Mac Life Crisis
You know someone like this… guy with a few kids, works too much, kind of out of shape, but used to be cool. This guy is definitely not cool anymore, so he goes out and buys a convertible Porsche. He drives through the hood and past the community playground with some cheesy music blasting. He’s off to cruise through the hip part of town (probably a University close by) to pick up mac and cheese for the family. Pulling up to a stop light, a couple of sorority girls drive up and start smiling… wait they aren’t smiling, they’re laughing.  He looks in the rear view to see the tuft of hair used to cover the receding hairline is sticking straight up, and he realizes he was singing some Alanis Morissette song way too loud. The guy has become a dork and the Porsche is not helping, so he trades it in for a Volvo and life is good again.
I can relate to this cat… I have never purchased a Porsche but used to be pretty hip and I am pretty sure I am kind of lame now 
 The cool guy gone wrong tipping point came to fruition for me about a year ago, and I tried to revitalize my coolness by getting a new Mac.  In grad school I was a Linux zealot. I finished school and realized if I wanted to build software that lots of folks could use, I had to switch to Windows… my short stint with the Mac came coincidentally after getting married, buying a house, and having kids. The Mac is like a Porsche for techies suffering from mid life crisis  But like our friend with the Porsche, my Mac experience wasn’t so good. The machine kept freezing up on me and was only brought back to life with the old fashion power cycle – yanking the power plug. Apparently, I am not the only one who has had Mac issues. On top of that, I am not doing any hard core video, audio, or image manipulation. I don’t need a Mac. The Mac is now my wife’s machine and incidentally she calls at least once a week with an issue and the remedy always digresses to the power cycle.
I am not knocking the Mac and that is not the point of this post… Macs look very hot (and that DOES count for a lot) and in all fairness I probably didn’t give the Mac enough time - I don’t have a ton of patience. Macs, like Porches, are worth every penny when in the right hands. A Porsche is meant for a single guy in his 20’s who is all about thrills and having fun! The Mac is the right tool for hip designers who have that distinct eye for style and creativity and need the Mac for its toolset and the inspiration it provides. I can relate to that… I could easily ride a Huffy to get my cycling fix, but the Trek Madone is just a super sleek ride and I just feel faster when getting on this baby. I imagine the Mac user gets that same feeling when firing up his or her machine.
If you spend your weekend nights writing/reading blogs and coding you are probably not worthy of the Mac… if you spend your weekends lighting up the party scene you are a Mac person. I have a friend who has done design work for me. He is young, he is cool, he does incredible work, and he uses a Mac. He is probably out right now partying it up dressed to the 10’s in some cool threads. I am watching Leno, writing this post, coding a bit…. snooze :) Andy = Mac, Me != Mac
I think Scoble may be experiencing this phenomenon (just started using a Mac) and I know Mike Arrington is suffering from “Mac Life Crisisâ€. I heard Mike on the Gillmor Gang the other day saying that his primary machine is a Mac but he uses a Windows box to test all the startups’ wares that he covers (desktop apps of course). There are several interesting observations here:
   1. There is a reason all these startups are building for Windows
   2. Isn’t testing applications Mike’s bread and butter
   3. What is he using the Mac for… email, browsing, or working all those nifty Ajax apps, hmmm
But please Mike don’t change a thing about what you are doing… you kick butt. TechCrunch is one of my favorites and your TalkCrunch and Gillmor appearances are killer! But, Mike - the Mac is not making you cool and oh btw your parties aren’t either… I saw some of the Flickr photos and didn’t see any hot chicks. People that are worthy of Macs go to parties that have hot chicks Â
There are a few exceptions to this phenomenon. Brent Simmons will always be cool. David Cohen recently switched to the Mac and this guy is amazing regardless of platform. Finally, Joe Pezillo is a Mac guy and a completely insane stud in many aspects – Joe is the man!
But, remember for the rest of us out there, the Mac did not make me cool and it won’t do the same for you
   - I use Windows
   - I drive a Volvo
    - I have kiddos
   - I am home on Saturday night
   - My clothes are way out of style
   - I am not fond of shaving
   - I do NOT use a Mac
   - And it is all good!
5 comments October 21st, 2006