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Why So Many Mac Fanatics?
daeley writes "NewsFactor has published an article, Cult of the Mac - Why So Many Mac Fanatics? -- looking for answers to '...what is it about the Mac that commands such loyalty? An even better question might be, what is Apple doing right?'"
When a key is pressed on an Apple keyboard, chemicals are released which make the user more open to suggestion.
Subliminal messages hidden throughout the GUI assert that Mac OS is superior.
What I've never understood is why people can get so emotionally attached to companies that make CPUs or graphics cards 5% faster than the ones they made the year before. Or to the companies that make first person shooters that push 5% more pixels through that hardware.
Enthusiasm about a company that tries to make computers qualitatively better -- that I don't have trouble understanding.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I say that Apple has consistently provided a really great product that is easy to use, has enough power and speed for most any task I've thrown at it, has great reliability and customer service for when something goes wrong, and continues to innovate in several ways, including hardware aesthetics, software utility and aesthetics, and hardware speed.
And, for me, I get more work done faster and with fewer headaches using my PowerBook when compared to any other machine I've used.
That's why I use a Mac. How about you?
Is it just me or is this (especially on Macs that aren't running OS X) more a function of the fact that few Mac viruses are written because the potential damage is so minimal relative to a Windows virus?
the ramblings of a new convert
For some reason, when the Yellow Dog machine gets an IP from the base station, it doesn't automatically "know" what the DNS servers are. This information is provided to the base station, and thus it's wireless clients know about the DNS servers as well. For some reason it doesn't work, and I can talk to numeric IPs but not named hosts.
Of course, when I did this under OS X, it worked on the first try, and has worked reliably for months. I never had to use to edit text files, read man pages, or get yelled at in IRC because I didn't know what "Pump" for DHCP was.
The funny thing is, not only does it not work the way it should, but that you are presumed to be stupid for not knowing why!
I've also never had to reboot my computer into command line mode because my "Xfree86 config file" went wrong.
I just want to USE my computer, not waste hours reading Usenet and trying command after command in order to make something work that should be taken care of automatically. That's why I like Macs.
"Macs are the computers that really made a difference, just look at DOS, it's not even a GUI. Too bad Apple's gonna die any day now."
"Macs are the computers that really made a difference, just look at Windows 3.1, what a blatant rip off of the Mac OS. Too bad Apple's gonna die any day now."
"Macs are the computers that really made a difference, just look at Windows 95, what a rip off of the Mac OS. Too bad Apple's gonna die any day now."
"Macs are the computers that really made a difference, just look at Windows XP, huge rip off of Macs. Too bad Apple's gonna die any day now."
Starting to see a pattern forming?
2. The OS and the machines are aestheticaly pleasing. PCs tend to look dull. Macs change. They remain exciting, or at least different.
3. More focus on programming "correctness." Apple periodically reinvents the OS interface to match current needs. Old functions are dropped when using the newer APIs. Choices are limited, or directed, depending on how you want to look at it. Programs end up being simpler and have fewer bugs as a result.
4. Apple has always marketed and spoken to the individual, not the company. (This is huge.)
5. Steve Jobs, brain-controlling presentation zombie.
And Mac OS X's UNIX base is just fucking cool. This is what's finally pulling me over. I picked up an old iBook for cheap to try it out, and I'm just floored. This OS is schweet!
And shock!, it's an iMac even. I got rid of Windows just a bit ago on my pc and installed BSD in it's stead. My other system runs Linux. My iMac is running OS X, with very little chance of running 9.x. The reason why is simple: I like a nice interface that opens up to a horrible ugly little unix box (sarcasm) when you want it to. It's absolutely great!
I bought this machine because, just like mechanics that work on American cars and drive Hondas, I don't want to put up with the BS when I get home. I like firing up a system that just works.
I've always been interested in macs, and I never had the bawlz to buy one until the iMac came out. They have a serious winner on their hands, now if only they would market the damn thing without being pretentious.
Lowmag.net
This time my employer will purchase a laptop for me -- I just have to choose which one. Since the low end Toshibas no longer come with the point-stick (*sigh*) I'm considering alternatives. Suffice it to say I am torn between an IBM A-series or an Apple Titanium.
