Not "Getting it"

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I've always known that using and loving Macs somehow involved "getting it,"but until the other day, I guess I never really understood just how ignorant PC weenies could be (seemingly by choice). I have one friend (well, a couple really) who insists on pulling out his same old tired anti-mac arguments every time the subject of computers come up. But the ultimate was the other day when my sister (who is starting college in the fall) mentioned the computer she is getting (combo-drive iMac). She's all excited, she mostly uses computers for word processing and solitaire, doesn't care about much else. She loves the way the new iMac looks and is excited because she can get "Solitaire Antics Ultimate" for OS X. So anyway, she was describing the way it looks and my friend said "are you going to just sit and look at your computer, or do you want to actually be able to use it?" Some PC weenies minds have been so corrupted that they think that anything that has aesthetic value, or is enjoyable to use, is worthless as a computer. It's amazing.



I know how Apple can increase market share:

The PowerMac PC:

Large beige enclosure with plenty of out of alignment fans, so it's real noisy

Any OS so long as all the alert box and menu text has been run through an internet translator to german and then back to english and it is rigged so that each time you open an application a random number is generated which determines whether or not the computer will crash. (And it should probably be monochrome, so as not to scare anybody away)

Oh, and a sticker on the outside that says 6.7 million Ghz celium processor inside.

And I suppose it should probably come with a 36.8 button trackball mouse too.



I think that oughta do it, Watch out Microsoft!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    LMAO that's some funny spec work!!!!
  • Reply 2 of 25
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Hahaha...funny stuff!



    I've run into the same thing...Wintel people who can't seem to get beyond the looks of things (oh, something orange and THAT toy-ish looking can't possibly be a REAL computer, can it?").







    Especially maddening are the TONS of people out there who ONLY surf the web, e-mail, write a bit, chat, etc. who somehow think that a Mac "doesn't do that, does it? I mean, they're only for running Photoshop and graphics, right?".



    Ugh.



    I hope phase two of Apple's new "switch" campaign actually gets a little "under the hood", and SHOWS the Mac doing things (Microsoft stuff, iTunes, surfing, e-mail, the iApps, etc.).



    I'd like to see Apple sink money into a 1-2 minute "mega commercial" that just comes out swinging: hardcore FACTS, real people doing real things with real Macs, touting OS X a bit, a cool eye-catching look, etc.



    Maybe even a popular Mac-loving celebrity or two?



    The "switch" commercials are a step in the right direction, but I hope it doesn't end with these eight plain schmos. Apple's hardware and software is so beautiful (on many levels), that a commercial NOT playing that up and trading on those particular strengths is just unbelievable.



    Hell, even bring back Goldblum and let him answer all those common "myths", one by one, that came out in those little booklets at the Apple Stores ("Macs can't run Microsoft Office", etc.).



  • Reply 3 of 25
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    You know the look and tone of those little mini-movies that accompany the launch of a particular product (the iPod thing with Seal, the iMac movie with Copolla, Leibovitz, etc., etc.).



    Something like THAT! Distill it down to 30-60 seconds, but keep that loose, casual "real people" vibe to it, show the hardware and software doing cool stuff, put some nice music and camera work in it, etc.



    I always thought that dancing iMac with that funky song (which appeared at the LCD iMac's debut in January) would make an AWESOME opening image/scene for a commerical.
  • Reply 4 of 25
    I used wintel computers for 10+ years and for about 4 of those I walked aroung thinking Apple was crap then I got in to it more and followed what the actually had and found Mac as being a much better machine and I am happy to see Steve Jobs making Apple everything in can be and more. Apple is here to stay and more people are converting now then ever which is awsome to see. back to the point of how PC people are ignorate.. wel my friend was like I can't believe your going to buy a mac they are crap are you dumb or what I was like yah ok.. I tried to explain my reasons but yet he pulls out some lame excuses from the top 10 reason why mac sucks... I am sure you have seen those sites on the net they are a joke... when I got it home he was like was it worth it... All i said is I will never go back to a wintel computer... he turned around and walked away another thing he doesn't understand is after using windows machiens for 10+ years you think I would know what is better and which one actually works. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 5 of 25
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    I think it's funny that as much Mac users like to rip on PCs, PC users rip on Macs so much less intelligently. Mac users say things like "it's very complicated" or "it's not user-friendly" or "it doesn't make any sense to me." Windows users say things like "they suck!" and "Apple can't make a useful computer!" and "It can't run all my games!" Most of the time, Mac users will never admit to a PC being good, and PC users will never admit to a Mac being good, but for different reasons. The Mac user knows that though the PC may be okay, the OS it uses is bad. The PC user simply knows that all "Macintosh Computers Inc" computers are terrible and incapable of doing any real work.



