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Apple Awareness

A

agreenster

macrumors 68000
Original poster
-Here's a fine example of what Apple is up against-

I called 'BatteriesPlus' yesterday to try and find an adapter for my Ti Powerbook so I could charge it through the cigarette ligher in my car. I know they are being sold in catalogs, but I wanted to see if BP had them in stock.

I called, explained my situation to the clerk, and he said, "Wait, why would you want to hook up your desktop into your car?" I said, "No, not my desktop, my Laptop." He said, "Oh, no sir, you are mistaken. Apple does not make a Laptop. They havent for years." I said, "Well, then this brand new Apple laptop sitting next to me is a figment of my imagination then?"

To make a long story short, he finally checked his computer, and concluded that Apple stopped making laptops in the first early models of the G3. I finally got my ass in my car, drove over there, and just to prove a point, whipped out my Titanium and demo'ed it for him. He was shocked. What I cant figure out is, does this guy ever watch NBC in the evenings? Ive seen that iPod commercial at least 50 times, which also showcases the iBook.

Point is, people DO NOT know. I dont care that this was ONE person. Id be willing to bet good money that there are just hordes of people who just do not know what Apple computer is all about. I think if they did, they would be more willing to switch to the much more classy, user friendly, just as powerful, fun computer system.

 
Ignorance

Sadly most people never get beyond the "Make it go" stage with technology. A frightening number of people assume that the Internet is a coherent, intelligently designed, Satellite-based affair with even distribution.

The reason most people don't go for Macs is the same reason most Americans don't know that Federal Income tax is voluntary outside of Federal territories such as DC: They've gotten acclimatized to getting boned. There is re-enforcement to the Wintel addiction in that if you tell someone they're being screwed most will (out of fear/guilt/embarrasment/etc.) react with hostility. It's the same as abused children holding the abusive parent in higher esteem than the non-abusive.

There is also a self-imposed "ignorance factor" in which folks assume they can't possibly keep up with specialized knowledge or that somehow it takes a certain talent to use high technology. MS and most other Tech companies are more than happy to back this myth and merrily charge $60.00 (USD)-$200.00(USD) per hour for basic maintenance and troubleshooting for products that are literally designed NOT to be user friendly!!!

RANT TIME!!

The real Crime in Redmond Wa. is not antitrust but out and out protectionist racketeering. MS and it's colaborators have the entire Wintel empire believing that if they don't have a MS certified Tech wave his hands over the machine twice a month at an exhorbinant fee, their digital legs will be broken by e-thugs built right in to the Software!!!

The very ease of use is what keeps most Wintel users from switching. They assume that power and versatility have to come with a testicle-twistingly bad design. They assume that no Computer could possibly be both user friendly AND capable. If there was some way to easily demonstrate the basic themes and ideas at the core of computing to the masses and (ala James Burke) show the timeline of computing's evolution, ther'd be no contest.

The problem remains. Most people don't know how to make Fire without matches/lighters, let alone how a computer works. Most of those people don't WANT to know because then they'd feel foolish. The public is not only ignorant, but aware of their ignorance and ashamed. Wintel is kinda like Nazis: Folks go along with it because they're afraid. If you tell them they're wrong they'll shun you or turn you in. When people know they're supporting oppression the LAST thing they want to hear are the facts.

The public is behind the Data curve in so many ways, to point out one instance makes them peripherally aware of ALL the ways they've allowed themselves to be intellectually and functionally subjegated. This is why people become vegans when they see films of Abbattiores: The horror of their own powerlessness in their FOOD SUPPLY is enough to drive them a little nuts. When you tell modern Americans that HMO's for example are owned either by Tobacco companies or Pharmaceutical companies it reminds them that they've been screwed by one robber baron or another for their entire history.

Theres also the unhealthy phylosophy in the US that Good thing happen to Good people, I.E. if I'm rich I must be somehow superior. Which, conversely means that if I'm getting screwed I must be fundamentally flawed.

We must find a way to elevate the people in our lives above the mental state of oppressed peasants and raise awareness. People NEED to know how to make fire with a spinning stick, or reformat their drive successfully or even the basic skill of Questioning Authority!!!

END RANT.
 
Yikes

That got one helluva response.

Many good points there, but none better than people dont want to be told they are ignorant, and if they are, they will either be angry at you, or turn you in. It is human nature.

Oh well.

Hey now, whats that income tax thing all about?
 
