5 Reasons Musicians Love Macs
Macs look great.
The core of the artist is creativity, and the creativity of Apple is what generates the symbiotic relationship between the two. Every Mac Expo or presser brings an exciting change to the Apple lineup. The fresh looks keeps artists abuzz as they tire quickly of stale designs. While the look and feel of a PC hasn't changed much in the past ten years, think about the number of models that Apple has unveiled.
The feel of OS X's Aqua interface is sleek and smooth. While Windows Vista tries to mimic the look of Apple's system, it still doesn't match the sex appeal that Aqua has. My friends are always mesmerized by Dashboard and Exposé, especially when applications start flying around the screen.
Musicians are snobs, and so are Mac users.
Artists know that their preferences are superior to most. They're drawn to beauty that most people don't understand. It's this superior attitude that draws many musicians to a Mac. The Apple Guy in the Mac commercials is a classic example.
What do you do when you hear someone complaining about Windows? An apple user can hardly hold himself back from saying something about his Mac. He'll toss in subtle comments, or raise his eyebrow, thinking about how clunky the Dell laptops look compared to his MacBook
Macs just work.
A musician wants to plug his guitar into an amp and know that he'll be playing music right away. In a similar way, I don't think twice about it when I plug a new device into my Mac. Within seconds my iBook recognizes it and my thought process isn't interrupted with requests to install the right drivers. I don't need to know how the computer is using the device, I just know that it is.
One click installs are appealing for musicians. If I need to install an application, all I have to do is drag and drop the icon into my applications folder. It's that simple. I'm not asked to restart my computer, and a few seconds later the program is running. It works seamlessly and my Attention Deficit Disorder doesn't have time to distract me.
I use my Mac for everything… recording bands in my home studio using Pro Tools, creating sounds and loops in Propellerhead's Reason
Macs are cheap.
The concept that Macs are more expensive is no longer true when you compare the prices of a Mac with a PC that houses comparable components. The reason Macs seem more expensive is that Apple refuses to sell low-end models. Dan Frakes writes in Macworld, "Macs and comparably-equipped, brand-name Windows PCs tend to be roughly comparable on price these days. That old notion that you have to pay up to use a Mac often isn’t the case any more."
The other day I heard someone mention how he wanted to buy a Mac "but they're so expensive." He then tried to sell me the PC he built for video editing, that cost him $5,000 to build. Moments later he mentioned how the Zune software wasn't compatible with Windows Media. He wanted to sell his PC so he could buy a superior $2,799 17-inch MacBook Pro to edit his videos. One of the things that changed his mind about buying a mac is that he'll be able to run Windows on his new Mac alongside OS X.
Even for the average user, the Mac comes loaded with all the software you need in your digital life. A typical PC package will only tease you with trial offers of applications when a Mac is ready to do it all out of the box. For example, a Windows user would have to buy DVD viewing software, Neo Burning Rom, video editing software, photo organizing software, and simple audio recording software to compare to the standard software package offered on a Mac.
Macs are safer.
When I'm tracking drums in Pro Tools, the last thing I want to see on my screen is a popup message saying "You have unused icons on your desktop." Nor do I want to have memory-hogging anti-spyware and anti-virus protection software running in the background. With my mac, I know that I'm safe from viruses, spyware, malware, security threats, and random system popups.
These are just five reasons why many musicians and artists love Apple computers. Ask your musician friends why they love their Mac and they'll talk about their computer like it was their favorite band.