basic IT terminology. a PC is a personal computer. what about a mac/apple makes it not a personal computer? I understand their concept behind it. its not a windows/typical home-users pc, but IMO, it is still a PC...


kind of reminds me of the southern thing about every pop/soda ordered is a coke...


what would you like to drink?
a coke please
what kind of coke?
a pepsi coke please

:banghead:


/end of pointless rant/mixed brain-vomits.

This thread will house an epic battle between mac users and pc users, thanks Cav

A Mac is a Mac, so what do you call everything else? A P.C.

A Mac owner could claim his Mac was also a p.c., if he was a pedantic little git.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l187/dillsrotary/we_know_drama-2074-1.png

Short for Macintosh, no?

Mac >PC :)

one friend made an argument that it was because of the OS.. our IM conversation:

Me: what makes a mac not a PC?
Me: a pondering thought i have today...
Co-Worker: OS
Me: basic IT terminology
Me: PC = Personal Computer
Co-Worker: right
Co-Worker: true
Me: if its OS reasoning
Me: what is an install of ubuntu on a dell desktop?
Me: a dell desktop would be categorized as a PC
Me: but ubuntu makes it NOT a winders box
Me: is that just gender confusion?
Co-Worker: No
Co-Worker: I think you are rigth
Co-Worker: Having a family making you ponder your mortality?
Me: sleep deprivation
Me: brain vomits randomness

Well, besides the OS. I believe Apple called their first, uhmm PC the Macintosh. The first PC to use GUI and a mouse, but as people moved to DOS and Windows based PCs, Apple came up with iMac

Simple answer. Marketing.

Now what do I get?

^ a cookie to take on your phishing trip.



/pun intended

Now what do I get?

you get to spend $2000 dollars on a mac book pro that has the same specs of a mid to high end PC :lol:

Strictly speaking, you're right, a Mac is a PC. But "PC" sounds too politically correct.

what makes an apple/mac not a PC?

macs have atrocious battery life after a few months... ergo unable to be a laptop unless you bring that ridiculus cord around with you. My toshiba has had 3-1/2 hour battery life for the past year has yet to burn out

How many mac vs. pc threads do we need :dunno:

Is the bitterness towards the Mac user? Or is it towards Apple?

^ towards neither. it was a pondered thought not against either. but why it wasnt called a PC like all other PCs. like they could market as Apples new PC. or the new MAC PC.. idk.. again.. it was just random brain vomit that i dumped out here...

I agree with you that they are PCs by definition :) Again it is just Apple's marketing trying to brand Apple as something different than your typical Windows desktop/laptop.

It isnt called a PC because you cant go out a personalize it.....where as in any windows based system each and every component can be bought individual from the ground up and put together by anyone (not a manufacturer).

Another thought is that 3rd party manufacturers make PC's, notice you dont see a microsoft computer. But all macs run osx (or whatever apple software) and everything is built by apple and only apple therefore there is nothing there to call it a personal computer.

And just so everyone knows how awesome make is, you get to spend over 2k on a mac in order to be able to get the hardware thats in a mid range pc (500-800 dollars) and thats pretty much it..............congratulations apple = fail

basic IT terminology. a PC is a personal computer. what about a mac/apple makes it not a personal computer? I understand their concept behind it. its not a windows/typical home-users pc, but IMO, it is still a PC...


kind of reminds me of the southern thing about every pop/soda ordered is a coke...


what would you like to drink?
a coke please
what kind of coke?
a pepsi coke please

:banghead:


/end of pointless rant/mixed brain-vomits.

yup so no work computer is a PC...it's a WC

I actually believe that it was Apple that decided not to market it as a PC. To differentiate it from Intel base computers. That decision was made long before they decided to embrace the X86 platform.

In my world,I think of a computer as a box, a system, or a machine. you're talking about the hardware. Even more so now that apple runs on x86.

PC/Mac/Linux/windows is used as a designation of the OS running on it.

