Posted on 01/13/2005 12:28:42 PM PST by ambrose
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By Stephen Evans
BBC North America business correspondent
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It's tempting to think that Steve Jobs is some sort of religious leader rather than the chief executive of a rather successful computer company.
And you could be forgiven for thinking that his Apple products are objects of religious devotion rather than mere pieces of plastic enclosing silicon chips.
The Cult of Mac does have some rational basis.
There seems little doubt that the products are very good. Its strong attractions are usability and good looks (though not usually price until this week's announcement of a less expensive home computer).
Inspired behaviour
There is clearly, though, something more to it than mere mundane functionality.
Lots of companies make good products but they don't attract the kind of religious zeal that Mac inspires.
Take the case of John Charlton, for example, who, according to Wired magazine, travels the world with his Newton, the PDA which Apple discontinued in 1998, and has now created a gallery of pictures of the said gizmo in front of various global landmarks from Florida to Munich to Lisbon.
Or the people who cut their hair to show an Apple symbol or who get Mac tattoos or who dress up like Steve Jobs or who trek around the world to the opening of a new Apple Store.
Rebellious streak
It is a tribal thing - the Mac Tribe - and a sociological phenomenon, to do perhaps with a minority who believe they have seen a truth, much like the drivers of VW Beetles would wave to each other in the 60s, knowing utterly that their car was superior, but it was a secret unperceived by the rest.
There may also be a type of person who delights in going against the herd.
Whatever is fashionable for the masses becomes unfashionable for the minority. Manchester City and the New York Mets both have their loyal followers who would rather die than head for Old Trafford or Yankee Stadium. And so it is with Microsoft and Apple.
While the big company dominates the market with its uncool product, Macs offer an alternative to those with a streak of bolshiness and perversity (both nouns are compliments).
Cool dudes?
None of which is to say that Apple and Mac offer style but no substance.
Clearly, the company is getting a lot right. Its devotees (disciples?) swear by their products as being effective and easy to use.
It's just that there's something more to it than that: the packaging and sales-pitch have succeeded brilliantly in conveying a whole life-style and image.
That style emanates from the top.
Steve Jobs is the counter-image of a stuffy businessman. He wears trainers, jeans and black sweaters.
Apple's attitude to the media is actually tight and highly controlled yet the image portrayed is of a cool and easy-going counter-culture.
Pure marketing
Let me declare an interest: I own a Microsoft driven personal computer. It serves me very well. I have no strong feelings about it. Mac may or may not be better; it's just that it's not the route I happened to take.
I get stalked, though, by colleagues who insist on telling me how much better their iPod is than my Dell Jukebox, even as the reviews say the battery life of an iPod isn't the best around. Or how I should throw my PC away and get a Mac.
They may be right.
It's just that some of the message is in the marketing.
We asked you, our readers, if you are Mac followers or loathe Macs, or indeed whether you are simply puzzled by this phenomenon? The feedback printed below reflects the wide range of views held.
I have not got a clue about this issue and i am a loser when it comes to technology.
Hassan Shah, Watford
Not to knock Jobs, but that iPod shuffle round his neck looks terribly unfashionable. Sort of like when you were back in school and you had that teacher with the big glasses and pen hanging round her neck. I for one won't get one until it is covered in zebra stripes and purrs everytime I do something right, like my girlfriend ;-)
John, London
Macs have always lead the way. They are simpler, more intuitive to use and now cost less! They are also better quality.
Jeff Lil, Hull UK
I must admit to being puzzled by the whole Apple cult. I too have had my ear bent by Mac nerds, but I've ignored them because I can't see the point of paying over the odds for an inferior product just because someone considers it to be stylish. Why buy a Mac when you can get a PC that will outperform it in every respect for half the price?
Anthony Jones, Leeds UK
Once again, disappointingly, a report on Apple rehashes the old myth, that Macs are more expensive than their equivalent PCs. Utter Tosh. TCO (total cost of ownership) studies show, time and again, with equivalent hardware and software, that Macs are actually cheaper. Lazy journalistic nonsense.
John, Forfar, Scotland
I like the idea of the Ipod shuffle and also the price but I can't help but feel that they are really taking advantage of new computer users with the mini Mac. They are taking advantage of Mac as a hip brand name to sell a product without a keyboard, mouse and monitor and are marketing it like they are doing the consumer a favour.
