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Boot Camp For Suckers?

DigitalDame2 writes "PC Magazine's Editor-in-Chief says the whole Mac/Windows dual-boot thing is really nothing to get excited about. He writes that Boot Camp is really just a plan to get Windows users to convert to OS X." From the article: "Once you've laid out a few kilobucks on your BC system and been frustrated a few times with Windows limitations, what are you going to do? Jobs's bet: You'll start spending more and more time in OS X, until you--too--become one of the pod people. It's sad to see so many of my compatriots being turned into lemmings. Perhaps they'll wake up and smell the Apple pie in the sky--and realize they've been taken for a ride. But I doubt it."

25 of 610 comments (clear)

  1. Message for Captain Obvious by MoxCamel · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Boot Camp is really just a plan to get Windows users to convert to OS X.

    Well...duh! Did anyone think Apple was doing it as a public service?

    Next up: Publishers put nice pictures on their book covers so you will buy them. Bastards!!

    Mox

    1. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by Once&FutureRocketman · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Why do so many Mac users insist on this fantasy that Windows users really hate Windows and would switch to the Mac OS in a flash if only they had a chance to touch it's brushed chrome goodness?

      In fact, I am a long, long-time Windows user. Many would consider me a power user. And I hate Windows. I have sunk more hours than I even care to begin contemplating into making my Windows machine behave. As far as I'm concerned, Gates owes me several extra years of life, for the time I've wasted using his software which is so godawful and yet dominates the market.

      So, no, this isn't just a Mac user fantasy. It's a reality for many of us. Of course, maybe you have a point. Because I am now a Mac user. Thanks, Steve!

      --

      "Research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." -- Wernher von Braun

    2. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 5, Insightful
      One word: GAMES

      --This has nothing to do with the office environment, and everything to do with shoring up the gaming system on Macs. One OS for games, and one OS for everything else... you don't generally need to have both running at the same time.

    3. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by KillerDeathRobot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Most Windows users actually like their OS and would not want to switch.

      Congratulations! You've just won the Made Up Fact of the Hour Award!

      There's no way whatsoever to prove that. You completely just made it up, probably from your own experience. Which is exactly what you're decrying (though the post you quoted doesn't really seem to have anything to do with that).

      --
      Thinkin' Lincoln - a web comic of presidential proportions
    4. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by paanta · · Score: 5, Funny

      Step 1: Write about how Mac users are lemmings and get it posted to Slashdot Step 2: ????? Step 3: Profit!

    5. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by KDan · · Score: 5, Funny

      The fact that Macs can now run windows is one of the main reasons that I'm considering buying a Mac. Oh no! I've been had...?

      Dear me, I better get back onto my Mac-lemming-hating high-horse before it's too late!...

      Daniel

      --
      Carpe Diem
    6. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by cortana · · Score: 5, Funny
      Most Windows users actually like their OS and would not want to switch.
      Stockholm Syndome, perhaps?
    7. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by stunt_penguin · · Score: 5, Funny

      A funny post, but you've got a serious point. How the fuck did this article get itself posted to /. in the first place. Is someone on crack?

      This is the worst written drivel I've ever had the displeasure of reading through /. ........... hang on a minute i'm going to the toilet to take a dump. I'll be back in 10 minutes with a piece of paper that makes more sense than this shit. I'll make the front page no problem.

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
    8. Re:Message for Captain Obvious by dloose · · Score: 5, Funny

      For everyone who thinks the parent is too long, here's the executive summary: "I've never used a Mac. Ever."

  2. How did this guy even get a job? by scrondle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I knew there was a reason I haven't looked at PC Magazine since 1998. That's not an article, it's a rant. How about some technical details/reasons why he doesn't like boot camp? What a tool.

  3. Holy crap! by Ambiguous+Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Boot Camp is really just a plan to get Windows users to convert to OS X.


    Holy crap! Revelation of the year! I can't imagine this being true!


    Seriously, how is this possibly a new idea? Of course that's what it's for. And switching because of "limitations" in the other OS makes you a lemming? No, I'm afraid not. That makes you "smart." See, when people decide to stop hitting themselves in the head with a hammer, and instead opt for hitting themselves in the head with, say, a a soft piece of fruit, or an old ham, we call that "learning one's lesson."


    The author here needs to get over his own case of being a lemming, and try something new. Pod-people? The whole article stinks of the exact same thralldom the author envisions anyone who switches being caught in.


    Yes, I own a mac. Oh, but guess what, I also own a Windows box, and a Linux box! I'm not going to say which one I prefer, because doing so would, at least according to this article, make me a lemming.

    --
    Their may be a grammatical error, misspeling, or evn a typo in this post.
  4. Re:Strange definition of "lemming" by AnimusF6 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Though I hate to prove you wrong, I, a long time Windows advocate, bought a MacBook Pro solely because of Boot Camp. Yes, Boot Camp convinced me to switch. I found myself in a position that required that I buy a laptop, and intead of going with a boring old Windows box I was able to experiment. I still get the Windows access that my position requires, but I can play around with an entirely new (to me) toy.

  5. The More Effete Among Us by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From TFA:

    The more effete among us have embraced BC because now they can run all their favorite Windows apps on a saucy, sexy Mac.

    Wow. Nothing says "class" like a thinly-veiled "Macs are for fags" joke.

    You'd exect this sort of thing from a random blogger or Slashdotter, not the freakin' editor-in-chief of PC Magazine.

