At one of the Labor Day barbeques I went to this weekend, a friend came up to me and said the words that I live for: “Your tech advice really helped me“. So of course I said “What did I tell you to do?”
My friend, a fellow mom, has an (Apple) iPhone as her smartphone and one family PC for home use. Syncing her iPhone calender to her PC was a challenge, so she asked me for help. I showed her different ways to sync smartphone calenders with her PC desktop and websites on the cloud, but we could not find a solution that worked for her daily routines. She was confused – even though her husband preferred a PC – should she get a (Apple) MAC for herself? In the world of PC versus MAC, it is ok for a family to have both in the same household? So I gave her my word of advice:
“stay within the same tech infrastructure – go buy yourself a MAC and the rest of the family can use the family PC”. She did just that.
My friend told me that having a MAC was helpful for her daily tasks and to use with her iPhone. Her husband and family are happy because they have the PC to use.
This is an issue I can relate to. I prefer Window’s PC’s: I use a PC with a big screen at home and have a separate (smaller and lighter) travel laptop for mobile use. I enjoy using Microsoft Outlook for my calender that syncs with my smartphone and many online services I use as well. My tween wanted a MACBook to use for homework because he was using one at school – so we bought him one. I passed down an old, but in good working order, PC for my 8 year old twins to use and they are thrilled.
My advice to anyone in a state of confusion over the MAC versus PC debate is to ask themselves: “what tech infrastructure do they want to use?” As busy parents, it is important to make our lives easier by using technology that seamlessly works in our daily schedules.
