Mr. Wood, Your Laptop is Ready...

So, after much debate, I got online the other day with the Apple Store Concierge and made a "Personal Shopping" appointment for last Thursday. I was still wrestling with this "PC vs. Mac" thing -- logic said PC, emotion said Mac. Which was the right decision?

I walked in at 11:00 am and was met promptly by Kristin, whose business card carries the title "Expert". I was very honest with her:

• Not gonna buy anything today.
• Struggling with why I should pay 2-3x for a MacBook Pro
• Wanting to understand the emotional geas that Apple had magically placed upon me.

Kristin had obviously had this conversation dozens of times as her patter was perfect. She asked what I did and what I'd use it for. (We had a good conversation about Apple being the ultimate expression of the Product Management discipline in their ability to create products that people don't know they need until they get it and then realize they can't live without. Kristin told me that Jobs insists on NO Focus Groups. Jobs believes that Focus Groups bias the analysis towards what users already know and if you want a transformative experience, you have to push through existing perceptions.)

Anyway, she recommended the low-end MacBook Pro, as the higher-end models are designed for graphic designers.

Her arguments as to why I should spend more on an Apple were essentially this:

• The software and systems are better integrated. For example, a new calendar item appears on your iPhone instantly without syncing. Multiple iPhones can sync with multiple calendars simultaneously (I was thinking me and my wife).
• Much of the software is just "better" in terms of functionality and usability. We looked specifically at Apple's version of PowerPoint and their photo editing software.
• She stressed the service. Training, support, file conversion -- all available locally and painless. While I bristle at the idea of having to make an appointment, when you do have an appointment, the experience really is quite good.
• The system has lots of nice little design features, like a lighted keyboard, enormous battery life, and a power connector that uses a magnetic (rather than physical) connection.
• She claimed some unique-to-Apple firmware mods to reduce vulnerability to security threats, even when I brought up the concept that viruses were far less of a problem than browser-based threats today.

But, in the end, her pitch was still primarily emotional. Her main point, and it was a good one, was this: "How many times do you hear people say 'I love my PC'? You will love your MacBook. You will love the experience of using it." It's a strong argument. I left wanting one.

But will I get one? Stay tuned...