I'm leaning toward the Titanium. And, it's funny, but I feel like I'm returning to a first love... I started with an Apple ][+ in 1979 (I was 12) and eventually had a Apple //e, Apple //c, and, later, a Mac Plus. In the meantime I was using UNIX and DOS. I always hated DOS. Then OS/2 -- it was Ok, but...well...stiff. Then I had the opportunity, as a salesman for Businessland/ComputerCraft, to experience the NeXT -- it was slick and satisfying but unaccessible 'cause of price. But I had to bow to Windows, since I had to support my clients who used a WinTel desktop to access our UNIX accounting package. Eventually I started writing business apps in VB, Access, Paradox...that was an unhappy period. Happily, I found Linux and felt better ('cause I like server-side programming).
Mac OS X is NeXT but backward Mac compatible and at a reasonable price. That's my take. Playing with the Titanium at Fry's has been enjoyable -- sometimes frustrating, honestly -- and the underlying UNIX is accessible and tempting. Hey - it beats Win4Lin for using Internet Explorer for client-side testing (and I like Win4Lin and won't run Linux without it).
So I guess I'm getting sucked into the Mac Cult. Blame it on early conditioning...
My weirdo co-worker is also going get the Titanium but will scrap OS X and install PPC Linux. Honestly, I have no idea why.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
As a long time PC user I find myself more an more tempted to get theh new iMac. I can't really justify it let alone afford it yet I can't help myself - it's so tempting now with OS X.
My best guess is that Apple computers are laced with crack....it's an addiction and it may cost me a fortune.
taking after other big vegetable/fruit processing/processor companies.
Actually, I am very happy I bought the iMac G4.
Its my first mac, I have always been die-hard PC, assembly and C programmer, built my machines myself.
But the mac works better, its stylish, its fast.
Its UNIX, the UI is nice and consistant.
Cocoa beats the shit out of MFC and the Windows APIs.
www.atacomm.com - The Leader in VoIP Product Distributi
I think that marketing is the one thing that's allowed Apple to keep their head above water in recent years. Have you been inside an Apple store? The internal design is open, they have machines set up and running (gasp!) actual software, just like you could do at home, and they have a bunch of attentive, friendly salespeople who know what the hell they're talking about roaming the store to answer questions, etc.
Sure, it might not appeal to a hard-core, alpha geek who prefers to build their own boxes from parts they buy at a dark, warehouse-sized discount store, but to your average consumer it's like a breath of fresh air. Also, their print ads (at least since the B&W G3s came out) have been consistently well done.
At this point, anyone other than Microsoft, IBM, and Dell who can stay in the PC game without whoring themselves out to the beige-cubicle-box market deserves some serious respect. Most Wintel manufacturers practically can't give away new PCs to home users, while Apple has actually managed to coax new customers over to their side of the fence, and keep them consistently upgrading every couple of years.
I think the secret is actually just that Apple manages to make their new designs look and feel truly new, rather than just cramming twice the clock speed and RAM into the same, boring machine. When you buy a new Mac, every part, from the case, to the OS, to the mouse, is at least slightly improved, in appearance if not in functionality, than it was on the last one.
Don't let yourself get confused about the respective roles of marketing and sales. Marketing is all about listening to what your customers are asking for, predicting trends, and shaping your product to meet their needs. The sales guys are the ones responsible for pushing the finished product to customers. Apple's level of polish and "consumer touch" in their products, stores, and ads shows that they definately understand how to market their products. If they've failed significantly, it's in the area of sales, where you pretty much have to give up on any sense of quality or design if it means you can ship a few more boxes.
Most PC manufacturers go that route; hence the total lack of attention paid to the physical design of their product. Whether you buy a Wintel from Compaq, Gateway, HP, eMachine, Dell, or some mom-and-pop clone builder, you're going to get more or less the same machine, with a nearly identical case, monitor, peripherials, software, etc.
Of course, Microsoft should get some of the blame for this; it's hard to make your product truly distinctive when you are absolutely required to make it support the newest versions of Windows and Office, no questions asked. The kind of risks that Apple takes periodically (moving to PowerPC chips, ditching the floppy drive, and totally re-writing their OS) would give any Wintel company's entire board of directors heart attacks.
There are not that many of them, but of those users, there are certainly an abnormal number who are fanatics.
You are clearly an idiot ("little dick syndrome??"), but I feel like responding anyway.
About a month ago I was at a Starbucks in Mt. View, California, checking my email with my iBook. On his way out of the coffee shop, a completely anonymous nobody walked up to me and said, "Nice laptop." I said "thanks," and he walked away.
This sort of thing happens to me fairly regularly.
