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

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

[discostu]

There's a subsection of the Windows crowd that's just as psychotic. It's probably equal numbers in both camps, they just seem like more in Macland because they make a bigger percentage, but really there are sane Mac users and they're even the majority.

[Ouachita]

Yeah, that was hilarious.

[Theo]

Macs are used to make most video projects, whether pro- or anti-Bush.

It's not a conspiracy by Mac users against Bush. I'm a Mac user (have 1 at work and 2 at home), and am very pro-Republican.

[HAL9000]

"Of course you can't buy a Mac with an OS not from Apple."

Yes, you can. Apple's online store sells Office v.X for Mac Professional Edition which includes Windows XP Professional. You can buy it with a Mac.

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

Motorola does manufacture PowerPCs, but Apple is switching to IBM's PowerPCs. Microsoft and Sony are also using PowerPCs for some of their future products.

"As does your need to use the Wintel shorthand and completely ignore AMD and other competitors."

I don't ignore AMD - I have a couple of computers with AMD processors.

"Drop the red herrings Hal, I've come to expect better from you."

Sorry if I've disappointed you, but after 30 years as a computer user, I just won't settle for a second-rate platform like Wintel.

[Prodigal Son]

I'll take a not-so-wild guess that the top finalists also have ponytails, too. May as well flesh out the stereotype.

Aye, you'd be right. I saw an MPEG today of the number two contestant on Scarborough Country and it blew my mind. Old, long hair and a weird hat.

[discostu]

Nobody is asking you to settle for anything, jsut to aknowledge the truth:
Mac was gunning for a dual monopoly, anybody that was around when it still looked like Windows vs Mac would be a fair fight knows that
No software bundled with the OS is truly free, anybody that's opposed to government largess and insane taxes should be able to transfer the logic over

Those were my simple direct statements that you've been moving further and further away from with every post.

[Question_Assumptions]

FYI, I don't want Apple to be the only computer maker any more than I want Microsoft or Dell to be the only OS or hardware vendors. I want competition and open standards. Macs are part of that. Linux is part of that. Even Windows is part of that.

[DallasMike]

Say that to all those who suffer viruses on a daily basis.

I run Linux and Windows and wish I had a Mac, but I can't imagine anyone suffering viruses on a daily basis, nor can I really blame Microsoft. If as many people ran Macs as they do Windows, Mac viruses would be as common as dirt. Viruses for Macs pop up every once in a while but tend not to spread much because there are just so few Macs around.

I've only had one virus in my life and that was when a client stuck an infected floppy in a work machine about 8 years ago. I cleaned up the machine and had no problems.

[discostu]

I want competition, though I do like having a clear winner that creates defacto standards. I remember the days of a wide open industry and it really kind of sucked, seemed then you needed at least two systems to be able to use all the software you wanted because you could garauntee that the best of breed of at least one type wouldn't be made for System X. Having a standard really helps avoid that, but competition is good, keeping whoever is on the top of the heap on their toes is good for everybody, having alternatives is great. I'm not anti-Mac, they're good system. I just get annoyed when people act like Steve Jobs is a really great guy and the world would be a better place if he'd won and Bill Gates lost, they're both scum. Steve is smarter scum when it comes to technology, Bill is smarter scum when it comes to marketing. That's why Bill won, and why things wouldn't be that much different than they are now if Steve had won.

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

"...and the default decisions of Jobs (no floppy, 1 button mouse) are idiotic."

You are welcome to your opinion, but as a PC@work/Mac@home person, I find the floppy to be useless and can function just as well with a one button mouse as a two button mouse. One of Jobs other stupid default decisions was to junk all the legacy crap and go strictly USB (and later USB/firewire). What a maroon!

[discostu]

I use the floppy almost every day at work (swapping images to change test environments revolves around booting from floppy, there are other solutions but they'd be a much bigger pain... and sneaker-net is still a great way to move files when all other options fail you), and I use the right mouse button every day. Defaulting away from them was stupid, it punishes power users. What's especially gauling about those decisions is how cheap the hardware is, floppy drives less than a new music CD adding extra buttons is miniscule (actually given how much the multi-button mouse rules the world going one button probably costs extra). Undoing those decisions would be a negligible cost.

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).

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

"What's Mac's marketshare now?"