    Just goes to show that Mac users are thinkers while many PC users are... well... directing their mindpower elsewhere.
  • Reply 6 of 25
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    i hayt all blanket generalizations.
  • Reply 7 of 25
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    You're right, I was just saying what I see often at the Ars Technica Battlefront, but there are a lot of PC users who can argue very intelligently for the superiority of their platform (especially in individual cases instead of in general). And there are a lot of Mac users who are not thinking at all, they're just firmly within the Reality Distortion Field.



    Of course, by saying you hate all blanket generalizations... oh, you were making a joke... He he
  • Reply 8 of 25
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    [quote]Of course, by saying you hate all blanket generalizations... oh, you were making a joke... He he<hr></blockquote>



    well, what i was trying to elude to was that many people lump others into groups, and push traits on the group, traits which some times are only possessed by a few. its called stereotypes. while some people may find that the peecee users they have met/encountered have sub-par inteligence, its ridiculous to claim that all peecee users do. i know some very intelligent people who use peecees (fyi: when i write peecee, i mean `non-mac personal/business computer, usually runnign a microsoft OS`, macs ARE personal computers (PCs)). just about every1 i kno who has a comp runs winblows. i'v had discussions on the merits of an Apple computer versus a (any other computer maker name here) computer. They bring up valid arguments, sometimes. Sometimes they say ridiculous things like, "max suq".
  • Reply 9 of 25
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    Some recent one's I'v encountered in the last year:



    1) You cant connect anything to them

    2) They always crash

    3) Only a one button mouse

    4) The Pentium 4 is the best "platform" for audio
  • Reply 10 of 25
    cubedudecubedude Posts: 1,556member
    I have a peecee friend who thinks that multi-service apps like Fire and Proteus are a waste of time, and it is better to just have 4 apps open at the same time, using more RAM, taking up more HDD space, more screen space, and more dock space.
  • Reply 11 of 25
    xmogerxmoger Posts: 242member
    [quote]Originally posted by thuh Freak:

    <strong>



    well, what i was trying to elude to was that many people lump others into groups, and push traits on the group, traits which some times are only possessed by a few. its called stereotypes. while some people may find that the peecee users they have met/encountered have sub-par inteligence, its ridiculous to claim that all peecee users do. i know some very intelligent people who use peecees (fyi: when i write peecee, i mean `non-mac personal/business computer, usually runnign a microsoft OS`, macs ARE personal computers (PCs)). just about every1 i kno who has a comp runs winblows. i'v had discussions on the merits of an Apple computer versus a (any other computer maker name here) computer. They bring up valid arguments, sometimes. Sometimes they say ridiculous things like, "max suq".</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Well said. (nitpick: allude not elude)

    Even if every mac user is on the right side of the bell curve, I'd say more than 5% of the population is at least marginally intelligent. It may not often seem like this because the dolts are pretty vocal.

    [quote]3) Only a one button mouse<hr></blockquote>This one has to be a coallition between apple & the mouse makers.



    [ 06-28-2002: Message edited by: xmoger ]</p>
  • Reply 12 of 25
    The biggest thing PC users don't know about the Mac, even after they switch, is that there is so much shareware and freeware available. Many times a former PC user will complain that there's no way to do something when we've all been using a piece of freeware to do that for years. There's a "collective knowledge" in the Mac community that used to be shared in local SIGs and now lives here on the net.