There may or may not be many Mac fanatics. But you don't have to look very hard to find a Mac admirer. And that's clearly a sign that Apple has done something right.
macs only appear to be a success because they sell products to the *same* people.
You're simply wrong. According to Apple, of all the people who bought iMacs, 40% of them had never owned a computer of any kind before.
Sure, it's Apple saying that, so consider the source. But despite the apparent prevailing attitude on Slashdot, big companies are not in the habit of out-and-out lying in their marketing materials. There's obviously a grain of truth to the statement.
its UNIX *now*, but how the hell did it get a userbase with crappy OS 9 and less?
That man tried to kill mah Daddy
Their product is purchased by a select crop of people who are repeat customers. Funny, alot of recent Mac-owners I've met were PC diehards, or UNIX system admins, many of whom had never owned a mac before.
What is the point of the internet?
Here's the last two years. Starting to see a pattern forming?
Why, yes.
(Too lazy to click the link? The parent linked to a chart of Apple's stock price over the last two years, showing a fairly significant decline. My link superimposes a chart of Dell's stock price over the same period. The two curves are almost identical. Proving that the parent poster has no idea what he's talking about.)
its UNIX *now*, but how the hell did it get a userbase with crappy OS 9 and less?
;-)
Amazing. With all its shortcomings, tons and tons of Mac users still chose OS 9 over any alternative operating system.
You're right. Sure musta sucked.
Well... I certainly see Dell growing a heck of alot more than apple in the big scheme of things.
:-P
Note: I have no idea what I'm talking about
So what you're saying is that you like Macs because you get the attention that you crave? That's pathetic! If you buy products to feel better about yourself, it's not that there's anything right with the product, it's more like there's wrong with you.
"Little dick syndrome" is a lot closer to the mark than you'd like to admit.
hey, but they have Geforce4 MX!!! (slower than Geforce3 TI200) ;-)
How can someone possibly think that a 7XX MHz G3 running with slow SDRAM, and a slow IDE harddrive is soo much faster than a 14XX MHz Athlon running DDRAM, and a faster IDE harddrive or a faster scuzzy drive.
My iMac is faster than any other computer I use. Why? Because it spends less time waiting on me.
When I use a PC, I spend more time than I want to futzing around. For instance, when I plug my iBook into the LAN at work, I pull down one menu item and all my network settings change. When I go to the coffee shop and use their 802.11 service, I pull down that menu again and poof! When I go home, poof!
Even in Windows 2000, location management is rudimentary at best, and in most aspects simply absent. With my Mac, I don't have to futz around with that stuff.
Within a certain set of boundaries, it's not about clock speeds, or bus speeds, or hard drive speeds, or any of that shit. It's about the computer not getting in the way when I want to do something.
they have the GF4 Ti (4600?) as an option across the powermac range now, with it as standard in the 'big beefy' top end rig.
I disagree. Their marketing team is a little hamstringed right now because of the economic downturn. It is expensive to get on TV and radio. Computer sales are down and Apple likes to make a little money each quarter. So they cut expenses.
Apple will make a push to capture marketshare when people start buying more computers. Hopefully the stars will align with the coming of the G5!
Because RISC processors are faster than CISC processors. It's quite simple. And the Honda analogy just don't fly, because you just tried to convince me that the Mac WASN'T faster. I don't care if a PC does all my thinking for me (as I'm sure MS would like), and works while I sleep, I still can't fucking stand thier tinker-toy OS. A PC may be faster in a PhotoShop shootout (although I have yet to see one so decisive that it justifies using a processor at twice the Mhz..) but try doing that and running 12 other apps at the same time. Sorry, keep your DLLs and your Active Directory. You can have it.
Very well, but
"IRQ's memory addresses, jumper switches, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, SYSTEM.INI, or WIN.INI."
IRQ's and memory addresses are no longer an issue (Plug and Play is very mature, and ACPI is about there.), jumpers are pretty much a thing of the past (a lot of boards have ONE jumper, and that's to clear the cmos memory)
config.sys and autoexec.bat don't exist on NT based OS's (Win2k/XP)
and I think that in the 8 years I've been using x86 hardware (before that I was an Amiga user) I've editied a windows INI file about 3-4 times.. tops..
I like Apple, I like Macs, but your information is WAAAAAAAAY out of date, might as well bitch at apple for not having premptive multitasking. (eg, they didn't have it, but now they do..)
You'll be sorry when you try to heat up your soup in one.
