[mdawson]

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EPonj wrote:

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Where can I find forums that talk trash about Apple like you're talking trash about MS? I'd love to visit those forums where I could insult mac users like windows users are being insulted here. Seriously, the PC community has never been agressive towards mac users.

When I first saw this at work today I thought it ad to be a April Fools prank. People_Eater has already thoroughly covered the truth of the matter particularly with his conclusion of ?politics of exclusion.? As I have stated elsewhere, Mac users do not care much for Windows, but unlike die-hard Microserfs and PC weenies, there has not been this disturbing wave of ?Microsoft and all Windows users need to be wiped of the face of the Earth? sentiment throughout the Mac community.

Trolls are handled with the gloves off, just as one would rightfully expect when someone disrespects you in your own home, but Mac users generally do not go out of their way to belittle Windows users. Macs users have less than stellar feelings toward Microsoft and PC weenies not Windows users in general. Contrary to popular belief, most die hard Mac users are not blind faith zealots and when we believe that Apple has screwed up we are often the harshest critics because as long-time Mac users we have come to have the high expectations of Apple.

The behavior of the other side is very much reminiscent of the scene from Quatermass and the Pit (Five Million Years to Earth) when they attach Barbara to the machine to see her ?race memory? from Mars. The gist was that any Martian that was different was slaughtered by the mob; conform to the hive or die. Obviously, Mac users were into being murdered in the streets, but the mindset that Mac deserved nothing less than the utmost scorn was quite prevalent.

I find it absurd that a society will abhor people for making a different platform choice for their computer. Mac users were those aloof, uppity and snobbish people that paid for those ?expensive? Apple toys. Yet this same society has no disdain for the truly abhorrent wealthy and their spoiled do nothing children that have been awarded celebrity status simply because they are members of wealthy families (e.g., Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, all those brats on My Super Sweet 16, et al.). Of course those people are not reviled because people want to be like them. Pathetic.

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EPonj wrote:

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Besides, I won't enter the price war, I think Macs might be worth
their price if it fits your needs. And so are PCs too. Tell me
seriously what the following persons should buy?

And I stated how many times just in this thread that each platform has its place?

[Grapho]

One more thing that I have noticed is that those Windows users that actually made the switch become staunch supporters of the Mac platform. I have witnessed this with at least ten people that have switched. It is almost kind of like people that stop smoking, later become very intolerant of smokers.

[Ventzi_Zhechev]

I?d have to second that, having both switched to the Mac in 2003 and quit smoking in 2007 :)

[mdawson]

Agreed. In my experience I have three related immigrant families that I support. The first was a family I knew from my previous residence?they rented from the same landlord?that purchased a top-of-the-line 24-inch iMac G5 without any suggestion from me. After some initial training from me, these rural Mexicans and especially their daughters quickly grew to love their easy to use iMac.

When their relatives decided to buy a computer they purchased an HP with Windows Vista. From Day One they had issues with the computer; the kids could not even get it working. After a week of not using it the first family turned them on to me. It was my first introduction to Vista and despite my expertise in Windows, Vista?s change for sake of change approach to make Vista ?new? made it difficult to set up their computer. That was compounded by driver incompatibilities, Vista crashing when switching between user accounts as I was setting up user accounts for each family member, etc.

I have been working with computers on a technical level for over 25 years and Vista was frustrating me so imagine the impact on another adult that had never touched a (home) computer before let alone his children that just wanted to get on and have some fun. As a result of my suggestion and especially that of his relatives praising their iMac, the second family returned their HP and bought a 20-inch iMac G5 that they are still very happy with to this day.

A third relative of theirs purchased a MacBook for their high school age son. Each of these families had me over a number of times early on due to their general lack of computer knowledge, but by simply playing with their Macs they have come to master their machines; I have not had a support call from any of them for well over a year.

In terms of switchers, the former director of the graduate program at my alma mater was reluctant to get a Mac. Once he saw that Microsoft Office was available for Macs he was more open to Macs. Then one day at my house he saw me working in SAS on the University?s servers via X11 and he was convinced that Macs were the way to go. I was able to open SAS program files directly from the University server, edit my code in a user friendly GUI-based environment and save the changes back to the server from within TextWrangler (free download from BareBones Software). Then, I would switch to an X11 session (free with all Macs) connected to the server to compile and execute the code in UNIX. Finally, I would view my results as Webpage in Firefox.

