As much as I approach these types of debate with apathy, I can't let some of the ignorance here go without comment.
The hardware is all blow and no go; last year's technology for triple the price it's worth.
That's just not true. Show him some price comparisons or better yet, get him to prove this since the burden is on the individual making the claim.
Restrictive upgrade potential, locked into using (expensive) Apple components for EVERYTHING - even HDDs and RAM.
That must be why I had Corsair RAM (old RAM - forget what I have now) and a WD HD. Also, you could get him to show you a link with Apple branded HDs and RAM and watch him come up empty.
Instant incompatibility with 99% of other computers on the planet
You have to love ambiguous statements.
Macs prefer their own file system - in PC country you just plug and go.
Windows prefers its own filesystem too. And how are Macs not plug and play?
Plus blind faith in the benevolence of Apple, against any common sense appraisal of the company, on the part of the majority of the users...
There are plenty of Windows fanboys and plenty of Apple users who are critical when they make announcements (the IRC channel during the WWDC keynote is evidence of this).
Mac Users: Desperate to set themselves apart from the mainstream because to be a part of the mainstream is to be a mass-market sheep... But not realising that they’re simply aligning themselves with a different flock...
What? He's making the assumption that all Mac users are "hipsters." This is also coming from the guy who implied that he would use Linux which is more obscure.
I have little time for devotees. Particularly devotees who claim they are because they're “smarter”.
Isn't that what he's doing right now? Isn't he implying that he's "smarter" because he made the right choice in dedicating himself to the Windows platform?
No. Jumping on the anti-bandwagon PURELY to not be on the bandwagon itself is being led all the same; except that instead of going with the better platform, or the most versatile platform, or the platform which suits your needs best, you're going with the *other* platform just to be a part of a "cool" minority.
He again assumes that people use Macs because they're "hip" or "cool". He also assumes that Macs are less versatile (whatever this might mean in this context) and an inferior platform in every single instance.
I guess it's reassuring for some people to think that it's been made impossible to do anything wrong... But, they fail to realise that anything that's designed to be idiot-proof is, by definition, designed for use by idiots!
This one is too easy. I'll let you be creative with this one.
"It's for your own good!" That's the Apple motto.
Source?
You're not using the Mac, Steve Jobs is. You ask him if he'll let you do the things you want to do, and he says "no, but tell me what you want and I'll do it for you, unless it's something I don't like in which case you can't do that", which some people like; if you don't know how to do it and what you want to do is simple OS X does it for you, but if you want to do anything else? No chance...
Ask him how OS X does this precisely. See if he has any actual examples to see if he knows what he's saying. I bet he has no actual examples.
So is his anger in the unsubstantiated argument he's making. It's also sad that he has to demean your choice for absolutely no productive reason.
But, still, I can't really fault Steve Jobs for taking advantage of those people...
Now he's just calling you an idiot (as he implied above with the "designed for idiots" comment).
I'll admit, form a purely aesthetic point of view, that Macs look nice; and in their favour the hardware is immaculately built; but that's not the reason to choose a computer!
I agree that aesthetics are not a reason to buy a computer. That said, I'd love to know what his reason for buying a specific brand is.
I just honestly cannot see the long-term appeal.
You can't see the appeal in using a Windows machine. What makes him anymore right than you?
It's about recognising when X platform is more appropriate than Y.
He is once again assuming that the Windows platform is somehow inherently better than the Mac in every context for every person.
I'll ALWAYS pick Windows and x86 architecture.
Good for you. (If you want to be really picky, note that the Mac is built on the x86 architecture).
I've been really pedantic with his argument as you can tell. You probably don't have to respond that way.
As with every argument such as this, if you somehow get sucked in, don't spend time trying to justify why you chose the Mac especially if people approach the argument in such a (what appears to be) hostile manner. Make him prove, with evidence (this is what gets people), why his argument should persuade you that you're wrong/he's right.
