t-shirt, tennis shoes and appears to still be in college.  They are sporting the disheveled hairstyle that all the British actors started a couple of years ago.  I tried it myself and I looked disheveled, not fashionable.

Everything is very relaxed in the Mac store.  The music is hip.  You expect a group of store customers to break out into Yoga or Tai Chi exercises.

The last two times that I went to the store I had a scheduled appointment prior to regular retail hours.  This requires someone with a key to come open the front door.  The first time I sat outside the glass front, plainly visible to the staff, with a worried look like I was missing an appointment.  I got on the cell phone with some tech support guy who did not know how to contact the store staff.  When they finally let me in the door, they said they did not realize I was there for an appointment.  I think they mistook me for a PC guy, who would never own a Mac.

I have become very angry with my Mac a couple of times.  My current considerations are:
1) send it back,
2) give it to one of our staff and let them suffer,
3) put it up for sale on Craig’s List, or
4) make it into a very pretty paperweight which would be used as a conversation piece for visitors to our office.

I am trying really hard to convert over to the Mac world.  I sat through a Mac introduction class and even bought a very expensive wireless mouse.  I guess I'll start giving up an hour a week to try to get more training at the cool Mac store.

It is surprising how ingrained we become with our computer behaviors.  Little shortcuts and routines for completing tasks evaporate while staring at my Mac screen.  You must unlearn the PC approach in order to get your brain to start using the Mac methods.  To this date, I cannot determine how to hyperlink text in any message.  I mentioned this problem to a colleague and he sent me step-by-step visual pictures on what menu items to select.  Problem was when we got to one of the last steps the menu bar did not contain the task that I needed to select.  Ugh!

I spent a lot of time researching my decision to move to a Mac.  The greatest influence was a list of peers and businessmen who I have great respect for their entrepreneurial success.  I figured I should get on the bandwagon if I wanted to be a part of this result-oriented boy's club.

When I mentioned my transition to the Mac and my problems, my business partner observed that I had picked a very busy time to make the shift, not giving me adequate time to become familiar with my Mac before depending on it.  “I would never have made the move during such a chaotic period,” he shares. 

Another colleague went to great detail to explain how his 5-year-old son has mastered the Mac.  Now I am not cool like the PC guy, but I am NOT smarter than a kindergartener.

Don’t be surprised if you see an online ad for a MacBook Pro, slightly used, one noticeable dent from a moment of anger…

Posted by Stephen Nold on May 13, 2008 | Comments (0)