Another Mossberg Answer to the Mac Vs PC Question

Walter Mossberg is the outstanding technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal where he recently entertained another question from the parent of a college bound student on whether to buy a Mac or a PC.

He correctly points out the obvious - PC's come in many styles, configurations and specifications from a multitude of manufacturers. He didn't point out another obvious point. What do all these machines have in common? They run Microsoft Windows.

But here's the killer quote:

"Macs have extremely high customer satisfaction, according to most major surveys, better built-in software and, perhaps most important, they aren't susceptible to the vast majority of malicious software, a particular problem on college campuses that can cost money and time and risk losing work." (See the full story)

He does recommend checking with your particular college or university to see if they support Macs as well as PC's. My son is in his final year at a large public university and he and over half of his classmates arrived with Macs - to a university that did not support Apple. And as a Civil Engineering major he was never limited using his Mac. The university has since started to support Apple. And like many universities, has an Apple store on campus.

And while I do miss my son - I've never had a phone call that started with "dad my computer is broken".

College and life's hard enough - buy a Mac.

So What's Your Reason for Starting Your Own Business?

The number one reason for starting your own small business is because you simply need a job! You looked for a job, you wanted a job - but a job was no where to be found. This is when the resourceful, independent entrepreneur launches into what they hope will be a successful enterprise. Maybe it works, but you keep a eye out just in case that job finally shows up.

A close second is the job you have is the one you hate. Whether its the work, the company or the boss. According to Dilbert creator Scott Adams in a recent WSJ article:

"Our system requires a continuous supply of highly capable people who are so disgruntled with their jobs that they are willing to chew off their own arms to escape their bosses. The economy needs hamster-brained sociopaths in management to drive down the opportunity cost of entrepreneurship. Luckily, we're blessed with an ample supply." Read the full article

Either way, find something you love, make a plan, count your pennies (use open source erp) and go out and make it happen. You might not be a success the first time out, so you take the lessons learned and make another run at it.

So what's your reason?