People will buy them because Mac is the it thing to have but these will be home users wanting something to look good next to their lava lamps or something. If Mac just lowered the prices for their Macs anyway they would be able to compete with PC no problem in my opinion, I feel we are being slightly ripped off by this mini Mac.
Andrew Maddock, Harrow, London
I am indeed puzzled. The Mac Mini is lacklustre. The specification are so 2003. And yet people are willing to pay money for that. The iPod Shuffle is even worse.
March Suffot, London
I am always amazed with how intuitive Apple products are to use. Proof: they come with no manuals.
Bav, Brussels
I'm a user of Macs and PCs (and by the way, it's not just a matter of Apple versus Microsoft: Microsoft Office is very widely used on Macs, at any rate in corporates).
I don't have a strong preference as regards the working environment: as an IT professional, I've worked on and supported both platforms (and others). I suppose if I didn't need to maintain my skills on both platforms I'd be content enough with a Mac.
I think, objectively, the interface is generally better, not to mention friendlier for non-experts, and I've happily produced reams using one or other of my Macs. But then, I've done the same on PCs.
However, I do get irritated by the aggressive evangelism of many Mac (and Linux) users: perhaps Mac users really are smarter, cuddlier, safer and more creative than PC users (but I'd like to see some reliable, objective statistics!), but in my experience they're often rude and arrogant.
I suspect that this often shows a deep-seated defensiveness and insecurity. Apple do many things just right (and I'm not just talking marketing either), but they aren't perfect.
Furthermore, Mac users don't live in a vacuum: the Mac experience might be more productive and pleasant if the rest of the online world supported the platform better. The fact that they don't isn't the fault of Apple or the customers (well, sometimes it is: insularity is not an attractive trait), but it isn't an argument for putting all your eggs in the Mac basket, either.
David Harley CISSP, Headley Down, UK
I think that for most Mac users there are a range of factors that influence us. A distrust or dissatisfaction of Microsoft is one factor - in this sense Mac users are similar to people who choose Firefox over IE or Linux over Windows.
In many cases there are also very specific, practical reasons. I use a Mac at work because I have something like 10 years of resources created on Macs (some of which use software unique to the Mac).
I use a Mac to read email by preference to reduce my exposure to viruses (most of which can't damage the Mac OS or Mac files).
Finally, Mac products tend to have a longer shelf-life than Windows PC products and tend to be easier to use. This last point is no longer as true as used to be (Apple has adopted generic PC components in its machines and lowered quality slightly over the years), but I have never had a serious or expensive hardware fault with any Mac I've used at home or for work. This contrasts with the experience of many PC using colleagues at work over the years.
Thom Baguley, Loughborough
Your reporter sounds a bit defensive, insistent on portraying Mac users as "other" than normal computer users. Perhaps that makes him more comfortable with his Windows PC. If he focused on which computers are better for most users, his stubborn resistance to trying a Mac may give way. Oh, the horror!
Ted Rebarber, United States
I have used Macs for almost 20 years and a Windows PC on only a couple of occasions. I don't drive a Beetle (or Bug) but chuckled at the article, agreeing with it and identify with many aspects of it.
It's not a religious thing, just about finding what works best for you ... except you then want to evangelise about the 'great truth' you have discovered, which sort of makes it a quasi-religious thing!
PS. I have already placed my order for an iPod shuffle!
Lester Peters, High Wycombe, UK
Apple has an outstanding Marketing department that could sell rain coats in the desert. As for their products, its all down to hype and marketing. Many companies offer better products at far lower prices.
"Macs are really easy to use" they cry. Anyone who has ever sat down in front of a Mac for the first time will realise that a Mac is very easy to use - but only when you know how to use it!
Phil Templeton, Poole, Uk
As is usually the case with these things, those pursuing "anti-fashion" are the biggest fashion victims of them all. It reminds me of my teenage niece who wants to be "different" just like the rest of her friends.
Matt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (ex. UK)
If this goes on, in few years time it'll be rebellious not to have a Mac product. So far, I'm doing well, I don't have any! ;-)
Konstantinos M, Athens/London
Everybody knows that Macs are better than PCs. But we all have to use PCs for compatibility, because everyone else does.
Adam, London, UK
Who cares?
Chris, Lincoln
Let me tell all of you who use Windows XP and keep it up to date with the patches, "YOU DO NOT NEED SP2 AND IF YOU DO INSTALL IT WITHOUT READING THE MICROSOFT PAGE ABOUT SOFTWARE COMPATABILITY, YOUR COMPUTER MAY NOT BOOT!"