Income Tax

In 1930 the US government wrote the Uniform Tax Code, which is just that: a code. They wrote up a lexicon of terms to be used in federal tax law that was deliberately confusing. Pre-Tax Code the law was easy to read: only those with federal jobs or living in federal territory paid federal tax. The Tax code changed the literal wording of key terms like "All US Federal Territories" to read "All US States", meaning that the word "States" was to be used to represent the Federal territories. When senators talk about re-vamping the Tax Code they're not talking about changing the law, only the translation. Most IRS employees are not aware of this and training never adresses it. The idea was to confuse the system and the public into paying money into the Fed, which was broke as of the Stock Market crash the previous Year. It was neccesary to suck money into the Fed because the Federal reserve was depleated while trying to make good on money that was no longer in banks to be withdrawn by the depositors, having been used by the Banks to invest in doomed stocks. The Federal Reserve was then revitalized by private investment loans from a few Rich Bastards. This is the basis of the Federal Deficit. The Federal Deficit is the accumulated interest on Debts that are nearly a century old. The Federal Tax Code was instituted to make it even marginally possible to pay it back.
 
Back to Ignorance.

You could do it with a compitant attourney. The action is called Sovreign Citizenship. But yes, telling the IRS they're Ignorant is stupid at best......BTW : IRS Audits, The Draft and car searches are all technically voluntary but it takes research and brass Nuts to pull off avoiding any of them if they're brought to bear on you.
 
If what you are saying is true, then the vast majority of what the United States has considered normal for the last 100 years is against the law.

So what you are saying is either untrue, or something that is true, but will probably never be changed because no one wants to (or can) re-write 'the books' because we have been at it so wrongly for so long.
 
re: taxes

in 1999, there were over 80,000 pages of federal tax law as it related to the us and california

accounting is not a science as a branch of business, it is an art and thus very subjective and interpretive

the america our founding fathers invented is different than the america of today and much of the constitution was written with england specifically in mind with its monarchy

only land owners in the us were initially allowed to vote and not all states ratified what we call law right off the bat and there were many dissentions and disagreements

the ignorance i see everyday as a tech suprises me and apple is kind of a mystery to most people much the way linux is but at least linux has the advantage of being free and being able to run on intel and amd machines and now linux is more user friendly than ever

apple has had an uphill battle since they didn't let themselves be the hardware to be cloned early on and the software to run every pc machine

don't hold your breath, apple will never capture a bigger market share than wintel and like many mac people i know feel, maybe they don't want apple to be as big as microsoft anyway
 
After being on this discussion board and hearing everyone's thoughts over the last few weeks, Im beginning to agree that Apple users are happy with being 'the select few.' On the other hand, 5% marketshare isnt the right number. Maybe 15-20 would help keep cost down, and keep software development up.
 
Ha ha

Yeah. Maybe Apple needs some of that. I was just so floored that this guy didnt know that Apple made Laptops that I just had to show him one.

Yep thats me, the local Apple crusader.

Ha ha



 
If the government was smart, all of windoze in the U.S. should be banned! & Mac OS would become the (or one of) the dominant platforms. The french & english governments are smart at least, they banned any windows os's in their governments!

I think apple should buy Real, Palm (& get BeOS with the package) & Aol/Timewarner should let apple construct netscape for them!

 
No

Thats silly. Why do that? Apple is an elite computer company who prides themselves on being seperate from the typical Windows user. If everything went Apple, where would the uniqueness be? And what good would it do the government, who do nothing but push boring paperwork all day, to get Apple? Just a bunch of extra time to reset a system thats already in place, which will do nothing but cost us more money in taxes anyway. Let boring people use boring computers.

Let them do all the grunt work (which they do a great job at, server maintenence, etc) and let us have fun with our digital hubs, by making movies, listening to music, playing games, and the like.

 
bingo

An all encompassing shift to one platform is neither adressing the real problem nor adressing the need for diversity and specialization in OS design and architecture.

The issue of Ignorance of broadly publicized issues among folks who should know better is the core problem. The question we should be asking ourselves is: How deep does voluntary ignorance run?

The frightening answer seems to be that those who are not actively seeking new ideas are mentally stagnant, only learning what is mandatory and simply Parroting most of that.

Yes, all of the above is true and there is more. Think about it. How can Nine judges hope to keep up with 600 or so "representatives" who operate with no functional restrictions on who can buy their favor? This is completely ignoring the issue of a corrupt court that literally made a king last year against the Constitution AND the raw numbers of the popular vote.

