Is Apple a Cult?

[krashkart]

An interesting little article from Al Jazeera:

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/04/201041175648184415.html

In other news, Steve Jobs has founded his own nation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXnXs6Tay0

And be sure to watch your favorite TV shows and movies for product placements of Apple's latest ingenious device:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hYAyg3R3FU&feature=fvw

Here's an oldie but goodie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mCCYLC-4xA&feature=related

:D

[XabbaRus]

Yes yes and yes.

A cult like scientology I do believe....

You see to reach the next generation you have to pay more.....

[tater]

So you're saying that liking macs is a religion, and it's OK to make fun of them for that reason. Gotcha.

Hater. ;)

I own a PC for games, but our laptops and one desktop machine are macs. Wife has an iPhone—which is cool, but I prefer a good signal everyplace vs bells and whistles, myself.

Best things about the macs? They are completely, totally quiet. if the CD/DVD is spun up they make drive noise, that's it. No fan, nothing. Second best is an uptime literally measured in years, they only ever get rebooted for system updates that require it. They are appliances, and they work (and as a UNIX guy, I like having a unix box <shrug>).

I always have a built-myself gaming rig, too. I feel like a shade tree mechanic though, keeping it running (and even though I tried to build a quiet one (PS, fans, and box specifically picked for low noise), it sounds like a hair dryer sometimes). To be fair, if I were using my PC for the day to day stuff we use the macs for, it would be pretty bulletproof with XP Pro (SP3), too. It's the gaming crap that makes my PC a PITA. One exception is some Java stuff that is work-related (x-ray viewer) that only runs on IE on a PC, and breaks if you mess with Java, or have IE set to be even slightly safe to use. Not the PC's fault, but the idiots who wrote the radiology applet. Still, keeping it working is also a PITA for that.

PS—is caring at all about someone else's choice of technological hardware a cult? I certainly don't care about someone else's choices unless they affect ME.

PPS—on topic, yes, for many it is a cult. I know "religious" mac nuts, and I know PC people who "religiously" attack macs, too. Liking the iPad, for example. I just don't get it, and Apple calling it "magical" is, well, kooky :)

[XabbaRus]

I'm not a hater, just being sarcastic.

I just get vague amusement at teh mac lovers who gush over it.

They look cool as does the iPhone but I don't get it.

[nikimcbee]

I'll say yes.

No software selection and overpriced hardware.

[Task Force]

I never got macs... have one, dont really use it.

[stabiz]

Is Apple a Cult?

Yes. Either that or there is something in the water.

[tater]

Software selection?

If you mean games, then yeah, that's why I always have a PC, and have for years.

But what do you use a computer for most of the time? My mac is in the den, and what I like is that it fits the small built-in desk, makes zero noise, and takes zero attention of mine to keep running. What does it get used for? Surfing the web, organizing pictures and home video, email, the occasional video chat so the kids can talk to grandpa. It does all of the above perfectly well. So if you need a machine for that functionality (or other stuff like presentations, etc), it's a fine choice, particularly given the small footprint in both size and noise. Again, it's an appliance, nothing more.

As I said above, I bet using the same trivial apps, my PC would be just as easy and stable as my macs—except for having to worry about viruses, etc, I suppose (AVG seems to do a good job though). In effect it's the wide variety of software (read: "games") that makes the PC unstable, and a PITA. I've never even thought about video drivers on my macs, for example. Not once—why would I, I don't push them, lol. On my PC though, it's a constant battle to try this driver, works with Il-2, breaks SH4, yada, yada, yada. A major PITA, and all because I have too many games :D

But, the mac bashers will still bash, and the mac loons will similarly ignore me when I say that their macs are only more stable because they don;t beat them up with more games (since there aren't any ;) )

[UnderseaLcpl]

I'm no computer guru, but I love my iMac. It's fast, efficient, easy to use, sleek and sexy-looking, and most importantly; very stable. If it were a woman.... well, I guess I can't imagine a stable woman so forget the comparison:DL
In any case, I've been running the same copy of Windows Vista on three different computers since 2007 and this is the only one that hasn't had a critical motherboard fault. Best of all, when Windows inevitably screws up catastrophically and won't even start, I can restore everything from the Mac partition on my hard drive.

I'm also partial to the customer service that Mac provides. If I drive down to the local Mac store at the proper time, they'll give me free classes on all kinds of applications and utilities. Last time I had a problem with my Mac (physical hard drive crash courtesy of the USPS), they repaired it for free even though the warranty was expired.

By contrast, Microsoft flatly refused to repair or replace my Xbox 360 on several occassions when that piece of junk failed to work properly and their worthless Hitachi drive burned rings in my game discs unless I paid them $150. I ultimately ended up pulling the last one apart and fixing the stupid miscalibrated (and un...recali...brate...able..., is that a word?:doh:) laser aperture myself with duct tape and a piece of foam. I still have 3 copies of Halo 3 that are unreadable because that *%&^$(*&^% laser burned the hell out of the innermost data rings.

