Macs A Key Part Of Controversial Anti-Bush Ads (some mac users all tingly about socialism)

The Mac Observer ^ | February 4th, 2004 | Brad Gibson

[Action-America]

I saw all of the finalists' ads and only thought two were of really professional quality - the one that won Best Overall, "Child's Play" and "In My Country", which was not recognized. Out of all the finalists, it's interesting to note that only one told the unvarnished truth. I tried to find out upon what platform "In My Country" was edited, but that data was not available. I personally think that if "In My Country" is used during the campaign, it can do a lot of damage to the GOP, because it hits us where we have a real and serious problem right now - honoring the Constitution. I imagine that the reason that the Rats didn't like that ad, is because most of them have no more use for the Constitution than do Dubya and Ashcroft. It would be a much better ad for the Libertarians, Constitution Party, etc.

This contest just proves that the Mac is so easy to use that even unejukated libruls kan use them.

 

[antiRepublicrat]

while the PC became popular because IBM released its design to the masses for free

Not quite. We have Bill Gates to thank for just licensing MS-DOS to IBM instead of selling it, allowing him to later license it to other manufacturers that would come. Second we thank Compaq, which reverse-engineered IBM's BIOS which was of a "strict proprietary nature," and clean-room wrote its own to avoid IBM's "phalanxes of attorneys," thus beginning the clone revolution.

[antiRepublicrat]

no floppy

Ditching the floppy was one of the best things ever. The PC world finally picked up on this for laptops, and is starting to do it with desktops.

[discostu]

Ditching floppies is stupid. There's nothing to be gained. They're cheap, small and still useful. It's not like ditching zip drives or those awful tape backup systems. Floppies are a handy item of last resort that cost next to nothing to be able to use. They're the ziplock bag of the computer industry, something out there is better than the ziplock at everything it does, but nothing out there is as generically useful and cheap.

[antiRepublicrat]

They're marketed as a generic universal computer, they are NOT a luxury computer period.

If this isn't the definition of a luxury computer, I don't know what is.

[discostu]

Oooh they have a top of the line model that's really cool. BFD. There's $1200 PCs out there too. I'm talking about the main line stuff here. Most Macs are around 10% more expensive than an equivalent PC, not a luxury computer.

But as long as you posted that: what is up with Mac's recent facination with stupid looking computers?! The first iMac looked like a 50's black and white TV, the next one looked like a desklamp with a thyroid problem, the G's look like breadmakers. Give me a nice bland box, it's going to spend most of its life next to my feet anyway no reason for it to look shiny, just needs to be able to survive be accidentally kicked.

[antiRepublicrat]

He dropped serial and parallel support?! Didn't know about that. It'll be added to my "what was Steve thinking" list. Yeah serial and parallel suck but they're still out there and serve a purpose (like running printers that haven't died yet).

The second button was never there, so it wasn't dropped. As far as all the dropped legacy stuff, it was an excellent idea. All those people absolutely needing the legacy stuff can easily get a cheap adapter to plug into a USB port. Meanwhile Jobs can shave production cost and motherboard and driver complexity.

As for floppies, my whole office runs off of laptops, not one with a floppy. We don't miss them, as they've been replaced by USB keys, CD/RWs and the network.

[antiRepublicrat]

Really? Motorola makes the chips for them, who makes the computers?

What will really get you is that those chips were begun with a partnership between IBM (you know, the PC guys), Motorola and Apple.

[VillageDamien]

They're regular old desktop computers, comparible to any random sedan, and their marketshare is miniscule because the company has always done a horrible job of marketing them. PC vs Mac isn't Ford vs Porsche, it's Ford vs Honda, and if Honda had only 1/10 the marketshare Ford had everyone on the board would be out on the streets.

No. It's more like Yugo vs. Honda. The Pinto vs. the Taurus.

Cheap, crappy machine that gets you there if you pray enough vs. Barely more expensive (and sometimes cheaper) machine that gets you there reliably, without worry, and comfortably.

[discostu]

I didn't say the second button was dropped. Although if you knew your PC history you'd know there were mice before the Mac and at least a few WERE two button so technically Steve did drop it (the early entry I've used was an IBM mouse from like 82 that was the size of three packs of smokes, ugly as sin, and had two blue buttons on it... damn thing was still working in 97 when I left that company).

If the computer will be able to run them through an adaptor he's not going to save any production cost on drivers. As for the motherboard if it's properly using the modular design Apple started the ports won't be built into the motherboard.

Whether or not you'd miss them is of no concern to me. Floppies ARE still useful no matter what you think and they're dirt cheap to produce and include in a computer. I user them every single day at work, outside of work once or twice a year. But again IMMATERIAL. They ARE STILL USEFUL and no amount of "my office" annecdotes will change that fact.

[antiRepublicrat]

They're cheap, small and still useful.

Cheap, I'd rather not pay even that money. Small, not relatively in a laptop. Useful, I have one in my desktop, but can't remember the last time I used it. Unless you deal with really old PCs, the USB key is the way to go for sneakernet.