It's just about semantics. The words themselves could be anything as long as you know what I'm talking about.

The term personal computer was used to refer to the first computers that only weighed 80 pounds and were smaller then a walk in closet, it was around before the woz was soldering together apple I computers in his garadge. Apple computers were and are technically PC's but in order to differentiate themselves they called them mac's and it stuck that way.

I actually believe that it was Apple that decided not to market it as a PC. To differentiate it from Intel base computers. That decision was made long before they decided to embrace the X86 platform.

I still remember not so long ago when Apple put up some "fake" statistics about how fast their G5 compared to Pentium 4 rofl.(it was a G5 vs Dell, the Dell they compared was garbage anyway)

and Steve Jobs was that one who kept talking crap about how Intel is slow and not stable and how wonderful G5 and IBM were.

Now what happened ? rofl.

Apple fails all the time. Too bad there are people who just love to pay the extra so they can feel proud of themselves.

In my world,I think of a computer as a box, a system, or a machine. you're talking about the hardware. Even more so now that apple runs on x86.

PC/Mac/Linux/windows is used as a designation of the OS running on it.

It's just about semantics. The words themselves could be anything as long as you know what I'm talking about.

The term personal computer was used to refer to the first computers that only weighed 80 pounds and were smaller then a walk in closet, it was around before the woz was soldering together apple I computers in his garadge. Apple computers were and are technically PC's but in order to differentiate themselves they called them mac's and it stuck that way.

funny thing is that most people who got Macs are too stupid to understand that simple fact.

^ its funny numbers. just like when they compare intel to amd. this is why amd went to the 1700, 1800, 2100, etc chip labeling. they arent actually 1.7, 1.8, 2.1ghz. they just run/perform equivalent to that speed that intel chip is actually running at. mind games.


GET OUT OF MY HEAD, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

^ its funny numbers. just like when they compare intel to amd. this is why amd went to the 1700, 1800, 2100, etc chip labeling. they arent actually 1.7, 1.8, 2.1ghz. they just run/perform equivalent to that speed that intel chip is actually running at. mind games.


GET OUT OF MY HEAD, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

A lot of software companies do that as well. And so did MS with NT...

A lot of software companies do that as well. And so did MS with NT...

best install screen for windows NT.

now with new NT technology. (or something to that verbage)

so in essence... "now with new New Technology technology"... double redundancy ? :O

best install screen for windows NT.

now with new NT technology. (or something to that verbage)

so in essence... "now with new New Technology technology"... double redundancy ? :O

rofl ! lol

hahaha

that reminds of my early college days

I was in this basic computer class (needed), I was bored as hell every freaking day and most of the time I just sleep on my desk (prof doesnt cared, he knows what level Im at :)), then one day one of the guy asked the professor "What does NT stand for?" cuz the professor was talking about there is something called Windows NT 3.51 or something. He said he doesn't know LMAO.

then I just yell it out "It stands for New Technology" ... rofl, class was dead silent ...

I got a C in that class. lmao LOL Its actually not bad, cuz I didnt do a single homework nor projects. I just got all A+ on quizzes and Midterm, what happened to Final? I didn't go. LOL

macs have atrocious battery life after a few months... ergo unable to be a laptop unless you bring that ridiculus cord around with you. My toshiba has had 3-1/2 hour battery life for the past year has yet to burn out

I'm just one experience, but mine just started dropping in the last year or so. About 2 years after I got it (a little bit later), I had a 14 hour flight and I was able to watch about a movie and a half (so about 3 hours) before it got to the low warning. I probably had another 15 minutes before it would start to go to sleep mode, but I just turned it off there. I'd say mine was on par for a decent while, but now it's getting a bit short. I can get around 2 hours now on a full charge. It works for going to class, but not as good if I were to want to watch a movie or something on a flight.

I've used both mac and windows based laptops and would say that depending on use, I would choose both. If I wanted a powerful computer that would be for gaming and stuff, then I'd probably go with a windows computer. For school use (surfing internet, writing papers, etc) and for managing music and photos. I can't say that it would outperform a windows computer for that, but I really have enjoyed it. Both are good in my opinion.