As a Mac user, I'm aware of Apple's famous 1984 TV ad. George Orwell talks about citizens being over the top fanatics. Apple said they were against that future in their commercial. I am forced to wonder, sometimes.
Please Complete These Steps
There you go. Feel better? Not my fault if you find you are no longer motivated to become a hacker.
(taken out of context for effect)
Wouldn't your mom rather have a nice bubblegum machine instead?
Well I'm a mac user and the one thing I always hear from Wintel users is how small Apple's market share is. Like I'd care..
When it comes to Apple there are only two things that I feel completely certain about.
The first thing is that Apple will never die, they will always have their loyal group of supporters to keep them afloat.
The second thing is that Apple will never dominate the personal computer industry.
The thing that my Wintel using friends don't understand is that I as a mac user am perfectly happy with this. In fact I want Apple's situation to be like it is right now! Apple are after all a creator of a proprietary operating system and perhaps the most important thing thing that stops them from treating their customers as bad as Microsoft does is that they really need to satisfy the customers they have. If Apple had the same monoploy that Microsoft enjoys today, they would probably we just as bad, and I would not be a mac user.
Somewhere in the heavens... they are waiting.
oh, and did I mention
THE MICE ONLY HAVE *ONE* BUTTON!!!
I stopped typing with *one* finger when I was 10.
That man tried to kill mah Daddy
How can someone possibly think that a 7XX MHz G3 running with slow SDRAM, and a slow IDE harddrive is soo much faster than a 14XX MHz Athlon running DDRAM, and a faster IDE harddrive or a faster scuzzy drive.
They can because for a lot of tasks, processor speed is not the limiting factor. It's the user. And on a Mac, it often takes the user less time to accomplish a task due to the superior UI.
Apple's "there is no step three" ad campaign was much more relevant to real-world computer usage than the MHz-flaunting going on elsewhere.
Apple's current ratio (current assets / current liabilities) is 3.34:1, and Dell's is 1.07:1. The generic standard current ratio is 2:1, of which Dell falls short by 53.6%, and Apple exceeds by 167%
There is more to life than raw stock price.
Lowmag.net
You're right. Sure musta sucked.
Let's not start equating user base with quality. That would make Windows an incredible piece of software instead of a piece of s....... You get the idea.
The Mac OS is better no matter the numbers. Have you ever tried to edit source code in Windows (NT, 2000)? God forbid you ever try to select something on a long line! I spend a lot of time trying to get applications to allow me to select just what I want instead of what it wants. And, that's just one little time killer out of many. That's why I fly the mac pirate flag as my screensaver on my work machine.
Angleyne: You can't bend that girder - it's unbendable! Bender: Well I don't know anything about lifting, so that ju
Have you ever tried to edit source code in Windows (NT, 2000)? God forbid you ever try to select something on a long line! I spend a lot of time trying to get applications to allow me to select just what I want instead of what it wants.
A classic example of the Microsoft way of doing things. Who sat in a staff meeting and said, "You know what's hard? Selecting text. We should try to make selecting text easier.
"See, if the user drags the cursor over part of a word, he obviously meant to select the whole word, so we should select the whole word for him. And if he selects a word at the end of a sentence, he obviously wanted the terminal punctuation and space too, so we should select those for him."
"Hey, boss, I've got some thoughts on how we can simplify that collection of six interrelated modal dialog boxes for managing network settings."
"Not now, Johnson. We're making real progress on the text-selection problem! Guys, I smell bonuses!"
'nother pattern
YAP
How 'bout that one?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Yeah, good for you if you bought DELL back than, if you bought Apple in the last 1.5 years you fared better than the dude who bought DULL. No matter if you bought stock or computers.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
IRQs are still an issue, because P'n'P won't help if you run out of IRQs. And the config files all migrated into the registry.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Yeah, you're so l33t, I bet you pick your nose with more than one finger.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
The current rumor on the grapevine suggests that Apple may not release a true G5 chip this year. Instead, the next iteration of the G4 might be rebranded as the G5. This puts the likely hood of a true G5 release at MacWorld San Francisco. I'm trying to hold out for a true G5 myself but my G3 is showing its age. Hopefully Mac OS X 10.2 will bring me a nice speed boost.
--- Don't ever trust a woman until she's dead- B.B. King
I love the Windows pushers in here. They monopolize 95% of the market, and they STILL complain, cry foul, and attack like rabid pitbulls every time someone says something positive about ANY alternative OS.
---
Me: Hey, that BeOS thingy had pretty nice icons.
