Mac and Windows

            Especially with the explosive growth of Apple, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics company, more Apple products are cropping up from schools to the workplace. One of Apple’s biggest products, the Mac family of computers, is a direct challenger to every desktop that supports the Windows operating system. Combining clever marketing with innovative products, Apple has proved a strong competitor to Microsoft.

            However, computers that run Windows are much better than Apple Macs. The 17” Mac Book Pro starts at $2,499 – more expensive than 6 Dell laptops running Windows. The Mac Book is even more expensive than Alien ware’s lineup of high-tech gaming computers. One can buy the best processor, the best graphics card, etc. and still build a computer that would cost much less than a Mac Book.

            Consumers are drawn in by the MacBook’s pure white exterior, luring in the consumer with attractive, smooth corners and brushed keys. The consumer is guided by his eyes instead of his brain – he is already hooked on the Mac before he or she sees the extremely high price tag and the sub-par specifications. Mac commercials grab consumers with airbrushed, Photoshopped images of the Mac. Sadly, the design of the Mac is the only part of the Mac that is better than Windows computers.

            Microsoft’s more open approach with Windows makes Windows a better operating system. Microsoft allows many different computer companies to use Windows, whereas Apple only allows its own computers to use the OSX operating system. As a result, Windows computers are more customizable and can be tailored to fit an individual’s needs or a groups’ needs, rather than a shiny and flashy computer that tries to appeal to the entire audience. The consumer gets leeway in what sort of specifications a Windows computer has, but a Mac user is locked into whatever specifications Apple decides. For example, you can pick and chose amongst Windows computers how much hard drive space you want, what kind of processor you want, and much more while with Apple computers, Apple decides how much memory and what processor the Mac uses. A Dell computer running Windows may have 500 GB of hard drive space, a Compaq computer may have 400 GB of hard drive space, and an IBM computer have 700 GB of hard drive space – and a buyer can decide which computer he wants to buy. Microsoft gives its users the right to chose and pick what they want.

            Mac’s incompatibility with many programs is also a massive drawback. Many programs that work on Windows will not work on the Mac, leading to problems and frustration. This contradicts with Mac’s image of a high-end business computer that is also available for common users.

            Before you buy a Mac, use your brain and not your eyes.

Two Truths One Lie

            On a recent trip to the Blue Mountain Ski Lodge, I got lost and spent half the day wandering around the mountain. After I took my the required ski lessons, I immediately skied downhill from the top of the mountain, only to wind up in the middle of a double Black Diamond trail with professional skiers and snowboarders flying at well above the legal highway speed limit. I thought the ski rentals and main lodge was downhill, so I raced downhill only to find a couple of small coffee shops. Desperate, I skied up and down the trail asking for a cell phone. I finally found a person willing to help me, but my parents’ phones were in their locker. At around 8pm, I heard my name called on the loudspeakers located throughout the lodge, directing me to go to the top of the mountain – a ride would be waiting at the bottom. I found a small bus waiting at the bottom of the mountain, which took me up to the lodge. I ate dinner, which consisted of cup noodles, and vowed never to get lost on a ski lodge again. I had spent 1 hour skiing and 5 hours wandering around aimlessly.

            In January 2012, I was taken in for questioning by the SEC for investing in stocks which I did not pay the taxes for. I had made a few hundred thousand dollars, which were put in an offshore bank account based in the Cayman Islands. I opened the bank account online, using an anonymous proxy servers and fake credentials. From there, I moved 7 hundred thousand dollars from my bank account in the Cayman Islands to my Bank of America bank account, which attracted attention from the SEC. The SEC notified the FBI, who traced the account to my internet service provider, who willingly gave up the address to my house. I was expected at court the following February, and I was convicted of tax fraud, operating a hedge fund without a liscense, opening a bank account with false credentials, and much more. I was fined 9 hundred thousand dollars and was sentenced to 9 months to a juvenile detention facility. My assets were frozen and liquidated, crashing my hedge fund and damaging my stocks. I was put under probation and house arrest for the next 2 years.

            In sixth grade I was awarded with two days afterschool administrative detention for distributing and possessing weapons. When class became boring, I took apart pens and pencils and used the springs within the pens to build tiny shooters that shot out small plastic pencil parts. These “pen guns” hurt less than a rubber band, but somehow the principal thought I was running an undergrounds weapons ring and selling guns to the mafia. My friends that I gave the pen guns to had an unfortunate habit of shooting them off during class, which annoyed the teacher so much she told the principal. Me and several friends were called down the principals office, where we were questioned. The principal called the police department, who came to the middle school and searched my locker. They found nothing but a broken pen because I kept all of my “pen guns” at home. Still, the principal sentenced me to afterschool detention. She, a remarkably stupid woman, started ranting about how these pen guns were similar to similar guns, and that I could of course, poke out someone’s eye with it. I could do the same thing with a stapler with much more severe consequences, but that’s besides the point. Whenever I pointed out the numerous fallacies in her reasons, (eg. Rifle ammunition contains explosives, while a plastic tube is clearly not explosive) she told me to be quiet and stop interrupting her. I decided to stop speaking because if I did, she would probably realize her own logical fails and experience a mental breakdown, and the principal’s husband would sue me for causing great mental distress to his wife.

Sales

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. On Black Friday, many retailers and stores offer extreme discounts and sales on their products. Black Friday generally spans from Friday to Monday. Minor violence has happened on Black Friday, such as assault and trampling caused by over-eager shoppers.

            Last November, I received an Office Depot catalog by mail a week before Black Friday. I scanned through it and noticed a Dell laptop selling for $450 dollars. I go to my garage and sift through old junk mail, newspapers, and letters to find the October Office Depot catalog. I see the same exact Dell laptop. The price? $450. The only difference was the November catalog had a gigantic “40% Off Black Friday Sale – Limited Availability” stamped on the cover.

            When shopping for a hard drive about a year ago, I came across at a website that offered a Seagate 500GB external hard drive for $100. The website stated that the regular price was $200, but it had a Winter Sale for 50% off. I mused over the hard drive, then planned to check in a couple of months. After a couple of months, I checked the website. The website now read “$100 Regular price: $200 Spring Sale 50% off. I checked the website again in four months and it stated that the website was having a summer sale, and that the hard drive was $100 – 50% off its original price. So apparently the website offered sales year-round: the winter sale, the spring sale, the summer sale, and the fall sale. All of the sales were 50% off. So how did the retailer make a profit?

            Are sales really discounts? Or are they descriptions used by retailers to lure buyers with “limited availability” on “one-time offers?”