October 8th, 1999

[11:30 AM] Jesse Berst Poll To Help Decide If He Switches To iMac

As posted yesterday evening in our MacOS News Around the Web section, Jesse Berst has stunned us with a story and a poll that asks whether he should switch the entire Anchor Desk team to iMacs. That's right, the famed Windows/Microsoft user is contemplating having his office staff run their operation on the Mac. According to Mr. Berst:

I'm heavily scheduled; I need to be organized and efficient. Computer down time is not acceptable. I use top-of-the-line IBM equipment and the latest versions of Windows 98 and Internet Explorer. Even so, I have at least one Windows crash a day -- and a major incident every two weeks. And I'm not alone. Last week Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Mossberg excerpted from a diary he kept detailing a week's worth of Windows irritants. He recorded 23 incidents in a seven-day period in which six different PCs he used either crashed, froze or exhibited some other puzzling or unexpected behavior.

Walter, I feel your pain.

The Mac Observer Spin: Included in the story is a poll asking his readers to decide for him, and so far the Mac is winning hands down. While this is the second poll to which we have linked in the last three days, we hate most Net polls at The Mac Observer. They are usually, though not always, gratuitous attempts to garner extra page views by preying on people's desire to have their voice heard. The problem is that without a scientific survey methodology applied to these polls, they are worthless as a means of gauging actual public opinion.

In this case, if Mr. Berst is being genuine in his offer of allowing the poll decide for him, the poll could change the course of one of the most influential technology writers on the planet. Mr. Berst's coverage may be sensational in nature most of the time, but he garners lots of eyeballs. With a public switch to iMac for AnchorDesk, this could actually offer more legitimacy for Apple in a largely anti-Mac constituency. This, in turn, could help Apple sell a few more boxes.

Our point? Go read the article and vote for Anchor Desk to switch to the iMac! You'll find the poll at the bottom of the page to which we linked.

Let's play Devil's Advocate to our own arguments. This could be another cheap stunt by Anchor Desk to raise a few hackles in the ongoing Platform Wars and garner a few more hits in the process. If so, then it is a sad and pathetic event. However, we got the feeling that Mr. Berst may be genuine in this story and we would love to see him switch to the Mac, and not from an "I told you so" stand point. We just want for Mr. Berst to be happier when he works with his computer, honest! :-) Go Vote!

Anchor Desk Article