Michael Schneider

I rely on a combination of computers and devices at work, at home, and on the road. My collection consists of a Mac Pro at work and an iMac at home, both of which run Parallels, combining the Mac OS and Windows XP. I also have a Sony Vaio laptop that runs Windows XP, an iPhone, Apple TV, and multiple iPods.

To start, I need to tell you that up until 2006 I was an avid PC user. Starting with my first computer when I was five, an IBM PS2 Model 30 (without a hard drive), I've been loyal. I started with DOS, then Windows 3, 3.1, 95, and then XP. Then came Vista. Before Vista, I spent a lot of time rebooting but it was more or less bearable. After Vista, which is by far the worst operating system ever made, I had to find another solution.

In the summer of 2006, I upgraded about 80% of my company's computers to Macs; we're a design agency, and so most people wanted Macs anyway. I kept hearing about their strengths - how the OS never crashed, how it just worked, how you don't need to reboot every day - and dismissed them as blind lust from googly-eyed Apple enthusiasts.

It's hard to avoid the bad news these days-the stock market falling towards zero, home prices declining, homelessness rising, our spending power being chipped away.

During this recession it's more important than ever to get whatever you can for free. At Fluidesign, the design and branding agency that I run, we have recently started offering a service called Online Reputation Management. We become your company's eyes and ears online, monitoring all social media channels for chatter - good or bad - about your brand. We then proactively address issues and give you a bird's eye view of customer sentiment. We also create an online presence for you to use when blasting product announcements and press releases.