Mac threads resemble DU.

Blue Highway ^ | 7/01/09 | Blue Highway

[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.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The fact that you feel so compelled to defend Apple Macs against any and all "insult" speaks volumes. Your self-righteous indignation over a computer speaks even louder.

If it's not a cult, they why the religious fervor, oh defender of the faith?

The reason that his article reached 583 comments and this one is at 425 is because you Appleheads can't let it go. There is no greater proof of the cult status of Macintosh computers than the dedication of it's owners to right every wrong and correct every statement...even to the point of carrying on a discussion far beyond reason.

All anyone has to do to punch your buttons is to say anything that could slightly be construed as being anti-Mac. The resultant torrent of protestations from the faithful and cries of "Heretic!" is as astounding as it is amusing.

The PC users...all of us...are laughing at you Macbots and you're near apoplexy in your effort to defend...a computer system.

Simply amazing to watch.

All FReepers are computer users, every man Jack of them. And a large percentage of computer owners, like a large percentage of automobile owners were at a similar stage in the evolution of the automobile, are enthusiasts. There are still people who have been committed to particular brands of automobile for several decades and won't consider other brands; my Dad for instance bought only Fords all his life, AFAIK. So from that standpoint alone, even if irrational exuberance for Apple is significant it is hardly a novelty in American culture.

OTOH Ford owners weren't the only ones with brand loyalty, and the people who razzed Ford enthusiasts wouldn't buy anything but a Chevy - or a Plymouth, or a Nash or a Hudson or a Studebaker - and would have no better reason for restricting their own options than the Ford enthusiast would have. There was some reality behind most of the claims of the enthusiasts of the various automobile brands, but . . .

If it ever got to where Apple bestrode the computer world like a colossus, I could understand people being annoyed at people for ridiculing the idea that no other computer was a sensible choice. But I guess that is actually the key to understanding Apple phobia - secretly you all realize that Steve Jobs is creating a juggernaut which will swallow up the PC industry and leave you no choice but to submit. ;)

[Sudetenland]

Said like any true DUer or Liberal..."Apple phobia."

Kind of like "homophobia?" You must be one of those who accuses anyone who is anti-gay marriage of being a homophobe too.

You Apple Mac cultists make it just too easy. Mac-bots=DUers in tone, in arguments, and in their responses. Q.E.D.

Thanks once again for making my point for me...and for making my day a little more filled with laughter. :)

[Blue Highway]

I could care less about WIndows Office series, and if I was an Apple owner I would care less about iLife or iWork. I rarely use bundled crap that is pre-installed.

[Blue Highway]

But I guess that is actually the key to understanding Apple phobia - secretly you all realize that Steve Jobs is creating a juggernaut which will swallow up the PC industry and leave you no choice but to submit. ;)

That made me chuckle. I know you weren't serious as you added a smiley face. I wonder how many Mac users though secretly wish there was a takeover and the day when Mac users will rule the world.

[Blue Highway]

You Swordmaker tend to assume too much. I said I agreed with Bott’s summation. His summation was that Apple’s pricing scheme is a clever one. His opinion over whether Apple wanted Microsoft to cut prices is irrelevant and is just opinion as part of his summation. BOttom line is Apple’s pricing scheme is clever and I agree with that 100%. I find it convenient how you like to assume way too much and then take the liberty of speaking for someone else. I said I agreed with his summation which was Apple’s pricing scheme was a clever one. I don’t know how many times I will have to say that. That is all I agreed with. I never specifically agreed with his opinion that Apple wanted Microsoft to lower their prices. But you know what, maybe they did, I just don’t see how that would be wise on Apple’s behalf. In any event that part of his summation is opinion and speculation and not the focus of his summation at all, despite how you want to put words into HIS mouth too. You are putting words in my mouth and like a bunch of other Mac users on here they also take the liberty to do the same.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

But I guess that is actually the key to understanding Apple phobia - secretly you all realize that Steve Jobs is creating a juggernaut which will swallow up the PC industry and leave you no choice but to submit. ;)

That made me chuckle. I know you weren't serious as you added a smiley face. I wonder how many Mac users though secretly wish there was a takeover and the day when Mac users will rule the world.

Well, for sure the liberal ones wish that the liberal ones did! They're sure not hoping that I do!

I think we'd all settle for a world where there is room in the computer market for all kinds - high end systems, mid-grade systems, and entry-level systems. A world in which when you buy a computer to surf the web, you don't also have to buy software to try to keep up with legions of hackers circling like vultures over egregious vulnerabilities in the systems. And a world in which computers do what they are sold to do, and the seller doesn't pass the buck when one actually doesn't. And a world in which entrepreneurs continually and dynamically raise the bar on what we can expect from a computer.

As it happens, Apple does most of that - they just don't compete in the low end of the market. Maybe Windows 7 will do all of that and fill in the low end of the spectrum as well. Time will show.

[Swordmaker]

You Swordmaker tend to assume too much.

You are right. I assumed YOU wrote what you meant and that you try to tell the truth as you know it. Now I know I was in error. You do not write what you mean, ergo no one can rely on what you write. You do not tell the truth. That is the bottom line.

If all you agreed to was "cleverness of the pricing scheme," don't cut-and-paste two paragraphs of conclusions and merely state "I agree with that" unless that is exactly what you mean. If it isn't, isolate what you agree with, paste it, and there is no obfuscation of what you agree to.

You display your ignorance in every reply you post.

[Admin Moderator]

You say it. That's slander. You publish it on a website it's libel.