My Mac does everything a PC can do, with the notable exception of alowing me to tinker with it. That is my only complaint about this machine. For $1200 I got a first-rate (at the time) gaming platform that has served me well for three years and never failed me even once. It runs lousy Vista like a dream, and it never crashes. Did I mention that it looks really cool, too? And it comes with a webcam, and a microphone, and like, 12 USB ports. I have no use for most of them them, but it's nice to have 'em. Also, it looks really cool.

If Mac is a cult, give me a ticket to Guyana and a glass of Kool-Aid. :D

[TLAM Strike]

By contrast, Microsoft... You know the only thing you really need from Microsoft for a PC is its OS. And you don't even really need that anymore. :)

[UnderseaLcpl]

You know the only thing you really need from Microsoft for a PC is its OS. And you don't even really need that anymore. :)

Preaching to the converted, my friend. The way Mac has adapted to the Windows GUI is fairly obvious to me, and I love it!

[Bubblehead1980]

no apple is a successful company with loyal customers

[Torvald Von Mansee]

It does seem like a certain person uses a Mac. You know the kind: they draw fists to their faces like black holes grabbing comets. The desire to punch them is overpowering.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

no apple is a successful company with loyal customers

Heh....sort of like Scientology?

[PeriscopeDepth]

I'll say yes.

No software selection and overpriced hardware.

I have been using one the past couple months for work. The hardware/software integration impresses me. The only software that is missing is games, but computers do have purposes beyond gaming. The machines themselves are more expensive but the overall design, support, and OS/included software quality has won me over. I don't think I'll purchase a PC box again unless it is primarily a gaming/media center. And the media center justification is purely for onboard HDMI.

PD

[HunterICX]

Apple = Overpriced must-haves junk.

HunterICX

[d@rk51d3]

Cult ............ or a scam???? :hmmm:



JK.:O:

[krashkart]

I wish I still had my old MacBook 5300c. That was a handy little machine. :)

[tater]

It does seem like a certain person uses a Mac. You know the kind: they draw fists to their faces like black holes grabbing comets. The desire to punch them is overpowering.

Why do I always see posts like this from PC guys who hate macs tot he point of fantasizing violence? You really care that much about what someone else choses to buy as a computer? Really? It's running the exact same hardware. My game rig PC has the same CPU as my mac, LOL.

Yeah, my mac is "over priced." That's why you hate ME, presumably? Because I don't think twice about dropping $1500+ on a machine used for nothing but internet and organizing family pictures because it takes up almost no space, makes ZERO noise, and looks good in the den visible from the living room?

I sort of laugh at guys with lit up PCs, for example, but I certainly don't want to punch them for their choice of (bad) aesthetics in a computer.

I participate in mac/pc threads sometimes because I have both, and I'm not "religious" about it. Seems like the dogmatically anti-mac goons are equally religious.

So we've determined here that some can see the point in both platforms, some don't care one way or another, some want to give Steve Jobs a BJ, and some want to punch Steve Jobs—then give Bill Gates a BJ.

:rotfl2:


Gotcha.

[Terrax]

I'll say yes. Back in 93 - 95, I did contract work at Union Carbide (now DOW) taking care of their computers. They were 75% PC, 25% Macs. I was shocked at how arrogant they were just because they used Macs. They genuinely thought they were smarter, more productive employees, and NEVER missed an opportunity to tell you how much better a Mac was to a PC. I had to listen to it all day. Comments like "When will you PC people stop working with toys and get a Mac, you'll finally get some real work done?" or "It must be hard to get out of bed every day knowing you have to work with a PC?" And as I said, they weren't joking, they were dead serious.

When Carbide started rolling out Windows 95, the Mac people rolled their eyes, and make a huge deal about how Microsoft released a very poor copy of Mac's operating system. I left the job at that point, but heard later that it was decided to standardize the computers and all the Macs were going to be replaced with PC's. My former co-worker said it was an open revolt. Shouting matches, threats of resignation, and even protests with signs in front of the IT building took place. I lost track of what happened after that.

The experience with those 100 odd, (very odd) people has been close to what I've experienced with most Mac people I've met over the years. They all have a superiority complex and love spewing their pro Mac sermon. Last month a construction contractor was in my building, saw all the Dell boxes, and started in with his Mac speech. I told him pretty much what I've said in this post, and he was literally ready to try to "beat my ass" because I downed his Mac. It was ridiculous. I've been anti Mac for years, not because of the computers, but because of the users. The only other time I've seen people get so defensive about something is religion or NASCAR (driving around in a circle for 4 hours, what fun!) So I definitely think it's a cult.

[NeonSamurai]

I am anti mac mainly for their fraudulent pc vs mac adverts (from stretching the truth to out and out lies and fabrications), and other general marketing techniques that convince people they need all the rubbish they put out. The smug self obsessed apple users don't help any either.

Frankly I chalk a lot of it up to good old cognitive dissonance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance) in that the mac users spend so much more on their systems, they feel the need to justify the extra money they payed, to lower the dissonant feelings of having realized they payed more for a name and little else. There product isn't better then other quality components (its not like they manufacture much of it anyways, a lot of it is outsourced), and then of course the huge problem that it is all proprietary and you will pay through the nose for parts.

