Apple Not for me

A friend of mine bought himself a MacBook. That's a lovely computer and it's pretty rugged too. It survived having beer fizz up and explode all over the keyboard. Another friend is considering getting the same (MacBook, not the beer).

I've never been one to buy brands, so, while they'll certainly be very happy with their purchase(s), it's not a choice I would have made. At the price the MacBook is going for (close to $2000 in the Philippines), I could get two reasonably fast (but not dual-core) Windows/Linux capable laptops. And since I can get Winbook laptops (or Thinkpad, or HP) from my brother in the U.S., for even less than that, I could get three previously but lighly owned laptops for the price of one MacBook :-). Since I use Linux (it does all I need a computer to do) and didn't much like the Mac interface when I tested it out, there's nothing there to tempt me to go Mac. I might be slowly seduced by a Mac's smooth design (hardware and software) if I had one at work, or if I could borrow one and use it exclusively for a month :-). I doubt, though, if that seductive smoothness would get me to overlook the price difference though. I would enjoy the MacBook, but then forget it and switch back to Linux since $1000 is (to me) much more valuable and useful than whatever psychological benefits I would get from using a MacBook.

On the other hand, I'll work very hard to justify the cost, if I get one for free :-)