Posted on 04/17/2009 7:57:25 PM PDT by Swordmaker
New info from the MetaFacts research group shows that there are differences between the typical Mac user and the typical Windows users. I’m not saying we’re better, just different (in a, ahem, good way). According to MetaFacts:
Sixty-three percent of Mac users spend more time using their computer than watching TV, compared with 57 percent of non-Mac households. (The national trend away from TVs passed the half-way mark between 2007 and 2008.)
Fun is only slightly stronger among the Apple crowd. Sixty percent of Apple households say they keep finding more ways to use the Internet for fun, compared with 58 percent of the non-Apple group.
Mac home users are more active than Windows home users. They use their computers for a wider range of activities.
Also, Macs are used differently than Windows systems. Apple computers are more often used for graphics and imaging, personal, and communication activities, with more than 25 percent more activities in each category. Apple users simply find a wider range of uses for their computers than Windows users.
This information is released from the Apple Profile Report, a Technology User Profile solution from MetaFacts. It is based on recent surve-based research, reporting directly from a representative sample of actual users. The Apple Profile Report is available for immediate purchase through the online store at the MetaFacts web site.
Then he went on to call my reply an ad hominem attack even though my previous posts were on point.
So it's not sarcasm or an ad homimen when a Mac user does it and is when a PC user does?
I'm no shrink but seems to me that many Mac users need the reassurance of these articles to reinforce your self-perceived superiority over PC users. That's an opinion, not sarcasm or an ad hominem.
Fantastic! Leave it to SysInternals to come up with the Official Microsoft BSOD Screen Saver!
A buddy of mine put together a replacement "Fatal Error" dialog for Windows 95 one time, with a picture of a steaming pile of poo, a message "You really don't want to know", and two buttons:
The first time I saw it I fell out of my chair.
You're Right
Trash My FAT
I know the definition of ad hominem quite well, thank you. Your implication that Mac users do not earn paychecks IS a generalized ad hominem attack.
Can't you read? From your link.
UNIX™. The Mac is a fully certified UNIX platform and will run all UNIX™ software... including Pro/E. Pro/E is also available for LINUX... and the Mac can run ALL LINUX software as well. Pro/E is available in Windows XP.
First of all, theymakemesick, that was not said by me. That was said by Cynwoody. I guess that answers the question I posed—somewhat ad hominenly—about your reading ability in my previous post to you.
Secondly, Cynwoody's comment was about only need to temporarily use an OS... not an attack on a user or even the OS. My take was that Cynwoody intended it to be humorous.
Thirdly, your erroneous comment in Reply #50—"Pro Engineering still isn't available for MAC (sic),"—a Computer Assisted Design application—in a discussion about software developers opting to use Macs is an irrelevant non sequitur.
"...on point"? In what way was your comment to Rocklobster, your second post on this thread, "on point"?
"I'm not insecure enough to need to be a MAC person. Plus I have work to do. ; )"—Reply #51.
That's TWO ad hominen attacks in just two sentences. Hardly discussion about the OS... both were insults to people who choose to use an alternative OS to Windows. Certainly not "on point."
I'm no shrink but seems to me that many Mac users need the reassurance of these articles to reinforce your self-perceived superiority over PC users. That's an opinion, not sarcasm or an ad hominem.
Yes, while it may be your opinion, it also is most certainly ad hominem. It is attacking a group of people—because they chose to use a computer you don't use—as somehow deluded and in need of external assurance that their choice, based on a more inclusive data set than yours because most of them have experience with both Windows PCs and Macs, are correct. In addition, you went from a general opinion to a specific individual (many -> your) making your ad hominem personal to TXnMA.
Oops... cut off in mid post...
Pro/E is available in Windows XP... and the Mac can run all Windows software as well.
Your response proved my point. I discussed computers and OS'es and my main application thereof.
What did your (#81) response discuss?
I reiterate: scan this thread: Mac users discuss computers and systems. Judge for yourself what PC/Windows fans discuss...
Can you spell, "ad hominem"?
That would mean your OS has frozen, or, basically, let the application suck up all of the resources enough to make the rest of the system unresponsive. A good preemptive multitasking OS shouldn't allow that. That was one reason why I thought Mac OS 9 sucked architecturally.
That was one of the key changes in Vista, besides the kernel, that MS enacted. They made it where windows explorer doesn’t get tied up with a non-responsive program
What they did is finally multithread Explorer. Explorer being single-threaded is why it's the most notorious application to go unresponsive and leave you with a blank window if you move something else over it, especially if you're dealing with large folders or network shares. Ever try to open a folder with 300,000 files? I have. I wouldn't suggest it.
Explorer losing it will take down your whole desktop. It should generally now work better, that early file copy problem aside.
