16th
Social ramifications of Mac v. PC
Moving through airports, coffee-shops, university campuses on three continents over the past month (Asia, Europe and N.America) I was struck by how similarly these markets have developed for Apple. Mac products have established themselves as a status symbol. More important than the economic status that owning a premium product conveys, the fact that corporations have not adopted Apple products (and probably will not for a while) creates a new social division.
Entrepreneurs, artists, independent professionals and students carry Macs and iPhones. Corporate types carry grey laptops (IBM, Dell, HP, Acer, etc.) and Blackberries. The second set is constrained by corporate policies regarding security, procurement and application support.
Mac = Freedom and independence; PC = Cog-in-giant-wheel.
(Composed on my PC - *sigh*)