^+1. my sister has a mac and its fine for school and whatnot; but I like running games on mine. overclocked to 2.33 and 6gb ddr2 with 3 hours battery life :rock:

^+1. my sister has a mac and its fine for school and whatnot; but I like running games on mine. overclocked to 2.33 and 6gb ddr2 with 3 hours battery life :rock:

That's what my desktop is for lol.

supposedly those new greener laptop batteries in the macs last MUCH longer. according to advertisements anyhow, we all know how truthful those can be :lol:

That's what my desktop is for lol.

I wish I had enough $$$ for both :(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=personal%20computer

To directly answer the thread title ignoring any sort of potential holy war that might or might not have already started because of it; absolutely nothing. An Apple/Mac *IS* a personal computer. A personal computer is your typical computing machine that can fit on an average sized desk and not crush it (think of the computers of old that took up half a whole room).

I wish I had enough $$$ for both :(

ehh... I've never bought them close together really. I had my old desktop for 2 years before I got my laptop, which I got for college. Then just recently my old desktop failed (5 years old, so 3 years after getting the laptop) so I replaced that. I dont need my laptop as much as I thought I would use it for school, though I really enjoy having it. If it breaks, I probably wont rush to get a new one, though it's really useful if I want to have my computer and need/want to travel light.

isn't Apple now own by Microsoft?

This is silly. Needless to say, technically they're both PCs (personal computers). The two terms evolved over the years simply to distinguish, in casual conversation, Macs from Windows computers. That's all.

isn't Apple now own by Microsoft?

uh no...

uh no...

you're right. During the 90s Apple was struggling and in an effort to encourage "competition" MS did buy 150M worth of non-voting shares. Kinda like a corporate bailout.

wow thats really interesting to know thanks for that.

pdxhak nailed it. its all marketing bull

It's not politically correct ( PC ) to call a mac a PC.

Mac's aren't "politically" correct, because "practically speaking" computers are meant to slowly be replaced, which is a flaw with Macs. People have too much trouble replacing Macs because "that old Mac I have" still works. Windows has clearly fixed this problem in their OS, I'm on my eighth computer at work. No need to dust.

Or how about the old, endlessly repetitive reason for not buying a Mac:

"Nono, I don't want a Mac, I just want a simple computer, no fancy video games, just a computer that can do word processing, email, listen to itunes, watch some You-Tube... and built in camera would be nice too"

Your thirsty you say? well what do you know about that, look down! your standing in a river, now how did you suppose that happened?

Hahahaha, just because you expect it to be complicated, doesn't mean it's not water.

macs have atrocious battery life after a few months... ergo unable to be a laptop unless you bring that ridiculus cord around with you. My toshiba has had 3-1/2 hour battery life for the past year has yet to burn out

Battery lifespan is an issue of how the battery is maintained, not the hardware it's running on.

Pretty much all laptops these days use lithium ion batteries, and they like to remain charged. I use a laptop at work and after a couple hundred charge cycles I still get good battery life. The reason is because i always keep it plugged in and charged whenever I can. Lithium ion batteries do not like being fully discharged, and if you fully discharge one and leave it for a day or two, it will never be the same again.

We have quite a few laptops here at work and I can tell you that people who have batteries that fail, have them fail on a regular basis, while most other people are completely fine and dandy for years.

I can only assume that these people who have to replace their batteries every 6 months take them home on the weekend, run them till the batteries die completely, then don't recharge them until they bring it back into work on Monday.

Ever since the spontaneously combusting dell battery packs, I have been seeing more people complain of failing batteries that were purchased after the dell debacle. I'm beginning to wonder if some laptop makers changed their battery designs after that...

hmm... I've heard that once the battery is fully charged, take it out of the laptop and run it solely on AC (If you're at home). Apparently Li-batteries dont like being trickle charged