In your post 86, it seems intellectually dishonest of you to omit the "Platform Support" chart in the document that I referenced that shows HP-UX 64 bit and Solaris 64 bit are the only Unix platforms that are supported - no mention of Linux or Mac. They may run Pro/E but they are not supported.
And again I have to give you credit, I lumped all Mac users together when I offered my opinion regarding "their" need for reassurance when I meant to target people that (in my opinion) seem to be obsessed with Mac: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:swordmaker/index?tab=comments;brevity=full;options=no-change
The last response is yours.
Vista has a new display model (WPF) that can alleviate the old problems. But a program must be written specifically for it in order to reap the benefits. The other 99.99% of Windows applications are written to the Windows Forms model, so will freeze simply by the fact that the programming model for them has the main program thread also responsible for UI refresh and communicating with the OS.
From what I’ve seen, moving from WF to WPF is a major overhaul of any application, so don’t expect to see too many very soon. Even Microsoft itself only has a couple WPF applications out now.
Apple realized back in 1999 that it needed a new model for pretty much everything for its new OS, and delivered. So now all OS X apps take advantage of the technology because that was the standard from the beginning.
Neither your post 68 or 89 discussed OS'es so I guess Mac users do discuss things other than the OS in these threads, you included.
You get the last word.
From my #68:
Full disclosure: I do cartography for archaeology (including mapping long-unused pioneer roads). Since Canvas/GIS was bought by a Windows developer company (and, then abandoned) the only good GIS system I've found turns out to be ESRI's ArcGIS series -- which runs only on windows. So I run ArcGIS on VMWare, and then put the complex multilayer map/photo composites together in (the Mac version of) CanvasX.I also have a Dell with ArcGIS and the Windows version of CanvasXI. My choice is to use the Mac, rather than the PC -- because the Mac allows me to concentrate on work, rather than on futzing with the foibles of the OS. It's my choice -- based on productivity and reduced frustration.
Apologies for my above off-topic discussion of wienerschnitzel and eschatology...
So stating your generalized opinion that your opponents in a debate are insecure and and unemployed to boot is not ad hominem? That is exactly the nature of a ad hominem... the use of personal attacks against your opponents in the debate or discussion in an attempt to belittle or denigrate them, their choices and their opinions.
My commentary about your original ad hominem reply to ROCKLOBSTER's—which was mild and probably referring to the MS "Lauren Find a Laptop" advertisement—was merely pointing out that you used ad hominem and that it is generally used because the user has run out of facts on the topic. It is a logical fallacy. . . calling the user on their use is never ad hominem.
My calling you on your use of ad hominem had nothing to do with your bantering with Cynwoody and everything to do with your reply to ROCKLOBSTER—which was pure insult to Mac users and their ability to earn a living. All your dancing around the facts is not going to change the fact you entered into this thread and immediately started tossing out ad hominem commentary as if it had anything to do with the relative merits of the platforms or even the article that started this thread.
Even in this reply you continue with ad hominem ("intellectually dishonest"). Being available and capable of running on a Mac which can run all three of the supported OSes that Pre/E runs on falsifies your irrelevant non sequitur claim of "Pro Engineer still isn't available for MAC." If the Mac can run it, it's available. Whether the company chooses to support particular hardware is irrelevant to whether it is available.
That's another non-sequitur... and a "strawman" argument, another logical fallacy. Bringing up the psychological failings and the earning abilities of people you disagree with is not hte same as discussing "other things." It is meant to insult and belittle those with whom you are having the discussion or to minimize your opponents' arguments and opinions, as being based in either pathology or incompetence, to others who happen to read the discussion.
Hey, look Swordmaker — some total idiot has taken to putting “spammer” in the keywords.
Which is better?
Fords blow up, Chevy goes bankrupt.
The bantering continues ad nauseum.
Isn't that every company does; try to convince customers of their superiority over their competitors? Kind of ironic that the picture you post is part of Apple's effort to convince mac users just how cool they are as people (I like the nerdy guy better, BTW). You get the idea that Microsoft is less a part of Bill Gates's personal identity than a stupid computer they had nothing to do with is part of some of Mac user's personal identity. Borders on creepy.
And I'll say once again. I really like macs, and if money was no issue, could probably get by exclusively with them doing the unix/.net/perl/java development I need to do to make a living. But of course, money is an issue. I'd rather eat at Ruth's Chris than have the Mac and cheese I settle for sometimes. MS and all the hardware makers that support that OS continue to do fine because companies have these things called budgets. Having employees that are cool and hip (and to a degree virus and trouble free) isn't worth the price for many. Just because a Beemer wil get there in style, doesn't mean a Buick won't get your there just the same; with more money in your pocket to buy clothes that make you really cool.
please add me to the Mac ping list? I have a new iMac (which is still in the box after many weeks.. I NEED to set that baby up soon)
thanks
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