And you're attracting the wrong kind of attention. Members who start throwing terms like that around are usually shown the door. FR isn't your personal playground for threats - especially legal ones involving this website.

[Swordmaker]

I could care less about WIndows Office series, and if I was an Apple owner I would care less about iLife or iWork. I rarely use bundled crap that is pre-installed.

This is an example showing more of your ignorance of the Mac system.

The iLife package, although it is pre-installed, is hardly "bundled crap" like what you get on Windows PCs. It is usually among the best in class and composed very powerful applications that, in many ways, equals or betters commercial offerings on Windows. They are not crippled versions of apps that you must buy to break the artificial shackles to use. For example iPhoto contains 95% of the photo editing features, post-production tools, and user interface that were in Apple's professional photographer's package, Aperture, which retailed for $499 when it was first released to high acclaim in October 2005. In 2006, when Apple released Aperture 2 with even more functions, they added the Aperture 1 functions to their free iPhoto.

incidentally, iWork is not a pre-installed package.

The iLife and iWork apps are applications designed to seamlessly integrate with each other and the Operating System... and with the extended computer/web system that makes up the Mac experience.

You remind me of Dr. Suess's story Green Eggs and Ham... where the character protests "I don't like green eggs and ham" when he has never, every tasted them. You have absolutely NO experience of what you criticize... to people who have experience on both YOUR preferred platform and their preferred choice, the Apple Mac.

It is amusing to watch you make claims based on your limited experience to people who know you are spouting twaddle. You say "I don't like Apple Macs and OS X" so you won't try them... and declare "I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere," all while knowing nothing except what you've heard from others who dislike them.

Fine. Stay ignorant. Just don't come on Mac threads and try to tell us we are mistaken or evil because we just happen to disagree with Blue Highway.

[Blue Highway]

And you are showing yourself for being the Mac iDiot that you are. Ok now I have to answer to you because I didn’t agree with him 100% but made a general statement that I agree with him. You are a piece of work. If you can’t grasp this concept then I can’t continue to waste my precious time talking to you. It’s like with President Bush I suspported him and I voted for him and I can say I agreed with him as him being our president. Did I like the fact he didn’t give the border agents a full pardon? NO. Did I like his caving in with the Stimulus bill? NO. If you can’t see the same reasoning with me agreeing with Ed Bott’s summation without saying I agree with his opinion about Apple wanting Microsoft to cut prices then you are not only an idiot, you are a troll.

[Future Snake Eater]

Just FYI, for folks who may want to try Mac OSX but don't want to fork over big $$$, you can buy Snow Leopard for $29 (when it comes out) and run it on a virtual machine from your Windows or Linux box with VirtualBox. It's a free, open-source VM solution that can help some of the unwashed masses see the Mac light. Also, vice versa. My mom is running the Windows 7 RC on a VirtualBox off her Mac OSX machine. Pretty cool stuff!

[Blue Highway]

I have never tasted Green Eggs and Ham and DO NOT WANT THEM. Thank you very much Swordmaker. Just the same I DO NOT WANT bundle software made to give the impression you are getting a good deal. I use Photoshop I have no use for other Apple software, thanks anyways. Now how do I get OSX Snow Leopard without the integrated software bloatware?

[Mr. Blonde]

Ah yes, eight years in the executive office of the United States and two paragraphs on a Web site are similar enough to be worth comparison.

[Blue Highway]

I didn’t really appreciate his mention of slander or libel either but I let it slide. I figured if he kept up with those tactics, he’d be dealt with appropriately.

[Mr. Blonde]

Are you sure that is right? OS X is not listed as a supported guest system, and I’m pretty sure Apple frowns on virtualizing it.

[Mr. Blonde]

The same way you get Windows without Windows Media Player, IE 8 (in the US), Windows Live Mail, etc.

What programs exactly do you want out of the box from an OS?

Photoshop and iPhoto seem to occupy different aspects of dealing with photographs from my experience with them.

[Future Snake Eater]

Apple frowns on a lot of things, but I know people do it. I doubt there’s anything wrong with it as long as you actually buy the OS. The only potential issue I can see if that with Snow Leopard being really new, it may take some time for VirtualBox to catch up to it.

[Swordmaker]

Isn't it amazing. conservatism_IS_compassion makes a well reasoned polite reply to your comments and you take the opportunity to denigrate a fellow Freeper and insult and slur all Mac users.

That, my friend, is far more typical of what you find on DU than anything Mac users have posted.

Let's ask FreeRepublic's resident expert on DU, PJ-Comix, what he thinks of Blue Highway's claim.

How about it, PJ... could you review the premise and the tone of the replies on this thread and tell us which posters most resemble DUers. You might also want to review the complaints that got Blue Highway so upset that he started this thread. Thanks, PJ.

[Blue Highway]

IE8 can be uninstalled in Windows 7 and Live Mail isn't something I ever came across as I never use Outlook or Outlook Express BS for my email programs.

As I have said many times before, I hate bundled software, and I'm not afraid to say I don't care for the bundled crap Microsoft included but at least they give the option of uninstalling some of it now.

I am probably an enigma to Mac users as I can criticize both Microsoft and Apple and not feel guilty for doing so. If you find an Apple user criticising Apple, I wonder if they "strangely disappear". Hmmmmm....

[chris_bdba]

You can run Vista on a mac and it will run better than it will on a Pc. I’ve personally stayed with XP on my MacBookPro running Parellels(the layer windows needs to run) because my embroidery software was designed for it and rather than have to fight with any upgrade and pray that it still will work...