The Outcast
As I sat there, I began to observe the room. My focus was no longer on the short woman speaking in front of me, but rather on the fact that as I looked around, I found myself to be the minority. In this stuffy classroom that lacks windows and sunshine, I was forced to swallow my pride. You may look at me and ask yourself, this girl is a minority? How is it that a short, white, blonde haired, hazel eyed female is different from everyone else? I will admit it is the first time that I can remember not fitting in with the stereotypical crowd, and I found that it was not a position I particularly liked to be in. Out of twenty students in my upper division English course, I was one of two who did not own a Mac.
The small slanted desk that is situated in front of me each week holds a piece of technology I could not live without. It is a tool for my writing, gives me the ability to research with ease, and even at times, I use it for mere entertainment. Since freshman year of college, I have always been self-conscious on this campus. Not in particular to how I look or how I dress, but largely because when students slide out their laptops from their backpacks, that little white apple stares me down.
When forced to work on the library computers, I pray that I luckily choose a desktop that has Microsoft Windows on it. It has become a joke that when I must use my friends’ Macs, I begin to have mini panic attacks due to my insufficient knowledge on how they work. Continuously they tell me Macs are meant to be simple and easy, but, as I have for four years, I will argue and defend my non-Mac.
As one of the most widely known products in the world, Apple has done a wonderful job with their creations and has successfully outdone most other technological companies. Their advertising campaigns have accomplished just what they are supposed to, making their audiences laugh when they ran their “Mac vs. PC” commercials. What they seemed to leave out was the biggest deterrence in my case. The price. The lowest price for a Mac is $999, which of course does not include anything but the basics. My Compaq can be found online from $399-699. And did I mention I got mine during the Black Friday sale? When comparing what the laptops can actually do, I haven’t seen much of a difference. For college use, either the Mac or the “knock-off” brands can do what needs to be done.
I’m not bad mouthing Apple, or saying that I will never own a Mac (I’ve had two iPods and have been a content consumer). The point I’m trying to make is this: in the four years of writing papers, researching, Facebooking, and watching TV on Hulu, should college students rely on a high priced name brand or a reasonable just-as-good laptop? I have come to terms that I am not in possession of the famous Apple brand, and when I pull out my widescreen black laptop in class, I proudly set it on my desk in between the white dollar signs.
-- Jackie DiBiase
The small slanted desk that is situated in front of me each week holds a piece of technology I could not live without. It is a tool for my writing, gives me the ability to research with ease, and even at times, I use it for mere entertainment. Since freshman year of college, I have always been self-conscious on this campus. Not in particular to how I look or how I dress, but largely because when students slide out their laptops from their backpacks, that little white apple stares me down.
When forced to work on the library computers, I pray that I luckily choose a desktop that has Microsoft Windows on it. It has become a joke that when I must use my friends’ Macs, I begin to have mini panic attacks due to my insufficient knowledge on how they work. Continuously they tell me Macs are meant to be simple and easy, but, as I have for four years, I will argue and defend my non-Mac.
As one of the most widely known products in the world, Apple has done a wonderful job with their creations and has successfully outdone most other technological companies. Their advertising campaigns have accomplished just what they are supposed to, making their audiences laugh when they ran their “Mac vs. PC” commercials. What they seemed to leave out was the biggest deterrence in my case. The price. The lowest price for a Mac is $999, which of course does not include anything but the basics. My Compaq can be found online from $399-699. And did I mention I got mine during the Black Friday sale? When comparing what the laptops can actually do, I haven’t seen much of a difference. For college use, either the Mac or the “knock-off” brands can do what needs to be done.
I’m not bad mouthing Apple, or saying that I will never own a Mac (I’ve had two iPods and have been a content consumer). The point I’m trying to make is this: in the four years of writing papers, researching, Facebooking, and watching TV on Hulu, should college students rely on a high priced name brand or a reasonable just-as-good laptop? I have come to terms that I am not in possession of the famous Apple brand, and when I pull out my widescreen black laptop in class, I proudly set it on my desk in between the white dollar signs.
-- Jackie DiBiase
posted by Editorial Staff | 11:43 AM
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