The cult of Mac

[skyscraper101]

So... Using something that looks nice, works well out of the box and doesn't have huge security holes in it is being "obsessive"...?

er..no. Going on and on about how much more superior macs are and hopping around excitedly upon every small rumour about a new announcement from Steve Jobs is though.

Look, no matter how shiny or powerful macs are there will always be less attractive elements i.e. cost of hardware, peripheral compatibility, range of software, price or software, cost of mac-only peripherals....etc

I should know, I'm a mac user as well as a Windows user. And I like both. But it's quite obvious which group of users are more obsessive about their shiny toys.

 

[editor]

So... Using something that looks nice, works well out of the box and doesn't have huge security holes in it is being "obsessive"...?

My Sony laptop looked nice, worked well out of the box and didn't have any security holes in it (after installing one small free firewall program), but I'm not banging on about how great it is.

 

[jæd]

My Sony laptop looked nice, worked well out of the box and didn't have any security holes in it (after installing one small free firewall program), but I'm not banging on about how great it is.

Well... If Microsoft fixes the permissions security model they use and stops having umpteen services running as standard then Sony Viaos would be an interesting competitor to a Powerbook. They're nearly there with having Windows Firewall on as standard... If they manage to deal with the other two holes then they might have a winner...

Anti-virus companies might be a bit miffed though...

 

[editor]

Well... If Microsoft fixes the permissions security model they use and stops having umpteen services running as standard then Sony Viaos would be an interesting competitor to a Powerbook.

I prefer my Sony Vaio to a Powerbook.

But each to their own.

 

[skyscraper101]

Well... If Microsoft fixes the permissions security model they use and stops having umpteen services running as standard then Sony Viaos would be an interesting competitor to a Powerbook. They're nearly there with having Windows Firewall on as standard... If they manage to deal with the other two holes then they might have a winner...

In that case, here's a cheaper solution all round:

1) Get an AntiVirus package. I saw McAfee Internet Security suite for £8.99 the other day. Or cheaper still get Avast! for free.
2) Turn off all the default services not required for stable performance. I have.

 

[jæd]

In that case, here's a cheaper solution all round:

1) Get an AntiVirus package. I saw McAfee Internet Security suite for £8.99 the other day. Or cheaper still get Avast! for free.
2) Turn off all the default services not required for stable performance. I have.

Isn't McAfee the one that put out that update last week which corrupted a lot systems...? I suppose I could use Adaware every month as well. But the malware issue is what annoyed me about Windows 98 and got me to switch to Linux then. Since I'm going over to a mates house tonight to deal with his PC it hasn't got any better...

 

[Kid_Eternity]

But each to their own.

Exactly and why these zealots (both sides) can't get that into their heads is beyond me...

 

[editor]

1) Get an AntiVirus package. I saw McAfee Internet Security suite for £8.99 the other day.

Or get AVG for nowt.

 

[moose]

I often find PC users are more obsessed with Macs than Mac users. Maybe that's where the 'cult' started

I never really thought about it till I discovered U75.

 

[Zaskar]

Mac users are far more likely to be zealots.

My theory is that they are schmoosed by oily sales people in debanhams and are impressed by macs lifestyle hype and fanheater looks.

They get it home and realise it is just a computer. They dont get better friends, thier hair doesnt get less flyaway, they dont get thinner or more attractive and as they surf the web they realise they have joined a select group.

Embarrased by thier expensive mistake they do what most people do when they feel silly, they go on the offensive.

Anyway all this fun will end soon as I hope that the new macs may mean that os10 will run on pcs and xp will run on macs, that should cause some suicides amongst the maccolytes.

 

[skyscraper101]

Or get AVG for nowt.

Or Avast! for nowt as mentioned

 

[jæd]

Mac users are far more likely to be zealots.

...

Anyway all this fun will end soon as I hope that the new macs may mean that os10 will run on pcs and xp will run on macs, that should cause some suicides amongst the maccolytes.

Has anyone ever met a Mac zealot...? I never have... Will OS X run on a PC...? Well, OS Classic had a time of running (supported) on third party hardware so it might be possible again. Will Xp run a Mac -- it can at the moment via VirualPc... Again, no great problems if it does...

I suppose everyone will tell me I;m a zealot. But I'll repeat myself... Is expecting something to work as advertised being a zealot...? Expecting front doors to have working locks...?

 

[skyscraper101]

So what are you saying?

 

[rutabowa]

I often find PC users are more obsessed with Macs than Mac users. Maybe that's where the 'cult' started

it seems to me like this is so.

 

[Zaskar]

Maccolytes do exist. I like my pc for what it does not what it is, my mac friend likes his mac for what it is not what it does. He tolerates what it wont do because he likes what it is.

 

[jæd]

So what are you saying?

That I'm highly doubtful that there is a "cult of Mac" that has Mac zealots trying to convert people to their cause...

 

[tarannau]

I often find PC users are more obsessed with Macs than Mac users. Maybe that's where the 'cult' started

I never really thought about it till I discovered U75.

