Why Here's how I left Microsoft, went Apple, and became a hypocrite because I switched back.

[Derekamoss]

I'll tell you my story. Growing up in school I used Apple computers (Apple II's and I think System 5) and at home Windows Computers starting with Win 3.1 and dos and then 95, 98, ME and even beta tested XP. The only reason at that time I would want a Win PC over a mac was because of the user interface and gaming. I liked how Macs worked better but Windows had a much better and user friendly interface at the time. In HS (1998-2002) I had a Desktop PC and totally experienced Napster coming out and spending 30 mins to download a song because I was on dial up, and was right when I got a desktop computer with a cd burner in it and my first car which had a cd player in it. Some people forget how exiting it was to actually not by a cd for just one song, or wait on the radio for a song and how you no longer had to record a song on the radio and have to fast forward and rewind just to hear it. It was cool not to actually do all the stuff you had to do for a mix tape you wanted to give to someone. Oops whole nether topic. Apple released OS X about a year before I graduated and when I saw it I wanted to just do away with my PC and by a Mac because they finally made an operating system I wanted to use because it looked awesome. So when it became time for me to pick out a laptop as a graduation present, I picked an iBook with a 700mhz g3 processor, which had 10gb storage and 256mb of ram. And my PC at the time was a Pentium 4 1.8ghz processor, with 30gb's of storage and 512mb of ram. And the iBook felt just as fast and capable as the PC. After that I only had Apple products, eMac, 12' PowerBook, 13' MacBook and finally because I was in the Navy and had saved up money because I was on a six month deployment a 15" MacBook Pro and which I thought of it as, ok Derek you are finally in a place where you can purchase something just because you want it and not have to buy a computer buy a computer you didn't really want because I knew I couldn't reasonably afford and until I switched in 2012 had only Apple products. I literally convinced every single person in my immediate family to switch to apple. I had the first iPod where you couldn't even use it if you didn't have a mac and bought every generation after for a few years cuz I just had to have the latest tech. I bought the first iPhone and said I will never use anything but an iPhone again until I switched. I had the first iPad even. But what made me do my first switch was the phone.

 

[Derekamoss]

I loved iOS at first it was awesome and didn't mind that I couldn't do anything that apple just didn't feel like incorporating into the OS. I didn't want to jailbreak but literally couldn't understand why Android and Windows Phone had the things that everyone else gets to enjoy but my iPhone doesn't. At first I just waited because I figured they would update iOS with it and kept thinking that all the way to the iPhone 4. At that point I realized Apple literally will just do what it wants to do and not what the people who are buying their products to make them money want. And saw Apple changed something only after they realized like 2 years after the fact that they were stupid. So I switched to Windows mobile and got a phone for the first time below $300 dollars and was better spec'd than my iPhone. For $199 I got a Nokia 1020 that had a 42mp camera and actual high end camera optics with 16gb storage, a mini sd card slot to expand up to 128gb's if I wanted to. and 512 ram and a much larger screen. The Apple phone 5 that I could have gotten with the larger screen cost $499 with 8gb storage and no possibility of expansion, a 5mp camera and probably I thing 256 ram. Also wow, I can customize my home screen icons by size, color and arrange them however I want instead of a grid of icons which apparently only Apple thinks every single person loves that and have never had a thought about customization

 

[Derekamoss]

