Being different always has it's price, but it usually beats the alternative. As for never being competitive to PC, hmmm.... I wonder where windows came from? As for a system dying out, as long as a 20 year old aspiring musician can take their 3 year old, lowly G3 iMac they got in HS and turn it into a music recording studio with the purchace of a 4 track and a CD Burner (around $400, ProTools was free) and another can edit the film they made on their parents cancorder with a program shipped free with the computer, Mac will be with us.