The entire process was seamless and it did not require and additional expenditure on my part. Could this be done on a Wintel PC? Sure. But in order to get anything like X11, which would be necessary for running any of SAS? graphics procedures without getting a bunch of device errors, a copy of an application such as Hummingbird?s Exceed would have been necessary and even with academic discounts that would not be cheap. Seeing me work in that way was the final straw.

Eventually he purchased a 24-inch iMac Duo for his wife and then later he has his department buy him a MacBook Pro for work. He even dispensed with his old cell phone opting instead for an iPhone. His son on the other hand has thus far refused to switch to a Mac. Ironically, one of the last times I spoke with him was a meeting that I had with him with two of the owners of company I now work for. While showing off his MacBook Pro, my former program director mentioned that while his son verbally states that he will not buy a Mac, his Dell laptop sits collecting dust while he spends much of his time using his mother?s iMac.

[spiderbat]

There are a few ways to get a good 17" notebook for less than 1000 bucks:
1- buy an used one
2- buy a stolen one from a thief
3- steal one.
I don't know way, but m$ and stealing (at least, intellectual property) appear in my mind as related concepts...

[cjbriare]

The "I'm a PC" ads were created because Microsoft thought that the "Get a Mac" commercials was a stereotype to PC people as nerds and business people, and to prove them wrong by showing what people can be with a PC. But... this ad just says that PC people aren't cool.

[tirmite]

Okay, she's cute. But there's no way I'd date or marry someone who doesn't have the sense or taste to buy an Apple. If you don't respect yourself enough to treat yourself to the best hardware/software out there, why would I respect you? Next she'll be buying her lingerie at Ross For Less and feeding the kids Chinese melanin-laced baby food. Sorry, Lauren, the wedding is off!

[StarWarsEpisode7]

Okay, she's cute. But there's no way I'd date or marry someone who doesn't have the sense or taste to buy an Apple. If you don't respect yourself enough to treat yourself to the best hardware/software out there, why would I respect you? Next she'll be buying her lingerie at Ross For Less and feeding the kids Chinese melanin-laced baby food. Sorry, Lauren, the wedding is off!

The best software IS Windows Vista. So she made the correct decision.

[tirmite]

Yeah, right. And I bet you like Chrysler products too. Oops. Maybe that's now a Fiat product. Too each his or her own. Either you "get it" or you don't. Lowest common denominator, mass appeal design, tons of bugs and patches, viruses, etc. I can see why you think it's the best. I prefer champagne over beer even if I don't get to drink as much of it. :-)

[mattd313]

Funny- the first place she looks after she says she is on a mission is the Apple store. They subconciously just told people Apple is more desirable than any other PC maker...

[jpormberget]

Folks,
I have switched to Apple products, but please try to remember the "plastic" cracking issues of the Mac Book and the bowing on the MacBook Pro aluminum cases.
If you live in glass houses, don't throw rocks.
And of course, budgets are budgets. If you just can't afford the initial price of entry, that doesn't make you a bad person. It just means that you are just stuck with bad technology until you can afford to upgrade.

[Bald_]

How very interesting that they choose the worst entrance Apple store hole in the wall to video, then NEVER show the inside or any of the beautiful Apple hardware! Huh. How honest is that?

[mstover]

Just today I have had 3 phone calls from my wife asking for PC support issues from her work friends. I already have one of their laptops at my house as I'm working to get all the spyware and viruses off the blasted Dell. On the last call I told her to tell her friends to eliminate all their fear and angst and just break down and buy a mac. We just retired our old 400mhz G4 last week for a new 24" imac. Not because it didn't work, or because it was loaded with viruses...just because it was 10 years old and slow. Once people see the value in buying a mac I doubt they would ever go back. I'm sure places like best buy just grin at every PC sold there as they know their Geek Squad will get a call within a few months that another customer has virus, spyware, or the dreaded blue screen of death. Buy a mac and put an geek squad member out of business!