the switch wave

There’s a bunch of people who have switched to Macs that are getting a lot of coverage for doing so. I do enjoy seeing long time PC fans discover the Mac, and it’s interesting to see the backlash that typically comes out of this.

Oddly enough, the backlash isn’t happening, and Daring Fireball’s got some good coverage of the switching that’s happening..

There’s two things that finally clicked into place for the PC folks — The first is obvious: the switch to Intel. While comparing a PC to a Mac is still an apples-and-oranges scenario, there’s less ambiguity. The hardware can be profiled on more equal terms now, and people can see that Macs are, in fact, not any slower than PCs in a general comparison. What’s left over is a much clearer comparison of software, style and ease-of-use.

The second is that the ubiquity of the iPod has removed the elistist image that used to cling to Apple. This is what I’ve called the “Fanboy Factor” — where an overpassionate enthusiast base actively turns-off those interested in joining. It happens with all consumer items, be it a computer or a car or a television series. Apple fans were only the “cult of Mac” once, and very, very anti-Microsoft and anti-Windows. But it’s much easier now to find an Apple fans (thanks to the iPod) that also use Windows, and that balance allows people to consider using a Macintosh without feeling like they’re joining some snobby clique that keeps crowing how they’re better than all of you.

Make no mistake, it’s a good time for Apple and Apple fans — so long as they don’t start acting like selfish rock fans by “blasting the band for selling out.”