As with most debates, the Mac vs. PC debate has moved away from the issues – at least for me.  It is no longer about actual quality of a product, it has boiled down to the fact that I don’t like Mac users.

Of course, after making such a bold (and rude) statement, I have to backpedal a little.

I don’t dislike all Mac users.  One of my great friends (and former roommate) is probably the biggest Mac fan I’ve ever met.  I work with a few people who love Macs and they have valid arguments as to why they prefer them.  My beef is with the very vocal minority who act like their use of a Mac makes them superior human beings.  Particularly if they are the “email and word processing only” crowd.  Congratulations: you just spent $2,000 on a typewriter.

It doesn’t help that, having worked in IT, most of my interactions with Macs have been to fix them when they are broken.  Then, as I am in the process of very painful troubleshooting, the owner of the broken Mac will lavish praise upon it: you know, how it just works… except for now.

I consider it an inevitability, however, that I will one day own a Mac.  Or at least a Hackintosh.  So, someday I may change my tune.  Until then, I don’t find it’s worth the money just to satiate my curiosity (a good friend did buy one to see what the hullabaloo was about, and he regrets it, for what it’s worth).

If you think we’ve got pent up angst about Mac vs. PC, wait till Jason and I get going on iPhone vs. Android (which will be interesting, as he and I are on separate sides of the aisle on that debate).

_Jake

You would think that as an artist I would lean towards Mac for my everyday usage, especially for drawing, web design, and other digital media creativity.  I definitely understand how it’s simple to use, “it just works”, interface is attractive to the Apple congregation.  The thought of just turning the computer on, having everything set up, no tweaks, no confusing settings adjustments, get the task done and get out, is a huge appeal to some.

I, however, love to tweak and fine tune things.  I am a bit of a control freak, and love to have say over as much as I can on the operations of my PC.  So, I am going a little against the grain when it comes to digital media creation, by not using a Mac.  In this area, I do not believe the PC to be inferior in any way.  I am not claiming that one platform is better than the other, a PC is definitely my preference.

My wife hates this one (Mountain Dew is apparently not good for me).  I love it.

I want to say thanks to everyone for their support.  For a week now we’ve had one comic up and a surprising amount of traffic and positive feedback.  I hope we can continue to please and improve.

We should be getting a link up on here, but in the meantime you can become a fan of This Help Desk on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thishelpdesk – please become a fan, we’ll be adding more ‘behind the scenes’ stuff there as time goes on.

You can also follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thishelpdesk.  I think that’s enough self promotion for now.

I hope the coming year treats you well.

And so begins the comic creation of Jake and Jason, hereby known as “This Help Desk”.  Jason is the artist.  Jake is the writer – or perhaps I prefer the dubious title of Idea Man.

To say I am excited would be nothing short of heresy.  This is the kind of project I have wanted to undertake for the better part of my adult life, and to be working with Jason, a person whose talent I have admired since before I was an adult is more than just the icing on the cake – it’s the cake itself.

I want this to be a positive and fun place, and hope that it will draw like minded people to it.

With our ambitions happily unchecked, we begin what I hope to be a great chapter in my own life, Jason’s life, as well as the lives of many yet-undiscovered friends.

_Jake

Thank you for checking out This Help Desk, the creative result of Jake Hendriksen and Jason Rushton (me).  This project has been a while in the making.  We had gone over several ideas on how we might share our talents and ideas with those that may share similar interests, and this web-comic has become that realization.

It is good to be working on this with my good friend.  I am entertained by his writing style and am excited to be able to create a visual representation of his wit.

Please enjoy.