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  6. Suckers? Yesss! by MobyDisk · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did anyone else read the headline "Boot Camp For Suckers?" and imagine that this was a camp run by Dogbert? I was ready to sign-up some coworkers.

  7. Praising with Faint D@mns ... by rewinn · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Once you've .... been frustrated a few times with Windows limitations, what are you going to do? .... start spending more and more time in OS X

    I don't know whether the article is confused or trying to be clever, but I don't think Apple minds 'criticism' such as that.

  8. Re:Apple's Confidence by ect5150 · · Score: 5, Informative

    In economics, the most efficient markets are those that can be directly competed against one another.

    I'm just nitpicking here, but that's not what defines efficient markets in economics. A discriminating monopolist market is also efficient. Efficiency is defined by Pareto efficiency ...
    Here is a link
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_efficient

    Although, its true a perfectly competitive situation results in an efficient market. Most of the time, people like perfect competition mainly because its the market with the lowest prices, not because of its efficiency to allocate resources.

    By the way, neither Apple nor Microsoft exist in a highly competitve market (as defined by those terms in economics).

    --
    I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
  9. Jim Louderback by jayhawk88 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Making John Dvorak look sane and reasonable since 1988.

  10. Windows = MacMame by Yergle143 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I run two curious little game emulators. The first is called Mame and it permits me run a bunch of antique games once written for public coin-fed consoles. The second is called Boot camp and it permits me to run games on a kooky antique dollar-fed operating system. 537

  11. Re:Jealousy is a terrible thing. In the meantime.. by Lewisham · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Seriously, why does this guy care so much?"

    Apparently he's noticed that John C. Dvorak's trolling puts the hit count through the roof. Only makes sense to start using the rest of the magazine's brand to start trolling as well.

    He's obviously got some sort of logic malfunction, his arguments are both bizarre and full of emotive language. It's professional trolling.

  12. Re:Jealousy is a terrible thing. In the meantime.. by Lewisham · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I forgot to mention, that of particular note, is the last paragraph:

    "In fact, I'm blaming the AAF for a wide-range of habits espoused by supposedly "creative people." I'll bet it's responsible for tattoos, piercings, and the wide-spread adoption of the phrase "no worries." In fact, I believe that most of today's societal ills can be either indirectly or directly attributed to Apple. Widespread hearing loss? Blame the iPod. Carpal tunnel? Blame the Newton."

    This is so insane that it seems he's trying to hint that the rest of the article was just a troll as well. He also links to a piece he wrote where he thought Boot Camp was pretty sweet. I don't know what he's trying to pull, but I'm sure his advertisers are happy.

  13. Warning: Humour Alert by ickoonite · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Guys, guys, guys! Calm down, calm down!

    I think he's trying to be funny.

    I am English. I know sarcasm. It's what we do. And I think that's what he's trying to do here. It's not very well done, but there are little hints. It's why he links to himself and calls himself "some idiot". It's why he specifically mentions the M-Audio and Kona kit (the latter is Mac only). Of course it works with the Mac.

    So all those who are praising him for his insight, for debunking the Mac myth - stop now. Same goes for the Mac fanbois who are trying to find fault with his article.

    It's subtle, I'll allow that, but remember: always consult the nearest Brit before responding to something that sounds a little bit too stupid to be true. It probably is.

    iqu :P

  14. Re:Nice spin by phozz+bare · · Score: 5, Interesting
    It's refreshing to finally see such a non-biased article about Apple.

    Let me see...

    "...once you start using a Mac, your IQ begins to creep downwards..."

    "It's sad to see so many of my compatriots being turned into lemmings."

    "...smell the Apple pie in the sky..."

    "...I'll be smart, fit, and enjoying my real Windows computers..."

    Right.. A sensible, balanced, well written, thought provoking piece! That's it, time to ditch the old Mac, cause everyone knows that only a Windows machine is a real computer!

    phozz

  15. Logical Analysis by Kelson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The logic of the piece appears to be thus:

    1. I don't like Macs, Apple, or Steve Jobs.
    2. I don't like anything that can't be tinkered with.
    3. Boot Camp is an Apple Product.
    4. By #1 and #2, anyone who likes any of the above is an idiot and/or brainwashed.
    5. By #3 and #4, Boot Camp is for idiots.

    While #5 may proceed logically from #3 and #4, #4 does not proceed from #1 or #2.

    I'd say the author has a wonderful future ahead of him in either Slashdot trolling, talk radio, or writing about politics. Editing a computer magazine? Not so sure about that one.

  16. he just replied to me! by signore+pablo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From : Louderback, Jim
    Sent : Thursday, May 4, 2006 8:33 PM
    To : "Paul *"
    Subject : RE: Boot Camp: Apple Bobs for Suckers

    It was meant to be somewhat tongue in cheek. Glad you liked it and saw
    it that way!

  17. Re:Consider the source: Louderbeck by Daedala · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well... I'm not British, but I've been declared an Honorary Brit for my grasp of irony. I'm also a professional editor and writer.

    And this was just really poorly done. He has no control of tone at all. The "effete" crack in particular was icky (that's the technical term). Only an editor-in-chief could have published it, because anyone else would have been edited by someone who wasn't quite so in love with the thing. Just because it was intended to be satire, doesn't mean it was.

    This is why most Americans are not allowed to have Sarcasm Licenses.

    --
    What I say does not represent the views of my employers, my friends, my cats, or myself.