MS: They sucked, you suck, you only like them because you're a fag and a communist. It's a good thing they're dead, it makes more room for Windows to expand.
Me: I like the TiBook, the Widescreen is pretty cool.
MS: You are obviously a troll who should be raped and murdered. Macs don't run Windows. die faggot. You must be queer to like a faggy looking OS like that.
Me: I set up a GPLed firewall on Linux today - it works like a charm and didn't cost me a cent.
MS: The GPL is a cancer. I hope *you* get cancer from it. What are you, a transvestite homophobe jew? Are you so cheap you won't spring for a REAL OS? You get what you pay for, loser. So pay through the nose. We'll get you sooner or later, might as well give in now.
Me: What the hell are you talking about?
MS: What are you, deaf now? You goddam retards are too stupid to know Windows RULEZ!!! If you were smart you'd know XP is perfect in every way. I goddam challenge you stupid idiots to prove that XP isn't the greatest OS in the world. You're a stupid idiot. I hope your mom dies.
Me: I think I'll go vote with my wallet.
MS: Make sure you buy MS Office, goof. And shut up with your baseless propaganda about non-MS products. Just shut the hell up. We'll make you goddam sorry you crossed us.
---
And what I *really* like is that I can't find a single public forum about ANY alternative Operating System that isn't fully and completely infested with these Microsoft shills. On average, 80% of the posts on these forums are from 20% of the people, and they all seem to be pro-Microsoft to the point of utter retardation. *ON NON-MICROSOFT ORIENTED FORUMS*. I'd be interested if any of you reading this can name ONE public forum or newsgroup that isn't polluted with MS shills. Just one. I know I can't.
That's just flawed logic, twisted to your own ends. I think the real point would be like what if you drove a really nice car, say a Jaguar.
Why did you buy that car? For the attention? Or because it's a very high quality auto, and you appreciate fine things?
Let us assume it was the latter, because clearly some people drive expensive cars to show off. You will from time to time have people admiring your car, but after all, you are not your car, but it is a reflection of your good taste, and of who you are in a way. We say "thank you" when someone complements our clothes for example. We (probably) didn't design and make those clothes, but we did choose them.
Or say you are a musician (like me), you know the difference between the $3,000 custom made Alembic bass, and the $150 Squire bass. You don't buy the expensive one to show off, you buy it because you know it's a better designed and built product, will be easier to play, and will probably need less maintenance ... and you appreciate its fine sense of aesthetics and detail. You like the way it sounds, and you like the style. You might even like that not that many people have one. All these are valid points. This is why I started building my own guitars, because I knew what I liked and didn't like, and also because I wanted something different than what everyone else has. Afterall this is why we customize things.
This is why I use a Mac. I like the way they look, I like using the OS, and I appreciate the quality that goes into them. And I dont mind paying a little more and I dont mind that not every one uses them. I don't care what other people use. I also use PCs, I think any flavor of Windows is just ugly. I like Linux, but find OS X more polished. Also in my line of work (desktop publishing/graphic design) this is what we use. Period.
No one needs to validate their choices. If you like something, buy it.
And yes, I was a former PC user.
-- if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic - Lewis Carrol
This is nonsense! I run several Macs all day here at work, 2 G4s (a 400 MHz and a dual 500) and an older PowerMac 7500 with G3 upgrade card. We are running Mac OS 9.1 on all three. They are on 40+ hours a week.
Sorry to inform you, but they don't lock up 5 times a day, or even 5 times a week. I have a crash maybe once a month, and that's with Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, AOL, MSIE and a bunch of other stuff open.
that argument was good about ten years ago with System 7.5!
My G4 at home running OS X has not crashed once sinch I got it last March.
-- if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic - Lewis Carrol
And I suppose Anonymous Coward best describes you? You are referring to the fact that they were always very unreliable cars. Let's call them tempermental. They weren't any worse than any English cars, like MG and Lotus. And this is based on all the Jags you have owned right? ;-) You can substitute any high-end car brand, OK?
Actually Jags have gotten quite reliable ever since they were bought by you-know-who.
Personally I drive a BMW, which is not as sexy as the new Jags.
-- if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic - Lewis Carrol
Hell, you'd be lucky to find 5 text editors in Windows that behaved consistently and used the same keyboard shortcuts and modifier keys. I could never get used to the inconsistencies in Windows - never mind the aesthetic void. It amazes me how many of those users who never tried anything else but the MS Way still put up with it to this day.
