Why apple is so popular

[Samuel Thurston, III]

On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 3:02 PM, erik pomerantz <epomerantz at gmail.com> wrote:

>> The notion that macs are for "the computer illiterate" is one that has
>> been allowed to persist for too long. Please actually be troubled to
>> find out in what substantive ways it differs from Linux before
>> promoting it.
> I understand it was harsh for you and others on this list, especially
> those who have WAY more experience(or maybe not) than I do and for that
> I apologize. I understand that it comes from Unix, not linux, but the
> experience I had of it (limited as you say) it seems very close, that is
> not to put it down for what it does. Macs are very nice machines and
> very advanced,just that I, being a klutz, did not find them to be
> worthwile or meet my needs the way I can with cheaper systems.

I  am not a mac owner nor have I ever been a mac fanboy by any stretch
of the imagination.  So I wouldn't catgorize it as harsh so much as
misguided.  I have always had a problem with their hardware from the
standpoint of it being not particularly performance- or
durability-oriented and yet more expensive than their counterparts
because of the sleek design... I can live without pretty so long as
things work.

However I do believe that macs (much more so than windows anyway) have
a great set of under-the-hood technology insofar as desktop operating
systems go. I think that it's common for people to write off the
pretty, trimmed down interface as "simplistic" or "for newbies"
without realizing that the stuff for power-users is all there, and
that's really I think the model that Ubuntu shoots for: easy intuitive
interface for beginners, complex and powerful tools for experts.  So I
just hate to see this myth perpetuated.