-"Help, I'm being repressed!"-Eric Idol, Monty Python
 
you can say that again

ok, i am biased since i voted for al gore but since september 11, i am glad that al was not the one who has to flush out bin laden who would be in any number of countries where he can change his appearance and disappear

the comment of letting windows be the machine for boring people is funny...windows is boring and is perfect for the dry business types

i kind of regret having started out as a network engineer eventually enroute to being a full fledged network administrator with my own networks to run but all i am is really someone who puts out fires and does not create anything worthwhile

besides our relationship with others and our higher power, creating something is up there on the list and it isn't very glamorous being a network and computer fix-it man, but in a boring world where the boring jobs pay more money, some of us are strapped with rent/mortgage and i would really rather make the same amount of money being a painter or sculpter but i guess it isn't in my cards...the next best thing would be being a computer artist, even if i only made a grand a month it would still be better than working for four times that behind servers 80 hours a week mostly in the twilight hours where one of my client's companies has these poor network guys come into work around four to six pm only to work until seven or eight the next morning...now that's silicon valley
 
(shrug)

Have youever asked yourself why you couldn't do something closer to who you are? If Fear is your answer than you're honestly oppressed. Damn near any other answer is fooling yourself. I've recently come to the conclusion that I am the only one who can change my destiny. I will NOT be a draftsman for the rest of my life. I'm gonna start a company, spend 10 to 15 years making it thrive, and retire at 40. **** this powerlessness bullsh-t, I aint gonna be a peasant no mo.

( insert severe beating by jackbooted economists)

Oh, wait, never mind. I want to maintain my standard of living. I think I'll run right out and go into debt buying the biggest SUV's and tasteless "mediteranean" homes I can find. Perhaps I can sell my Organs to afford the copays on Health insurance for my Wife and Kids. I'll just take these little pills the nice jackbooted thugs gave me, keep my head down and pretend everything is just peachy. After all Ignorance is bliss. Anything else would be letting the Terrorists win.........
 
I know it's a pity how the Macintosh platform is disregarded primarily from ignorance. People are scared of things they just do not understand. And since the Microsoft Nazis of computers have embedded Windoze into their heads, this makes it even worse.

There is no excuse for retailers to shun Apple's products or to make it of less importance. Even though Comp USA has made a big stride with updating it's Macintosh dept. in it's stores, it still doesn't seem to be much of an effort on their part. The Comp USA here in New Orleans has a nice and big Apple section, but anytime I've had to go there (which isn't very often), there isn't a saleperson in site to help me out. And there are people all over the display computers playing around, u would think that Comp would want to try and sell a computer!

On the other hand, I agree with agreenster with Apple being different from all other computer companies. This has both it's good and bad points I feel. But it is nice to know we aren't the ones being blinded by Bill Gates and his dreams of world domination!
 
re:world domination

bill gates already has world domination in a way no human ever has and in this day and age you don't achieve world domination with swords and chariots

we already know he has the IT field sewed up...unfortunately

he has been the world's richest man for mearly a decade and that carries with it a special power and awe

and the us government, the largest in the world, cannot effectively fight him since the government is essentially made up of middle class and upper middle class people who could be blackmailed or bribed one by one (even senator kennedy and his vast fortune is vulnerable compared to gates)

could you picture yourself some congressperson from small town, usa trying to go after a man that is worth anywhere from 50 to 90 billion dollars

he may not be the antichrist but if he is, he certainly has the funds with his "evil" empire as some would call it
 
2 words: Standard Oil

Bill will get it in the end. With China about to liscence XP MS will have a whole new bunch of problems with Pinko Hackers that aint yo garden variety high school cow-tippers. These buggers'll be using every hole, memory loop and bug against the Western world in the first true Data War. You watch. Only freeBSD and Apple will survive intact.

At this point Bill will be worth about five Hatian pennies. Witness the Enron fiasco, or the Excite deathspiral. Once wallstreet loses it's confidence (and it doesn't take much) in you, yer screwed.
 
not in Bill's future

I don't think we're ever going to see the end of Bill Gates and his Windoze empire. He's too involved with the mainstream world of computing, it's not going to come back and bite him on the ass. He will only get stronger, and us Mac-heads will have to be the underdog with the knowledge of what's really going on.
 
Yikes

Sheesh you guys. Great Postings.......but we often forget the truth- (and dont brand me a quack religious nut when I say this, but..)

He's still just a man, and he will still die. When he does, his family will miss him for the person he was, and he wont take his fortune with him.

So will we all.
 
Humor

Naw, Bill gates will have penetraed every e-market by the time he dies. He'll upload himself into all those "holes" in MS software and become the Ghost in the PC. He'll take over world commerce and only the Wozbot army will stand against him.

[Edited by mischief on 12-20-2001 at 01:50 PM]
 
Thats why I love the power-down button.

Bllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..............pop

 
Hey Hatfield

Dont know if you are reading this string, but what does the Woz do now? Does he just teach, oris he still on the Apple staff?
 
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