Pissing Into The Wind: What Kind of Man Are You?

There are certain questions that get to the root of a soul. Are you a dog person or a cat person? SUV or Prius? Innie or Outie? But, of course, no nerd will start talking to you without first asking (of course, in some cases, they don't have to ask, and can know just by looking at you): Mac or PC.

The times have been a-changing recently. Previously, it was easy to cast off the lovers of that harsh Apple Mistress as bourgeois, who daily gorged themselves on caviar and washed it down with all sorts of expensive liquids: champagne, experimental pharmaceuticals, unrefined sweet crude. But Apple has made a few moves towards accessibility. iTunes[sic, and goddamn you Steve for making me mess with the capitalization that has been handed down father to son for centuries!] now exists for the PC, convincing a few otherwise lost souls to see the nirvana that is applications that, get this, have a brushed metallic look! Why, it hearkens back to the day that computeres were mighty beasts of machines!

And then today, apple introduced the cheapest Mac ever (at $499) that is also the smallest computer, and an obvious competitor for the cutest of the current year. The new iPod shuffle is a stripped-down sibling of an already petite product. But at only $99, and coming with a lanyard to prominently display it around your neck, you definitely get more bling for your buck.

Make no mistake about it, this is as monumental as BMW coming to high schools everywhere and saying, "No longer are we a mark of being Daddy's Favorite Expense. Give us your tired, your Dodge Daytonas, your Plymouth Voyagers, and we will issue to you a BMW 1-series. Sure, it may have the engine that we laughed at 18 months ago as outdated and slightly prone to igniting in holy inferno, and sure, the wheels may not be 'round', but, it's still a BMW."

So, commentators: after all the shakes-up and announcements, which way do your prayer blankets point: Redmond or Cupertino?