Also at this time I wanted a tablet that could be a PC and bought an ipad and I knew it couldn't replace my laptop but it allowed me to browse and consume stuff like I wanted in a tablet form. It didn't take long to realize that all it was, was a blown up iPhone literally. They just made the iPhone huge and didn't actually really do anything to make a good tablet experience. I was ok with it at first because I figured this was a building block and would eventually add tablet features to the iPad but it just stayed pretty much a blown up iPhone. Well when it came time to buy a new laptop, Apple had made it to where I couldn't live without touchscreen on a tablet and would love it on a laptop. Well since they pretty much blue balled everyone with getting us to love touchscreen in our phone' and tablets and made it something we just expect from then on and just couldn't make an Apple OS X tablet, I looked at other options and found the Surface RT. It might not have been able to run games and win32 applications because it was ARM but at least Microsoft made sure it had the full office suite and had a actual multi-tasking interface, and probably the best tablet UI out there. And on top of that, could use it like a laptop when the need arises. Plus, I thought being able to write on a screen was pretty freaking awesome, and completely changed my school and work routines by going all digital notes instead of paper and pen. For a student, a surface is literally the best thing you could get to be more productive in school. Windows 8 gets a lot of crap and a lot of desktop users complained about them trying to actually affect change, but I can tell you, there probably was only a few who complained if they were using a tablet because Windows 8 had the best tablet experience. Eventually I bought a Surface Pro 3 & 4 and yeah they have had a few problems but every Apple product at the beginning has had problems as well and people were willing to put up with them because they were passionate about it. Most people don’t know this but OS X 1.0 had huge tradeoffs

 

[Derekamoss]

It came with OS 9 and OSX because of things like OSX didn’t even have a DVD player program when they released it. You had to reboot into OS 9just to watch a DVD. So people who say Macs just work and they don’t understand why someone would buy a Surface even though it has a few known issues when they bought it are just the same as the people who are eventually going to buy the new MacBook Pro even though there are certain aspects they really don’t like. They are passionate about the product and brand. Since Jobs died Apple I believe has lost their passion and are only in it for profits which was Microsoft a while ago. Now it has flipped. You can tell the people building the Surfaces are passionate about it and have been listening to customer’s. Apple actually used to do that too. When the iPod first came out Jobs said it was only good for music and was monogram and people said they wanted a colder screen and it happened, but he still said it’s only for music and people said they wanted to see photos and videos on it and jobs said who would want to watch a video on that small of a screen. Guess what happened, iPod Photo came out and the next year iPod Video came out. Jobs actually wanted the customers to love the products. Now Apple could care less about what the customers wanted as long as it puts money in their pockets, looks good on the stock exchange, and give the board members what they want. More money and better stocks. People say they don’t want a laptop thinner and want a bigger battery, want OSX on an iPad, but Apple realizes if we do what people actually want it would cannibalize iPad sells because tim cook thinks an iPad can replace a computer and only because he doesn’t know anything Technical and is a person who only knows profits and margins. If all you use is excel all day, yeah an iPad can replace a computer so he keeps it from evolving because its what he wants. The new MacBook pros are probably really only the laptop Johnny wanted to continue to make new stuff, and he doesn’t have to worry about paying for dongle. It’s not about what the customers want. I left the Apple ecosystem because I thought it had become stagnant but now I see how much it was really only about getting people invested in their ecosystem so they can drain your wallets. Whereas Jobs wanted to get you invested in his ecosystem because he thought it was better than everyone else’s.

 

[sharpuser]

Thanks for the discussion, @Derekamoss . I am a heavy user of both. In my field of earth science / geophysics, the number crunching strongly favors the PC and the creative illustration slightly favors Apple.

I have found much to love in Microsoft software and Surface products lately.

I like apples and oranges.
I like pizza and burgers.
Don't have to give up one for the other.
Each have benefits and shortcomings.

 

[shazada]

[emoji106] good story. I totally agree on the Windows 8 tablet UI part, I see myself now more with the pen in hand than before.

 

[polbit]

I left the Apple ecosystem because I thought it had become stagnant but now I see how much it was really only about getting people invested in their ecosystem so they can drain your wallets. Whereas Jobs wanted to get you invested in his ecosystem because he thought it was better than everyone else’s.

I think you hit the nail on the head! With Steve Jobs, it was about trying to be the best, in his mind. Sometimes arrogant, sometimes wrong, but you always looked for Apple to see what's next.

