Scott Kelby has been working with the Mac in a professional capacity since 1989. As Editor-in-Chief of MacDesign magazine (formerly MacToday) and Photoshop User Magazine, as well as President of the National Association of Photoshop Users (NAPP) and a longtime graphic artist, Kelby has a long history to draw from for his most recent book, Macintosh … The Naked Truth.
Kelby makes no secret that the book is for Mac users and that they are the only ones that will really get what he’s trying to say. In fact, the tag line on the book reads: “An irreverent, off-the-wall, PC-slammin’, totally biased look at what it’s like to be a Macintosh user in a Windows-dominated world.”
While Kelby has received kudos for the work from people such as Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist and CEO of Garage Technology Ventures, who says, “this book is a riot and a must-read for any Macintosh believer,” Kelby has also received some negative reviews on Amazon.com.
The reviews not only knock Kelby, but also Apple.
“Like most anti-PC polemic, the book relies on anecdotal information as opposed to hard facts. And no wonder,” one reviewer said. “When it comes to statistics, Apple comes off poorly. In 2001, 130 million computers were sold. 3.1 million of them were Macs, a market share of 2.4 percent (down from 3.4 percent two years previously). Mac supporters point to similar marketshare of car companies like BMW and Mercedes (but never Hyundai or Kia), without realizing that computers are nothing without hardware and software from independent companies – companies that can spend the same amount and develop for the massive Windows market.”
The reviewer goes on to tackle the “Megahertz Myth” — which Apple has been doing so much over the last few years to dispel — saying, “And the machines themselves are so far behind PCs, it’s ridiculous. Mac advocates who cried ” Megahertz don’t matter” (seems like whatever the Mac doesn’t have, it doesn’t matter), now have to explain that “Gigahertz don’t matter.” No efficiency in the Mac’s CPU can make up for PC processors that are two and a half times as fast. Finally, the price is beyond belief. The fastest PCs cost as much as an iMac.”
“Is it any surprise that some Mac owners are nagged by doubts that they bought the right computer? Is it any wonder they’ll lap up books like this, without caring just how accurate a picture Kelby paints? And there are over forty Mac advocacy sites on the web, whereas the major sites dedicated to PCs are full of reviews of hardware.”
“Kelby responded to the review and others like it by saying, “It’s because of guys like him that I wrote the book in the first place.” Actually, comments like these made my case better than I ever could. Frankly, I wish I could have included some of these review in my book, because every Mac user can relate to an encounter with a PC user just like these.”
More information on Scott’s latest book can be found on his Web site or at Amazon.com.
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