-- thinkyhead software and media
How dare you say? OK, I was annoyed by the Windows GUI but let's face it, the Mac OS was still running what was basically 1985 Andy Hertzfeld "Switcher" technology. While there were OS hacks to permit apps to be kind to CPU cycles (co-operative multitasking) and allocating memory from the system space instead of requiring fixed memory size per app, it was still just kludge upon kludge.
But now I'm heading back. OS X is what I've been wanting for years. The stability and usefulness of UNIX with the user interface that only Apple can do right. I've got my order in for a new iMac to get my toes wet again and if I love it as much as I expect to, I'll be dishing out for a dual G4 in the not too distant future for my main powerbox (It's currently a 2GHZ Intel box running XP Pro).
I've used them all, so when I get to the point where I will say again that Macs are the best computers out there, it will be an informed opinion!
(Note to Apple, please bump my iMac order up in the queue... :-)
The word "fanatic" comes up an awful lot in talking about Mac users. I've actually never known anyone who would qualify as a fanatic with regard to their choice of computer, but I've certainly known some fans.
As a long-time fan of Apple products, I own a G4/450, a 2001 iBook, a Power Mac 8500, and an iPod. At work I use a G4 to do web development. All my Macs run Mac OS X (Including my trusty old 8500, which I bought in 1995 for nearly $4K, and have subsequently upgraded to a 400MHz G3.)
I've been a programmer now since 1978, when at the tender age of 11 I first discovered that computers were k3w7 and that I could make them do what I wanted. What I wanted to do back then was to make games, and I wrote a lot of them on my Atari 400, and a couple on my Amiga 1000. So as you might imagine, when the Mac first came out in 1984 I wouldn't go near it. It had no color support, it was expensive, and it had a tiny screen. So I stuck with my Amiga, which at the time had a better OS, better sound hardware, better graphics hardware....
When in 1995 I decided to rejoin the geek universe I took a look around at what was available and found that the Mac OS had stayed true to its principles of elegance and simplicity, while Windows had only grown more convoluted and directionless. The scattering of DLLs all over the place combined with a central overwrought registry, plus the lack of true plug and play were a foreshadowing of what I could expect to contend with if I decided to focus my programming efforts on the Windows platform.
But what really swayed me even more was my experience with the Motorola processor architecture. When I was an Atari geek I learned to program in 6502 Assembly, a very simple and direct little chip. My first exposure to x86 Assembly Language made me wretch and cringe, but I was able to dive right into the 680x0 architecture and program the metal with ease. The 680x0 was simply a more modern and well-planned processor. The instruction set was elegant and - well - beautiful. If I was going to get my hands dirty programming in Assembly language I didn't want to have to work around the limitations of the x86 instruction set, registers, and paged memory architecture.
In my last programming job I was given a PC running Windows 2000 to use. "Fine," thought I, "This is going to be much easier. Microsoft has made a stable OS that's slightly neater than Win95 and it'll be a breeze to get used to." My god, was I wrong. I've used all manner of GUI in the last 25 years, so I can adapt very easily to any environment, easily learn where things are and how they work. But my experience with Windows was constantly frustrating. The tools I used for writing embedded perl, text editors, web dev suites, shareware FTP clients, you name it... Every tool I used was full of bugs, or it took over the screen, or its editing shortcuts were inconsistent, or its menu layout was inconsistent. There seemed to be very few "standards" that developers could adhere to.
I wanted to have fun with the system, so I downloaded shareware, which I've always found fun on the Mac side. Wouldn't you know it, there are dozens of any type of shareware program. Many of them were half-assed, half-finished, or just posted to get me onto a SPAM list. Trying to find a decent shareware application for any purpose took much too long and led me to several crappy pieces of software. This is an example of why "there's more software" is a meaningless selling point for Wintel boxes.
Eventually I brought my own Mac into work and used the PC as its stand.
So obviously I'm a Mac fan.
The "fanatic" element is something that comes up in the Mac community for a couple of reasons. Mac users have always been in the minority, using a far better designed platform, have had to watch everyone in the world blindly scooping up Windows licenses, oblivious to the fact that Windows is far more complicated than any OS needs to be. I've personally never tried to convince a PC owner to dump their machine and get a Mac. However, in many cases PC users have seen me work with my Mac, flying through various tasks with ease, and have been impressed enough to make the switch.
