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Can't we all just get along?
Mar. 19th, 2007 09:01 amLast week my computer died, its hard drive fatally diseased with more viral infections than Port Ho Chih Minh at shore leave. One sector was so badly damaged that the normally staid Dell technician actually said, "huh -- I've never heard of that before."
So I had to decide whether to buy a new hard drive for my four-year old CPU -- which is equivalent to putting brand-new tires on a 1990 Ford Tempo -- or buy an entirely new computer. Naturally I decided to buy a new computer, and at an exceptional price, thanks to the deep discounts at Dell Outlet. I had momentarily considered going back to Apple, but decided against it since my peripherals, software and last 8 years of experience was entirely with the PC platform -- not to mention that the Apple computer with the same technical specifications would have been three times the price.
Since then I have felt the unflinching scrutiny of Mac users, who talk to me with this strange combination of pity and foreboding, like I just ordered a Filet-o-Fish. The PC-Mac dichotomy has reached new levels of hostility.
I suppose a person could blame this on Microsoft, the aging, blinged-out pimp for all things PC. Back in the mid- to late-90s, when Apple Computers was coughing up blood and surviving only on the dole of the education market, Microsoft basically stepped over Apple's sleeping bag on the way to the bank. This must have made Apple very angry, because when they stormed back after the turn of the century, they conceived a brand strategy based solely on personifying PCs as a flailing asexual dorkbag. Their entire marketing plan is, essentially, "What a geek," the advertising equivalent of a wedgie.
Apple's ethos has been inherited by its consumers, and it has gone beyond brand loyalty or consumer confidence. It is full-fledged antipathy. The meanness of spirit has surpassed that of the cola wars or the burger battles. Are there any other companies that take such pains to eviscerate their competition? Can you imagine:
Ford user: Hi, I'm a Ford!
Toyota user: And I'm a Toyota. Hey! Whoops, I just set myself on fire! Oh, the burning!
Ford user: Heh heh heh.
Besides being smug, Apple has become cruel. You can say plenty of nasty things about Microsoft, but they drew the line at fomenting civil unrest.
Look, I'm sure Apple is great. I am not opposed to buying one, someday. And I'm sure learning Windows Vista will be a challenge, but I'm just going to be Web broswing, e-mailing and word processing, not launching satellites. I think I'll be all right with my PC. Sometimes a Filet-o-Fish is all you need.
So I had to decide whether to buy a new hard drive for my four-year old CPU -- which is equivalent to putting brand-new tires on a 1990 Ford Tempo -- or buy an entirely new computer. Naturally I decided to buy a new computer, and at an exceptional price, thanks to the deep discounts at Dell Outlet. I had momentarily considered going back to Apple, but decided against it since my peripherals, software and last 8 years of experience was entirely with the PC platform -- not to mention that the Apple computer with the same technical specifications would have been three times the price.
Since then I have felt the unflinching scrutiny of Mac users, who talk to me with this strange combination of pity and foreboding, like I just ordered a Filet-o-Fish. The PC-Mac dichotomy has reached new levels of hostility.
I suppose a person could blame this on Microsoft, the aging, blinged-out pimp for all things PC. Back in the mid- to late-90s, when Apple Computers was coughing up blood and surviving only on the dole of the education market, Microsoft basically stepped over Apple's sleeping bag on the way to the bank. This must have made Apple very angry, because when they stormed back after the turn of the century, they conceived a brand strategy based solely on personifying PCs as a flailing asexual dorkbag. Their entire marketing plan is, essentially, "What a geek," the advertising equivalent of a wedgie.
Apple's ethos has been inherited by its consumers, and it has gone beyond brand loyalty or consumer confidence. It is full-fledged antipathy. The meanness of spirit has surpassed that of the cola wars or the burger battles. Are there any other companies that take such pains to eviscerate their competition? Can you imagine:
Ford user: Hi, I'm a Ford!
Toyota user: And I'm a Toyota. Hey! Whoops, I just set myself on fire! Oh, the burning!
Ford user: Heh heh heh.
Besides being smug, Apple has become cruel. You can say plenty of nasty things about Microsoft, but they drew the line at fomenting civil unrest.
Look, I'm sure Apple is great. I am not opposed to buying one, someday. And I'm sure learning Windows Vista will be a challenge, but I'm just going to be Web broswing, e-mailing and word processing, not launching satellites. I think I'll be all right with my PC. Sometimes a Filet-o-Fish is all you need.
