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The fact that you do have a choice is hidden from millions of Americans.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Don't let the cone of silence hide the real choice you have when buying a computer


Nov. 17, 2002


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, The Post-Standard

   If you're shopping for a new personal computer, don't get caught in the cone of silence.
   The silence keeps many consumers from exercising a real choice when they are looking for a good home computer.
   Walk into a store that sells PCs and in nearly every case a cone of silence will descend. No one in the store will tell you the facts.
   Pick up a copy of PC Magazine, the nation's most respected monthly publication covering computers, and you'll fall under another cone of silence. Unless you're careful to read every possible article, you'll hear nothing about the real choice you have when you're buying a computer.
   The fact that you do have a choice is hidden from millions of Americans. PC Magazine is a good example of how this cone of silence works.
   This year the editors of PC Magazine voted Apple's latest iMac computer the best desktop PC you can buy. This year, when they surveyed thousands of computer owners and ranked manufacturers on service and support, the top score was awarded to Apple Computer.
   Yet, in issue after issue, PC Magazine touts another kind of perconal computer. A Martian peering into the magazines in your mailbox would never discover that there is a choice in computers. Aliens and humans alike are being told day after day that this is a world of Windows PCs.
   In truth, the world has not yet succumbed. Although Windows PCs account for at least 90 percent of all personal computers worldwide, you still have a choice. Yet chances are your friends and coworkers will try to keep that cone of silence around you the next time you ask for their recommendations in choosing a computer. They'll mention a Dell or a Gateway or an IBM, all Windows PCs.
   I find this odd. Apple's computers have enough advantages to fill a DVD.
   They're much safer than Windows PCs because they are far less attractive to infiltration across the Internet. They're immune to Windows viruses. They are delivered with a built-in e-mail spam filter. They come free with a version of Internet Explorer that has none of the security lapses in the one you get with Windows. They take 10 minutes to set up and use. And they're practically born to play music and show videos.
   Who knows this? Your neighbor? Probably not. The guy in the next cubicle? Forget it.
   Ask them what to buy, and they chatter about Windows PCs. Aren't these the same people who drive you crazy every few weeks will tales of woe after their Windows PCs crash or get infected by viruses?
   We would all think it strange if no one talked about BMWs just because most consumers drove Toyotas and Fords. We'd wonder what was going on if we went to a fancy restaurant and found that steak had been removed from the menu -- had been placed in a cone of silence -- because most of the people who go there prefer hamburgers.
   Apple's iMacs cost about the same as comparable Windows PCs and hold their value longer. They're better looking than Windows PCs -- if you have never seen one, you're in for a surprise -- and they've won universal praise for their gorgeous display quality.
   There are 10,000 programs available for Apple's new operating system, including Microsoft Office, and Apple's iMacs (and its other new Macintoshes) connect to Windows PCs in a heartbeat.
   If you had never heard about this, or hadn't known the real facts, consider the cone of silence removed. Choices are vital in today's consumer economy, and this one might well be too fascinating to pass up.