The Obligatory Blog

Why a Mac

July 28, 2010 Mac and a PC

I risk simply preaching to the converted with this post. If you’re an Apple user: you get it already. If you’re a PC person – you’ve probably heard the arguments before and are not convinced or don’t care.

However, I’m not going to try and convince you to switch to a Mac. Instead, I have an argument for you why, if you’re looking to hire someone like me, you should care if I’m using a mac.

I spotted this blog today: http://mrgan.tumblr.com/post/867437854/fish-in-a-barrel highlighting the massive differences between an Apple webpage promoting one of their computers, and equivalent pages from HP and Dell.

Firstly, a few points why I believe certain people choose macs over PCs (in no particular order).

  1. They look better
  2. There’s fewer configuration options to choose from when going to buy one
  3. Hardware and OS is a very closed system – which gives fewer headaches when setting the machines up
  4. They offer more innovative features
  5. Apple go the extra mile in offering an exceptional user experience for software and hardware

Almost without exception – every web designer I know, or know of – chooses a mac. And that’s because that list above also applies very well to qualities that make a good web designer

  1. We care about how good our designs are
  2. We build websites that are easy for users to navigate and owners to manage
  3. We build to web standards, with accessibility, standards and scalability in mind so there’s fewer headaches as the site grows and new browsers with new features are released
  4. We keep up-to date with the latest technologies and use them when appropriate
  5. We always go the extra mile to deliver a site that we are proud of and what to show our peers for review

These are our values as web designers, and we choose macs because they represent them very well. If your web designer doesn’t use a mac, I’d have to question their values and how good a site from them could be.

Seriously, look at the screenshots on this page: http://mrgan.tumblr.com/post/867437854/fish-in-a-barrel - which would you choose?

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Another blog post from John Cowen - a web designer in Exeter working under the name Mekonta. If you liked this article, subscribe.

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