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February 08, 2004

Upgrade a Mac?

I have been asked to get involved in a discussion over at Dusting My Brain. You see the author at that site uses a Mac (a fact that the regular readers of her site would know because of the failure of her laptop before Christmas). What some of you may not know is that I use a Mac too (at least when I am not using a Newton). Anyway, to cut a long story short, one of the readers over there asked (in this post) for an explanation of the Mac->PC hoax.

The deal was that some id10t (see now I am pre10tious I have to use numbers in my words) claimed to have bought (actually doting parents purchased) an expensive top-of-the-line G5 mac and he then gutted it to use as a PC case. This irritated a number of Mac people to the point where the hoaxer then claimed that he just "got the case from a friend".

Now the original question was: "speaking of unabashedly bad behavior, i am still waiting for an explanation of the mac community's response toward a guy who pretended to tear the guts out of a brand new G5 and replace them with the innards of a windows pc". Dusting My Brain pointed out that the equivalent would be purchasing a Rolls-Royce and replacing the engine with parts from the salvage yard. The original commentator then asked:

Yes, I pretty much figured these were the underlying reasons for the response the guy got. But the outraged mac users acted like it was THEIR individual machines this guy violated. If I owned a Rolls Royce and some other guy owned a Rolls Royce and the other guy wanted to tear his Rolls Royce to pieces and put in junk yard parts, I wouldnt give a rip unless he wanted to do that to MY Rolls Royce.

Now this is where I have to jump in. Much as I enjoy Dusting My Brain, I think the analogy was not so good in this case because most people do not have a religious association with their cars (some do - like a guy I work with) but they do have a religious association with their computers. Let's face it, anyone still determined to continue using Windblows after being introduced to the Mac has to have some form of primitive religion because worship of Microsloth is the only possible reason for wanting to stay on that platform.
In this case a more appropriate analogy would be where some alternate religion (i.e. different to yours) began tearing down a religious building of your faith (but not the one you worship in). Imagine you are Hindu and and the Moslems are replacing a Hindu temple with a mosque. Or you are Southern Baptist and the Catholics are taking over a Baptist church. Or better still a Moslem and the Israelis are converting a mosque to a synagogue. There would be some angst (e.g. the riots in India, suicide bombers in the middle east) even if it is not where you currently attend worship.
If you are not religious, maybe sports is more your style. You follow football (real football = Aussie Rules) and then some team gets taken over by a basketball administrator who wants to change the rules or style of play. Maybe you are Canadian and some American gets elected local mayor of a town or maybe you are American and some Austrian gets elected governor of the state. You may not live in that town or state but you still have a strong opinion, one way or the other.
To explain the reactions of the Mac-faithful, all you need to do is think of something that you care about and then imagine it being perverted or twisted. This will seem strange to the non-Mac user because it is almost impossible to form a meaningful relationship with a blue-screen-of-death. Taking a G5 and replacing the guts with a PC is more than just stupidity - it is vandalism. More than that, it is sacrilege. The faithful will of course protest. In some cases the protests may even be extreme (Mac suicide bombers coming up). albeit unwarranted.

[Having explained all that as a means of answering the question, I figure that I had better make my own position clear. Personally I don't care what the fellow does with his G5 case. My attitude is that it is his choice and he is not harming anyone else - just his own karma. In the same way that I am happy to coexist with Baptists, Israelis, Muslims, Hindus - I can coexist with PC users. As long as they don't seek to convert me, I won't insist on converting them.]

Posted by Ozguru at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

Comments

Bravo. Much, much better than what I tried. Thank you for jumping in. I'll update the post and add the link to your post.

Posted by: Cindy at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

"...Let's face it, anyone still determined to continue using Windblows after being introduced to the Mac has to have some form of primitive religion because worship of Microsloth is the only possible reason for wanting to stay on that platform..." Thats going a bit too far. As I have tried to explain earlier, I use a PC because it is so much easier to get programs for, and is so much easier to trade files and programs with my friends. Macs may be better for graphics and possibly sound - but PCs are still the better gaming machine. More games, more options.

Posted by: Peskie at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

I don't know anything about macs so the few times i have used them just frustates me.. i prefer my pc... call it what you want... that is my personal preference. But i do agree with your analogy.. who cares if they don't touch my car!

Posted by: TL at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

Want a gaming machine? Buy a Playstation. Anything else you can do on your PC, I can do on my Mac. Except maybe spread viruses.

Posted by: Raena at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

Don't forget folks that my real opinions are at the end of the article. The main body is supposed to explain why Mac-fanatics are like this - for them being a Mac-fanatic is a religion (or something that is equally important). If it was a religion I would try to be one of those which do not actively recruit but instead try to set an example. Would that be a Mac-Quaker perhaps? At this point I would like to misquote Mike Warnke(*) who was talking about what it should be like when two Christians get together. Instead of fighting over the hymn book colour it should be "a chance for my Jesus to meet your Jesus and if you don't have a Jesus then a chance for my Jesus to become your Jesus". SO flipping that around it would be "a chance for us to learn about each others platform and if you don't have a platform (or don't like your platform), a chance for my platform to become your platform". Whaddya reckon? (*) Yes I have read all those stories about Mike but I still enjoyed listening to his tapes and some of his ideas anyway.

Posted by: ozguru at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

Never having tried a Mac I am in no position to pass judgement on the merits or otherwise. I do know that I use the PC system (Microdrivvle) because it is waht I use at work and therefore .... That said, it drives me bananas sometimes by decideding for no reason that I have "perfomred an illegal operations" and shutting down, by refusing to access my Blog programme, but allowing me to access the site and so on ..... Anyone who can give me a cure to this, even if it means learning to use a completely new system, will be elevated to the status of Saint. Guaranteed!

Posted by: The Gray Monk at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

Ye Gods, look at all the typos! I must be more dyslexic this morning than I thought!

Posted by: The Gray Monk at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

Seriously Mr Monk (Rev Monk?), try finding someone who is Mac-literate. Ask them something like "Does Safari on Panther run faster than IE?" or "Can you synchronise address and bookmarks between systems" - if they answer yes then they are probably aware of the current Mac versions. Get them to demonstrate browsing and the other things you normally do on your PC (except don't update your site - Safari will store your password for them to use later :-) ). Keep in mind that Apple laptop warranties are world-wide so it won't matter where you buy it. You can also get AppleCare (phone support from Apple) with your machine if you want it.

Posted by: ozguru at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

"Ye Gods, look at all the typos! I must be more dyslexic this morning than I thought!".

Think of the poor dyslexic agnostic. He lay awake all night wonder if DOG exists.

Posted by: ozguru at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

Hey! Brilliant analogy. THough I use a Wintel stupid box (dont have enough money to buy a MAC) I have always loved the sleek looks and immense power - Like sitting behind a Harley or something, while the 100 cc Japanese lawn mowers scream by.

Posted by: Ravages at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM

In Response to Your Inquiry Update February 7: Oz graciously responded to my request for his input. Please see his recent post. Thanks Oz. I appreciate your help!

Posted by: Dusting My Brain at February 8, 2004 10:02 AM