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The Cult of Mac
The form and structure of the book is a cross between a Wired magazine (for which Kahney has long written on Apple) and a coffee table book. There are great pictures of people, machines and art to appeal to the eye. Some pages are all pictures, while others are primarily text -- most are a combination of the two. The layout is always attractive. If this were a book from Apple, the style would be cleaner and there would be less emphasis on the past; this book is from and for the fans, though, so the style is more edgy and chaotic.
The book is divided into five large sections. The first covers the Macintosh itself, its users, its evangelists, and a little of its history. Including, to my amusement, but not surprise, its connection with pot, which occupies three pages. Wozniak is covered lovingly, and Jobs is painted with the same awe, love and hate brush that the community uses. Leander even covers the TV and movie Macintosh spotting, where the good guys always use Macs and the bad guys always use PCs.
Section two takes us into the MacWorld phenomenon. The secrecy, the crazy crowds, the keynote -- the whole shebang. We also get a look into the Mac phenomenon in Japan.
The final three sections are the most interesting to the hardware lovers. Section four covers modifying the Macintosh, futuristic designs, and the variety of things that have been built from dead Macs. The fourth section is about collecting Macintoshes; there is an excellent image here of a reception desk built entirely of old Mac Classics. Some attention is also paid to the devotees of Apple tsotchkes -- the shirts, the pins, the shoes, and other logo-branded novelties.
The final section is all about what comes next. Here Leander covers the iPod and its subculture, as well as the ongoing cultural battle between Microsoft users and the Mac world. The author even goes so far as to associate the construction of the swivel head iMac to that of a newborn baby to justify our attachment to it. And that makes my Powerbook a what?
There is a lot of great material in this book just to flip through, or to sit down for an enjoyable read. For the technically minded, there is nothing here to help you write better code or get more out of the operating system. This is a book about a culture, its icons, its people, and its ideology.
I can't recommend this book for a PC person, Unless he's interested in learning about the phenomenon or becoming part of it, I doubt there is much he'd interesting in this book. A PC user uses his machine to perform a task and thinks little of the machine itself. A Mac, on the other hand, is a key component of an integrated lifestyle. If you don't live the lifestyle and you care to know more about it, then check out the book. Otherwise, you might as well skip it.
As a Mac enthusiast myself I really enjoy this book. I started programming on the Macintosh with the first 128K machine, took a hiatus on Windows for a couple of years, and switched back with OS X. I've been to a MacWorld and seen some of the phenomenon first-hand. But it's nice to see it catalogued here in such an attractive, nicely constructed, well-written book.
In the early days of Apple versus Microsoft we had a real culture war, command line versus GUI. Windows won. Which is bad because Mac is, IMHO, better. But the Windows victory does allow us in the Mac camp to revel in our own individuality. This book is a fun way for new and old Mac fans alike to share in the common insanity which is our somewhat unrealistic love for this computer and it's company.
I'm certainly glad this book came out before Christmas. Now I know what I am going to give a couple of my fellow Macaddicts.
Reviewer Jack Herrington authored Code Generation in Action, and edits the Code Generation Network. You can purchase The Cult of Mac from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
ok, i've never heard of this, but the first google search came up with this page
Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
Pilgrimage to MacWorld. Classic, I tell you, classic. (Mac users will get that joke)
My favorite phrase: You have 5 Moderator Points! Use 'em or lose 'em!
image here of a reception desk built entirely of old Mac Classics
Mac's need to stick to serving burgers!!!! It's actually surprising what some of the technology Apple has been pushing out the door in the last few years. Apple seems to be more geared to specific aspects of computing and do it very well. I have a hard-core Linux co-worked who is seriously thinking of purchasing a MAC for a media PC. Either the marketing is getting better or the options are. Good job Apple.
A PC user uses his machine to perform a task and thinks little of the machine itself. A Mac, on the other hand, is a key component of an integrated lifestyle. If you don't live the lifestyle and you care to know more about it, then check out the book. Otherwise, you might as well skip it.
Being someone who spends equal time all day on a PC and Mac (G4 and G5), I can tell you that a Mac in no way is a "key component of an integrated lifestyle". It's a computer that happens to run an alternate OS and have a good marketing department, which is nice if you don't like windows or you are a drone consumer who cares about what is 'cool'.
WTF? Certainly PC users don't care about the machine.
Fucking Mac snobs.
It doesn't get much more main stream as far as Apple products go.
"Nothing to see here, move along"
:P.
It showed be that ten minutes after the story hit the front page. As a PC person, I can't help agreeing
Let's not forget the Apple Newton fan club.
I ate one last week. Actually in all honesty the Apple platform is pretty cool. hmm Actually any system I can bootstrap gentoo on is ok with me. :)
This reminds me of Saturn (at least when they first came on to the scene). Here was a company that did things differently, even in an off-beat way, and was rewarded with the type of customer loyalty that gives Harvard MBAs wet dreams.
Such companies define the "niche" market that everyone seems to talk about these days. It's the narrow market that captures the imagination and excitement of its customers.
Of course, one cannot manufacture this. I think its formation is a rare combination of vision, guts, luck, and a willingness to task risk. Unfortunately, the vast majority of companies today have none of this, valuing things like "vision statements" or "world class (insert skill)" over creativity and audacity.
-- Fugacity: Confusing chemists since 1908
This is where the culture comes in bringing in a sense of loyalty to the product you use. I don't feel like PC users have that same phenomenon and maybe if they understood it they wouldn't rant and piss and flame on here about price differences and single mouse buttons.
Sounds like a good read; I enjoy studying the social aspects of our industry.
.bashrc file.
Having touched my first Unix system back when I was 9 years old (actually it was a Silent 700 terminal, built-in acoustic coupler modem, dialing into System III) I've been fanatical about the command-line, anc always views Macs as a curiousity more than anything else. Worthy of derision most of the time, and of a nod now and then.
