I hate Macs

ComputerWorld blogs ^ | Tue, 10/16/2007 - 12:09pm | By David Ramel

[Swordmaker]

My boss just said we're moving to Macs. I don't know if he was serious, but it might really happen -- he's a bona-fide, born-again Mac zealot, after decades of using real computers (he even had his own, successful Windows-centric newsletter).

I joked that I'll switch to a Mac after they pry the PC from my cold, stiff fingers. In reality, I'll just go along with the program and lose about 30% in productivity.

I hate Macs.

I hate everything Apple -- starting with rock star wanna-be Steve Jobs in his black turtleneck and jeans on his big, lavish stage, telling the world every three weeks or so how Apple's newest overpriced gizmo will change the world. Snake oil, anyone? Snarky, sleazy sliminess, anyone?

Oh, how I loved it when he dropped the price of the iPhone after the first wave of slavish acolytes did their lemming-like duty and camped out overnight to boost his stock portfolio another few points. It's a testament to the blind obedience of Mac-boys everywhere that all the geniuses at Apple thought that move would go over OK. "Why would anyone complain? We're Apple!" But hey, good ol' Steve made it up to them -- just jump through a bunch of hoops and you can get credit at the Mac store.

And I hate the products themselves. Overpriced, overhyped and underwhelming. Oh, I forgot, they have such "elegant" design. They just "feel right." All the stubble-cheeked, pony-tailed, black-clad hipsters in the design department get it, but us dweeby drones doing the real work are just out of touch.

Gag me. I've always been a function-over-form guy. I don't give a rat's, uh, tail, if my computer is smooth and white and shiny. I just want to crank out the next project.

And don't give me those phony cost comparisons that try to make the case that, all things considered, Macs are cheaper than PCs in the long run. Just look at the damn price tags. Spin it any way you want, Macs and the other iCrap cost more.

And innovation? My god, take the blinders off. I remember sitting right here several years ago when Apple came out with the great new feature on their iPods called "shuffle." I couldn't believe it. Before then, you couldn't play your songs in random order? I had been doing that for years, literally. But then, I was into MP3s early on -- my first music player was a Rio PMP300, one of the very first on the market. I didn't have to wait for Apple to tell me they were cool. It took them a few years to catch on. Gee, where was the bleeding-edge innovation there?

And here's one for you: the new iMovie. Enough said. Too easy of a target. Wouldn't be iFair.

And what took them so long to jump on the Intel platform? That move (just the latest catch-up-to-everyone-else attempt) was another iShaft of their so-loyal camp followers. Didn't they just release shiny new iMacs or iBooks or iSomethings shortly before that, which instantly became so iYesterday and -- the biggest sin of all -- iUncool?

And, if I've got this right, iPhones use a slow, outmoded network, many iPod Touch players have defective video, and you have to send everything in to the shop just to change the freakin' batteries. And, in this age of openness and integration, iPhones are locked into one carrier, hackers are in an ongoing war to be open them up and use other applications, and songs from the proprietary iTunes can only be used on Apple's iJunk music players. Maybe I'm missing something here. What in the world is the attraction?

Oh, I forgot -- they're "sleek" and "seductive."

If we do make the switch, I'm going to be iSick.

And yeah, I'm ready for your iFlames.

[TheBattman]

WOW! He hit nearly every piece of FUD that has been floating around for the last decade, all in one hit piece! I was starting to think it was a large work of sarcasm....

[WVKayaker]

Your ignorance is duly noted!

[Mr. Jeeves]

I hate Macs.

Signed, Michael Dell ;)

[zeugma]

There’s no place like 127.0.0.1

Or...

There's no place like ::1 

[lesser_satan]

lol, he’s an MS fanboi...how lame.

[AZLiberty]

Holy smokes! That’s one nasty exploit.

[laotzu]

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world:
- those who speak binary, &
- those who don't

[Turbopilot]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/19/return_of_trojan_bayrob/

Thanks for posting that. That is scary and something every eBay user should be aware of.

It does look like the user has to run an attachment that they receive in an email from the purported eBay seller to install the Trojan. It can't infect you unless you choose to run the program you receive. The standard advice still applies never to run an executable attachment unless you know the sender "in real life" and they can identify the attachment to you. Lots of corporate email systems won't let executable attachments through at all, even from trusted email addresses.

[Billthedrill]

A pro never argues whether a PC or a MAC is better.

Yep. It's a tool. The reporter, however, is less criticizing the actual device than some of its more evangelistic supporters, of whom I'm occasionally a bit sick as well. Blow it off, it comes with the territory.

That said, vi is the tool of Satan. ;-)

[dmz]

The Mac/PC wars have to be the dumbest thing ever. What flippin’ difference does an operating system really make, after all? How much times does one spend in their machine’s OS? Don’t you really spend that time in application software?

You were using Office yesterday on the PC, and will likely be using Office on your Mac tomorrow.