Perhaps what makes Mac users seem "fanatical" is their unflinching devotion to a platform that the other 95% don't use. It's as if 95% of the people in the world think the sky is green, because that's what they've been told, while only 5% have raised their eyes to see that it's blue. The 95% take their view for granted, and label the other 5% as fanatics.
-- thinkyhead software and media
Perhaps, but Enron was at its peak when it declared bankruptcy. Numbers don't make apple superior. Innovation and ease of use do.
Lowmag.net
Hell, you'd be lucky to find 5 text editors in Windows that behaved consistently and used the same keyboard shortcuts and modifier keys.
Have you noticed that all Cocoa apps that use the text editing widget have the same key bindings? And what's more, they're Emacs bindings! C-a for beginning of line, C-e for end, and so on.
oh, standard in $3,900 G4? right ;-)
Look, it isn't possible to explain this. Many metaphors have been tried, but here's another:
The Budweiser people who don't understand why some people like to drink Abbott ale never will, because in their minds,
The homebrew people are a bit more flexible. They might like Abbott Ale, or they might not, but if they don't like it, it's either because they don't like it on its merits or they would rather change the recipe.
(I should also point out that Be OS is like Old Peculier poured from an elevated oak cask.)
I don't like to see Wal-Mart crush a little store or person. I like to see the smaller guy win sometimes. The same holds for Apple.
I think most people feel the same way. However, most people still shop at Wal-Mart becuase it's convienent. Same is true for Microsoft. Since it's on every street corner...
You know who I think is crazy? All my ex-girlfriends!
For my entire life, I've been an advocate of PCs. Aside from my first machine, a commodore64(if you can call that a computer), I've owned PCs exclusively.
Last summer, I got a job doing various media creation, and had to use Macs exclusively. "Oh no, the horror! I hate the Macs!" is essentially what ran through my mind. They were strange, alien little beasts that I've heard the masses whine about over the years.
Within a week, I wanted to throw my PC out the window. MacOS 9 is just MacOS, but it's simple, straightforward, and easy to maintain. MacOS X, on the other hand, made me weep in its beauty. Sure, the initial release was pretty slow, but having a terminal(!!!!) pop up when I logged in was a wonderful thing. It's the simplicity of a Mac and the power of a GOOD OS.
I spent the rest of the summer saving my nickles and pennies for a G4. The release of the dual gigahertz beast was the straw that broke the bank.
Macs are more expensive, true. They're a bit more proprietary than PCs, true. But, the fact that I have an original, functional Macintosh(a recent gift from someone who didn't want to move it!) gives me plenty of faith that my new Mac will last.
Oh yeah, and Final Cut Pro beats any other video editing software with the biggest beating stick ever.
-agent oranje.
> For instance, when I plug my iBook into
> the LAN at work, I pull down one menu item
If you set "Location" to automatic and
drag the interfaces into the desired
direction you don't have to change settings
at all.
Or did I miss something in your configuration?
k2r
You hit the nail right on the head. Mostly because I am such a recent Mac owner :)
Thought for a minute I recognized your name. Saw your bio, and you weren't who I thought you were, but we did graduate from the same school. (2000).
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
I'm sure the 20 posts above me all point this out, but I feel the urge as a recent convert to point it out.
Pundits have been saying the Mac was dead since 1986? Maybe a little later. Either way, they've been saying it somewhere between 10 and 15 years, and yet Apple is still here. Apple is getting as much press as it did way back when in the good ol' days. Apple has name recognition. Apple has people converting to them. Apple has people *crabing* an iMac or a PowerBook. How many consumers *crave* a Dell or a Gateway?
UTA? What was your major?
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
CSE, graduated 2000. Currently working on a masters.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
I spend a lot of time trying to get applications to allow me to select just what I want instead of what it wants. And, that's just one little time killer out of many.
Oh Jesus, this is my *number one* pet peeve *ever* about Windows. The amount of time I have wasted in my life trying to get the @#$%&* OS to select what *I* want rather than what some MS programmer *thinks* I want. I've never wanted to put my fist through a monitor more than when dealing with this.
Heeeeheeeeeee! (snort) Heeeeheeeee!
Check it out! Freud is alive! Hey, Sigmund, what's your secret? And your Mac/Linux user bashing has...what was it...."deep psychological underpinnings" in what exactly?
Let's go through this one point at a time, OK?
1.IE/Mac v. IE/Windows: well, since most web sites made by non-programmers cater to IE/Win, it's no wonder. Call it taste. Me, I personally like Netscape 6 on Mac the best, but I've got other perversions as well.
