A ccording to Salon magazine, the Mac is back. In an article titled "Hallelujah, the Mac is back," writer Farhad Manjoo said that the iPod phenomenon, the security and spyware problems in the Windows world, and now Appleis new Mac mini have all combined to bring both Apple and the Mac platform back to popularity.
"In recent years, the home computer has increasingly become a digital entertainment center," wrote Mr. Manjoo. "People use it for the Web, they use it for e-mail, and they use it for photos, movies and music. The Mac is not just good at these few tasks: Itis the best there is. Thereis simply no arguing that Appleis built-in software and operating system make for the single most powerful photo, music and movie system you can buy."
At the same time, he noted, "thereis a rising feeling -- accounted for mostly by anecdotes and not all that well-measured, but nevertheless important -- that the [Windows] system is becoming too hard to maintain."
Mr. Manjoo asserted that these two reasons, combined with the iPodis success, combined to give Apple a 26% increase in Mac unit sales in the December quarter.
The four-page article looks at the Macis history, market share issues, the problems of spyware, adware, and all of the other issues Windows users are afflicted with, and some thoughts from original Mac development team member Andy Hertzfeld. We recommend it as a very good read.
Note that Salon requires a subscription. You can get a free day pass to read the magazine by watching a commercial. You can find details at the article link above.