Since his appearance on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2003 comedian Ralphie May has criss-crossed the country entertaining audiences. A year and half ago May, switched to the Mac, and it has been his travel companion ever since.
Like many users that are checking out the Mac for the first time, May heard about how easy it was to use—unfortunately, it took a small disaster to happen before he purchased his first Mac.
“I was building some graphics on a PC for a show I was doing and every time I tried to view the graphic, it would crash,” May told Macworld . “I worked on it for 10 hours and I was devastated. I did the same thing on the Mac and it took a fraction of the time and never crashed once.”
Making the switch was the easy part, but as with any change, May had some fear of the unknown—in this case, tackling a brand new operating system and applications. However, with the help of his wife Lahna Turner, a talented comedian in her own right and former professional photographer, May made the switch.
“All I ever knew was Windows, so I was afraid,” May said. “Lahna taught me a lot — the way I think is the way it works unlike the PC where everything is all over the place.”
The couple hit their local Apple Store in Los Angeles and started to pick up the equipment they wanted. By the time they left, May said with a laugh, they bought two PowerBooks, a G5 tower, a 23-inch Cinema Display, four iPods and an AirPort Extreme base station. Since then, May and Turner have added an AirPort Express and several printers, all working wirelessly over the network.
Many of the projects May and Turner do, like CDs and DVDs, start or end up on the Mac. Turner said her most recent CD of comedy and music was recorded directly to the Mac and then edited with Pro Tools in the studio.
So, what was the best thing the couple found about using the Mac? “To use the PC you really have to know what you’re doing, but the Mac works with you and helps you through things,” May said.
May said he and Turner also picked up a PowerBook for the person that maintains his Web site for him while he is on the road. The site operator was a diehard PC user, according to May, and she didn’t want to use the Mac at all when they first gave it to her.
“She was able to update Web site in a fraction of the time using the Mac,” Turner added. “Within a week she was talking about getting rid of the PC.”
On the road, May and Turner use their Macs to update their Web sites, check e-mail, and continue to work on the many projects they have going on. At home, it’s much of the same, with budgeting, business work ,and wireless music thrown in for good measure.
May’s final thoughts on his switch and the Mac in general, sum it up perfectly. “It’s the best, man,” he said.