[discostu]

Why would that "get" me? Contrary to what the Mac-heads are trying to portray I'm not anti-Mac. I already said they're better machines. When I drew the car parallels I even said they were Hondas to PC's Ford. I just don't use them because they don't do what I want the way I want it done. Now if they ever capture the majority of the desktop space then there will be the level of software development I require and I'll switch. It's not religious with me, it's utilitarian, what kind of computer I use doesn't matter to me at all, it's just a tool. I'm also uninterested in the brand of my TV, microwave and toaster; so long as they do the job I don't care, I'm more interested in the toast than the toaster. I get the toast I want from Windows currently, no big deal.

[discostu]

I've driven both a Pinto and a Taurus, actually two Taurus. I'd take the pinto every time. Better stearing better gas milage and more comfy seats. Just don't get rear-ended.

I've never had to pray for safe delivery from my computer. The Mac crowd tells a lot of silly lies about PCs. There are horror stories from individual manufacturers which is mostly the fault of the manufacturer, and if you super tweak one it'll go to hell on you. But for 99% of Windows users it's smooth sailing and no problems. I've had this computer for two years, it runs a lot of games because that's most of my home computing time, games push PCs to the limit they're what push the technology forward, never crashed. I had a Win2K machine at work that was ON for two years, finally turned it off when we moved, never crashed never needed rebooting just turned off the monitor when I left for the day. PCs can and do work stabily, at least as stable as Mac.

[general_re]

If this contest had been run 12 years ago against Bush I, half the entries probably would have been done on a Video Toaster. Somehow I don't think that would have made Newtek or the Amiga inherently socialist, in and of themselves....

[antiRepublicrat]

Oooh they have a top of the line model that's really cool. BFD.

Okay, hang it up, you don't know what you're talking about. They canceled that model almost three years ago, and it cost $1,600 in the slowest, cheapest version.

But as long as you posted that: what is up with Mac's recent facination with stupid looking computers?!

Thank award-winning industrial designer Jonathan Ive for all of it, including the beautiful monitors and the iPod. He gets inspiration for common objects, gumdrop = iMac, desk lamp = new iMac, pack of cigarettes = iPod, etc.

A lot of people, including me, like to put their computers on their desks. I can't wait to get my G5 so I can have that quiet on my desktop instead of my current wind tunnel. I've always wondered about this phenomenon with retractable car antennas -- why do people make them ugly and then retractable to hide them? Why not just make them beautiful in the first place?

[discostu]

Can you boot from a USB key? None of my PCs at home or work have USB keys, and they won't, don't need, got floppies.

[antiRepublicrat]

Although if you knew your PC history you'd know there were mice before the Mac and at least a few WERE two button so technically Steve did drop it

Except that Steve really didn't design the Mac. He actually fought against it in the beginning.

Floppies ARE still useful no matter what you think and they're dirt cheap to produce and include in a computer. I user them every single day at work, outside of work once or twice a year. But again IMMATERIAL. They ARE STILL USEFUL

Useful for some people, like you, who can get them if you want. Don't saddle the rest of us with obsolete technology.

The parallel and serial ports are useful too, I guess, but I haven't used either in years. Come to think of it, I haven't used a 5 1/4" or 8" floppy drive in a very long time, but they should still be included in machines since they're still useful. And why doesn't my computer come with an ISA card slot anymore? I have ISA cards I could use, but my PC only has PCI slots.

[discostu]

Great then it WASN'T a luxury model. I'm not a Mac guy I'm not supposed to be able to recognize every version and be able to rattle of their stats based on one picture. The fact that you'd put that up as some sort of lame trap just shows how shallow you are, what was the point, you didn't give any data. I could put up a picture of a 3 year old PC you wouldn't know a damn thing about to and you wouldn't know the stats or how old it was, and it would prove just as little. How did it's stats compare to a $1600 PC? Probably pretty equivalent, they generally are.

Well award winning industrial designer Jonathan Ive makes unsightly crap that has no place in my home. Most award winning designers these days make unsightly crap, they only seem to hand out awards for unsightly crap. I've never seen a PC I'd want on my desk, PCs belong under the desk, they keep your feet warm.

Car antenas are ugly because ugly works and is cheap. Why pay extra money for something that's going to do nothing more than receive radio? Especially silly when you realize that changing the configuration would also make it less effective at its job. Not a good example.

[antiRepublicrat]

Can you boot from a USB key?

Yes. You can also boot from a CD. You do have a CD writer, don't you?

None of my PCs at home or work have USB keys, and they won't, don't need, got floppies.

Consider the USB port to be your floppy drive, and you have to go out and buy a USB key as you would a floppy, only it's more expensive but holds much, much more. Actually, most of the data I move around wouldn't fit on a floppy.

[antiRepublicrat]

Great then it WASN'T a luxury model.

Actually, it was. It was woefully underpowered for the speed and features it had, compared to PCs or other Macs. It was all about style and prestige. I didn't set a trap, you did that yourself. I thought everyone knew about the Cube, given the massive failure it was.

I've never seen a PC I'd want on my desk,

That's because they're ugly. BTW, the the G5 "breadbox" is form following functionality, allowing the system to keep dual processors cool with a minimum of noise.

Why pay extra money for something that's going to do nothing more than receive radio?

Because if you buy a beautiful car you don't want an unsightly thing sticking out of it. But then you probably just buy them for basic transportation and nothing more -- your decision. I just prefer the aesthetic when I can get it, and it doesn't interfere with other considerations.