I then got stuck on the Windows platform for the longest period of time, and it was partially my own choice. I was doing Java development at the time, and the JVM from Sun was better than the early JVMs for Linux. That, and the fact that I kept getting more and more Micro$oft-based attachments that when edited with the early Star Office would be mangled beyond hope when I sent them back.
One day last year my wife let me play with her PowerBook running OS X. It had a really nice JVM that ran Java apps with blazing speed. (Yes, "Java" and "blazing" in the same sentence!) It ran Micro$oft Office programs, and in most cases, with more reliability than their Windows counterparts. It was infinitely more usable than Windows' best user interfaces. And best of all, you could fire up a shell and run vi on your
I went head over heels.
Now, I still have Linux systems (and even a FreeBSD system) in my server room, but my desktop and my laptop are all Mac OS X, and I've never needed to look back to Windows again. Am I a "fanboy"? Probably. (I even got an iPod.) But I'm a fanboy because of what's under the hood now, not because of the path Apple took to get here.
A good comparison would be against VW, which has a very similiar cult following in its own right and as such even casual VW drivers are somewhat more fanatic than say your average ford driver.
As a mac user, btw, I'd like to say that there are so many stereotypes that are simply not true about many Mac users.
I'm constantly amazed by how many stereotypes there are of Macintosh users, and it's actually quite offensive sometimes. "Oh, you're a MAC GUY, I see....our PCs aren't GOOD ENOUGH for you" is what invariably follows. Most of the time, I politely side-step platform-preference questions now, because of the assumptions and image people place on me when they learn I'm a mac user are just so goddamn tiresome.
Please help metamoderate.
I met Leander about a year ago down at TechTV for Mitnick's "back online" show and was impressed with how down-to-earth he was. While other media folks were working to impress each other with accomplishments, he did his job quietly and turned out a good article afterwards.
While some people might see this as cheerleading for Apple, the same can be said for some Windows-favoring and Linux-favoring journalists. The difference I found with him was how *normal* he seemed, compared to other journalists that I have met.
It's OK if you have a deep personal relationship with your Macintosh....
You PAID for it.
Apple is having a special get together in Jonestown, Guyana. They are even giving away Koolaid! Hope you can attend
I support the 2nd Amendment, the right to keep and arm bears!
X _ X
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0F0064
I'm curious if there is a picture of my cube fishtank (http://home.comcast.net/~jleblanc77/cube/) in the book. The author and I exchanged some emails about it. Has anyone seen the book yet, and know if it's in there?
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
(Arguments that its Xerox's GUI, some people use a command-line, There's a command-line in Mac OS X now aside.)
"I'm a Genius!"*
*Not an actual Genius
Compared to Grand High Emperor Linus and his Linux empire! He's aided by Arch Supreme Bishop Stallman and his army of F/OSS programmers!!
But these things will make you into a trend-humping fashion lemming.
Apple's core product isn't computers or electronics. It's elitism.
good industrial design doesn't come cheap, plus the components are usually spec'd way over what you'll find in a sub-$900 dell box. i have a performa 6400 that will still boot off the original mobo and hard drive (drive was replaced for size, board cuz the center plastic bit on the ADB port broke off, i could have fixed it with superglue but i lost the damned thing, $380 for a 6500 board); my old mentor and guy who got me into macs in the first place has an all-original SE/30 that runs like the day it came out of the box. i know you can find PCs that are just as reliable, but their prices tend to be more in line with Macs.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
poeple will talk about "The cult of the mac" vs "the drones of MS" vs "zealots of Linux".
:)
Sort of like Moonism vs Mormons vs Scientology.
But steve got the best dibs on a prophet name and story..err "myth".
Think about it, JOB.
Founded the religion, got "crucified" by "betrayors"; only to later "resurrect" in the religion dying throes.And "protelyzing" it to new hights
Oh yeah, BSD is heathen*run away*
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A Powermac is not an entry-level system; it is a workstation system for people who really need the power. An entry-level system is what you buy a kid or grandparent, such as an eMac ($800) or iMac ($1,300).
Similarly:
Dell Dimension desktop: entry level
Dell Precision workstation: professional
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
It's spelled "tschotchkes", get it right! :) Geez, any third-grader should know that one.
Ah, the classic "get a life" business. What kind of life do you have in mind? Passions are what make life interesting. Some people obsess over sports, some over Macs, some over Star Trek, some over toy trains-- they have lives. People who obsess over other people have lives too. People who go around criticizing any show of exuberance as juvenile...well, I'm not sure about them.
Planning on making a trip to Boston this weekend, to tell everyone here how they should "get a damn life, it's only a baseball team, they're not a church or anything"?
I think the term you are looking for isn't "User" but rather Bigot . I use a Mac at work. I even like it. I even didn't mind adding Mac troubleshooting skills to my Windows and Linux skills-- it wasn't that different. I would even go so far as to say that I prefer doing 90% of my Real Work at a Mac. (Games are another story.) But I while I think the iPod is kinda cool, I'm not planning on replacing my Archos Jukebox 20 until it keels over dead... which, incidentally, won't be due to the batteries. I have better ways to waste my money than donating to the Church of Steve.
I'd also disagree slightly with the assessment of the review. Based on what's said, there may be some interest in the material to anthropologists (amateur and professional) who study computer nerds. If I see the book at Barnes & Noble, I might sit down and leaf through it for an hour or two. I might check it out if it hits the local library. I wouldn't spend real money on it, though.
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
n/t
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paying MS customers with a straight face. :)
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Brilliant post .. would mod you up (Insightful) if I could.
I too wonder why certain interests (obsessions) are societally acceptible while others are not. Football = ok, Star Trek = FREAK!!!!! Oprah Winfrey = ok, computers = GEEK!!!!!
What makes liking football "better" than liking Star Trek?
It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
Outrageous prices? Compare spec-for-spec each and every Apple model to something of its competitors and often the Macs beat the competitor in terms of cost.
Apple doesn't overcharge for their computers; they just don't sell cheap, crappy computers - that's Dell's job.