Ain't that the truth. There are some unashamed mac zealots out there - pk and Jaed don't really help a lot of the time if I'm honest - but there are a whole host of weirdos out there who seem to take a great deal of effort to provoke the macheads and slag off a platform they don't even use. They're all over the web, from ZDNet through to Urban - take Tom K&E's unashamed trolling right down the more gentle provocation of Kid E (who knew what he was doing starting that other thread...)


FWIW I tend to use a pc at work (database stuff mainly) and a mac at home. The mac tends to be more stable and far better/intuitive and consistent at the 'digital hub 'applications, but I suspect I value the change from my work machines as much as anything.

I tend to get drawn into these 'discussions' (heh!) to try and defend the most uninformed nonsense, but it's difficult not to be drawn in. Which is perhaps why folks do it - it's the most easily provoked controversial fun you can expect on a techy bulletin board.

 

[rutabowa]

I have an apple tattooed on my left calf.

 

[editor]

Has anyone ever met a Mac zealot...?

Oh, I definitely have!

I worked in a Mac-only office and it was unbearable to hear them going on and on about how fucking 'superior' they thought their machines were (despite the office 'network' being floppy disks being lobbed about the room because they couldn't get the machines to talk to each other).

And I've met pk too. He's one!

And then there was this cunt in college. When he saw my multimedia presentation created on Scala/Amiga onscreen he came up to me and asked what Mac I'd used.

When I told him it was done on an Amiga, he walked away!

PC bores tend to be different, preferring to drone on and on about obscure configurations rather than any claimed superiority over other systems.

 

[Zaskar]

Macs hype has created this culty thing. Some believe it, most dont. I make films and edit on a fat manky fast heath robison pc that never lets me down and was well cheap. People often assume I must have a mac for editing and look at me all weird when I tell them i have a pc.

 

[tarannau]

Mac users are far more likely to be zealots.

My theory is that they are schmoosed by oily sales people in debanhams and are impressed by macs lifestyle hype and fanheater looks.

They get it home and realise it is just a computer. They dont get better friends, thier hair doesnt get less flyaway, they dont get thinner or more attractive and as they surf the web they realise they have joined a select group.

Embarrased by thier expensive mistake they do what most people do when they feel silly, they go on the offensive.

Anyway all this fun will end soon as I hope that the new macs may mean that os10 will run on pcs and xp will run on macs, that should cause some suicides amongst the maccolytes.

You see - here's an example of perfect someone on a uninformed wind-up. Not one mac zealot has resorted to this kind of trolling rubbish

All those macs in design departments around the world and the best jibe someone can come up with are that the odd fop purchased them on a whim at Debenhams. Not a very good or plausible insult is it?

By that measure all pc users are all geeky types that play role playing games and work in accountancy...

 

[rutabowa]

you have all met some wierd people.

 

[Zaskar]

I have an apple tattooed on my left calf.

LOL ! What, the real logo?

 

[rutabowa]

LOL ! What, the real logo?

yep! I got money knocked off when I bought my computer for having it, it even has the (R) symbol!

 

[Zaskar]

You see - here's an example of perfect someone on a uninformed wind-up. Not one mac zealot has resorted to this kind of trolling rubbish

All those macs in design departments around the world and the best jibe someone can come up with are that the odd fop purchased them on a whim at Debenhams. Not a very good or plausible insult is it?

By that measure all pc users are all geeky types that play role playing games and work in accountancy...

Ahh, I assume you love your mac then...!

Your comment about pc owners is a typical and valid one tho.

edit.

I have been in said shop several times and seen said fops purchasing said computer.

 

[Zaskar]

yep! I got money knocked off when I bought my computer for having it, it even has the (R) symbol!

Fair play to you !

 

[editor]

That I'm highly doubtful that there is a "cult of Mac" that has Mac zealots trying to convert people to their cause...

Eh? There's sad websites about the Cult Of Macs, there a even sadder book on the topic.

And then there's (titter) tragic Apple Evangelists...

 

[rutabowa]

And then there's (titter) tragic Apple Evangelists...

we all have the tattoo...

 

[tarannau]

Oh, I definitely have!

I worked in a Mac-only office and it was unbearable to hear them going on and on about how fucking 'superior' they thought their machines were (despite the office 'network' being floppy disks being lobbed about the room because they couldn't get the machines to talk to each other).
I]

PC bores tend to be different, preferring to drone on and on about obscure configurations rather than any claimed superiority over other systems.

I casn recognise that - you must have got sick of having to justify your choice of platform in the design industry a few years ago. It's a kind of role reversal of the company's one designer trying to insist on one mac in the whole of the pc network, to a Microsoft-indoctrinated IT clone.

But I also recognise the pc stereotype of people wittering about how their system's configured and how cheap it is compared to a comparable brand name pc or mac. Without, of course, taking into account the hassle and sheer number of tinkering man hours they've spent on the beast. And then they use it play sodding doom and download torrents...

 

[tarannau]

I have been in said shop several times and seen said fops purchasing said computer.

Debenhams eh. Since when they stock macs then. You big pork-pier...