My Mac problem: Too many and too alike

(Credit: Apple)

Here in the Asay home we have a growing problem: Each year we add a Mac to the fold, making it increasingly more difficult to tell them apart. My wife, eldest daughter, and I each have MacBook Pros. Soon, no doubt, my nine-year old son will get one. I love the way the Macs look, but it becomes a problem when they all look the same.

That's at home. Imagine what it's like at work, where we have scads of MacBook Pros.

Yes, we could litter the laptops with stickers, but that's a bit like sacrilege (though some disagree).

It's much easier in PC land, where various shades of ugliness help to distinguish criminally ugly Dells from nice-try Toshibas. ThinkPads are the only PCs worth buying, but they suffer from the same defect that MacBook Pros do: They all look the same.

Today this may not be an issue for you. But with the Mac poised to grab eight percent of the desktop/laptop market, and set to double over the next three years according to Gartner, it's a problem that you, too, may be fortunate to have.

[blabtech]

This is a problem..... but they make such great computers, now they have to start making them in different colors, until then you can just add a case on the laptop, in the worst scenario..

http://blabtech.blogspot.com

[rossburton]

GroovyLids on Etsy -- http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5721296 -- sells vinyl laptop lid stickers which are both cool and removable.

[all-usernames-in-use]

Can we get the title of this blog changed, please? It's ridiculous to call it "the open road" and suggest that we buy in to a closed system.

It's like visiting a church for the first time and getting cornered by an Amway associate.

[royrusso]

Solution: At your next company meeting, use your car key to scratch obscenities in to every Mac you see, except yours.

[nandod2]

what a waste of time... does this guy get paid to write such mindless articles? geez

[nandod2]

what a waste of time... does this guy get paid to write such mindless articles? geez

[ArtInvent]

Oh good grief. Not that I want a Windows machine, but this post just reeks of ignorant Mac snob superiority. Mac's are nice. But, as you say, they found one nice look and do it to death. Dell and HP both are making some beautiful machines now that are sleek and have interesting textures and colors - and aren't all the same. I often wonder what market share Apple would have if they loosened up a little and appealed to more than just the Mac fanatics who take whatever white and aluminum box Jobs anoints as 'the' Mac design. (At least the iPod comes in cool colors.)

[chustar]

One question:
Is the eight percent that they're poised to grab based on actual users or online users?

[cardes]

I actually want a mac, but tools like this guy make me take pause.

[batitombo]

so... you gonna switch to PC maybe windows XP because they all look alike?? jajaja welcome back to the past!! Upgrade to Windows XP or downgrade to Vista for a sluggy machine! soo........ or go Linux, but... If you have the tech ability well go ahead, I have worked with windows, linux and mac, MAC is by far the best OS.... THE BEST no doubt, the way it handles process and it works close to the core unlike windows which works in layers.. WTFFFF no wonder is so sluggish! remember *nix is a really a old OS so..... is far more experienced than windows XP or Vista..

[lawgone]

Yeah, that fanatical rant is really gonna make want to get a Mac. Sounds like somebody drank the koolaid.

[uid-0]

What not buy a hard shell case. My favorite is the "Bad Girl" case from MacBook Case (www.macbook-case.com). It will certainly make your MBP standout at work.

[odc88]

Typical pompous mac user. Hope Cnet isn't paying this guy.

[lawgone]

Unless Apple significantly lowers its prices on Macs then those future market share estimates will never come to fruition. Macs, especially the notebooks, are vastly over-priced. To make matters worse, I've yet to see any extra functionality that would justify the increased price. In fact, as is the Apple way, they choose to leave out common features found on entry level PC's. Some people will pay a high premium for style but not enough to gain the market share they would like.

[smokinmunky]

For a guy who's blog is entitled "The Open Road" why the hell does he used the most closed OS ever created? If this moron and his family actually used Linux (instead of a mac) I'd give him some street cred.

CNET, I would like for your organization to a have a blog about "The business and politics of open source" not some ******* talk about how a proprietary OS is better then another proprietary OS.

[iJuleguy]

If you call this a "problem", then I guess this is more important than rising gas prices. I can just imagine the household tragedy that is going on right now. "OH NO!!! WE HAVE TOO MANY MACBOOK PRO'S, THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME!!! I STILL HAVE TO BUY ONE FOR MY NINE YEAR OLD SON!!!". This article is a personal rant, that should be kept inside...because you pissed some people (including me) off.

[mohanman]

Wow..that was one of the dumbest articles I ever read. Don't people have the same cell phones, the same same purses, the same cars? Just personalize it for god sakes and move on.
Cnet, you gotta do something about dumb stuff like this.

[bradleyfikes]

Come on, you are capable of better work than this.

By your own words, it seems your heart is with the Mac, not open source. If that's true, perhaps you should give up writing about open source and go with what you really like.

And why write that ThinkPads are the only PCs worth buying? If that was intended to stir up controversy, you succeeded. But making such sensationalist statements demeans you. Your personal taste is not an objective standard, and I for one would far rather have a PC than a Mac. (If the PC runs Linux, so much the better).

Making link-bait statements may get you some more page views at first, but serious readers hoping to learn about open source will get discouraged and go elsewhere. Then you will be left with the trolls you complained about earlier. That would be a great loss for the open source community. Please think about that.

Have a happy Fourth!

[justdenny]

Your 9 year old son needs a 2000 dollar computer? Throughout Africa and India and the rest of the world, there are countless 9 year olds who need 50 cents a day to feed their families...He's probably going to need a BMW convertible in a few years...maybe there won't be any gas left by then and you won't have to worry about how much it looks like everyone else's BMW convertible...CNET needs to start posting by-lines so we don't all waste our time clicking on this drivel.

[tjharman]

Honestly, what next? How are you going to tell your Mice and Keyboards apart?

Either:

a) Put a sticker on it or something similar
b) Admit you're creating this problem yourself by not putting a sticker on them.

In what situation exactly are you getting them all mixed up? Do you leave all your family Macs on a single table at home? Putting them all in a single bag as you leave the house?

This is probably the most pointless article I've read on C|Net in a while. I look forward to your next exciting instalment about how you have trouble because all the N95's in the office look the same.

This comment isn't meant as a Troll, don't reply to it if you think it is one. I just want to express my opinion that this article is really pointless and silly.

If you can give me a good example where this could actually ever be a real problem, I'd love to hear it.

Tim

[swissfondue1]

Etch a design on the cover. Looks like a snazzy tattoo on aluminum Books.