Plus Apple didn't invent the GUI, they swiped the idea from Xerox PARC, then tried sue MS for doing the same thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_graphical_user_interface

[August]

and he was literally ready to try to "beat my ass"

A contractor really threatened you like that? I hope you reported him to management.

[Terrax]

A contractor really threatened you like that? I hope you reported him to management.

Nah, it wasn't worth it. Like most Mac users, he was all talk. Plus, if there was an investigation, my conduct wasn't exactly professional. I'm normally a very laid back guy, but he was able to get me pretty pissed off over something ridiculous like that. It certainly wasn't worth my job.

[August]

Nah, it wasn't worth it. Like most Mac users, he was all talk. Plus, if there was an investigation, my conduct wasn't exactly professional. I'm normally a very laid back guy, but he was able to get me pretty pissed off over something ridiculous like that. It certainly wasn't worth my job.

I hear ya. At work I tend to pick only the battles that are worth fighting (no pun intended :DL).

[krashkart]

I'll say yes. Back in 93 - 95, I did contract work at Union Carbide (now DOW) taking care of their computers. They were 75% PC, 25% Macs. I was shocked at how arrogant they were just because they used Macs. They genuinely thought they were smarter, more productive employees, and NEVER missed an opportunity to tell you how much better a Mac was to a PC. I had to listen to it all day. Comments like "When will you PC people stop working with toys and get a Mac, you'll finally get some real work done?" or "It must be hard to get out of bed every day knowing you have to work with a PC?" And as I said, they weren't joking, they were dead serious.

When Carbide started rolling out Windows 95, the Mac people rolled their eyes, and make a huge deal about how Microsoft released a very poor copy of Mac's operating system. I left the job at that point, but heard later that it was decided to standardize the computers and all the Macs were going to be replaced with PC's. My former co-worker said it was an open revolt. Shouting matches, threats of resignation, and even protests with signs in front of the IT building took place. I lost track of what happened after that.

The experience with those 100 odd, (very odd) people has been close to what I've experienced with most Mac people I've met over the years. They all have a superiority complex and love spewing their pro Mac sermon. Last month a construction contractor was in my building, saw all the Dell boxes, and started in with his Mac speech. I told him pretty much what I've said in this post, and he was literally ready to try to "beat my ass" because I downed his Mac. It was ridiculous. I've been anti Mac for years, not because of the computers, but because of the users. The only other time I've seen people get so defensive about something is religion or NASCAR (driving around in a circle for 4 hours, what fun!) So I definitely think it's a cult.

Odd. '95 was about the time I bought my MacBook. Oh, let me tell ya what an awesome machine that was! j/k :D

I had a period there where I fawned over my MacBook and abhorred the PC. I later moved on to an early distribution of Linux and fawned over how much better that was than the Winblow$ systems. Nowadays I'm back to a standard Windows PC and have enjoyed building my own rig. I've been running XP since it came out and found it stable enough to do what I need it to do. Mac was a passing fad for me, and Linux was more of a hobby. iPhone, iPod, and now iPad... I don't really need or want any of them - same with Amazon's Kindle (it's... not.... paper! Sorry, it just popped in there. :DL).

Interesting that contractor wanting to beat you up just to defend a stupid computer. Maybe Apple should include regular therapy and massage sessions with their devices. :rotfl2:

[August]

Interesting that contractor wanting to beat you up just to defend a stupid computer. Maybe Apple should include regular therapy and massage sessions with their devices. :rotfl2:

:DL LoL. "A free anger management class with the purchase of every Mac!"

[XabbaRus]

I just wish Steve Jobs would realise the faded jeans and blue sweatshirt look just isn't hip any more and doesn't make you 'down with the kids' when releasing a new toy...

[Wolfehunter]

I don't know never cared for apple stuff.

I've worked on some mac's in the past but never like it. :hmmm: There ipod is bad news. I've seen to many clients trash there ipods because of aggressive copy protections and them breaking..:nope:

I only use pc and I hate consoles. So my life with pc's is a love and hate relationship.. similar to my relationship with my wife.. :D :O:

[Morpheus]

Yes yes and yes.

A cult like scientology I do believe....

You see to reach the next generation you have to pay more.....
xD, yes m8. Give them hell! :haha:

I don't like those pricks either, for various reasons...

[Platapus]

I have two computers in my office. One is a PC for my gaming and the other is a mac for my "serious" work (school work, conducting research, paying bills, surfing for porn).

I used to be a PC guy all the way, but about 4 years ago I switched to the Mini Mac and love it!. No more rebooting every few days, hardly ever, in four years, locked up (it did twice). Very happy with it.

[Buddahaid]

Apple = Overpriced must-haves junk.

HunterICX

A joke I saw has Steve Jobs explaining that the new i-pad makes it a lot easier to do things you never had to do before. :haha:

Mac is great for music recording! :up: