Why Macs Are Cool
Wednesday, August 09, 2000
- Guy Akiva
 In the early 80's a revolution began. One guy named Steve Jobs and another guy named Bill Gates decided that a computer in every house and office would revolutionize the world. Turns out they were right. Then they started disagreeing. Now before you people start getting pissed off at me understand two things: I hate Mac's and this article is as technical as a McDonalds Happy Meal. All you need to know to understand this article is what a computer is and what a computer could be (and I'll help you out with the second part).
What I am concerned with here is what has turned into one of the greatest divides between the two
standards, Style ...
In an industry where fastest this and benchmark that, one thing typically gets left out; how it looks. Lets not kid ourselves, when they're off they are nothing more then furniture waiting to be rendered useless by another power surge. Don't you at least want to look at the thing (while it's off) and say, "Cool!" Right now only my Sony 19" monitor gets that response from me but that's it.
 Above
all things the G4 is clever. It's a transparent gray cube about 2.5 feet high with a handle that lets you pull the guts out to service the thing. All it has is a bunch of ports to plug stuff into and that's it. You sit it on top of your desk, plug in everything and it might as well be a piece of functional modern art.
Macs are the only modern art that makes sense. Something that is as useful as it is nice to look at. Sure as hell beats a bunch of basic shapes that is supposed to resemble the suffering of the needy bulimic dyslexics sleeping in the garages of Beverly Hills. That's the modern art I detest. The stuff that is so open to interpretation that a blank canvas is supposed to represent "the starving artist who can't afford paint." When it comes to "Art" all I know is what I like and what I don't like. If you say something like, "post modern human neo-expressionism" I'd probably hit you for it. Art means two things to me: Aesthetic beauty and emotional response. How does it look and how does it make me feel. Regular people don't care about the art-world's lingo.
On the same note you shouldn't ignore the cool factor when it comes to how a computer looks. I see web pages about guys covering their cases with things like shag carpet and neon tubing. I've seen computers that have more decals then your average dragster. I have at least 2 dozen stickers covering my case. The thing is mine and I want people to know that when they look at it. Believe me, if I could cross my lava lamp with my computer's case I'd do it. I take my computing seriously to the point where I feel that every aspect of it, from the wallpaper I use as my background to the case that is holding it all together, should reflect my personality.
There was a time not too long ago that I couldn't even stand to look at a Mac. And then the G3 came out. Transparent anything computer related was unheard of.
 As soon as I unpacked it (I was working as a hardware technician for my college at the time) I thought, "I wonder if I can buy just the case, and stick a PC motherboard in it."
I would have been the envy of all my geek friends. Then I turned it on (that's a rant better saved for Apple.com's
message board). The keyboard, the computer, I was in awe! BTW, I didn't mention the mouse on purpose. The side fell open at the push of a button, everything was plainly and easily accessible, and even the cables were tucked away off to the side. It was modular and colorful and made me think, "Why can't a PC look like this?"
Picture this: One of those G4 cubes has a P3-933, 128mb of DDR Ram, GeForce 2
GTS, 40gb SCSI drive with a 12x SCSI burner and a side of cheese fries. Hold on while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.
Sdlkewnmsdxzcxiousdafoiusafjkl. Would you be interested in buying it? You'd at least dig the screenshots, don't lie. The thing still couldn't run
MechWarrior: Mercenaries but still, it would look cool.
It wasn't too long ago that I realized that I changed from a PC enthusiast to a technology enthusiast. If you think about it, there is a really big distinction. PC's are a big piece of technology enthusiasm but they aren't everything. There are little things, like applied science, astronomy, physics, optics, mechanics, chemistry, mathematics, or just about anything (everything) that technology has advanced. That's what Mac's are, a part of the technology scene that is doing
some cool things at the moment.
The G4 continues something that I find to be an inevitable part of the computing industry's revolution. Only now are aesthetics playing a role in a computers intangible value. Right now, evolution is only reflected on the spec sheet of a PC. As that changes, what Apple has done with the G4 will seem more like a natural step rather then a better attempt at a proprietary look. If you really want proof of this point, take a look at the G4's subwoofer firsthand. You might be shocked to find that you agree with me.
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