"Sanity is not statistical" -George Orwell, "1984"
Not to start a flamewar, but....
In the early days of Apple versus Microsoft we had a real culture war, command line versus GUI. Windows won. Which is bad because Mac is, IMHO, better.
The Mac may or may not be better; that's certaintly debatable. What's not debatable is that it's much, much, MUCH better that Microsoft won. If Apple had won, how long would we have been saddled with proprietary hardware with proprietary software? A LONG-ASS time, and Macs would have been far more expensive. The only reason that a Mac is "only" 50%-2x the price of a PC is because PCs are so cheap. Without PCs, we would be totally at Apple's mercy, and they don't exactly have a good track record of not gouging their customers.
Microsoft may have its flaws, and they may charge too much for their software (although, I could argue that you get a lot of technology for a measly $129 retail), but at least they never tried to come out with a "Microsoft PC" with proprietary hardware.
What's amazing is that Apple is still too stupid to realize that the money is in the software, not the hardware. It's really mindblowing when you think about it. If Apple had won, then they WOULD have been a petal-to-the-metal monopoly that would have had to be broken up.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
However cult-ish you think Mac users are, or ever were, the Amiga users were zealots for their machines on a scale you probably will never truly comprehend unless you were there, a part of it.
Oh sure, Mac users love their machines.
Amiga users went beyond love. They worshipped their computers, fought for them, spent money they didn't have to keep the companies who sold Amigas and Amiga-related soft- and hardware in business. You wanna talk hardcore, you look at the former Amiga communities. THAT will forever define the meaning of the term hardcore for me, and nothing I've seen yet comes close.
Even now, a decade after the platform basically folded up, there are large groups of people who want to revive the spirit of the Amiga.
Mac users may think they're a cult, but they're just a pale shadow compared to Amiga users.
Ha ha ha.. too funny.
I hope these mods get "Unfair," because that's seriously screwed up.
These cult of Mac books - whether it be 'Insanely Great' or 'The Second Coming of Steve Jobs' or 'The Mac Bathroom Reader' etc - are now a dime a dozen.
I'd like to see a book on the practise of MAC bashing. I see a lot more of that in the IT press than fan worship.
"Fucking Mac snobs."
Um, no. If we were snobs? We'd say something like "PC user are modding their computers because secretly they have Mac envy, but don't want to spend the money to get the genuine article".
I built my PC myself. While I don't have skill as a sculptor I still strive to make a unique machine that has as much power as I need while fashioning my desktop to meet my individual needs. I don't rely on a coporation to provide me this, I create it myself. Along the way I pick up more skills that are relevant to my craft, and I help build community by assisting others with learning how they, too, can shape their tools to meet their individual and unique needs.
The difference between the mac and linux is the difference between owning your culture and purchasing it. No matter how "cool" a mac might be, it's ultimately just more commercial art - another piece of your "culture" you choose to license - to borrow at fee - from a corporation rather than own and shape yourself.
How is this, in any way, "revolutionary?"
Seems to me the revolution was televised, only none of you owned a "TV" because it wasn't fashionable.
Back when the mac was introduced, it was the PROPRIETARY machine with PROPRIETARY hardware and PROPRIETARY software.
The PC was open (bios was open, anybody could develop and mod it). There were plenty of public
domain or shareware or dirt cheap utilities for DOS.
The Mac was closed and remains closed.
If you don't like Microsoft, run Linux.
There's this "Designed For Windows 95, NT" sticker on my old Toshiba laptop. And every keyboard I've purchased at Best Buy in the last 6 or 7 years has that Windows key on it.
"(Disclaimer: I know you can get cheaper Macs, and even used Macs are still usable, but one does have to wonder if the outrageous prices reflect the target audience)"
Do you remember that Slashdot story about those guys scanning an Apple award, and what they found?
Do you think a Dell award would have faired better?
What does that say about what Apple values, and what Dell values?
Now isn't that worth paying for?
With 25 million users (in the author's estimation) there is a lot of culture to go around.
But the Windows victory does allow us in the Mac camp to revel in our own individuality.
So, being a member of a 25 million head herd makes you an individual?
Uh...
People who like football are bigger than people who like Star Trek, so if we try to tell them different we get hurt...
Pfft - Sorry, what?
"Not all of us think a computer is some life-changing gee-golly piece of technology. It's my computer. I do stuff on it. That's it. Buying a mac doesn't change your life, or more accurately, it -shouldn't- change your life."
You mean a computer that "just works" and is free from viruses, spyware, and trojans shouldn't change your life?
...between Mac lovers and Amiga worshipers was the funniest I read. Too bad I can't find it.
The silent part of the name was to emphasize that they used thermal paper and print heads, as compared to the racket that something like an ASR 33 would make.
Not all of us think a computer is some life-changing gee-golly piece of technology. It's my computer. I do stuff on it. That's it. Buying a mac doesn't change your life, or more accurately, it -shouldn't- change your life.
What level of change though? Aren't computers supposed to be able to help you do things you couldn't otherwise - is that not a example of change?
I'm pretty happy using a Mac desktop at home because I don't have to constantly clean the system or upgrade things all the time like I used to with the Windows system. That is a change, and it's damn positive.
Another change that's possibly even better is having family members (like my mom) have Macs. That means almost no support work at all. That too is a lifestyle change, as it frees me to spend more times with them as family and less as tech-support guy.
All computers change your life. Not earth-shattering changes to be sure - but change nonetheless. A computer allows you access to the internet, to play more games, or what have you and those are all examples of things that do change your life in subtle ways.
I'm not Mac or nothing either. I use LINUX and Sun servers. I use a PC at work. I am in agreemnet that Mac users are far too typically sterotyped, even though I probably fall closer to that sterotype than most.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I know you can get cheaper Macs[...]but one does have to wonder if the outrageous prices reflect the target audience
How can you complain about outragious prices on one hand, and admit they have cheaper models on the other?
Should PC's be lambasted as crazy expernsive just because you can buy a $7000 Alienware?
