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I’m home for the weekend. I can access the net, what a relief
This post is not related to medicine. It is about computers.
I saw Suresh’s post about Steve Jobs a few days ago. I wrote this the same night, but wasn’t able to post it. I read through the post and followed the link to read the original interview by Inc. Magazine.

While reading the interview, I found that I was nodding to myself, smiling and was mentally checking up the facts that I knew about Jobs & Apple.

My reactions were scary. The horrible realization dawned that whether I like it or not, I am now a member of the Cult of Mac.

Good Grief! It was a terrible blow to my self-image! I am not a fanatic or a zealot. I don’t like cults. The very word evokes disturbing images: Aum Shinrikyo, Branch Davidians, Ku Klux Klan, Tamil Tigers, Al Qaeda
Believe me. I’m cultophobic [I made up that word ].

My tastes are catholic. I’m not a Mac fanatic. In fact I’ve only been using a Mac for about 20 months. I used Windows and Microsoft DOS for about 15 years before that. I’m a doctor, not a tech geek.

…all that, sadly, was Denial.

The more I thought about my behaviour since I switched, the more I realized that I had to face up to the truth.

In the cold light of logic (?) the evidence was damning:

• I feel a smug sense of of superiority whenever I see someone using Windows - which is pretty much all the time since the number of Mac users in my work place is - wait for it, don’t faint - 2. (Yes. Two! I did not miss any digits).
• The home page in my default browser (Safari, of course) is the Apple start page. That said, I never was a fan of Internet Explorer. I used Opera in my pre-switch days. These days I use Safari & Firefox equally.
• I feel uncomfortable when I use a Windows machine.
• Increasingly I find myself trying to lead others to the light. *Horror* I’ve become a Mac evangelist.
• I love the feeling of being unique - I am the only doctor in town who uses Keynote for presentations.
• I love the looks on my Windows-using friends (?) faces when I show them nifty little Mac tricks like Exposé, the Genie effect on minimizing, the Dashboard and Widgets, I could go on & on…
• I can’t won’t rationalize. I KNOW.
• OS X is better than Windows.
• Apple is better than Microsoft.
• Jobs is greater than Gates.
• Apple innovates, Microsoft imitates.
• I check TUAW daily and follow all interesting links. Then I talk to Suresh about what I read - if you didn’t know or haven’t guessed by now, he’s the other Mac user here. Actually he’s the one who converted me. My Guru…
• I religiously download all of Apple’s periodic software updates - and pity Windows users and the apparent lack of interest shown by MS in keeping its customers up to date.
• I am all agog whenever there’s a rumour of an Apple Special Event - trying to guess what new goodies will be unveiled.

• I have an iBook, and I also use an eMac and a Mac mini - all of them running on PowerPC chips & I’ve already started making plans scheming to upgrade them to Intel Macs - a Mac Mini Core Duo, an Intel iMac G5 and a Macbook Pro.
• I have 2 iPods - a Shuffle & an iPod Photo - the only reason I didn’t get a Video iPod was because I’m not interested in podcasts or vidcasts.
• I was overjoyed when my friend became an Apple Dealer - I can now get Dealer prices for Apple products.
• I can’t understand how Suresh can stand using an IBM Thinkpad after having used a PowerBook.
• I can’t believe that he has not fixed his crashed hard disk even after 5 months. Before anyone asks - Macs don’t crash. That was faulty hardware - Toshiba, I think.
• I have an Apple sticker on my laptop bag.
• I read the unofficial biography of Jobs - iCon.
• I was impressed by the Stanford University Commencement Address by Jobs.
• I think comics like this & this are funny.
• & I collect such geeky stuff as this palindromic phrase - “Campus motto: Bottoms up, Mac!” (attributed to Bill Bryson, who’s books I love)

I give up.

I admit.

I am a Mac Maniac.

Yes!! Mac Rules!!

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