In my recent article on church databases I made the following comment:

“I’ve discovered that lots of churches use Macs. Not everyone in the staff team will use a Mac, but if there’s any chance anyone ever will, a PC-only, or Mac-only solution isn’t up to the cut.”

I received a comment that PCs are the computer of choice for the majority of churches, and that very few churches use Macs or are in need of Mac compatible software.

I realised we were debating different things. In the past, I think that many churches used Macs (and in fact, most still do).  But I was referring to what I have observed now, and how that will impact the future. My experience is that:

• many people in Bible college (and in fact ALL the people I know who are at Bible college – and there are many!) use a Mac. These are the people who will be working in churches in the near future.
• I have been involved in a number of churches (in a lay capacity, on staff, or assisting with marketing/tech issues) in recent years, and in all churches, at least one member of staff uses a Mac.
• even looking at the stats for the visitors to Communicate Jesus (thank you to all of you for your support!) – 61% use PCs, and 36% use Macs (the remainder use Linux or mobile operating systems).

Clearly, there’s change in the air. This is reflected in statistics too – the market share for Macs is nearing 10% (source) – not a lot still, but more than the 3.25% in 2004 (source).

So what’s the lesson? Not that you should get a Mac – this choice comes down to your requirements and budget (however, I’ll discuss some of the benefits of Macs for ministry soon).

No, the lesson is that software that is limited to a particular operating system (either Windows or Mac) will have growing limitations in a world where the market share for operating systems other than PC is increasing. This is why I was (and still am) advocating for web-based databases and other software-as-a-service solutions (read more about this phenomenon here).

To lighten the mood, check out this humorous (i.e. not factual – don’t get too excited!) video – Why a Mac is really the only option. Can your PC do this?

Current Poll

Finally, please add your vote the current poll – “Do your church staff uyse PCs or Macs“?

[Feature image source: CyberNet News.]