How many have you converted?

[prostuff1]

I have converted 2-3 and working on another.

First was a close friend that is getting a mini for christmas (be very quiet, he doesn't know yet)

Second was my grandmother. She was going to get some really cheap PC but i conviced her to get and eMac (this was before the mac minis came out).

The third i am still working on. Another close friend that really does not do a whole lot of gaming but has a windows PC and laptop. He got it mostly cause he was framiliar with windows and was afraid to change. Just have to get him over to the house and have a look at my iMac and that should change his mind. He was so happy when he got his ne pc because it had all the norton antivirus and stuff installed on it, then i told him that mine did not come with that stuff and he was like "to bad." I just laugh and told him that macs dont get viruses and spyware so there is no need for that stuff on a mac. Shouldn't be to much longer though, his PC is starting to slow down and he is kinda unsure why (i think it was his moms fault though).

So it is 2 an counting for me

 

[clayj]

None.

"Converted"? What is this, a religion? Those who tried to convert me to Macs found themselves shunned. When I bought a Mac, it was because I decided to do it, not because anyone told me to or tried to convince me of how superior they may (or may not) be.

 

[Jay42]

What is this, a religion?

Coming close...(in a good way!)

 

[raddsigns]

my wife, 8 good friends, sister, soon my dad, and still working on my brother-in-law. So I guess for now I'm at 10.

 

[SiliconAddict]

About 20-ish. I don't keep count. I just do it.

 

[Malus]

In the process of converting my brother, he just bought an ipod nano...its only a matter of time......

 

[ifjake]

i would have gotten my little sister to switch when she bought a laptop for college, but i've had to send my laptop away 4 times and i wouldn't really want to subject her to that possibility. i now have a replacement and i love the thing, but it was a pain to get my mac experience to where it is now. she'll be fine with a PC. she gets all that software to keep Windows from sucking (virus spyware etc.) plus Office and stuff for free so it'll do.

there's one person i know i would have been able to get to switch easy except that she's a comp sci grad student. she usually oogles my laptop whenever she sees it, but one time she was like "oh OS X. I can get that to run on my PC now." um.... pirate. my Powerbook will still look prettier than whatever piece of junk she installs it on.

 

[Makosuke]

Eleven that come to mind, although I only get partial credit for several

3 first time buyers (including my future wife, so that was a given, and one iMac donation)
3 co-workers (all spurred because the Macs at work seem to function better)
1 friend (because Windows just wouldn't handle Japanese as well as my Mac)
2 relative-in-laws (my brother's trouble-free Mac helped a lot)
2 clients

There's also another couple I know who's leaning that way on their next purchase. They all either had some interest in a Mac and came to me for advice as the computer expert they knew, or their needs were well served by a Mac and so that's what I recommended when asked. I do think several made the Mac consideration to begin with simply because I was the most knowledgable computer person they knew and I use a Mac (and never seemed to have the problems they did).

"Converted"? What is this, a religion? Those who tried to convert me to Macs found themselves shunned. When I bought a Mac, it was because I decided to do it, not because anyone told me to or tried to convince me of how superior they may (or may not) be.

I think you're misunderstanding this; most of us (the reasonable ones, anyway) aren't running around prosletyzing to the hethens, we're happy with our computers, and when we look at the problems others have that we don't, we enjoy encouraging them to join us in a more plesant computing experience.

It'd be the same if you convinced someone to give up driving a really breakdown-prone brand of car for no good reason in favor of something more reliable, just because you want to see them be more productive and not hate driving so much.

That's the case for every single person I've "converted"; there are times I DON'T recommend people buy a Mac, if it won't serve their needs. It's just that most people ARE better served by a Mac, so I like seeing them get one. Plus, then I don't have to go fix their bloody Dell once a month.

(Also, in the grand scheme of things, if the percentage of Mac users gets a little higher, then the available software and hardware offerings increase, which benefits me personally.)

 

[p0intblank]

I converted my dad (iMac G5), my mom (iBook G4) and a close friend of our's (iMac G5). I want my parents to buy my sister an iMac or Mac mini, but she says she doesn't really need one... heck, I'd take a new Mac anyday!

 

[Les Kern]

Maybe 40-50?
But that's becasue at my job we demand the use of Macs... and over the years some folks, after crying they didn't have a PC, now refuse to give up Macs and in fact most bought one for home use.
For friends its been 5.

 

[HiRez]

If I started converting people, I would (1) lose a small part of my aura of superiority, and (2) have to provide even more tech support.

So true. I've converted at least 5 people I can think of, and I'm "nudging" several others right now. You must do it slowly so as not to anger them, like playing with a lost bear cub you found in the woods.

