21 Years of Using Macs

This spring is an auspicious time for me. It's been 21 years since I used my first Mac computer. I still remember the day my friend, Michael Fukutome, dragged me from a typewriter to a Mac Plus, insisting I would learn the computer that day. I thought he was nuts. The only computer I had ever touched up until then was a DOS computer, and we all know how not-easy those are to learn! But he was right! Within hours I was using the computer without issue. I quickly became smitten with this wonderful new invention!

I got my first job because I knew how to use a Mac. It was as a receptionist in a printing company. They noticed I had a flair for graphics, so I was moved to in-house graphic designer and they hired a new receptionist. And the rest, as they say, is history. My entire graphic design career evolved from the fact that I learned how to use a Mac.

Today I read an article about Microsoft's new ad campaign to try and prove that PC's are better than Macs. Apparently the recent Apple ads about a young-hip Mac-user versus a geeky PC-user have rubbed Microsoft the wrong way. They are fighting back with their own version of a hip PC-user. But does it really matter? I mean, don't we all know that Macs are the true usability experts when it comes to operating systems?

What do you think? If you're a PC user, do you wish you could throw it in for a Mac? And if you're a Mac user, would you ever give it up for a PC?