Macs have products in a good range of prices at this point. I don't think you can really call the prices outragous anymore.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No PC user on this earth is more rabid than the devoted PC gamer. Rabid in many good ways, to be sure. But part of that then is probably the huge expense they sink into systems, like $600 video cards.
Paying a little bit more for a Mac over a PC does not look nearly so extreme compared to that.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Linus... well, there's a minor reference in the Second Letter to Timothy (4:21), but it's really unimpressive.
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Because you weren't available for your interview, sweetie. ;P
I started with the Apple IIe and loved it. Then moved to the IIgs. The Jobs killed it. And I hated Macs. Then Jobs created NeXT. Its the best shit in the world.
...)
When Apple bought NeXT I was happy. But now I'm torn. I get lumped into the Mac fanatics when I'm really a NeXT fanatic. Plus, on the technical side, my NeXT box now has a Mac interface and the only NeXT interface I can get is with Linux (GnuStep, WindowMaker,
BTW, does anybody know if Jobs is OK after surgery?
I personally think there is a far deeper cult around people who hate Apple, and hate Apple users. These are people that seem unable to acknowledge very real benefits from the Apple systems like ease of access, good ergonomic design, and thoughtful OS design.
For many Apple users the computer is not aboult style, but about ability. Apple haters cannot see beyond this however, and have an overly simplified equation for life where functionality decreasing in direct proportion to looks. So which is more cultish, the group of people that like well designed products or the people that fanatically dismiss anything that is produced by the company as "Trendy" and "Elitist"?
Look past the glitz and take another look.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Good job man.
gayorvb?
:-)
No slight intended, just seemed funny that the color combination was already halfway to your intent
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How bout the cult of the damned.
Since I own a Mac, I choose happy. :-)
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!
GNAA fully supports Apple.
Once you join the Mac Culture, you really have stepped into the Truman Capote Show. Or is it the Harry Truman Show? Either way, it's not reality, it's a marketing world.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
all the mac zelots are just conformists, and people who either wanted to be in the "in crowd" in high school or were in the in crowd and want to follow the herd now.
personally I started on apple machines, and even was a "mac" guy but when i started building my own machines and apple eliminated the power computing knock offs i said "fuck em", and went total pc. I still have to use mac's at work, and find them just as a pain in the ass as i do a pc that is built so i can't "fudge" with it from compaq or another corp entity.
Fact of the matter is, tattoing anying thing on your body that is a corp symbol is fucking stupid. fucking cheerleaders..........
Mac users are a cult. I propose that they're actually more like sheep than Windows users. They're the stupid kids that get a peircing 'cause it's "Rebelious" only to eventually realize everyone's got a piercing. Idiots.
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My company distributes a product that is not compatible with Macs. Not our fault, we tried to work with Apple to get them to raise their standards in some specific areas, but they're not interested right now. No big deal. Since Mac users can't use our stuff, we don't want them hounding our sales people about it, so we don't let them on our website.
I've been collecting some of my favorite responses to this policy....
Wed Sep 08 17:00:52 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
support mac you idiots!
Wed Sep 08 18:18:54 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Support Macs, you assholes. you suck.
Wed Sep 08 20:24:38 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Thanks for being lazy dick heads for not supporting Mac. Please Die.
Wed Sep 08 21:55:34 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Support Mac OS X you bitches
Thu Sep 09 00:10:53 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Eat shit you miserable pricks.
Thu Sep 09 02:31:32 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Fuck you if you don't support Mac.
Thu Sep 09 03:19:32 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Support mac u dix
Yours truly
Thu Sep 09 10:57:56 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
As a Mac user, you suck!!!!!
Fri Sep 10 00:37:38 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
You people just fucking suck. Write your site to some damn standards and don't lock out a sizeable percentage of internet usage. Fuckers.
Fri Sep 10 05:36:46 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
PS: Fuck you for not supporting other systems. Maybe I said that before. I'll say it again. Fuck you.
Fri Sep 10 16:39:28 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
why not support mac? afraid that life might get simpler? lazy bones!
Fri Sep 10 21:03:53 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
You guys are real smart to ignore Mac users, afterall it's only 30% of the market. Keep up the good work!
Idiots!
Mon Sep 13 19:19:54 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Screw you for not supporting Mac. I hope you fail.
Tue Sep 14 23:20:52 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
support Mac you assholes!
Your missing out on millions of users
Wed Sep 15 02:35:39 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
Fuck you for not supporting the mac.
Thu Sep 16 19:07:21 GMT 2004
An anonymous user provided the following Customer Feedback
fuck you for not supporting macs
Then you are not a Mac User, your just happen to use a Mac.
If a Mac user is not someone who uses a Mac, then what is one?
I use an iBook for both my work stuff and my home stuff. I have an iPod. I got the free subscription to MacWorld. I have all of the accoutrements of the Mac User subculture.
I got the iBook because it does what I need it to do. Because it runs on top of BSD and GNU, I can get it to do a lot of other things. I got it because it revolves around my life. My life does not revolve around it.
In fact, it is that very thing that caused me to "switch." With my Windows box, I had to diligently upgrade it, monitor the many hardware components to make sure they were working together... I spent more time getting it to work than I spent working on it. My life revolved around the PC.
I dedicate as little time as possible to maintaining my Mac, and the question in my mind is always: What have you done for me lately? The day it stops serving me, I will drop it. This is not a lifestyle choice. This is merely: Do what I need done efficiently, or I'll find something else that can.
The Mac has been a better experience than the PC for me, but that has more to do with having the proper drivers and a pre-assembled machine than anything "Mac"-y about it. I might have had an equal experience buying an Inspiron or a Vaio if I used the OS as installed by the manufacturer.
All this zealotism really doesn't help.
I know it may be impossible to have a completely unbiased perspective on the subject.
However I do find it a little difficult to make a descision when everyone is so dead certain their solution is the right one...
