Rant/

I may be getting a Macbook depending on whether or not I get into that illustration course I want since the Macbook graphics card is apparently the one I need. So I started checking out Macbooks and holy crap, I'm reminded of why I have a faint distaste for Macbooks.

I don't mind Macs. Really. They're fun, they're great. They look awesome. What I do mind are the people who come up to me and start bashing PCs while talking about how awesome the Macbook Air is. I don't know why, but Macs have this reputation for being user-friendly so it brings up the question, does that make PCs hard to use? I use both on a regular basis, the PC more than the Mac because I own a PC. I don't find it hard to use a PC at all. My mom is not computer savvy and it is not because we own PCs at home. If I gave her a Mac, she would still be bugging me for every little thing. To me, neither one is better than the other, they're just different.

I tell this to my pro-Mac friend (who doesn't have a Mac) who then tells me, "Well, how would you know if you don't own a Mac?"

"I use one at the school all the time."

"What?? No way, are you dumb? The school doesn't have Macs!"

"Uh, yes it does. There's like fifteenish in the MIDI lab."

(And I swear I brought her to the MIDI lab once. I find it extraordinary that she didn't notice the roomful of Macs.)

Recently, I told another of my friends (who also doesn't own a Mac) about my decision to scope out Macbooks and she immediately says, "Get a Macbook Air."

"lol, what?"

"Get one!"

"Why?"

"GET ONE."

And then one of the more glaring differences between PCs and Macs become evident. Marketing and branding strategies. Apple is amazing in the branding that it does. People can and will eat up their products because of how they sell the image to us, the consumers. Their product designs are sleek and clean. They started off with the iPod classic and, following in the trend of cellphones, Apple produced the smaller iPod Nano which was and is still a big hit. People love the look and Apple uses that to its advantage.

Moving on to the Macbook Air. I remember the ads I've seen of it where the Macbook Air is shown peeking out of a manilla envelope because it's sexy (or something). I think it looks cool and I'm tempted to pick it if I do get into the illustration course. But then I look at the price and compare it with the price of the Macbook.

And I think, "Apple, you shouldn't be allowed to get away with this."

First off, the ordinary Macbook has a mildly faster CPU processor probably since it has more room for it. It also has more rpm for its hard drive and twice as much memory. It is ALSO $500 cheaper. That's right, $500 cheaper than the Macbook Air.

If I buy a Macbook Air, am I paying $500 for a laptop with a smaller waistline and a "precision aluminum unibody"? Companies love to use big words to sound smart and all that really means is that the Macbook Air was carved out of one sheet of aluminum. Okay, sheesh, just say it. Is aluminum that much more expensive than whatever the ordinary Macbook's made of?

I get a feeling that the $500 more is just to pay for the privilege of owning a Macbook Air. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW APPLE GETS AWAY WITH THIS. I mean, it looks great, but whyyyy, Apple you money-sucking corporation! ;_;

/Rant