 

[Xeem]

We'll say 2.5.... hopefully 3 within a couple months

 

[Crikey]

Three co-workers have bought G5 iMacs, and a friend bought an iBook. A fourth co-worker was really tempted by the iMac; I don't know if she ended up buying.

I may end up partially responsible for more switchers, since I put a couple of iMacs in the lobby at work as public-access Internet terminals.

Lest we give ourselves too much credit, I really think it's Windows that is selling all these Macs.


Crikey

 

[mizzi]

i converted as of yesterday. i ordered a 15" powerbook with 2 gigs of memory. i'm anxiously awaiting it in the mail, flawed screen (or so i've read) and all...

 

[Makosuke]

Lest we give ourselves too much credit, I really think it's Windows that is selling all these Macs.

Indeed. Apple deserves a bit of the credit, but a good half of the argument for switching is "Anything has got to be better than Windows." In fact, talking to someone contemplating switching, the best argument I gave for why at the very least they wouldn't be disappointed was "No matter how bad it is, it can't possibly not be better than Windows ME." She agreed.

I actually remembered one other person who came to me for switching advice and ended up with a 15" PB, but she'd already mostly made up her mind due to how happy one of my co-worker switchers was with his PB. Does that count?

 

[devman]

None.

"Converted"? What is this, a religion? Those who tried to convert me to Macs found themselves shunned. When I bought a Mac, it was because I decided to do it, not because anyone told me to or tried to convince me of how superior they may (or may not) be.

ok, i'll buy part of that. The thread title is "converted" and you're right. I never went about things that way and don't like to think of things that way (especially using the religious analogy you chose).

That said, when you find something good you tell people about it. Especially your friends. That's what friends do.

You seem to like to tell people about other of your toys (home theater, art, etc.) that you like.

So do I. And that includes my Apple toys

 

[technocoy]

not sure...

that number included my wife, my mom, my sister, four of my best friends, my best friends fiance, my old boss (and his wife), my wife's best friend, two co-workers, wife's brother... those are the ones i'm sure of, but i know there have been a few more.

fun stuff... never even had to get on my soap box, just showed them the benefits, and got a few of them iPods ;-)

technocoy

 

[Mechcozmo]

Two who own Macs, and another two that will be getting Macs soon/replaceing their PCs.

Plus the people who are impressed at my PowerBook when I go on jobs... "You mean you aren't afraid of viruses on this USB stick?"
"Nope."

 

[Mechcozmo]

She's in an Arabian-language university, where she studies Arabic. Naturally, Microsoft Word is a bastard and won't render Arabic properly, much less Hebrew. Had to buy Mellel for her.

Aljazeera.net doesn't display properly apparently.

ActiveX Control Video (also on Al Jazeera) doesn't work.

The most perfect-for-Windows person ever.

NeoOffice works great with Arabic. TextEdit is a good choice for Hebrew, that's what I use.

And why does she need Al Jazeera? Ditch that website. Spreads lies, hatred. Sad that I've heard people (not blaming your friend for anything) quoting it as factual, and when I attempt to disprove them, they say that because Al Jazeera had it on the internet it must be true.

 

[Dandaman]

About 6-7. Mostly friends and my sister (gave her my old ibook).

daniel

 

[me_94501]

Before starting my job:
I switched one friend and got 2 others to at least consider the Mac

After starting my job:
Well, if you consider all the Macs I sold to PC users...

 

[annk]

If I started converting people, I would (1) lose a small part of my aura of superiority, and (2) have to provide even more tech support.

Hehe, funny and almost true

I switched my husband (I'm his tech support, and I made a strong case for him not needing so much help with a Mac - or maybe it's just that I LIKE answering questions about Mac), and my 13-yr-old son (bought him a Mini, put it on his desk and said "here").

 

[Muskie]

is it just me, or does the title of this thread have a creepy cult/religious connotation to it...

 

[caveman_uk]

And why does she need Al Jazeera? Ditch that website. Spreads lies, hatred. Sad that I've heard people (not blaming your friend for anything) quoting it as factual, and when I attempt to disprove them, they say that because Al Jazeera had it on the internet it must be true.

How do you disprove them? By quoting what you've heard/read on other news sites/programmes? Western news outlets are just as capable of selective reporting to further their agenda.

A lot of people in the middle east and elsewhere in the islamic world see Al Jazeera as a lot more truthful in it's reporting than the state controlled media outlets of the countries that many of those people live in.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I have had no (known) success so far in convincing anyone to switch to the Mac.