Microsoft's grinning robots or the Brotherhood of the Mac. Which is worse?

The Guardian ^ | 9/28/09 | Charlie Brooker

[LibWhacker]

Windows works for me. But I'd never recommend it to anybody else, ever.

I admit it: I'm a bigot. A hopeless bigot at that: I know my particular prejudice is absurd, but I just can't control it. It's Apple. I don't like Apple products. And the better-designed and more ubiquitous they become, the more I dislike them. I blame the customers. Awful people. Awful. Stop showing me your iPhone. Stop stroking your Macbook. Stop telling me to get one.

Seriously, stop it. I don't care if Mac stuff is better. I don't care if Mac stuff is cool. I don't care if every Mac product comes equipped a magic button on the side that causes it to piddle gold coins and resurrect the dead and make holographic unicorns dance inside your head. I'm not buying one, so shut up and go home. Go back to your house. I know, you've got an iHouse. The walls are brushed aluminum. There's a glowing Apple logo on the roof. And you love it there. You absolute MONSTER.

[mkjessup]

If it were not for the egotistical iAttitudes of the iSnobs, Apple might actually end up with a larger market share.

When I think of Apple, I think of liberal DemocRats with their condescending "we are so much better than you" view of the masses.

Nomex suit in place. Let the iFlames from the iSnobs begin.

[KarlInOhio]

Since this was published they've been replaced by condescending Linux users, but the idea is the same.

[Mr. Blonde]

Or maybe the pro-Windows contingent will show up to shower you with praise for having the guts to stand up to the “fanbois”. You never know what you are going to get. Actually, I can almost guarantee the pro-Windows boys will be here to trash Mac. If we get to 30 posts without a “Macs are gay” post I will be amazed.

[Grut]

I could do without the ‘Kumbayah’ posturing of Ubuntu, too, but it won’t keep me from using it.

[Airwinger]

Now that was funny stuff!

[aruanan]

If it were not for the egotistical iAttitudes of the iSnobs, Apple might actually end up with a larger market share.

The above statement is a simple case of projection. The reason Apple has had a smaller market share is because in the early days of personal computers Gates-based OS computers sold for half to 1/3 the price of Apple. First time computer purchasers thought (and were told by sales personnel), "Hey, for the price of an Apple computer, I can get a computer and a whole lot of software" and made their choice. Most of them, over the succeeding decades, thought that all the trouble they had to put up with was just the way things were in the world of personal computers. That and being told that they were using "real" computers and that having to troubleshoot so often would make them far better computer users. Some of them, though, are starting to see that they were penny wise but pound foolish in their original choices (of course, stinkers like Vista helped many to see the light).

[MortMan]

Macs AREN’T gay?!? ;-P

Seriously, my major objection (on any side) is the self-righteousness everyone seems to feel (especially Mac and Linux users). At least most PC users are slightly neurotic, as befits their machines!!!

(I use PCs, BTW)

[stentorian conservative]

Great article. It’s always good to start the day with a hearty laugh.

[aruanan]

scowled and returned to my infernal machine, like a dishevelled park-bench boozer shrugging away two pious AA recruiters by pulling a grubby, dented hip flask from his pocket and pointedly taking an extra deep swig. Leave me alone, I thought. I don't care if you're right. I just want you to die.

Ha ha ha. This is so good.

[aruanan]

But this is even better:

I know Windows is awful. Everyone knows Windows is awful. Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it.

[stentorian conservative]

Vista, not imonks or isnobbery, is why I bought a Mac. The way I saw it was I had a choice: go back to XP or choose another OS.

[thecabal]

Great rant!

[aruanan]

But I must confess that, as a Mac user, I did a bad, bad thing. A friend of mine needed a laptop to run her Autocad program. She’s pretty poor and cannot afford a Mac (of course, I haven’t been able to afford another one since my 2004 iMac, thank you, BO, and your Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac friends and their shenanigans). I helped her get a HP laptop, set it up for her, and installed Autocad.

[Hacklehead]

Great article. I have this argument with my son in law all the time. The reason I dont buy a Mac is that Macs are for hippys and hippys suck (Limbaugh excluded).

[Patrsup]

I’m not much on the gushing fangirls for Apple. I would have said boys but the whole Iwhatever thing is slightly effeminate.

Its for the high end people who cant/wont try to figure something out that bugs them or doesn’t work correctly. They pay money for something they expect to be at a minimum satisfactory and always, consistently work well and the same each time they try something. I cant argue that reasoning - I just have a aversion to all things Apple - trying to use that stuff is like a pee shiver - you know what I mean!

Hey - its great if you like it but don’t talk to me about it - I make things happen the way I want them to - I don’t hope or for some of the fangirls pray that Apple makes it the way I want it to be.

“Computer viruses are an urban legend.” – Peter Norton, 1988

[chrisser]

IMHO, and I have used and supported both (and Unix/Linux), Macs are like Mercedes Benzes.

Are they better than Chevies - sure.

Really nice to drive? You bet!

Am I going to buy one anytime soon? Nope.

Could I talk my employer into buying a fleet of them? Not a chance.

[mmichaels1970]

Does anybody else have an iCousin? The one who corners you at parties to tell you how great his iPhone is? The one who wants to sit and talk about a Macbook at length when all you want is a piece of cake, a cup of coffee, and to see what football game is on the tv in the background?

[mkjessup]

If it were not for the egotistical iAttitudes of the iSnobs, Apple might actually end up with a larger market share.
The above statement is a simple case of projection.

Explain how.

[OldMissileer]

If we get to 30 posts without a “Macs are gay” post I will be amazed.

OK. Just to fulfill your prophecy: MACs are GAY!

I don't care one way or another about either but I thought I would have some fun today (this post is all tongue in cheek).

Take care.