Posted on 07/01/2009 2:14:14 PM PDT by Blue Highway
It seems like every time I venture into an Apple thread here on FR, it's similar to venturing over into Democratic Underground territory.
Personal attacks abound especially if you start criticizing Apple products or other Apple users for being naive into thinking Apple is everything their clever marketing department represents it to be.
It seems like the Mac ping list alerts the faithful flock to defend Apple to the death and that is when the claws come out and it starts to get ugly.
Yes that’s cool. QPI is clockable on the i7. I get 6.51GT/sec. Extreme Editions go 6.4 naturally. I thought the extra path was for another processor socket.
if [some bandwidth-wasting Apple-hating troll] start[s] criticizing Apple products or other Apple users for being naive into thinking Apple is everything their clever marketing department represents it to be...all readers will immediately realize that A) the troll doesn't know English grammar, B) loves to erect straw men, and C) is making personal attacks on all Apple users while D) disingenously denying that it is doing so.
I laid out my criteria.
" I noted comments in three categories: mild, moderate, and insulting. Those which I deemed "mild" were those in which a platform advocate made reasoned commentary about their preferred platform and compared it to the subject platform. Those that commented denigrating the subject platform with ignorant or outdated mis-information, I deemed "moderate". Finally, comments attacking or denigrating the users of the subject platform, I deemed "Insulting". These judgments were subjective on my part... but I attempted to be totally fair."What is so difficult about that?
Commenting on the platforms and comparisons are legitimate forms of discussion. It might be invading the thread, but it is not insulting to anyone, but is probably a matter of opinion open to rational discussion, but not offensive to anyone. That's a mild intrusion. The key here is intruding for the purpose of discussing your preferred platform or related topic to the one the thread is about.
Extending the comments to falsehoods, arguing using out-dated data that has been repeatedly rebutted, ignorant claims of problems with the platform you don't have intimate knowledge about, or blatant attacks on the inanimate platform, OS, or any of its software, is ruder but still only moderate because no one can be hurt. Such claims can be looked at as an opportunity to educate those saying them in the true facts so long as one provides proper sources and does not just counter with another opinion. Inanimate objects, software, lines of code, have no feelings or emotions to hurt. The key here is intruding to attack the platform under discussion... or to trumpet your platform while irrationally denigrating the opposing platform.
However, when the intrusion involves personal or group insults, slurs, slander, and innuendoand not discussion of the subject mattermerely because the attack party is using something else than the attacker or because the attacker disagrees with them, feelings get hurt, people are offended, and emotions are raised, resulting in counter attacks and heightened animosity. Such attacks are not probative of anything about the platform and are not even an opportunity for education about the true facts. They are said to hurt, intended to belittle, and offered to denigrate persons or whole groups with the intent to call into question the validity of information and opinions presented by those being attacked. Such ad hominem attacks prove NOTHING about the truthfulness of the information or the validity of the opinions. Those ad hominem attacks and slurs are insulting to people and therefore is severe. The key here is the intrusion is about attacking people one disagrees with.
If you weren’t spreading FUD where is the research to back up your claims? Your one claim that could be verified, that Li-Po batteries would be more expensive than traditional batteries, was repeatedly proven false. I have yet to see you admit to either myself, Swordmaker or ReignOfError that you were wrong about the cost of a replacement battery.
Everything else about the batteries was only posted to generate fear, uncertainty and doubt about the batteries. They could very well last as long as Apple claims but we won’t know for sometime as they have been out closer to five weeks than five years.
Then you have problems about what is an industry standard warranty. What part of your rant is based in verifiable fact?
The industry standard of a 1 year warranty for user replaceable batteries IS a standard. I'd expect a company when they move to non-replaceable batteries, to extend that warranty a bit, that's all. Is that out of line or asking too much?
