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[size=12pt]Bottom line is, if all of your peers are on a Mac and you are not, you will be at a disadvantage.
File sharing, working on your co-workers files, etc.
You should be using what everyone in your profession is using.[/size]
This isn't true at all. All formats have Windows equivs/converters. Especially for the eventual goal of sound design.
It should also be noted to the post I didn't quote, I'm not doing anything too heavy. Just stage/light simulations, nothing dynamic at all. I don't need a powerhouse, or I'd get a desktop and be done with it. I need a mobile workstation.
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Just to address some of the Customer Service comments:
I've seen a number of surveys that poll people for how companies fair with their tech support, and Apple is almost always at the top. I have no idea how that's true.
My family [minus myself] is obsessed with Apple laptops, and we've had a relentless stream of problems: broken hinges, $800 repairs to an initially $1200 computer (WITH AppleCare), broken power cables x3 (pre-MagSafe), extremely grumpy tech people, long waits over the phone, circular advice through phone support (usually doesn't help either), all sorts of issues after getting back a "repaired" laptop, slow down over time... urg. I've had to do 24/7 tech support around my house for a while.
A lot of those problems are offset by when Apple acknowledged that their attempts to repair a Macbook that crashed during my brother's finals week were futile, and they just gave him a new one for free. That was definitely a redeeming moment for them in my eyes. My fam has probably been particularly unlucky, but in my experience I can't call any Apple laptop we've owned as reliable, and their service [until the replacement] was atrocious. Needless to say, I'm skeptical of any claim of quality Customer Service given my first-hand experience.
As for the prevalence of Apple computers everywhere: I think the popularity of Apple products in media is, as DrSpiv mentioned, just a matter of comfort. College campuses, and especially liberal arts / media bent schools are completely covered in Apple laptops, and if you're acclimated to the OS and design, why change later? A lot of people get sick of the crappy $500 15" laptops they buy, spend 3x more on a MB/MBP and realize that a lot of their problems went away (even if those problems would have gone away with an equivalent PC). Not necessarily the superior product, but it gets work done, and for many people, gets work done in an elegant, easy manner.
Hope I didn't ramble too much
That's good that they corrected the error. Mind you, that was pretty much after you paid them nearly enough for a new one in support. (AppleCare ($300) + repairs ($800) + chargers/parts ($100-300))
I really do think this is the problem. People see the lowest end laptop, and compare it to the lowest end Mac. Hugely different prices, but still 'lowest end'.
Also, colleges/schools using Macs exclusively (like mine) really makes me mad. Windows/Linux have a lot to offer, and they lock everyone into that one system.
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I'm on my second Mac and I can give you 3 reasons:
1) Build quality. It's a lot of things that are more than cosmetic, from the case to the screen to the way the hard drive locks the second the computer detects motion to....it's lots of things. A Windows laptop of comparable hardware quality will cost nearly as much. Apple's reputation for being expensive isn't based on over-charging for what they sell it is because they don't sell anything cheap.
2) The operating system. OSX is always a generation or two ahead of Windows, and when a new release comes out it always works and is usually faster, more powerful and more compact. Windows? It seems like only every other major release if fully functional and they always eat more hard drive. Besides, I just like it better. It is much more intuitive, much easier to use, particularly on complex functions.
3) It is a closed system. Yep. The biggest complaint is Apple's greatest strength. They don't let every Tom, Dick and Harry who thinks he can write code run stuff on the OS, and the result is that everything just seems to work together seamlessly. Maybe Windows has gotten better, but a couple of laptops ago, it was pretty bad. Seems like every hardware add-on required phone calls and downloads, and every piece of software worked completely differently, and didn't always play well with others. You simply don't have to deal with any of this on a Mac. Hate the closed system if you must, but it works. It doesn't feel closed. It feels empowered.
With all of that said, I'm not married to them. If Google or Microsoft came up with a system that worked as well, I'd give it a shot.
p
1) Actually, the ASUS I linked much earlier was of superior quality in hardware. Quad core over dual core, 2 HDD bays vs one, overclocking abilities/CMOS access, nicer keyboard, better ventilation... I could go on. The hardware in the ASUS is equal to or superior than the hardware in the Mac. This includes mobo (of which they use a similar one), chip quality (top bin i7s, similar clocking ratio, same wattage), video card (both use reference-line boards/chips from their own supporting companies), and most low-level technology (the only one I can't think of a Windows machine having is the switching video card. Which means very little to me.) Go look up a teardown of the 2010 MBP if you don't believe me. You'll see some pretty common names.
2) They're actually fairly similar. OSX takes up about 5gbs, and my Win7 Ult 32bit takes up 6.2gbs. Honestly, though. In this day and age we have the space. We aren't going to miss an extra 1.2gbs. Infact, you can get a 2gb harddrive for pennies. Also, I HATE that OSX dumbs down the interface. My Windows install is super easy to use and work on, so I really don't know what else you tell you on that.
3) The closed system is a negative for so many reasons. One, anyone can develop on OSX, that's a false fact. There is no approval process or anything like that for OSX. Hardware not being universally supported is negative because it demotes competition. They create a monopoly on their own products, and maximize profits doing so. Infact, they had a chance to make OSX work on any machine with the IA32-64 OS update. But they didn't, because they enjoy their legal monopoly on their systems.
Competition should be something promoted, not punished. It makes better products.
