Mac voyeurs are people who want to know all about my Macintosh project. They are intensely interested in knowing everything about how the Mac works. That's innocent enough, but it grows from there.
These people tell me--almost emotionally--how important they think Macintosh is. They usually say something like, "It keeps Microsoft honest" or "Bill Gates stole all his good ideas from Apple."
They speculate about what a genius Steve Jobs must be. "You've really met him?" they ask in awe. "Yes, but only recently," I tell them. I suspect they'd buy me dinner just to hear my Steve story. I should probably thank him for all the free meals I'll be getting. (Did I also mention I have a story about how my radio producer's wife walks her dog with Steve Wozniak every morning without recognising the other Apple founder?)
And there's one other thing about Mac voyeurs, and this explains the voyeur part: They absolutely, positively, under any circumstances wouldn't ever buy a Mac. I suspect that for these people, the Apple Store would be adult entertainment.
Frankly, I am getting a bit tired of telling these Windows bigots--people who don't even know why they use Windows except that everyone else does--about the wonders of Macintosh. Hell, Windows is just fine for them, so I'd hate to push them into a non-conformity they just couldn't handle.
Now, I am not here to tell these people to shut up and go buy a Mac if they love them so much. OK, maybe I am. But despite the month (due to illness it's going to turn out to be six weeks) that I've promised to use a Mac as my primary work machine, I haven't become a Mac zealot.
But I have developed a very healthy respect for the Mac as a home computer and, with some networking improvements, as a player on a Windows-based network. All the things the Mac voyeurs like about the computer they'll never own are right there. And I'll keep saying that if more people were exposed to Macintosh, more people would buy one.
So why don't the Mac voyeurs buy in? They are absolutely, positively convinced that buying a Mac means losing something important. I understand this point of view. And if someone is really convinced, I can't make him or her think otherwise. Truth be told, there really are many fewer Mac apps than Windows apps.
But the real question is whether the apps you need--or acceptable alternatives--are available on Macintosh. And in most cases, for your typical home or office user, I think the answer is yes. And the apps are generally nice ones, too.
Be that as it may, it probably won't convince any of the looky-loos to make the leap from voyeur to owner. Perhaps more extreme measures might work; maybe the next time I run into some of these Mac voyeurs I'll just load them into the car, drive them down to the Apple store, and tell 'em it's time to put up or shut up.
And then either I'll have a new Mac user or maybe get some peace and quiet. Either way, I win.
