Poles spend a greater deal of their free time on leisure and travel than during Communism, and the heightened sense of working hard but also enjoying life resounds throughout the Polish populace. A computer company as cutting edge as Apple would seem a perfect fit for Poland. Indeed, following the market reforms of the 1990s, Apple established a robust presence in the media and advertising sectors of the economy. However, following the PC market's saturation, Apple quickly lost market share, failing to establish itself in the consumer segment. Prohibitive expense, especially in a market emerging from the scars of Communism, is Apple's primary foe in expanding the company's market share. With Apple pushing its iPod and iTunes music service into European markets, the company has seen renewed interest in Poland. However, the PCs continue to significantly out-price Apple, relegating the company to the artistic sectors that tend to favor Apple machines.

Piotr Ciupinksi, a journalist with Poland's largest opinion-making daily, the Gazeta Wyborcza, and a member of Jabluszko, a small MUG publishing a monthly Mac magazine, is a longtime Mac-user. Ciupinksi stands by his Mac. “Thanks to my PowerBook and a Bluetooth mobile phone, I can do my work almost anywhere, even when I leave the city for weekends.” However, while he contends that when considering the total cost of operation, Macs are equal to, if not cheaper than, PCs, he agrees that Macs are often more expensive. “iBooks and iMacs are sometimes twice as expensive as comparable PCs,” says Ciupinksi. “However, when you compare pro machines with similarly equipped PCs, the difference is insignificant. For pro users, demand is steady and Apple has a very significant market share.”