05-12-2008, 09:32 PM

I've noticed this for a while, but why do Mac users differentiate between a Mac and all other computers (namely PC)? A Mac is a PC, so I don't really understand.

05-12-2008, 09:36 PM

marketing ploy? Can't say 'IBM Compatible' anymore ya know

05-12-2008, 09:44 PM

cause normal pcs can't run the mac platform, and yes, macs are pcs, but its apple mac hardware? i dunno...

05-12-2008, 10:07 PM

What about Shuttle mini-PCs? Those have proprietary Shuttle hardware...it's something to think about. I don't like the distinction. I don't care if the Mac platform is exclusive to Apple computers. A PC is a PC and just that. Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

05-12-2008, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by tux08902

What about Shuttle mini-PCs? Those have proprietary Shuttle hardware...it's something to think about. I don't like the distinction. I don't care if the Mac platform is exclusive to Apple computers. A PC is a PC and just that. Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

Because historically speaking, the term "PC" has referred to the IBM PC and compatibles, which the Mac was not part of many moons ago. This is an age-old argument that harkens back to the earliest days of personal computing.

I don't know how old you are, but IBM has not always been the shell of a company they are today. At one time, IBM was an 800 pound gorilla and anything that they did was a big deal - at least in the minds of large corporations. The letters "IBM" were synonymous with giant thinking machines for many years. And although they were late to the party, when IBM released their PC, all others were instantly overshadowed. This included hugely popular machines from other vendors like Tandy, Apple, Commodore and Atari. They were all seen as toys by big business. So, over time the term "PC" has just grown to mean "IBM compatible", which is more commonly known as the x86 platform we know and love today.

With that said, consumer perception is that "Macs" and "PCs" are two different things. And although at the foundation that is incorrect, it is the perception nonetheless.

05-12-2008, 11:00 PM

Originally Posted by tux08902

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

No offense intended whatsoever.. but, yes.. I think you are.

Are Mac's a Personal Computer? Yes...

Do most people associate the term "PC" with an IBM Compatible computer usually running some distro of Windows when referring to computers? Yes.

It's kind of an "It is what it is" sort of thing.

05-12-2008, 11:07 PM

It's easy to get pedantic about these things, but there is nothing clever about pushing against popular word use-age. As has been said, 'PC' in the modern sense is really a contraction of IBM Compatible Personal Computer, which essentially now means any machine running Windows - that will annoy Linux users, but the common use does mean this.

A Mac is largely defined as a machine designed and built by Apple, running Mac OS (typically OS X now).

Machines like the Atari ST, Amiga, BBC Micro or whatever, where never really referred to as PCs, even though they obviously were personal computers - in the same way that Mexico has never been called 'The United States', even though it's full name is indeed Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States).

The important thing about using language, isn't being 'right', it's being understood.

05-13-2008, 05:12 AM

They're trying to move games towards being for 'Windows' rather than 'PC'.

Games tend not to have 'PC-CDROM' or 'PC-DVD' on them as much anymore.

05-13-2008, 02:27 PM

Mildly along the same lines, MP3 players being called iPods. Another, even more widely used, is people calling all tissue "Kleenex," which is actually a brand name.

I realize that this isn't the exact same situation, but I think you get the picture. Stuff like that just happens. Market perception.

05-13-2008, 03:51 PM

...and Aspirin is a brand name too (by Bayer) even though it is now the popularly used name for any pain medication that is composed mainly of ASA.

05-13-2008, 04:01 PM

Old traditions die hard. Case in point is hatred against Apple by ignorant people whose opinion of Apple hardware and software was formed somewhat deservedly by it ten years ago. Back then Apple hardware WAS over priced for what it was, and the OS WAS getting more and more buggy, bloated, and obsolete.

Then Steve came back and turned all that around. He brought his NeXT OS in to bring Mac OS up to something much more modern (even if it was based on UNIX, which is actually older than even the first Mac OS though it has been modernized) and then furthermore got Macs on Intel processors. For the existing Mac users this was a painful if necessary transition. For existing Windows users it wasn't noticed because they had already made up their minds.

Even today I see posts from people on other boards and blogs stating they "would never buy the overpriced and crappy hardware from Apple, would never own an iPod", etc. The cool thing is when you see statements from people who used to think that way, but now have a Mac because they on a lark decided to stop into an Apple store and look into it. Now they will never buy a "PC" by which definition is a computer that runs Windows or Linux, even if Apple hardware can now run both, even at the same time alongside Mac OS X.

The vast majority of computer users these days are not technical, and use whatever is put in front of them at work. Therefore they buy something similar for home use, and they call it a PC. They don't have the wherewithal to do the research to either change what they call these devices, nor to determine that Mac OS and the hardware it runs on is today both superior (or just different, depending on your opinion) and competitively priced to similarly spec'd computers that cannot run Mac OS X. Old terminology dies hard.

Even I didn't get around to switching to a Mac even though I knew very well that it's OS was now a UNIX, and I'm a UNIX guy. Somebody had to give me an iPod as a present before I saw the light, so to speak. Now I have four of them.

I also make sure I use the correct terminology when posting about them.

05-13-2008, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by walkerj

Then Steve came back and turned all that around. He brought his NeXT OS in to bring Mac OS up to something much more modern (even if it was based on UNIX, which is actually older than even the first Mac OS though it has been modernized) and then furthermore got Macs on Intel processors.

To be fair, the reason Apple went to Intel was not so much because Steve Jobs told them to, it was because there was nowhere else to go. The PPC chips weren't clocking where they needed to in order to compete with Intel/AMD, and neither Motorola or IBM were in a position to release new ones. There was no "G6" on the horizon, so Apple had to make the only available choice. This was likely to happen regardless of who was at the helm.

05-13-2008, 05:33 PM

When I took a required computer literacy class as a high school freshman (although this was in 1988, mind you), the teacher insisted that "PC" didn't mean "personal computer" but "professional computer." Man...I can still hear that in my sleep, coming from that wrinkly turkey-neck...maybe that has something to do with it, I dunno...really, think of the word "professional," and you probably get a vision of a corporate suit. What do you see a corporate suit using? Mac or an IBM-compatible?

05-13-2008, 05:44 PM

depends on the corporation.

05-13-2008, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by dauber

When I took a required computer literacy class as a high school freshman (although this was in 1988, mind you), the teacher insisted that "PC" didn't mean "personal computer" but "professional computer." Man...I can still hear that in my sleep, coming from that wrinkly turkey-neck...maybe that has something to do with it, I dunno...really, think of the word "professional," and you probably get a vision of a corporate suit. What do you see a corporate suit using? Mac or an IBM-compatible?

So according to that teacher, what made the computer 'professional'? Was it the hardware? The OS? The software installed, or being used at the time?

I really wish I could go back to school with my mind and give some of the teachers some grief!