This is always a problem when surrounded by a bunch of uber loyal mavens (people who can't help but babble about how much they love what they do and own). On the upside these are also the people that talk incessantly about what movies, bands, restaurants and outdoor activities they love and believe you will love too.

Seriously, you are that threatened by Mac enthusiasts?

Just ignore them if it bothers you so much.

(Did you consider that maybe they are just people who want you to experience the same satisfaction in your computer that they do?)

velk - wait, how is that an upside?

hmm... guess I always thought it was. How else do you find out about new stuff?

ah, well, it was the 'incessantly' part that i considered a HUGE downside. otherwise, yes, i'll agree that's an upside, if you factor in appropriate social conversational parameters. :D

steve - i have never expressed dissatisfaction with my computer, and have actually had nothing but positive experiences to share about my pc. i do not mind when people are excited about their computers - i want people to be happy! it is when people start in on the "you should get a mac, they're way better than your pc" that things take a turn.

if i'm in the market for a new computer? if i'm complaining about my current computer? yeah, okay, sure. that's understandable. but for no other reason than because THEY love it? no. after i have repeatedly said i do not want a mac and am happy with my pc? no.

i am happy, they are happy. why do other people think i need a different happy?

if someone is seriously trying to talk you into switching, just tell them when 1) your industry's standard becomes mac, 2) apple has at least 50% of the market share and 3) there's software available to purchase locally, you might think about considering it. that will buy you a minimum of 25 years.

the real question (i think): how do you deal with the person? chances are you are deadling with someone who is on the low end of the maturity scale. or they just don't have good social skills. the best thing to do is tell them to shut their iTrap. of course, you already know this....it's just an observation and my response to your "appropriate social conversational parameters" statement.

of course, none of this applies to your iCult friends who are happy that you're happy and understand that mac v pc is something that doesn't really matter. :D

I love "shut your iTrap."

My trackpad ribbon on my Mac stopped working for no ascertainable reason last Friday. Cost to fix: $320.

I hope this wasn't tward me.. =( I fear I may have u n l e a s h e d the mdog to devour my innards... mmm hopefully it was some other poor fool who opened the floodgates to what could only be described as "something way worse than.... well lets just say it's bad"

I will refrain from commenting. Oops, guess I just did. Did I mention my new...? Seriously though, it's easy to get carried away about the things you love. I talk a lot about my Mac and my iPhone, but I also talk a bunch about Basecamp by 37signals, my tailless cat and Central. Okay, Central doesn't belong at the end of the list, but you get the idea.

Correct me if I am wrong...weren't you considering purchasing a mac computer at one time?

ty - your innards are safe as long as there is no conversion talk!

joy - that is correct. i am not necessarily anti-mac. i am definitely anti-mac-proselytizing. macs are lovely in their own right, but they serve no more purpose FOR ME, other than being far more expensive of a machine than i really need.

all of this is besides the fact that there is no decent accounting software for the mac platform. which seems sort of important for me.

i just installed gnucash on my mac which is an open source version of quicken. they also have a windows version of it to. it is probably a little more involved to work with and not as pretty as paid versions but i am curious to see what it is like.

what do you use for accounting software?

ali - quicken [and gnucash i am assuming] is generally for personal use and/or very small businesses. from what i can tell it's not truly accounting software, but more sort of random financial management-ness. which is fine, just not what i need for multi-hundred thousand dollar budgets. i hope it works for what you need though!

i use peachtree accounting for work and now church treasury as well.