SquawkRadio

My desk top is dying, my notebook is dying, and never have two electronic deaths been so unlamented. Why? Because this time, this time, I am going to run with the cyber-wolves. This time, I am going to get me such a fast, such a secure, such a solid machine I will never have to replace it again! (Yeah, I said that four years ago, too. So?) The only question I have is where will I find my new Compu-Couer? Should I stick to the path I know best and replace these rotting hulks with a Vista-licious PC because as all my current software is made for Windows? Or will I fly in the face of fiscal responsibility and get me one of them new Mac Notebooks running OX Leopard?

I don’t know! I’m having a hard time deciding so a few times a week ( and twice on Saturdays) I haunt the aisles at CompUSA, fingering the Toshiba Satellite keyboards and playing with the plasma touch screens. I pour over hard drive configurations and study Computercentric magazines like they were the new testament. I whisper into microphones and test angle shots of my face on webcams but eventually I end up standing under the “COMING SOON” banner advertising Leopard and whimpering with impatience.

The only misgiving I have about getting a Mac is the fact that Mac people hate Bill Gates. Which is fine. PC people hate Bill Gates, too. Hate with impunity, I always say. But no Mac-ite hates Steve Jobs. They love him. They love him and they LOVE their Macs. Which has lead me to wonder why. Which has led me to talk to more and more of the Mac-amillions and the more I talk to Mac people, the more their enthusiasm unnerves me. They get a manic look their eye, like a proselytizer spying a potential convert. I want to buy a new computer, not to join a cult! When you first turn on the computer does Steve Jobs appear to you that night and make you his Apple-slave (and do they get to wear cute togas?) What do they really do at those “free” Apple workshops (and does it involve microchips?)

So, tell me, what do you own a PC or a Mac and why? And if you own a Mac, did you have a microchip implanted when you bought it and, if so, does it also control your appetite? (Okay, okay, I just thought it was worth asking)