To say that I was the PC poster-boy, would be an understatement. I had a computer from the age of six and, given that I was an only child, I spent an inordinate amount of time in front of the various computers I have had throughout my life. Apart from the “SpectraVideo” and BBC computers I had in my pre-teen years on earth, every single computer I have ever owned has been a PC.

And I didn’t just have the computers – as an only child I lived, breathed, ate and slept them. I even slept WITH them at times. Non fiction. I opened them up and put them back together again. All the work I have ever done has been computer related. I was logging into “Bulletin Board Systems” in the early 90’s and was surfing on the net in ’93/’94 when the speed was 1200bps and there was purely text – no images.

No Tuesday Tabs..

You get the picture – when it comes to PC’s, they truly are all I know. From desktops and the first monochrome screen laptops, to the latest and greatest, biggest and smallest Sony Vaio’s, I’ve had them all. Basically, you couldn’t with for a better authority on the content of this article, than yours truly.

I’ve endured the nauseating ridicule dished out by the Mac users out there and I’ve explained to them that I have no need to “switch.” They’re usually quite aggressive as well – not shy to hit you with things like, “what are you doing with this piece of shit.” Quite a vibe, I thought, especially when unsolicited.

“Everything works fine with my PC,” I would tell them. And, to coin a phrase I came up with a few years ago, “if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it.”

[pauses….looks at audience…utter silence…continues..]

Three weeks ago I acquired an Apple Mac and I will never be going back to PC.

FACT.

Let me explain.

It all started some time ago when I published an article about the Apple Mac iStore Shop at the Waterfront. Some of you will recall the mayhem that ensued – it has become something of geek folk legend here in Cape Town. Today, with over 120 comments and that article (mostly in support of my article – with new comments being added weekly, due to the article’s Google position for the search phrase “waterfront istore”), something needs to said for the Mac users out there. They’re a passionate bunch, alright!

My interest had been piqued and I became more and more intrigued with Apple Macs, but I didn’t want to deal with the iStore or Core, as it was quite evident that stabbing my eye repeatedly with a hot fork would give the same result.

The name “DigiCape” came up over and over in the comments section under that story I wrote – perhaps they were the ones to chat to?

I went through to their shop (their online store is hot as hell, by the way – www.digicape.co.za) which is off Roeland Street in Cape Town. I think the development is called “Roeland Square” – just down the road from Wembley Square and in the same complex as ORMS Photographic shop. Yes, that’s the one. I chatted to the owners and they let me test drive the new 13″ MacBook Pro (pictured above). It came with Office for Mac installed, as well as the likes of Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Final Cut. Their quietly smug confidence in the product certainly did get me going. Aroused, even.

www.digicape.co.za

Well, I tell you what – never before have I felt such a sensation. Not with regards to the use of the machine (we’ll get to that shortly) but more to do with the embarrassment that I realised I should have felt for so many years before. I call it “hindsight embarrassment” or, for pure 2oceansvibers, “hindsight emboerrissment.” Oh my God – how many people had secretly been laughing at me? For all this time!

From the outset I can tell you one thing that is quite clear to me. The Mac operating system and machine layout/functionality is far more better suited to human logic. It gets closer to those movies you see where the guy flicks things around a clear sheet of glass (think Minority Report ).

I shot a short video (using the iPhone 3Gs I also got from DigiCape) to show you how the new trackpad works.

Check it out:

I should mention that I filmed that video and uploaded it (directly from my iPhone using the Flickr app) to my Flickr account all in under 3 minutes.

I’ve had an ongoing joke with The Roofer for the last few years and with every new laptop I acquired, he would ask me, “is this one fast enough for you?”

“Hmm, it’s getting better,” I would always answer, “but I still find myself waiting for the machine, which I’m sure is not the point of the exercise!”

Sammy, I can tell you now, I’ve finally found it, pal!

And with regards to those Mac maniacs out there who make it their job to attack you and ridicule you about your PC, without any due provocation…. they’re still a bunch of dicks, but at least now I understand where they’re coming from.

I’m sure I won’t turn into them but, you know……seeing as we’re on the subject – exactly what are you doing with that piece of shit?