Another question might be what is market share for Microsoft brand PC's? If you compare units sold for Apple vs. Dell/HP/Gateway/etc., they are not that far back in the pack. Add to that the building momentum of the G5 machines and the enormous success of the iPod, and you have a company that is making lots of money. I just read the other day that Apple is essentially debt free and is sitting on something like $4.5 billion in cash (or roughly $12 per share at a share price around $22).

Finally, if you've never used OS X (especially version 10.3), you really have know idea what you're missing.

As for the "free" software, of course its not free. You are correct that you pay for it in the cost of ownership. However, unlike PC buyers who get a "free" copy of Windows with their hardware purchase, my "free" OS and iLife applications are worth what I paid for them and more.

[HAL9000]

Mac was gunning for a dual monopoly, anybody that was around when it still looked like Windows vs Mac would be a fair fight knows that

I'm not really concerned that Apple failed to establish an effective monopoly, or that Microsoft is a convicted monopolist.

I just want a computer with high quality, good value and technological excellence. If Wintel had those attributes, I'd be a Wintel user.

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

...and I use the right mouse button every day."

I use the right mouse button every day at work on my Dell PC. At home on my Mac, however, I am not crippled by the one button mouse because I can use keyboard/mouse click combos or click/hold the one button and do what I could do with a two button mouse.

If it were a crippling blow, I would just buy a two-button mouse for my Mac. They work just fine but for me are not necessary. Same goes for the floppy drive. I bought an external one for my first floppy-less Mac. It now sits in a box in the basement. Haven't needed it in over 5 years.

[discostu]

The person I posted that line to was presenting Macs as the wave of the future. If they're going to be the future they're going to need to overtake the entire Intel/ Windows based industry, not just individual companies playing in that market. They're profitable, which is a good thing, but they're marketshare has been hovering between 5 and 7% for a very long time and really doesn't show much tendancy to break out of the shell, every new model sells well but it seems to sell to people using it to replace older Macs instead of PCs (exceptions occur of course, I'm just talking generalized trends here).

As for OS X I really don't care what I'm missing. I'm not that kind of computer geek. Windows does what I want when I want how I want, it doesn't always do it well but I really don't care. It keeps me in a job and at home it runs Netscape and games. I long ago got bored with sexy OSes, spent many months tweaking around OS/2 and had a good time doing it but I'm past that. I'm no longer a person that wants to fiddle with the OS, I want the OS to give me the internet, give me games and occasionally allow me to tweak my resume; I really don't care how it looks and as long as my computer has enough oomph to make the OS seem fast that's good enough for me.

Windows is worth what I paid for it, just because it's not your bag doesn't mean it's a ripoff.

[discostu]

Well that was my statement that you first took issuance with. I'm not trying to convert you, I don't give a damn what computer you use how why or when. I said Mac was gunning for a dual monopoly and you didn't like that statement, if now you don't care what they were gunning for then there's no need for the discussion to continue. Use your Mac in good health. I'll use my AMD-Windows machine (you really need to stop using that Wintel phrase, it skews your vision and makes you look like a Machack with an unhealthy obsession) in good health.

[discostu]

In the world of QA where I live that's called a "work around", one of our favorite phrases in QA is: just because there's a work around doesn't mean it isn't a bug. I never said one button was crippling, I said it was a stupid default and Steve should join the real world and ship two-button one-wheel mice like every other peripheral manufacturer on the planet.

[Imal]

Apple is the Libertarian Party of the computer world.

[Question_Assumptions]

I want competition, though I do like having a clear winner that creates defacto standards.

The problem with a clear winner is that they don't create defacto standards. They create proprietary standards. I want standards to be open and either produced through consensus or trade associations.

I remember the days of a wide open industry and it really kind of sucked, seemed then you needed at least two systems to be able to use all the software you wanted because you could garauntee that the best of breed of at least one type wouldn't be made for System X.

With modern compilers and object libraries, it is much easier to cross compile and would be easier still if interfaces were not as proprietary.

Having a standard really helps avoid that, but competition is good, keeping whoever is on the top of the heap on their toes is good for everybody, having alternatives is great.

If one company can patent what becomes a critical standard, then they can shut out the competition. I'd rather not even risk that. It is bad enough having one entity that can tax me. I don't want two. The only way I'd want that level of standardization is if the OS is open (e.g., Linux or FreeBSD).

That's why Bill won, and why things wouldn't be that much different than they are now if Steve had won.

Oh, I agree that Steve winning wouldn't be ideal, either. I don't want a winner. I want competition.

[Question_Assumptions]

Sorry about bad formatting. I'm sure you can recognize your own comments and mine.