    The fact that good compilers are free for both OS flavours is major.



    [ 06-27-2002: Message edited by: AllenChristopher ]</p>
  • Reply 13 of 25
    yurin8oryurin8or Posts: 120member
    I have a pc. Why did I get it? Price. Performance. Functionality.



    Sure I miss out on the aestheics, integration and general user experience of the mac, but you cant have everything...right?
  • Reply 14 of 25
    Wow you're easy to please, urinator.
  • Reply 15 of 25
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by CubeDude:

    <strong>I have a peecee friend who thinks that multi-service apps like Fire and Proteus are a waste of time, and it is better to just have 4 apps open at the same time, using more RAM, taking up more HDD space, more screen space, and more dock space.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    He's an idiot, isn't he?
  • Reply 16 of 25
    macaddictmacaddict Posts: 1,055member
    [quote]I know how Apple can increase market share:

    The PowerMac PC:

    Large beige enclosure with plenty of out of alignment fans, so it's real noisy

    Any OS so long as all the alert box and menu text has been run through an internet translator to german and then back to english and it is rigged so that each time you open an application a random number is generated which determines whether or not the computer will crash. (And it should probably be monochrome, so as not to scare anybody away)

    Oh, and a sticker on the outside that says 6.7 million Ghz celium processor inside.

    And I suppose it should probably come with a 36.8 button trackball mouse too.<hr></blockquote>



    I have a better idea. Why don't they make a computer that's cheap, full-featured, and fast? Uh huh...bet you didn't think of that...







    I have to say, the most intelligent discussions (ermm...arguments) I've seen Mac vs. PC are in the Ars Technica battlefront. Nobody gets away with the slightest exaggeration there.
  • Reply 17 of 25
    I get tired of being told we "don''t get it". What don't we get? We don't want to use a Macintosh computer that is:

    1. Too expensive

    2. Too slow

    3. Uses an underdeveloped operating system

    4. Has much less available software than a Windows Machine.

    5. Does not work well on many websites (the fault of the web develpers I know, but still a reality to deal with as an end user)
  • Reply 18 of 25
    brianmacosbrianmacos Posts: 548member
    Speed isn't every thing!!! Apple computers WORK! The whole digital hub just works and the MacOS is far better then Windows. I used Windows far to long and MacOS is better. I could personally careless how fast a computer is.. what really matters is if the job gets done at the end of the day with few problems if any, and Apple does it. May be about 5 years ago you can get all excited about the new processors speeds but it is only cool for so long, Granted it helps but you don't need a 2+ghz machine to do any thing. I know many people that just brag oh I got this, this and this but the fact is what can you do with it, they probably can't do as much as I can, but than again they probably don't know as much as me either so if you have the latest and greatest use it don't brag about it. Any one can have a fast machine but they better learn how to use it, before they start running off numbers.
  • Reply 19 of 25
    [quote]Originally posted by Dell_Iron:

    <strong>I get tired of being told we "don''t get it". What don't we get? We don't want to use a Macintosh computer that is:

    1. Too expensive

    2. Too slow

    3. Uses an underdeveloped operating system

    4. Has much less available software than a Windows Machine.

    5. Does not work well on many websites (the fault of the web develpers I know, but still a reality to deal with as an end user)</strong><hr></blockquote>



    1: Up front, yes, but in the long run, no. PC users must purchase extra software to do the same thing that a Mac comes with, doesn't need to do, or is cheaper for Macs. Examples: Virus eradicators, Windows upgrades (for feature parity, WinXP Pro is needed, which costs double to 3 times what Mac OS X costs), multimedia software, etc. Also, PC users must pay more for tech support and repair bills. Studies back up these facts.



    2: What figures are you using to say that a Mac is 'slow'? My iBook 500MHz is plenty fast!



    3: Would you please define 'Underdeveloped'?



    4: Please name one thing that a home user would want to do that you can't do on a Mac.



    5: Use Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.2. What doesn't it do that you want it to do?
  • Reply 20 of 25
    Underdevelped means not finished. Lack of support for third party devices. Lack of drivers.
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