And don't leave the knife at home for airport fun
http://www.theapplecollection.com/Collection/objec ts/images/thaliatatoofake2.jpg
http://www.theapplecollection.com/get_picture.php? counter=g4girl.jpg&link=http://www.theapplecollect ion.com/desktop/large_2000/g4girl.jpg
http://www.theapplecollection.com/get_picture.php? counter=shannon2.jpg&link=http://www.theapplecolle ction.com/desktop/large_2000/shannon2.jpg
I've got a life. An iLife.
nt
You liar. That's on the first page of the book.
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Warning, here comes a real spoiler:
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Honestly, it's shocking...
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Ready?
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OK, here we go:
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SOME MAC USERS ARE HETEROSEXUAL!!!!
Your comment has too few characters per line (currentlYour comment has too few characters per line (curYour comment has too few characters per line (currently 4.0).rently 4.0).y 4.0).
Most of the comments seem to center around the Question wheter Macs are good at all, wheter the community is acceptable/credible or even if it is good to be a fan.
Well, of course I have an oppinion on those questions too, but I'd like to make a comment about the book. About a month ago I browsed through some pages of a book with the same subject, at first I thought it might be this one, but I cant remember enough details to really make sure.
The book I was browsing seemed rather unsatisfactory to me. The author was seemingly fascinated about some of the Mac-users he interviewed. Unfortunately the way they are presented distorts to a carricature.
While it is true that Mac-users love to talk about Macs and their benefits (maybe due to the ignorance of their peers), they are not funny in general.
The book I was browsing didn't care about that and It didn't provide too much background about the company.
There is no "Cult of Mac". There is a community, much like the Linux-community or the C# enthusiasts. Of course the image is different. It's a strange topic to write a book about, but if you enjoyed a book about bikers and Harley-Davidson-clubs, you may like it, no matter if you hack DOS or push rectangles all the time.
Is because, as with most stereotypes, there is some truth to them. They aren't generally true in that if you use a Mac, you will be this kind of person, however they are true in that many people who use Macs are that type of person, and they are often very loud about it (and thus get noticed).
The thing is Apple works to foster this idea of Macs being more speical, elite, better than normal computers and many people buy in to it. It's not that uncommon, most people have a need to belong to a group, and many have a need to feel like they are better than others in some way. Apple sells to this, that Macs are a better designed, faster, and generally more elite computer than those "normal" systems that everyone else stupidly uses.
Also many have a need for justification. Macs are generally speaking higher priced than a PC alternative (iBooks generally being an exception). Fanboyism about benchmarks aside, you usually get more hardware for your money with a Dell or the like. So there is a need for many Mac buyers to justify to themselves and others why it was a good idea to pay more for a Mac.
Basically it's the preachy ones, and there are plenty of them, that get the stereotype stuck to all Mac users. It's not fair, like any stereotype, but it also doesn't just come from nowhere.
Things like this Mac culture book do NOT help the situation. I mean that a model of computer would have a culture strikes many of us as, well, retarded. It's a tool filling the void of something else. Let's face it, that's what a computer is: a tool. You use it to do things you want to do, be it surf the net, play games, process video, whatever. This book seems to be chronicling those that have an emotional investment in that tool, and take it to be something else.
So I'm not saying it's fair, stereotypes never are, but do understand where it comes from. This book is an excellent example of it, that there is serious discussion about the "culture" of using Macs.
simply because Microsoft has been using unethical and anticompetitive business tactics from the start to eliminate their competition.
But since MS's illegal tactics
So then are you a US Department of Justice Fanboy? Really, I'm so sick of Microsoft hating drones rolling out the ol "illegal" schtick because it suits them. They didn't kill anybody. They didn't hurt anybody. They played the game, and did it better than anybody else. Whether or not you like what they did is irrelevant, but throwing around the word "illegal" makes you sound like a real government shill. The same kind of person that supports anti-drug laws, strict copyright laws, patent laws, etc. So, unless you're ready to blow Ashcroft, I think that it's time to lay off the silly "illegal" stuff.
I don't respond to AC's.
Job, the one in the good book, wasn't the founder of a religion. He was already the follower of our lord god, who in a sudden burst of vanity made a stupid bet with the devil. The evil dude bet our lord woudn't find a single soul who was 100% loyal to him, to which our holy father replied: 'Is that so? Well, yo mama is so fat that ... hey, wait I got this here man called Job, he's so loyal that I can fry his testicles and eat them for lunch, if I actually liked testicles. But I don't, just ask Job. Oh wait, he hasn't got testicles anymore, so I could only eat them if he had, but that's beside the point. Loyal man, this here Job.'
And so our heavenly father and the devil went on a quest to torment poor Job, to test his loyalty. I'm not going to go into much detail, because children might be reading this, and they could get the wrong impression of the ol' mighty, but let's just say they burnt down his house, set a plague on him and killed his offspring -- it could've been something else as well, who cares for Job anyway? Well, to cut a long story short, Job was still loyal after all the abuse our maker put on him.
And to reward him, god gave him a following as loyal as he himself had been. So the Apple Corp. was founded, and continued in the same religious tradition after Job. And they lived unhappily ever after.
Finally, someone who gets it! Sheesh.
It doesn't matter who the hell puts them together in the factory, it's the parts that go into it and the level of quality expected.
Kahney is a religious zealot when it comes to the Mac. In fact when I wrote him once to ask him about an obvious bias in a Mac article he wrote for Wired he told me he likes posting stories with a twist that pisses off PC users even if the story doesn't need to.
This is an obsession over a multi-national corporation. This is nothing but pure, unadulterated consumerism. Looking at Apple fanatics, I can completely understand (and partially agree with) why the Muslim world thinks that the US in particular, is full of fucked up, anti-spiritual, ultra-consumers who pray to the god of Keeping up With the Joneses. When people start putting a permanent tattoo of an advertising campaign for a company on them, it's time to start looking at our culture to figure out what went so terribly wrong.
I don't respond to AC's.
Worshipping a non-existent God is no better than worhipping a mulit-national corporation. I don't pray to any God. Don't need one. The time for Gods has come and gone.