Now you have a supply chain accountant and industrial designer running the company, maximizing profits by using their ecosystem position and forcing people to spend, spend, spend. I for one, am done as well. I've settled into a comfortable routine with my SP4 as the on-the-go machine and my Macbook Pro as the heavy workload machine. I am in need of an upgrade, and the new Macbooks are a plain downgrade in every imaginable way save for better screens. For the first time in 20+ years, I will not have a Apple/Mac computer, and unless iPhone 8 is much better than iPhone 7, I will be replacing my 6S Plus with an Android device.

To keep it somewhat Surface related, I wish MS would build a 15"+ Surface workstation. Quad core CPU, 1060-70 Pascal graphics, etc. Would buy it in a second, as I'm sure they would actually include ports, have a great keyboard (with function keys!), a proper touch screen, etc.

 

[coolowl]

Very interesting and enjoyable reading. Thanks, Derek. It caused me to think back on my early computing experience and I do remember the thrill of some of those early improvements. Dual floppy disk drives! A hard drive!! Wow, those were huge improvements. Yes, I'm 66.

My buying habits are instant buyer's remorse. I'm awful with it. Once bought three televisions in one day. My point is the purchase of this SP4 last February has not been regretted one moment. That's a big deal for me. If I can like this thing (even with a short battery life and, until MS fixed it, the wake up from sleep issue) anyone can. It is my daily laptop and has replaced sitting at a desk for half the day.

 

[Matt Vaughan]

Good story. I started using PC's, specifically the IBM PC at age 11. I always used PC's of some sort, but then in 2007 (?) when Apple switched over to Intel, I knew I could run both on a Mac. I've been happy with my transition since, but still have to use a PC from time to time because I'm in IT. Overall, I still prefer the Mac for its more user friendly interface and stability. I use a Surface Pro 4 for some work stuff, but am always irritated by the "Windows" experience (drivers, flakey software at times).

 

[Cask]

Great story. I have never been big into Macs, however have had every single iPhone generation, and had several iPods back in day, including an iPod classic that still lives on and gets use in the car. I agree Apple has been stagnant lately, only thinking profits, adding "Pro" to the name and asking more $$$ to what would have been the natural upgrade to a product line (9.7 in iPad Pro I'm looking at you), as well as continue to sell the older models for the same price, while bumping what would otherwsie have been their replacement at the same price (New Macbook Pros). Apple used to be the trend setter, however lately Microsoft is doing far more interesting stuff, and the events in last October are a testament. While Microsoft wowed everyone with the Surface Studio, Apple Macbooks have been greatly criticized as lackluster. The Surface Studio really provided an innovative take on the old all in one concept, where Apple used to dominate. And Microsoft has been doing it for a while, with the Surface Pro and Surface Book lines, setting the trend for convertibles. And then comes Phil Schiller stating that they don't think touchscreen can work in a Mac, well Phil, may I point you to Microsoft.com, then you can find several examples.

I did bite and bought the iPhone 7 Plus, pretty much because my wife wanted a bigger screen phone so she got my 6S Plus and I upgraded. But the 8 will have to be something really special or this will probably be my last iPhone.

BTW: great story. Made me think back to 1996, when my father bought our first CD Burner. An external SCSI Pinnacle unit, that when powered on, the thing's fan would make noise like an airplane, and burned CDs at 2X, with a 30% failure rate more or less, in which case the CD-R was ruined. Blank CD-R were around $15 a piece, so they were actually more expensive than buying a CD from the record store. But it was super cool making your own mixed CD´s. Remember with my friends ripping songs from different CD´s trying to come with our ultimate record. Cool memories.

 

[polbit]

Ok, I'll age myself a bit! I grew up on Commodore 64, then later Atari ST. My first PC was an ITT Xtra 8088 4.77MHz "powerhouse". I remember trying to get a '286 accelerator working on it (Orchid I think?) and going back and forth to Elek Tek before finally giving up as it just wasn't compatible enough... Then I got myself my first Winchester drive - 10Mb unit. That was simply amazing. All this storage and speed!

 

[bluegrass]

Some interesting changes have come about with computers since I started servicing them 47 years ago. My first computer was a Radio Shack Model 1 with a cassette for storage. Nice story you wrote for us.