Macintosh computers are no longer reserved for the artsy-fartsy type — just walk into a large lecture hall on any college campus to find myriad white apple icons glowing on the back of note-takers' laptops.
With Macs' inherent user-friendliness and high safety rating — in addition to their "hip" factor — the percentage of students choosing them over PCs is continuing to rise.
Though Apple computers only hold about 15 percent of the demographic's market share, according to a report by Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, 40 percent of college students say their next computer purchase will be a Mac. College students also purchase Macs at a much higher rate than the overall population, in which Apple holds only a 3 percent market share worldwide.
Junior Hannah Chang, the Mac representative for the Tufts campus, said she switched from a PC to a Mac after applying for her job with Apple and has never regretted the jump.
"I already had a computer that worked fine, but my friend told me about the [campus representative] job so I looked it up online and got my new Mac laptop for free," Chang said. "I like how Macs start up quickly, and the battery life is really long. You can record your class lectures, take pictures on Photo Booth and use Garage Band. The built-in camera is great because it can help you communicate with family back home really easily. Macs are not just aesthetically pleasing, but everything about them is really easy to use. My MacBook also doesn't get as hot as my PC used to get."
Freshman Lauren Milord, who had problems with her old PC, is similarly pleased with her decision to switch to Mac.
"I was fed up with my old Dell laptop. It stopped working and it would just shut off randomly. I always heard that Macs were less prone to viruses and that
they are more efficient," she said. "It took a little getting used to, but it wasn't too hard. Overall, I am really happy with [the Mac]."
Judi Rennie, supervisor of Tufts OnLine, said that relative to the amount of Macs on campus, the number of students who bring their Apple computers to receive tech support is quite small.
"I can't think of a year when we saw more than a fistful of Macintosh computers," Rennie said. "We see much more complicated fixes on PCs. There are no real viruses on Macs, and the Mac OS X is so much kinder and gentler than even the old Macs … It is really a self-serving machine. You can slap in the TechTool CD and it is able to repair the computer for you so you don't need to bring it in [to us]."
Meredith Turits, a senior who formerly worked at an Apple store, agrees
that the safety of the Mac software is incomparable to that of Windows.
"There are no known viruses for Mac OS [X] 10. It's in virtue of the way the security is set up. I'll make a concession and say that because we have [a small portion] of the entire market share, there is very little incentive for anyone who wants to start a virus. [Also], Macs can't use .exe files, which are how most viruses are encrypted," she said.
While their safety and ease have made them increasingly popular, so have their marketing techniques.
"Mac's marketing is really clever and they have a bunch of fun features like Photo Booth. The Mac store is the coolest store ever," Milord said.
Turits believes that Apple's growing popularity is due to the rise of the iPod over the past several years.
"Because the iPod became a real fixture in
[our] culture, people became more cognizant of the brand and what it had to offer," she said. "It is not just a niche-nerd thing anymore — you walk into a café or a school library and 40 to 45 percent of what you see is Macs. The operating system is so intuitive: You touch it and it feels like home. The fact that Apple retail has built out so much is definitely a part of the popularization, too. At the Apple store, you go in and you [interact] one-on-one with people who know their stuff — and we don't work on commission."
Rennie is a big fan of all the applications that Apple offers, like the Spotlight search tool and a built-in karaoke game for her iTunes.
"Everything is also more compatible now that you can run Windows on Macs," Rennie said.
The success of Apple is also concurrent with the relative failure of Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system, which has seen customer satisfaction rates lower that its former operating systems.
"Vista is Microsoft's least successful system. They had to keep delaying the Microsoft XP cutoff date because so many people were asking for computers with XP instead of Vista," Turits said.
While many students are making the switch to Macs and adopting newfound Apple pride, others stand by their PC allegiances.
Freshman Joe McLoughlin didn't have to think twice when he opted to purchase a PC. "I'm really happy with my computer. I guess I'm just used to the way PCs and the Windows system work," he said. "Sometimes it runs slowly but nothing intense has happened. I haven't had any viruses."
Still, Mac buffs on campus are enthused by their Apples.
"Mac is a much more loving software," Rennie said. "Apple kids learn to use their computers out of love, whereas PC users learn [to use them] out of necessity."