-1, bullshit
This is one of those slashdot posts that gets crazy people from MAC vs Windows (NOT PC) camps out of bed and all wet.
As one of the posters said, hardware is the same. This is a neverending battle between people who like one thing and people who like another. You can't argue about peoples tastes adn choices, they are always going to be different. What is better for one is bad for another, some Mac users don't like pcs cause they don't look as good as macs. PC users don't like Macs cause the advertising is too annoying or they don't run new game.
I think you use what you like and what you need. I like to think that most people use a certain type of machine/software because that is what suits their needs and not because it looks cool.
"is this thing on?"
> I've got a life. An iLife.
Well aren't you just so SPECIAL!
Run along, kiddies.
No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
Most of the "techies" (Tech savvy people that aren't programmers or engineers or anything) I've met admit that Macs are much better. Even hardcore Windows users I know admit that Macs are OK. Maybe a little better than Windows. Only one person I know absolutely hates macs, and he thinks satan worships him, and that he is a better programmer than ME (Yeah right).
That last part is completely true.
I'll never understand how buying into some corporate logo makes people think they're individuals.
...but I use Apple comps because they intrigued me right from the start, what, 1976 or so? I worked on IBM Systems 360 and then Systems 370 in the very early 70's, my first job out of high school. Loved the job, learned a lot. Always thought about how great it would be to have a comp in the home. Out of some garage came two guys named Steve and I was impressed, especially when I finally got my hands on an Apple II in the fall of 1978, I think. Then came the GUI, ushered in by the Mac. Best thing since sliced bread. And I have stuck with Macs since then. Now with OS X, life is very good. I like the 'look and feel' of Macs in every tangible way and few ways that I guess are intangible. And I hate Microsoft, always have. Not too fond of Intel either. So, here I am still using Macs. It's a choice, nothing more nor less. Sure, I admire Jobs though I admire Woz more. I'm not drinking anybody's KoolAid, I prefer beer. Free or not.
Really no different than pro baseball fandom -- even the biggest Mac fans don't come close to the biggest Cubs fans, and I suppose you'll go criticise them for obsessing over the Tribune Company?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I didn't buy a Powerbook to be cool. Believe me, using a Mac you have to develop a thick skin very quickly, as everyone who sees you using one will accuse you of being a crazy evangelist or snobby elitist. (Case in point.)
If mac users tend to congretate it's for the protection that a herd offers. There are two factors at work here. First is the need to enforce conformity that so many humans feel. The kids who beat the shit out of the kid with glasses because he has glasses. When they see a Mac user they feel the need to berate him for being different.
Second is the insecurity that many PC users feel. At some level they know that Windows 95+ is a Mac rip-off that's been historically crash-prone and reboot-happy and if they're paying attention they've heard that their Windows systems are insecure and Macs aren't. Some of them also know they're supporting a convicted monopolist. So, they have to excuse this irrational/unwise behavior. The easy answer is that Mac users are weird, cultists, and like ethnic food. They feel justified in not being that way so they therefore justify their continuing use of Windows.
Then there are the introspective, enlightened lot. We call them "switchers".
Interestingly enough, I don't see these behaviors from people who use their computers for an essential Windows-only app. They tend to treat their computer as an appliance and not get emotionally entangled with it.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
This sucks. I bought a mac to be different, but now it seems I am cool. Dammit.
Seriously though, I have taken so much flak for using macs over the years, I get a little irritated when I get accused of using a mac to be 'cool'.
Some of us just don't like Windows much -- though I personally use Mac and Windows both...as well as Linux, though due to reliability issues and the presence of a good version of Word I use the Mac for all my school stuff.
;)
Though I will confess that I do tell others to get a Mac -- though mainly when they complain about their Windows PCs. Then they'll shut up about Windows, I have enough trouble with Windows on my Windows boxes at home, but also have a geek reputation and therefore have to take up some of the aspects of the Rabid Mac Zealot (but not the tattoos!) in order to sort of get people not wanting me to fix their Windows machines. I'll still help them to the best of my ability, just mention the Mac while I do it -- and that position may change if and when Longhorn starts turning up, because I'm probably not going to be getting too familiar with it. Plus, I like my friends to not have as many computer problems -- the actual emotion at the heart of the much-touted "evangelism." Yeah, you heard it here; plain old altruism for your friends' nerves, spouses, and pocketbooks, of the sort that has existed since time immemorial, is the reason some people tell others to get a Macintosh.
The actual Mac lifestyle, if there is one, is actually the lifestyle of there not being a Mac lifestyle, but rather just a state of not having to worry so much about whether the computer will work (unless it's particularly old, of course). As has been said in this thread, there's actually a bigger problem with the need for a Windows lifestyle...and has been recounted, the Windows zealots who will treat those who choose to use a Mac as pariah.
There are those who go to conferences to see Steve Jobs and stuff, and if it were convenient for me to see Jobs I'd probably do it for much the same reason I'd go see Clinton -- an interesting speaker discoursing on an interesting topic, worth attending for the sheer oratorical value of it. Cicero and Clay are dead, someone's gotta fill their shoes.
But you know, I think I've just wasted a lot of time yammering -- let me check MacRumors
All you did was say, "you're wrong and I'm right." You presented no proof for your statements unlike the parent, and were patronizing as well ("most PC users just wouldn't understand"). Your rebuttal was solely composed of an unsupported personal preference and could be summed up comprehensively like this: "Macs are just better."
I expected better from a Mac proselytizer. Well no, I didn't.
burn!!!
Because if the group doing the integrating decides you dont need it, you dont get it.
Unless the group doing the integrating decides, on a lark, to join, embrace, and even contribute to the open standard/software movement. 'Cause then you might be able to still decide what you want or need.
But that couldn't possibly come from some over priced, consumer-electronic excuse for a computer, now could it? No way.
Just keep doing yer thing, man...
Now, I own three macs, they're great machines, but they are just that.
