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To: Swordmaker; VanDeKoik
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult

In particular, pay attention to the definition that reads: I do not see how your obsession with reposting articles from other Mac zealots would somehow label you anything but a cultist. That's not a personal attack nor is it an insult. It's merely a statement of fact. I would contend that the comment about loss of sanity, while initially intended to be tongue-in-cheek, could apply as well as I have to imagine that few if any cultists are considered functionally sane.

Now, as VDK has pointed out, your posting habits are extraordinarily curious. A large portion, I would guess no less than 95%, consists of a) your posting of most anything singing the praises of Apple and b) your zealous defense of Apple and near-instantaneous rebuttals of anybody who dares to disagree with the notion that Apple is the greatest company ever. In your mind, Apple has never, ever done anything wrong. I mean, their business model depends on both the indifference and ignorance of the average consumer and they are wildly successful at it. That's all well and good.

This post in and of itself is a prime example. Here you have a date that some poor soul has "iCal'ed" (because apparently Apple invented both the calendar and the electronic reminder or somehow made it "just work") because some writer made a bad prediction. Microsoft has sold about 270 million copies of Windows 7 since its release (based on numbers from October). One number of Mac units sold in 2010 put the number at 13.7 million. While the timeframes aren't the same, it is clear that any Apple numbers claiming a 10% or greater market share are listing other devices (like the iPhone and its variants) as "computers," which they aren't. I think the moral of the story is that Windows 7 can still outsell Apple products by an order of magnitude and still lose market share. That's incredibly important but also a fact that's completely lost on you.

My main point in all of this - a point which should have been evident in my first post - is that this is not only irrelevant most anywhere, it is certainly irrelevant on a conservative activism site.
52 posted on 01/02/2011 9:02:05 AM PST by flintsilver7 (Honest reporting hasn't caught on in the United States.)
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To: flintsilver7; Swordmaker
My main point in all of this - a point which should have been evident in my first post - is that this is not only irrelevant most anywhere, it is certainly irrelevant on a conservative activism site.

A few topics recently found on the "latest posts" page:

That's without even getting into whether the many religion threads are off-charter. Are you chasing after these topics that are "irrelevant on a conservative activism site"?

FR is, among other things, a community. Its core is conservative activism, but like Web forums that have grown up around knitting, or recipes, or Manchester United, or classic Mopar muscle cars, it is a community of people with diverse interests. Off-topic chatter is not only a forgivable sin, but a key ingredient that makes a message board into a community where people feel at home, and to which they return to day after day, sometimes hour after hour.

There is only one person whose opinion of topics are appropriate counts, and that is Jim Robinson; he has decided, wisely, to allow a vibrant community to grow, complete with diversions. If you're not interested in off-topic chatter, I would suggest that you avoid the "chat" board.

53 posted on 01/02/2011 9:42:16 PM PST by ReignOfError
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To: flintsilver7

This is more than just a “conservative activism” site. It’s one of the best news aggregation sites around.

So, it’s good that we also get news about the most successful tech company in the world. :-)


54 posted on 01/02/2011 10:17:35 PM PST by PreciousLiberty
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To: flintsilver7
I do not see how your obsession with reposting articles from other Mac zealots would somehow label you anything but a cultist. That's not a personal attack nor is it an insult. It's merely a statement of fact. I would contend that the comment about loss of sanity, while initially intended to be tongue-in-cheek, could apply as well as I have to imagine that few if any cultists are considered functionally sane.

You have been told before that I maintain the Mac/Apple Ping list on FreeRepublic. I have been asked by 500 fellow Freepers to keep them appraised of events and news that happen that impact Apple, iPhones, iPads, and Macs. I do that. That makes me a "cultist' and insane?

You come into these threads and post irrelevant information about WORLD wide data based on website hits, not germane to the article and I correct it,... I posted data from actual sales figures... to rebut you. That is discussion. I have not insulted you or denigrated you, but you use slurs and insults to attack me, attempting to belittle me, instead of my information. That is not a way to debate fairly or properly. Even calling my posts an "obsession" is an attempt to belittle me.A large portion, I would guess no less than 95%, consists of a) your posting of most anything singing the praises of Apple and b) your zealous defense of Apple and near-instantaneous rebuttals of anybody who dares to disagree with the notion that Apple is the greatest company ever. In your mind, Apple has never, ever done anything wrong. I mean, their business model depends on both the indifference and ignorance of the average consumer and they are wildly successful at it. That's all well and good.

