In 25 years, I’ve used a lot of technology. In fact, more than I can remember without really sitting down to think about it. It’s curious, then, when the rare and obsolete question of “Mac or PC” comes up.
In these many years, I’ve seen a lot of different operating systems for different computer systems. It’s a very myopic focus when one engages in “Mac or PC” debate. After all, these two are only relevant in the consumer sphere.
There are many operating systems out there that control each and every device imaginable. For some time now, most devices that we have in our homes and offices have an underlying operating system of some kind. There are so many now. I won’t even try to catalog the range of what I’ve seen (and suspect without forcing a fatal reveal). You blender, echoDot, Firestick, computer, internet router – just about everything – probably has an underlying OS that runs the device.
In early days, there were few of these OS’s – probably because they required so much hardware and resources to run. Over time, many of these OS’s have been optimized to run on very little hardware (or virtual resources) so that they can run very small workloads with more ubiquity across the broad spectrum of devices.
Desktop computing is in a weird and stagnant place. It’s not growing and it’s not really shrinking. So when someone makes the leap from PC to Mac or vice-versa for their desktop computer, it’s frankly no longer noteworthy. It’s akin to asking if you like vanilla or chocolate now – whereas even 5 years ago, it was a debate that was only won with “I have no choice” and largely was a debate over which form of torture you were able to endure best.
Fewer and fewer technologies are relying solely on desktop technology to be relevant. Sure, it’s early days for this transition, but we know that mobile is making huge inroads – most notably in our personal lives. Any software company worth their salts is taking notice and either developing for mobile or at the very least considering it’s place on their roadmap.
The more interesting and provocative debate today is browser and mobile platforms. These are debates that the average Joe can engage in now more readily. I suspect few are interested, however, as there’s more interesting fodder to debate elsewhere in the consumer distraction dome.
So, the fact that I have switched over to Mac for my personal and work computing is irrelevant to most. Who cares? I could use either platform. I don’t know MacOS as well. Perhaps that’s why I switched – it was time for a new challenge to go along with my new job.
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