Mac Cultists really creep me out. I remember one past NAB tradeshow, watching this group of 5-7 mac people walking together. From behind, you could see that all of them were wearing IDENTICAL jackets with "Think Different" across the back. Ironic? or just creepy?
At any rate, everyone knows that there is only one computer that is worthy of religious devotion, and that is the Amiga.
Thank you,
The Wheeze
The problem is, you can buy a Dell Precision Workstation for $800. (not that I would, but I could)
The reasons Amigas are still worshipped these days are because back in the days they were wonderful little machines; 10% of the price of a Mac, pretty good specifications AND it was easier to modify an Amiga one way or another then it is to pick your nose. Anyone with some spare time and soldering skills could start building expansions for his Amiga. In the end, there were CD-players, IDE controllers, SCSI controllers, USB controllers, NICs, "flicker-fixer"s (larger resolutions causes scanline glitches which appeared to cause the screen to flicker) and what have ye not.
You wrote all that and didn't mention that the Amiga had (okay, has) a PRE-EMPTIVE multitasking operating system at a time when others were struggling with the Mac System 6.0 and/or Windows 3.1?
I had a Mac II (16.7MHz 68020) at the time, I considered it pretty nice and fast and such, but doing "event loop" programming and remembering to add a system call in the middle of long loops was a pain, and I knew it was stupid, a "co-operative" OS, a kludge on top of the original single-application-at-a-time Mac OS, and Win 3.1 was the same only worse, because it was basically a graphical shell on top of MS-DOS, and horribly unreliable.
But the Amiga people had it all, technically. Unfortunately, "pre-emptive multitasking OS" wasn't exactly something a marketing person could do something with, other than sell to nerds.
Tag lost or not installed.
Linux users are communists, Wintel boxes are for dummies, all and all are we all thinking "different"? Maybe we are after all. So go ahead and make your computer a god, and start a little fire, burn some candles and start chanting your montra. Blessed is the BSD daemon in all his infinite wisdom! Shall the penguin be burnt at the stake! And shall Bill be selling you more copies of Office for offering to your avatar. Amen.
Its that Picassoish light bulb. People ask me what it is and I tell them its a symbol for good ideas that no one knows what to do with.
"You can see I know very little about pimp policy." George McGovern.
What? You don't think there are muslims with 6-color t-shirts in Rhyiad in fisticuffs with A penguin-shirted muslim? And both of them planning an attack against the guy with the Clippy shirt down the street?
Common. There's nothing wrong with supporting something you think makes your life better. Mac users, I think, generally don't think the computer is an impediment to life, but an addition to it.
Meanwhile, working in an Office Depot, I find that most of the people buying, servicing or dealing with Windows PCs see them as an annoying part of life they get little out of, but a lot invested in.
Usually, I find those who ENJOY working with there computers come in all flavors - Unix, Mac and Windows.
It's just, for some reason, those who are Mac users usually are happy to be buying something for it - almost like parents buying thier Kids a toy. Most Windows users act like it's a sacrifice.
For example, If I was selling a PCI USB 2.0 card, a mac user would often be "Oh that's great, this will let me get more out of my flash drive!". They often are pleased. WHere as a typical Windows suer is often annoyed "That costs 20 dollars... oh... I guess it needs to be spent." They don't like investing in thier machine.
I don't like the Car analogy, but it really is somewhat true - there are some people who take a common car and make it gorgeous, and some people like a pretty, out-of-the-box package. And there's plenty of people whom will drive what ever gets them to Wal*Mart, Work and the Multiplex.
As for your "It's a multinational corperation..." whine, well, STFU. It's a big company. But at the same time, I think it listens (selectively) to what it's users want, and what makes the expereince better. One reason why OS X is getting better, rather then just larger with subsiquent releases. I don't think it's what makes Muslims hate us. Beside, Mac OS X has Arabic support out of Box. You have to pay up to WIndows XP Pro to do that in Windows.
Without the DOJ on Microsoft's back and $100,000,000 dollars from said company then Apple Computer would be the way of Commodore and the dodo bird. It seems Apple Computer's largest future enemy will not be the old "devil" Microsoft because that foe is now an unlikely friend. Linux could be Apple's bigest enemy because it could potentially steal the "think different" market place. Look at how many production companies are starting to use linux render stations and such. Macintosh rules those niches now but give it ten years. People thought in the 80s that Commodore would be alive forever, and also Atari, Texas Instruments and others would still have computers on peoples desks, because of their respective "following". There would not be an Amiga.com if there was not a "following". That did not keep Commodore Business Machines alive. The bigest thing that Apple has right now is their IPOD. If they screw that up, then there may not be another Microsoft to invest in a floundering company.
My main computer is a 1985 XT clone that has been upgraded over the last 20 years and currently runs an AMD 2800+ 1gb ram etc. Sure none of the origional parts are still there, still it is like the Jonny Cash song "One Peace at a Time" Caddy.
I also have a Mac "12 PowerBook" and a PowerMac B&W upgraded to G-4 450mh, flashed ATI 7000 Video etc. Some Hot Roders also enjoy playing with Porsches as well as 1932 and Model T Fords.
...it's more like 16-bit shades of grey.
I'm sure this book has a market - I've met plenty of Mac users who I'm guessing would lap it up. I've also met Mac users who would find it mildly interesting but still roll their eyes at the pointless infatuation of it all. Still others would not understand it at all - their computer is just a tool that they have a love/hate relationship with (yes, even Mac users can hate their computers!)
I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd say that most people who use Macs/PCs/whatever are just normal people trying to get something done or have fun. The (at least perceived) higher price of Macs will lead some Mac users to be affected by cognitive dissonance which they feel the need to externalise :-), but again I'd say that was the minority.
Like some slashdot users (I certainly hesitate to say 'most'), I've used a wide variety of systems/GUIs on a day-to-day basis, and I've found that the single most important factor in whether someone will like a system is "What are they used to?"