2. Calling something a "tool" isn't saying much. Apple's constant success (as a leading PC hardware manufacture) has been making tools that get the job done without as much pain. It's like comparing a deluxe Leatherman to a generic Swiss army knife.
3. Your example is with, to put it mildly, one of the funkiest computers Apple ever built. The Performa 5200 was built to be a low-end consumer device, and its lack of upgradeable features as well as its nonstandard architecture was a headache for a lot of people. I have one of these things, and it's currently serving double duty as kid's PC and bedroom TV.
The hardware Apple makes nowadays suffers less from this. In fact, developers complain more that Apple is TOO restrictive in their hardware support, abandoning legacy computers like the pre-G3 Macs. Still. developers have the freedom to choose between Carbon, Cocoa and Java.
And as to your other comment, the transition to Mac OS X from OpenStep/Rhapsody wasn't cheap at all, or intended to win over the geeks. It was a concentrated effort involving tons of work/money. Add to that Steve Jobs' imfamous desire not to compete for market share, but for coolness, and you can see how Apple is cool again after the dark days of Spindler and Amelio.
As fom my take, this whole "cult" thingy is a leftover from Guy Kawasaki's Mac EvangeList days, where Mr. Kawasaki decided to take a marketing trick from television evangelists. It was good at keeping Apple alive during the dark days, but was abandoned when Steve Jobs took over. Nowadays, people stick with Apple because they're comfortable with it, just like Audi drivers prefer their cars over anything GM has to offer.
But what happens if you like Guiness?
___________________________
I'm not a geek, but I play one on TV.
The registry (and the way you have to fiddle with it and how fragile it is) is unique to Windows, and running out of IRQs because the designer saved a few cents by using ISA components is specific to "the" PC.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
How do you like these apples: nVidia
The point being that empty comparisons are just that. AAPL itself doesn't suck, the entire tech market (with few exceptions) sucks.
When I started using a PC, a friend of mine owned a Mac. Most PCs at the time did not have 1) sound, 2) networking, 3) hard-drives, 4) 800 k drives. His had all the above and the graphics (albeit black and white) were great.
Except during the lean years in the 90's Apple was a step ahead of the Intel/Microsoft world. It was able to address megs of memory when I could only do 640k and beyond that required special hardware and extensions. Everything from scanners to graphics tablets were a snap on the Mac. I can't tell you how many hours I spent fidgeting with PC cards.
The Mac experience is focused on the user. The windows experience is focused on cost/performance and infrastructure. I always felt, even when I had PCs because I couldn't afford a Mac, a PC was about running programs like wordperfect. A Mac was about writing, publishing, communication, fun, science, or whatever you needed it to do. It's like a Ford Taurus is about trasportation - but a Mercedes is about comfort, elegance, ease, and safety.
Apple's ability to incorporate new technologies is about this experience. A DVD burner should just work so you can make DVD movies. The reason for buying a DVD burner isn't so you can spend hours trying to flash new BIOS into your PC to have it recognize the new device. Apple slips these technologies in to enhance that user-centered experience.
It's not a cult - it's a family.
Leave the gun, take the cannoli -- Clemenza, The Godfather
OS X is Unix, so I'm quite comfortable setting up my terminal environment and will install a local copy of my work environment later today.
The only problem: I bought it from Fry's and got an Airport Card with it but no one told me I'd need a special screwdriver to remove the back of the Ti to install it. So, I'm using the built-in ethernet port. C'est le vie.
"Hi, My name is Robert Taylor and I am a Mac OS X Convert."
Coming soon: my-ti.com.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
I've been a mac user for a long time, and at my school I've always been ridiculed (!) because of this. (Don't ask me why... It's not like I was obnoxious. It's just that once I let it out that I used a mac *gasp* people felt it necessary to taunt me about that.) However, I have noticed that a lot of the people who used to feel so antagonistic are now seeming to feel a little upset/curious about Apple's new hardware, the iMac especially. "It's lame! Ugh! No pci slots! ... ... (pause)
But it does look cool." And, since OS X came out, a few of the less abrasive PC users have expressed interest about running on a *real* UNIX OS.
To sum up, I can't point to anything specific, but even those CS majors are feeling less cozy towards microsoft. I think this is what Apple is doing right: hardware that doesn't look like someone whacked it with the ugly stick, and a good, solid OS.
-- Apple: Where Microsoft wants to go today.