Thanks for delineating the 3 categories. What I find intriguing is the people that I noted that responded to my posts that were Apple users, tended to fall into the severe/insulting category. With a high majority of resposes in this particular category, instead of the mild or moderate category, is it wonder why I posed the question which is the title to this thread?
Blue, that was not a personal attack. That was a comment on your remarks. I did not attack YOU personally, I made a value judgement on your comments. My reference to your "rant" was my opinion of its quality, validity and purpose. FUD describes it quite well.
A personal attack would be:
"That cowardly Blue Highway is back again, mouthing off his stupid opinions. With his lack of personal hygiene, his unkempt appearance, and his uncertain parentage, as well as his proclivity to sexual perversions, he will be again spouting off his slavish adherence to the Microsoft gospel as he swallows, hook, line and sinker, the rotten, untruthful claims fed to him by his masters in Redmond whom he loves so much. Oh, and he is an evil, slack-jawed Liberal to boot."Another example would be:
"Why should anyone listen to you? You are a Windows using idiotand everyone knows Windows users are stupid, knuckle dragging cretins stuck with an antiquated computer environment. Brilliant people like us Mac users got rid of that Edsel of an OS years ago and moved up to computing Nirvana. Since you haven't, what does that say about your intelligence?"
Or:
"Why should the opinions you spout have any validity since you write like a 14 year old, hairy handed, geek, living in your mother's basement, myopically typing on a computer put together from old discards because you can't earn enough money with your part-time, hamburger flipping job to buy a real computer, and secretly hoping, in your heart of hearts, to someday have enough courage to talk to a real, live female other than your mother and your pet rat (Who, if truth be told, really doesn't like you that much)in something more coherent than mono-syllabic grunts."
(Previous exaggerated example quotations are NOT the opinion of this writer about Blue Highway and are only intended to illustrate personal ad hominem attacks. Hey! Maybe I should submit that last one to the annual Bulwer-Litton Literary Contest... could be a winner!)
Do you see the difference, Blue?
Your comments, opinions, and claimed facts are fair game. Your person is not.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask: Why the red? What part of post #1 was NOT your comments? If the non-red parts weren't your comments, what is there source?
Are you referring to the other thread? Post#1 in this thread doesn’t have the red text commentary on my part. In the other thread though, the italicized black text was quoted from the Apple website from the link posted, the red text was my commentary. I still fail to see any ad hominem attacks on my part in that post. Sure I criticized the company for not standing behind their boastful claims of a 5 year lifespan but still only offer a 1 year warranty. I honestly would think it would be in their best interest (especially since they like to see themselves as a company as innovators and trend-setters) to offer a 2 1/2 year warranty on that Li-Poly battery. It would do well to set a NEW standard that would send the rest of the lapto0p manufacturers scrambling.
You're BUSTED! Actually, you did. In Reply #37 you state as fact "First off an Apple replacement battery is more than likely over $200, probably much higher than that even." In fact, after you were TOLD it was $129, you repeated your assertion that it would be more than $200... because it was Apple... and they are, you imply, not to be trusted.
Tell me Bue, how does ONE FIVE year, 1000 cycle, battery costing $129, including the labor to change it out ONCE in five years, cost MORE than having to buy THREE TWO year, 300 cycle, batteries at $129 each, merely to get the same five years of service you can with the Apple batteries?? You can't.
Factor in the cost of shipping your replaceable battery to you, if it is in stock. Factor in the time you have to wait to receive the battery during which, because you didn't plan on your old one croaking, you will be without a portable machine, because it is now tethered instead to an electrical outlet.
My time value? I multitask. I will drive to the Apple store, drop off the notebook with the Genius Bar, play around with the latest Macs on display, go have lunch, come back and pick up my laptop. I'm done and enjoyed the experience.