As someone who's used Windows for a few years now, switching to Mac OS (when I do for various tasks) is midly disorienting and slightly annoying. However, I'm brave enough to admit that this is because of me, not because of any inherent characteristic of Windows or Mac OS. Pre Mac OS X, I would have said that Windows NT had the edge (Win9X is another matter) for me, purely because of the robustness. Now, I find them both much of a muchness for most purposes. I continue to use Windows because it's what I'm used to, and not all of the software/devices I use are available for Macs. (Plus, I want to play Half-Life 2.)
To re-emphasise: I've developed shipping shrink-wrapped products on both Windows and Mac OS, so this is not some "I tried Mac OS for 10 days and boy did it suck" sort of rant.
Mac OS has some great stuff in it - for example, it is an endless source of annoyance to me that Windows still does not have anything remotely like the Location Manager - with the preponderance of laptops these days, I would have thought that was a must, but there you go. I imagine the reaction of most Windows laptop users on hearing what the location manager does would be "What a great idea - why doesn't Windows do that, ffs?"
On the down side, I don't really like the Finder and Mac OS window management in general. I can bear them, but the old Chooser was horrible, I thought. Those are things that I genuinely think are worse than Windows, rather than just something I'm not used to. I fully understand that other people may prefer the Finder - personally, I hated having to scrabble around on the desktop all the time to find the icon of a drive that had just been silently mounted - YMMV. Whereas the old argument of single menu bars vs. a menu on each app window is something that doesn't really bother me much - I can live with either system without really noticing any problems.
As Mac users are in the minority (sorry), it seems like human nature to view the behaviour of certain noisy individuals in that group as representative of the whole group. I'm sure we've all met Mac users who believe that the very fact that they use a Mac somehow indicates they are more creative than someone who doesn't. I once worked somewhere where, when machines were being purchased, I was told that a certain group of people would have to have Macs, because "they were creative". They were, to be brutally honest, no more creative than I was, and to do their job they needed to use email, a web browser and a word processor. Given that they used Microsoft products for all of these purposes on their Mac, I struggled to understand how using a PC would impact their performance in the creativity department. Note that I have (nor had) no objection to them using Macs at all - my objection is to the justification on 'creative' grounds, rather than the truth, which is "It's what I'm used to." That is a perfectly valid reason for wanting to use a particular platform
By the time the Mac came along (pre-dated by the flop, Lisa), the PC had a running start. To further consolidate the PC lead, its architecture was fairly open, which led to the development of clones (Compaq, et al), which, by the simple laws of economy of scale, drove down the price of PCs. During this initial phase of PC history, the DOS operating system was cheap, and apps weren't bundled into "suites." Coupled with the fact that the original Mac, while being quite innovative and intriguing and very tempting, was somewhat limited (not much memory, few apps, etc.), and it's easy to see why IBM and its cheaper clones, and with everyone and their cousing writing apps for it, ran away with the market. By the time the Mac became truly viable for business--the real volume purchasers, after all--it was difficult for Apple to match the PC's exponential growth. Anyway, Microsoft eventually stole Apple's thunder with their crappy Windows GUI, and the rest is history. (History, of course, is still being written, and Linux is now stealing Microsoft's thunder. Whoopee!)
Maybe if WordPerfect or some other apps had come out first on the Apple II to complement the good VisiCalc, then businesses would have snatched up more Apples and been in line to trade up to Macs when Macs got good enough.
I lived through, and was an early adopter, during that era. To say that there was a command line versus GUI culture war is to oversimplify and concatenate a complex history. It's also to give IBM and Microsoft too much credit (or blame) for a success that had as much to do with being in the right place at the right time. In any event, computing was a lot more exciting then. Except for the rise of Linux, it seems kinda bland now. And even Linux has yet to create any real breakthroughs at the user interface level, mostly immitating Windows ... but that's another topic.
I've read most of the posts, some are hilarious, and the fact that Mac stories get such reply does tell something (not sure what, but whatever).
I like Philips stuff. Most of their things are easily understood and have some clever and really useful functions you don't find on other equipment. I like Volvo, they concentrate on things I happen to think important too, like safety and comfort.
In the same way, I like the Mac. I won't go into that, suffice it to say it makes me do things I can't quite do on a PC and lets me have fun doing it.
In the end, they're all machines, things, stuff. Not worth dying for, not worth my undying allegeance, but I can enjoy having them.
All this cult stuff is for other people.
Thank you.
I think, therefore I am...I think.
For real. Saw it in a friend's tattoo magazine (he used to work in a tattoo parlor). But to be fair, the KitchenAid mixer does have some clean lines and nice style. It is a work of art.
Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a soportar Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a espabilar
And when the Mac goes down - as it invariably does - I have to TAKE THE BATTERY OUT to get the fucking thing to shut off.
Take the battery out? Command-Ctrl Power will power the machine down no matter what. It's equivalent to the RESET button.
blog
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If it wasn't for macs what would the rest of the world have to copy?
Wrong. I love linux but I don't see it ever taking the desktop market by storm. Unfortunately for the linux zealots, linux moves too slowly. Apple on the otherhand moves very quickly to open up new markets and produce new technology. Furthermore Apple always had a distinct advantage over there competetors in that they are able to successful design and implement both hardware and software solutions creating a complete package.
Macintosh rules those niches now but give it ten years.
Apple is dying BSD is dying... blah blah blah blah blah.. Next?
The bigest thing that Apple has right now is their IPOD. If they screw that up, then there may not be another Microsoft to invest in a floundering company.
Your right. The iPod is very important to Apple, but it has already boosted laptop and desktop sales. The iPod strategy wasn't to turn apple into a digital music company it was to get people to buy Apple computers and its working. If the iPod was reduced to less than 10% market share in 3 years, it wouldnt matter that much. The iPod already did its damage by enticing more users to try Mac.
It's that you should at least understand the Mac is not about fashion for many users.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Didn't seem like that from my reading. I hate to clamp down on humor of any sort, I apologize.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I live on the south pole, do you really want me to go OUTSIDE??!!
There are two rules for success:
1. Never tell everything you know.