[Odin9]

Somewhat tangential: Are there many start-ups that allow talented tech people to build their own PC? I used to think most programmers knew hardware, but that apparently isn't or was never the case. Building PCs is second nature to me, and I could build a PC two times more performant than a Mac and probably half as expensive.

[mixmastamyk]

I agree, but it is largely a waste of time these days considering return on $/hr.

That's important to a business; not so much at home.

[onemorepassword]

Can you bring that PC into an ad-hoc meeting with a few of your co-workers? I'm not talking a Meeting(TM), just sitting together to figure some stuff out, maybe put some things up on the beamer, present your work, share your knowledge?

This is why I don't want people building their own PC, even though generally they can pick any tool they like: it shows they have the wrong priorities (at least for our team). Unless your job involves something really resource intensive, a high-end laptop (combined with external screens, keyboard and such) is more than good enough and much more practical.

Don't get me wrong, I love building my own machine, I build my own home server from scratch just for the hell of it every few years.

But simply the fact that you call it "half as expensive" suggests you have no realistic idea of actual costs. The time you spend searching the parts together is already more expensive than a MacBook.