As to you spouting FUD: You did and you do:
FEAR: It's going to cost me more. It's going to take more of my time. Why should I have to worry about that when I can buy a safe, replaceable battery type notebook from some PC company. You took the standard portable battery warranty that has been in place for over 15 years and questioned whether Apple would replace defective batteries, contrary to the actual stated policy. In a later post, you expound on why a potential buyer should be afraid of buying one of Apple's notebooks: "If they dont [replace the battery] you are basically left with a $2500-$3000 boat anchor." Later, you go even farther with "Are you suggesting there will be an aftermarket company that will buy this 2 year old useless laptop for scrap? How much will they pay for this once $3000 laptop? $50? $100 tops?" That's FEAR.UNCERTAINTY: You made the unsubstantiated claim in many posts that you expected the five years to be more like one or two... and that the Apple notebook would be a useless anchor when the battery died. That's FEAR and DOUBT. You STATED, as fact that the five year life span, 1000 cycle batteries with new and innovative technology was not great or impressive... in fact you SHOUTED it was "WRONG!"
That's deliberately setting up "Uncertainty" about the veracity of Apple's claims... in fact, you denied that veracity.
DOUBT: You claimed in your commentary on your commentary both "(One year??? One year???? I know that is generally standard, but if they are boasting about a 5 year lifespan, How about putting their money where their mouth is. A 2 1/2 year warranty would have been a little less disingenuous)" and "There is no question a user will not be able to replace the battery without voiding said warranty" raising doubt about whether Apple would honor its warranties and service the computers.
All of this is the very essence of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. By any definition its FUD Intended to denigrate the Apple notebook computers. It's worse because, as demonstrated to you numerous times, it is also UNTRUE FUD.
Even the NOT accurate headline (The original Apple article is titled "A giant leap for batteries") you posted on the thread (egregiously breaking a FreeRepublic rule, I might add) is FUD! The title YOU created and posted for the thread: "Apple's "new" battery technology???", is crying out DOUBT and UNCERTAINTY!
Please provide examples of these "Severe, insulting" responses to you from the original batteries thread..
With all the heat I took for the batteries thread I wonder why Jyoders19 in post #7 didn’t get nary a response and he is basically saying exactly the same thing as I am. I agree with what he said 100% as well.
that is because Rush and freepers notwithstanding, Mac users are largely lefties
in movies it seems there is only Mac
Boring."
Insulting/severe I would consider. Definitely a personal attack without even insultinghim first. THAT is the type of behavior one usually finds on those DU threads, case in point.
I am still waiting for the "heat' you claim was directed at you. I find very little objectionable about how you were responded to in that thread. Later in the thread, you were slammed because of your claims and actions. You earned it. I want to see the ad hominem attacks on you that you did not earn, that were not justified by your conduct. Where are they?
For the most part, most of your comments, although wrong headed and often just wrong, were presented clearly and without ad hominem... but I did find seven ad hominem statements from you directed to fellow Freepers, two ad hominems directed at Apple employees, and two clearly libelous statements against Apple.
On the part of the Apple users who responded to you, most either attacked your arguments or your facts or commented on your lack of knowledge of the topic on which you were expounding. I found very few who attacked you personally. As I said before, your statements, your facts, your opinions are all fair game for ridicule or rebuttal.
what is bizarre is that the Mac using Freepers will rarely ever acknowledge that Mac users by and large are liberals.
yep but you and I know better...just go to any Mac store
hell it’s way worse than going to Whole Foods or Trader Joes
feels like you walked into an ACORN office
I would like you to address wardaddys 352 commeny please.
Actually, there are SIX replies to jyoders19's comment on the thread, four of which are pertinent.
I am wondering if Swordmaker can own up to the FACT that Whole Foods is a liberal world unto itself. It’s like stepping into another dimension. I don’t see much difference between the patrons of either Whole Foods and Apple Store. This is FACT.
"I'd love to see how you maintain your cars."
Implying I drive a pos or don't maintain my car. THIS is severe/insulting.
So this makes 3 severe/insulting comments directed towards me and this is only at comment #31 and is well before I got pissed at the dogpile/mob mentality.
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