Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Open mouth, insert disk...

I want to clarify a couple of points that were brought to my attention last night by BanAnna in regards to my last post about Apple. First, I knew that discussing the topic of Apple would be a sensitive one, mis-stepping or over stepping boundaries could have consequences in regards to my position with family. Knowing this, I tried early in the article to mention that I was not classifying a “normal”, proficient, Apple user, or even Apple users that like or even love their product. After the article was reviewed it was decided that some feeling might be hurt. Instead of trying to go in and edit the piece, mostly due to the fact it was unknown who had read it, I decided to add this note. Again, I want to make sure that it is understood that the people I am classifying in the first couple of paragraphs fall into a sub-culture that probably comprises a small percentage of all Apple users. I have no issue nor do I feel the need to make fun of those that just enjoy and like Apple… that is why there are 31 flavors. I myself learned to use a computer on a Macintosh, and I understand that some prefer one and some the other. My issue is in relation to the sub-culture or “click” that occasionally has rubbed me the wrong way. Having had experience with both systems, I can honestly say that I prefer using a PC over a Mac. That does not mean that I feel Mac is inferior, nor do I feel that one is better than the other. I guess what I am trying to say is, they both have their strengths and weaknesses, and honestly I find them to be comparable to one another…with the exception of Vista... Time for Crow! That said; I hope that I have not offended anyone, nor do I wish to hurt the feelings of the passionate Apple user. My dealings with close friends and family members who use Apple have never left me feeling the way I described in the post below. In no way are my statements below to be misconstrued or interpreted that I am, in anyway, relating to a particular person or persons; it is more along the lines of an indirect group of people. Can’t we all just get along? This might be more drama than what it is worth, but having the coin flipped by BanAnna I would hate to ever find out I offended someone that was unintentional… :-)
Mezo

14 comments:

Andy Norman said...

One of my claims to fame was in a c++ programming when the prof ran my program on his mac it crashed it, he had to reboot, everyone was shocked and he was impressed that I was able to crash a mac.

Andy Norman said...

Also I find PC a misnomer. I've run Unix on my PC for a while but OS X is just pretty Unix so... and now that OS X is run on Intel, where are drawing the line? I mean, OS X is built on Darwin, which is just FreeBSD, which I run on my PC so here we go:
PC = Mac
That should ruffle some feathers.
So I'm a PC which means I'm a Mac.
Which explains why you never see Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at the same place.
I'm just waiting for Mac to embrace OpenOffice to fully separate from Windows. My only issue is that the Java slows your computer down sooo much.

stina said...

Love my Apple. Not offended. : )

Momma said...

I really dont understand any of the technical stuff...I only know that my Mac has never crashed, never performed an illegal operation, doesn't have to be rebooted in the middle of a project, doesn't all the sudden shut down as I am typing and loose all my info. Doesn't slow down regardless of how much media is on it...have to agree with stina...love my Apple. (That should get another grrr out of Andy!)

Anonymous said...

I am going to stay out of this one, but I will mention that XP pro on my laptop has never crashed either, though it does not have a pretty light on the back of the screen, I love that. I also have found that open office can eat up Microsoft Office formats... You have to admit, they do make a good business software, that is why it is number 1, vista... not so much. As to Java, Sun Micro, who also has it's hand in Open Office, has gone down the same dangerous road that Microsoft did, they keep building on an out of date platform. Java's syntax was mainly built on C++... which is a mid level language. Microsoft had this same tendency using the aging 16/32-bit branch up until XP when it merged the NT 5.1 Kernel. Software companies rest on their laurels until their market share is threatened, and this is why Java is such a memory hog.

Andy Norman said...

I have to agree, MS does have great office products, Java is bloatware, and ambient lights are cute although that has more to do with the hardware than the software. I still prefer calling macs either BSD or Unix. I don't like how they only use tcsh. I'm a bash man myself. It's what happens when you are raised on Linux although with all the Java they use, it has the bloat that you get elsewhere. That's why I personally love BSD. Can I get an amen?!?

BanAnna said...

Amen! I love BSD! I'm not crazy about NFL but when the Java + is written with complex binary LED I know my DVD's are securely arrayed.

Melanie said...

Amen! (I have not the foggiest idea of what I've just agreed to. I got lost somewhere around the term java syntax.) But I enjoy being supportive:)

Andy Norman said...

I think one of the issues I have with Apple is the pure hubris in their commercials and them taking credit for things that already existed. It really came out with the release of OS X and some of its features and how remarkable it all was, when it was all stuff that they inherited because it was built on BSD (e.g. toggling between 4 screens). It's gone into overdrive with the iphone, everything it does was already out there with the palm treo. Not to mention the treo has the MS Office suite on it.
The greatest example of their hubris is with their new commercial for the app store and their comment that this will change everything. WHAT?!?!?! I've been using the app store on my palm years before the iphone was released. Hasn't really changed that much for me.
Just a side note, ipod released late 2001, guess what I was listening to MP3's on my WindowsCE device back in 1999 and it had a calendar,address book...
Apple should change it's motto to: Nothing new here but it's always the prettiest.

KDE+FreeBSD - good to go and you still have a couple hundred bucks still in your pocket. Oh and it's rock stable too.

The Brickman said...

Okay, I realize I have tuned in little late here but does BanAnna's comment really say anything? My DVD's are securely arrayed on my bookshelf, is that what she is talking about? What is complex binary LED? Can complex binary LED be put in place with a common pair of household tweezers? Can either Andy or BanAnna explain how you parse BSD? Will a BSD run on a linear fragmented bus or does it need a vectorized vortex with a DSB?

Anonymous said...

Amen, Brickman... I long ago got lost in the acronyms, I need to reboot.

Andy Norman said...

And the commercials for Leopard are really funny because they make fun of how unstable Vista is when in fact Leopard is the most unstable release they have released.

Buppa H said...

I love BanAnna's post. You go girl!

Mezo says: "I would hate to ever find out I offended someone that was unintentional…"

Let me get this straight. You would prefer to intentionally offend someone? :-)

As for MAC v. PC, I have both. And my MAC does PC (with its Intel chipset). Which is better? Doesn't matter. What matters is what you like. I like MAC cuz it's pretty.

Anonymous said...

Well, I think that just about sums it up, 31 flavors... I would agree with buppa, they are very pretty. Also, that phrase was intentional, I don't mind intentionally offending... :-) In regards to tech support, Andy's comment does not surprise me at all. During my IT days, I found that anytime I would get calls with "emergencies", I had to really start thinking like they did not know what they were talking about... which they didn't. Back when I was managing a retail chains software and network I would get calls as follows.
Hi, Jonathan the register is frozen. (I had to learn to not panic, and believe that the register really was frozen)
I would respond, "What exactly is it doing"? As it seemed to always turn out, the registers were never really frozen; they were just using the term “frozen” incorrectly. Basically something was not responding and they considered the whole pc frozen. The registers were Dell PC's running windows XP pro, which I might add, never froze. I would ask what they were trying to do, and then diagnose from there. I think the award for lamest retail clerk would go to the one who called claiming that the computer was frozen. I asked, "What is it doing"? And after much digging, I found out they were unable to enter their password to log into the register software. I also learned that they were able to enter their user name however. This, for a moment, stumped me. Then, it hit me, and I asked the clerk, is your password all numeric? They replied, "Yes it is all numbers". I replied, "Your number lock is turned off". That still cracks me up today!