I’ve seen more than enough Mac v. Windows flamefests over the years. In fact, you could call me a connoisseur. There are several types of Mac v. Windows debates, ranging from Dueling Idiots (”PC users are mindless drones!” v. “MAC users are fags!”) to Geeks Counting Coup (”I custom built a box with an overclocked Penryn, a Radeon HD 2900 XT chip, with 8GB of RAM, a terabyte HD, and six USB 2.0 ports for half what you paid for your Mac Pro” v. “At the lab today I took 15 Macs and made a Beowulf cluster in the time it took you to get yourself out of a BSOD.”

Usually at some point in one of these conflagrations, someone steps in as The Voice of Reason. Almost always the VoR is a hard core computer user, and frequently is a developer or sysad. Here’s how the VoR usually enters the fray:

Look, people, this is foolish. Macs and PCs are just tools. Instead of getting all emotional about this, just pick the right tool for the job at hand. For some jobs a PC is better. For some jobs a Mac is better. I happen to use a PC most of the time, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get excited about the fact that some people prefer Macs for their work.

The VoR sounds so sensible. He’s right, of course. Computers are tools. Why get attached to using a particular type of computer? I understand the logic of this argument. But although my computer is a tool, it’s not “just” a tool. I use my computer day in and day out, to perform a wide variety of essential tasks. When a tool is at the center of your livelihood, it takes on tremendous importance. Do construction workers have differences of opinion about the trucks they use on the job? Do artists have strong opinions about their brushes and paints? Do programmers argue with religious fervor about the merits of Objective-C and Java? Of course they do, because although these are “just” tools, everyone’s needs are slightly different, and everyone’s prioritization of features, value, performance, and aesthetics are different. We all tend to think our priorities are universal, but of course they aren’t in computers any more than they are in politics.

Some recent Mac switchers jump over because they like the look of the new Mac hardware. Some are convinved by Intel Macs’ ability to run Windows apps. Others are enticed by the iApps or by the allure of fewer malware problems.

On the other hand, there are millions of people who will always prefer PCs to Macs. You can’t build your own Mac. Dedicated gaming boxes aren’t exactly an Apple specialty. If you want the absolute cheapest computer possible because you can’t afford more, Apple can’t help you.

And if your needs are met by either a Mac or a PC, odds are you will get more passionate about your choice the more you use your computer. The more familar you get with that tool, the more of its capabilities you discover, the more firmly wedded to it you are likely to become. You can’t help but form an emotional attachment to something you are tied to so closely.

So while in the abstract VoR sounds sensible, he is ignoring human nature. We love tools. We form emotional attachments to them. That makes the resurgence of the Mac over the past few years even more impressive than it might otherwise seem. Apple is overcoming network effects, antiquated notions about Macintosh capabilities, and consumer inertia. Perhaps most importantly, Apple is tackling emotional attachment to PCs by delivering technology people enjoy using, offering enticing retail and online sales venues, and crafting the kind of marketing that elicits an emotional response.

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