Mac vs. Windows, part 2: Jeep people

At work I used to sit next to a lady named Kim. Really sweet and nice -- had pictures of her horses all over her cubicle, and loved jelly beans -- great cubemate.

But if you spent much time around her, you'd soon realize that she was a Jeep person.

If you've met a Jeep person, you probably know what I mean...*

Jeep person

Kim didn't just own a Jeep -- she was a Jeep person.

Any time "Jeep" was brought up, something clicked-on in her and she'd get really excited about it -- upgrades, and wheels, and suspensions, and seats, on and on. It was fun to watch the expressions on her face as described some kind of axle.

See, a Jeep to Kim isn't just a car, it's a lifestyle.

And because of that, I could never have bought a Jeep while I sat next to her. If I'd bought a Jeep, to her I would've been buying into her lifestyle, and then that would've dominated our conversations forever after. Then, either I'd have to become a Jeep person too -- or she would've stopped talking to me because I was treating my Jeep as just-a-car -- and who does that? I mean come on!

Mac person

So somehow my character/personality is wired into computers, particularly Apple ones. I remember sitting for hours on a stool in our pantry making BASIC programs on my dad's Apple IIe from school. I wrote dozens of those programs: launchers, original games, graphics drawing -- you name it. Interestingly, the part of my job now that I enjoy the most is writing perl scripts that do the rest of my job for me.

I never had that same feeling about Windows or SGI or linux -- not exactly sure why, though I have my suspicions. Those platforms mostly just give me headaches.

So I own a Mac (3 actually), but something I've worried about for a few years now is: Am I a Mac person? Do I just use one, or is it for me a full-fledged lifestyle?(!) Worse, if someone buys one, does that become the only thing I want to talk about??? I'm not sure, but if you really want to know, ask my wife. =)

For a few of my friends, a Mac would be perfect, but I wonder if they don't buy one because they think I'm a Mac person. Maybe they think buying one would change the nature of our whole friendship, just like me buying a Jeep.

So

... I decided back then that I don't want to be an anything-person. Own cool stuff**, do cool stuff, and be as good a person as I can be.

It's a slow change (again, ask my wife!), but I'm at least getting a little better, I think. =)

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* My kids said my blog was boring, "No pictures!" Here you go. =)

** ... when I can afford it ...