I post negative information about Apple as well as positive, but you go on to "psychoanalyze> me, again, attempting to trivialize my arguments and anything I post. That is ad hominem to the Nth degree, sir. Insulting to say the least... and you, sir, are unqualified to do anything of the sort. You also buy into the MYTH that Apple depends on the IGNORANCE of the average consumer when, for the most part, most Apple users are MORE knowledgeable of computer—since Mac users are usually computer by-lingual, having to use PCs at work, and have CHOSEN to use a Mac at home—than their PC using counterparts who have no Mac know how at all. It is truly the PC user who is ignorant. We Mac users run into that ignorance everyday in these Mac threads.

The post had NOTHING to do with claiming that Apple invented the electronic calendar or reminders, that's just your strawman false argument you raise to again denigrate Apple and the point being made, which you can easily shoot down, because you CAN'T shoot down the main point which is... that a PC pundit had predicted that Microsoft Windows7 was so good that it was going to force OSX Macs back into obscurity in the US by the end of 2010... or didn't you bother to read the article??? Apparently you didn't. The point was not only was he wrong, but that the Mac sales GREW by better than 25% over where they had been when he made that prediction... even with the growth of Windows7 sales in the US.

While the timeframes aren't the same, it is clear that any Apple numbers claiming a 10% or greater market share are listing other devices (like the iPhone and its variants) as "computers,"

No, Again, you are comparing WORLD wide sales figures to the wrong figures—and there, it's only clear to someone like you who, apparently prefers to make up false information. Why not look for the accurate data. Google can be a powerful tool... and it only takes a few seconds.

Apple is up to 5.07% of the worldwide sales of computers from 3% just two years ago—and if we were including other devices as computers than there would be no comparison in that. Apple sold almost 15 million ipads, 47 million iPhones, and about 60 million iPod touches in 2010, which totals to 135 million devices in 2010—all of which are, actually OSX UNIX devices at core—and truly computers, even if you don't want to call them that.

IF, we were using those devices in the count, and calling them computers, even accounting for all the smartphones and game consoles tossed into the computer market sales, world wide, which would bring the total number up to around 750,000,000, then Apple would be at about 18% of the all inclusive "computer" market worldwide... and would probably be in the number 1 position.

Several companies that count sales of computers are now counting the iPad as a computer and are listing Apple as the number one US maker of computers—eclipsing HP in that position—because they have been counting netbooks as computers.

But, contrary to your erroneous assertion, that greater than 10% of the US market statistic IS only computers... not anything else.

57 posted on 01/03/2011 6:43:40 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft product "insult" free zone.)
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To: flintsilver7

There’s a difference between blind religious devotion and liking something on its merits. I’m an old-time Windows hack since version 2 who switched to Mac three years ago for home use. I did it because Apple’s product is simply better. I have an Android phone because I’m with Verizon, but I’ve used iPhones, so I know the iPhone is superior. My three year-old, first generation iPod Touch (an iPhone minus the phone) has a FAR more responsive and fluid interface than my year-old Android phone.

Any devotion I have for Apple is because the products and services are usually far superior, and I have the experience and expertise to be able to make such a relative judgment. If the superior products stop, so will my “devotion.”.

You can stop it with the “cult” thing.


60 posted on 01/05/2011 8:27:51 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
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To: flintsilver7

‘it is clear that any Apple numbers claiming a 10% or greater market share are listing other devices (like the iPhone and its variants) as “computers,”’

Wrong, you should really do your homework before you embarrass yourself.

The 10% figure is for new PCs sold in the US. Your W7 numbers include copies to upgrade computers with earlier, inferior versions of Windows, and are worldwide to boot. ;-)


99 posted on 01/11/2011 2:59:01 AM PST by PreciousLiberty
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