According to Allen Alonzo, manager of Cardinal Technologies, 85 percent of the 260 computers bought from the University by the class of ’11 were Macs, an increase of 55 percent from last year’s freshmen sales.
Although a recent nation-wide special offer (which gave students a free iPod nano with the purchase of any Mac) may have added to the Mac allure, Apple computers are no cheaper at Wesleyan than those bought directly from the manufacturer itself.
“We actually make nothing on our computer sales from Apple,” said Assistant Manager for Retail Sales for Cardinal Technologies Luis Rodriguez.
The increase in Mac sales this term can be attributed to the introduction of Intel processors to Macs. Intel now allows more than one operating system to run on the same computer, i.e., Mac users can now run their own personal Windows PC within their Mac.
“It totally switched the tide,” Alonzo said. “A lot of PC users who were afraid to use Mac OS said they would try it, knowing they could run Windows on the Mac.”
The somewhat erroneous perception that Macs remain virus-free also persuaded some freshmen to switch over.
“I had such a bad experience with PCs at home. It broke, like, three times because of all the viruses,” said Christina Barnett ’11. “I thought, ‘Hell yeah, let me get something that doesn’t get viruses.’”
“No viruses,” Rodriguez added. “No anti-viruses. As much porn as a guy could want and no viruses.”
In fact, Macs are not completely immune to viruses. However, they have proven significantly less vulnerable to them.
“Because they have a smaller user base, there [are fewer] viruses put out for them,” said HelpDesk employee Rod O’Connor ’08.
“[Fewer] people attack Macs because there [are fewer] loopholes, [fewer] programs,” said HelpDesk employee Eric Boon ’10.
The marketing of the Mac’s sleek appearance and high-tech gadgets also persuaded some students to purchase.
“They’re beautiful machines,” Rodriguez said. “And their marketing is huge. Offering a free iPod. Plus Apple’s coming out with all this cool new shit, like iPhone.”
Lifelong Mac users, like Greta Hartenstein ’11, praise the simplicity that they say Mac computers provide.
“Mac is making the laptops really accessible to college students,” Hartenstein said. “If you’re just going to do regular college stuff like going online or using iTunes or writing a paper, it’s better.”
Others were drawn to the additional programs that Mac offers. Though PC users can buy and install the same programs, Macs come pre-made with them.
“You get this computer and it has all this cool stuff like Garage Band already built-in,” said Joella Jones ’11. “The average person is too lazy to refurbish their computer like that.”
Not all computer users agree with these claims. Those used to using Windows on a PC, such as Arielle Knight ’11, did not agree that it was easy to adapt to Apple’s operating system.
“I can’t learn how to use a Mac,” Knight said. “It’s too hard. It’s a big change.”
Microsoft’s Windows also underwent a facelift this year with the introduction of Windows Vista, intended to be a better, sleeker version of Windows XP. However, complaints of slow processing speed and endless incompatible applications damaged Vista’s reputation among on-campus buyers and dissuaded would-be purchasers. Windows laptops now require two gigabytes of RAM (memory) to properly run the Vista system, as opposed to the one-gigabyte requirement for running Windows XP.
“Vista’s been pretty iffy,” said HelpDesk employee Lucas Hoeffel ’09.
Even as students’ computer preferences seem to be changing, though, Knight seemed to think that the difference in student taste might be much simpler than technological innovation.
“I think it’s all just what you get used to,” he said.
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