I don't know what every one does for a living, but I doubt that you do new tasks without doing some research on what it is and how to do it. Updating a computer is the same way, treat it as routine and it bites you.
A computer is nothing but a box of electronics ran by a number crunching program. It doesn't screw itself up, the operator owner does that by not being familiar with what they are doing and taking chances without protecting themselves. I bet that probably less than 1 percent of you have a backup of your computer's boot drive and of the 1 percent that do, less than 1 percent of you have not updated it. And many of you use these computers for really important stuff. (I have three seperate back up external drives)
Well I can promise you this Southern boy would take offense at being called "gay" no matter where it is you like to cruise. And it ain't cause I'm gay.
You see, we have a tradition of practising civility down here, because *not* practising it can lead to nasty altercations that end in jail-time.
Now, we do have people who don't observe that particular tradition, and shoot off their mouths no matter how delicate their posteriors.
We call them "women."
hahaha u sux @ Windows PC!
Well, it seems that Macs havebecome more upgradeable since I last looked at them (like, the early 90's) it may be something I look into for the next computer.
Oh, and whoever mentioned the tojans, etc.. I know what you mean. Despite running Norton AND AVG, some sort of trojan got into the system resotre file and I ended up doing a complete reformat. I know I could have gotten it out of there without the reformat, but I've gotten in the habit of reformatting my hard drive every 5 months or so. I also run an extra hard drive, so the resoration time is about one hour for a complete OS rebuild.
overkill, I know, but I'm anal that way. ;)
Dell does this with power supplies, so if you own a Dell and the power supply goes out, you have to shell out $150 to get a power supply that you can buy for $25 if you knew how the plug was wired........
There are adapters that allow you to use a normal p/s on those Dells. Plus I hear most Dells these days come with a normal p/s these days, not a proprietary dell one.
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/atxtodelad.html
I never said you were gay. I simply said that I would buy one, except that I am not gay. You are might touchy about this subject.
Built-in keyboard and pointer. Different ballgame.
I would go on every FR thread about MS and say "I would use windows but I'm not gay" but I'm not gay..
And, nobody would respond to you. For some reason Mac users are sensitive to the gay insinuation. No that there is anything wrong with it.
1. Never run two AV programs at once.
2. Ditch Norton as the program is no longer the quality program it once was. Instead use AVG Pro ($33.00 with 2 year subscription) or even the new free version.
3. Get a copy of Acronis True Image and use it for backing up your C Drive and updating it.
4. Turn Off System Restore and only use it when you are installing new software or hardware. It takes up hard drive space and is not very good.
5. Get a copy of WinXP Rescue which will fix the now rare but still happens problem of NTLDR missing.
6. Make a bootable BartPE disk. http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
and yet on a mac thread you replied to me... Thanks for not proving your point..
Not at all, your statement referred to MS threads, this is a Mac thread.
Umm hmm. And it's never occurred to you that others don't share your "tolerant" attitude toward homosexuality, regarding such an insinuation as an insult?
What pc enclave spawned you?
That's possible, I mean, I am, obviously, a very tolerant person. Now, your prejudices against homosexuals are what we need to talk about. You know, God created them that way, and who are you to judge? Didn't God teach you not to judge, lest you be judged yourself?
Nope, but my mom taught me to recognize the way women try to turn around blame when you catch'um shooting their mouths off and they *should* be embarrassed by their own duplicity.
Not really. First, as I pointed out, I use one USB port for the mouse and the second USB port to power external speakers. That is, I use that second port as a power plug for speakers so I don't have to worry about plugging them into a wall. For a desktop, a wall plug for your speakers would be fine. Second, the Apple keyboard has USB ports on it to plug in the mouse and a second peripheral (one port each side). Third, you can always use a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse with the new Macs with the Bluetooth option and they'll be wireless. Fourth, a lot of flatscreen monitors, Apple and otherwise, include built-in USB hubs.
So not a different ballgame at all. At least not in my opinion.
The typical PC user who switches is going to want to use his PC keyboard and his PC mouse (and monitor), right? Isn't that the point? Of course anyone can go get the Apple versions of the hardware, but if that's necessary, it ought to be included.
Well, all I have to say is that this is 2005, you are living in the 1950's. You don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. It's time to move on.
Also, audio input on the Minimac is USB. Don't forget that.
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