Oh no! The horror! I access my shortcut menus in a way other than right clicking!!! The humanity!!!

BTW, a PC guy since the outset. Taught my first application class while RR was in the WH. A few years later was teaching common apps on both platforms in the same classroom at the same time.

Anyone remember these old saws:
1) the use of the mouse is a sign of terminal computer illiteracy (pro PC)
2) Friends don’t let friends do DOS.

[Uri’el-2012]

one plus one is zero and a carry

[dmz]

That’s like saying “I like being beaten and whipped by a leather clad midget because it feels so good when he stops. And I’m so used to it by now I’d miss the beatings!”
_______

Actually, it’s much more like, I know this product and the way it is designed, therefore I have no problems working in said application.

And please, let’s try to remember that Macs have menu commands structured nearly identically to PCs (because the menus are a function of the application, and word processors and spreadsheets have the same functionality, regardless of platform).

I’m sorry, but from my tech training perspective, they are nearly identical platforms (with the Mac, IMHO, less prone to crashing).

[Vinnie]

PC more expensive than a Mac?
This is the price for a 13” Mac Book

( the specs below don’t depict all the goodies on the Mac, ie, camera,bluetooth, ethernet card, etc.)

Subtotal $1,649.00

Estimated Ship:
1-3 business days
Free Shipping
Click “Update Details” to reflect changes to system price and shipping.

Specifications

* 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
* 160GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
* SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
* AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth

I just went to Dell and priced a 13” XPS w/ comparable specs. No extra software, just Vista Ultimate.
$2,083

[r9etb]

The Mac/PC wars have to be the dumbest thing ever. What flippin’ difference does an operating system really make, after all?

I guess it's a penile substitute for guys who for whatever reason can't or won't "rather push a Chevy/Ford than drive a Ford/Chevy."

[KoRn]

"A pro never argues whether a PC or a MAC is better. Rather we argue whether Emacs or vi is better and clueless guts like this never have a clue what we're talking about."

I like vim!

[Maceman]

I HATE MS OFfice 2007. You are absolutely correct.

[Swordmaker]

There is a distinct difference. Whenever I see the comment that Mac OS and Windows OS are nearly identical, it is invariably a Windows user who says it. Those who have actually used the Mac after using Windows and not just played around with a little have experienced this difference.

The best descriptive analogy of the difference between the two platforms is that OSX is a British butler who unobtrusively serves his master and gets out of the way but makes sure that what is wanted or needed is always at hand and ready. Windows, on the other hand, is a frenetic Boy Scout, always announcing what it is doing and begging for attention and trying to earn merit badges for merely doing what is expected of it.

[George W. Bush]

I think comparisons between OSX and Windows become pretty technical before they become especially informative or useful.

For ordinary users, it comes down to ease of use, security, it-just-works, price, local service and availability, etc.

But you're right about Windows being an attention whore. I don't know why bells are supposed to ring and fanfares play just because you plugged in some crappy camera or USB drive. It's beyond annoying. Windows also has a lot of unnecessary default services installed. Windows would be much more secure if it didn't ship with such stupid default settings. Especially the way they make it so much more tempting for all users to run as administrator all the time. Stupid, stupid, stupid. All the rest of Windows security is compromised by this.

[George W. Bush]

Now I know I should dl and install Firefox, but I use Netscape for my email, IE for about everything else. I had a dickens of a time configuring it because NAV makes you choose IE as your default browser, or it won't work. I am afraid if I dl and install Firefox (and I am now fighting for hd space on my two hd's), it will mess up my mail program. But Netscape has its quirks, too, won't go into those.

Netscape is the Netscape-branded version of Mozilla.

Mozilla is an umbrella group that produces Netscape, Mozilla (generic Netscape), and all the other Mozilla stuff like Firefox (browser only) and Thunderbird (email only).

Firefox is only a web browser. No mail functions at all. For that, you get Thunderbird which is like Outlook Express only better. There are also other Mozilla projects like SeaMonkey, Camino, etc.

Firefox is a fun browser mostly because of all the very cool extensions you can download for it. It takes very little disk space. On my Mac with a bunch of the largest extensions installed, it takes 50MB for the program, 35MB for the user profile/cache folder. So we're talking about a very modest amount of disk space.

Just thought you might want to know that Firefox can't mess up your Netscape mail stuff and it won't hog your disk. Firefox 3 is looking very cool in beta now.

[HAL9000]

And please, let’s try to remember that Macs have menu commands structured nearly identically to PCs

I disagree. There are significant differences.

In general, Microsoft menus resemble Apple's old pre-OS X menu structure. For example, the commands under the Microsoft's File menu that aren't really pertinent to file commands.

Mac OS X has an improved menu organization, with the addition of a main application menu for commands like About, Preferences, Quit, and other application-level commands. This was a big improvement. The menu structure for Mac OS X apps is more sensible, consistent and easier to use than Windows.