When I started college way back in 2002, (as a mere slip of a boy, of course) I had never touched a Mac. I knew next to nothing about them and figured they were for elitists and niche programming geeks. Part of me was intimidated to learn a new platform after growing up using nothing but a PC. Six years later, as I’ve forged a career in video production and photography, I own two Macs and haven’t used a PC in years.

There are countless articles out there debating the virtues of each platform so I won’t get into that here. I do want to briefly explain the four main reasons that Mac works for me as a freelance photographer and video producer.

System stability – Working against tight deadlines is stressful enough without worrying about whether or not I’m going to get through my project before the next system freeze or blue screen of death. My MacBook is a workhorse and I need that.

Performance – A lot of times I’m rendering something in After Effects while editing a raw file in Photoshop and fine-tuning my timeline in Final Cut Pro. I can flip between programs quickly and easily and my Mac keeps chugging along.

Maintenance – Spyware, adware, drivers, viruses. These are all four letter words in my vocabulary. Fortunately this just has never been an issue since dumping my PC. I need my computer to fire up quickly and work quickly. If I’m constantly running spyware, hunting down pop-up windows and installing driver updates – this is lost time I could be working.

Reliability – The PC laptop I bought in college spent as much time in the shop as it did in my possession. My Macs almost always work when I need them to. Which isn’t to say that they’ve always been perfect. I had the motherboard go on my Powerbook right when I was about to start a massive editing project. But it was replaced quickly and no data was lost. Crisis averted.

PC’s have come a long way the last several years. One could certainly make the argument that they’re cheaper, more customizable, and potentially even faster. But when I’m grabbing my pile of camera gear to go on a shoot, I throw my MacBook into my bag and I’m ready for battle. It does what I need it to do and I’m geared up to fend off my next looming deadline with poise and determination. Now where did I put those car keys?

Thanks for reading my first entry here at Mactropolis. I’m a newbie around here and hope to contribute as often as I can from the standpoint of a professional photographer/videographer. I was employed at a tv station for several years as a video journalist but have recently left the machine to do freelance work. I’ll try to poke around the forums as much as I can so feel free to give me your feedback - good and bad. I can take it! (I think!)

written by Jarrod Tully \\ tags: Mac vs. PC, Making the Switch