you know what I'm tired of?? People that bought a mac 7 minutes ago suddenly carrying the mac banner high and proud and putting others down.
We had a similar flame war started here at my school by someone who had just made the switch and I'll say here what I sent out in my response to everyone then. Pardon the length:
"Mac users are like smokers, except Macs won't kill you (well, except for those exploding powerbook batteries, but that's neither here nor there). Cigarette smokers feel a group affinity with each other partially b/c they share the same vice, but mostly b/c smokers are persecuted by society at large. Yes persecuted. Next time you see a group of people standing outside in the snow outside the reading room braving hypothermia to enjoy a smokey treat, think persecuted. Similarly, for a long time the mac faithful were persecuted, especially during the dark years of the late 90s. Every mac user has been told "Macs suck" yada yada yada. Of course this was in the era before OS X and shiny white iMacs, when there were like 6 of us and it really was a commitment to stick to the Mac.
That persecution led to a strong group association and a desire to protect that self association. Mac users were singled out by PC users as deviants and oddballs. Many PC users bashed Macs and had never even used one. Being a Mac user became who you are. That Mac became part of your self identification the same way that a sports team or your hometown does. An insult to the Mac was an insult to you, the same way that if anyone says anything bad about Baltimore I kick them in the shins and steal their wallet/purse.
Now, purely objectively, as someone who has used Windows, OS X, and Linux, OS X is the best combination of stability, power and user friendliness. And Macs are now pretty. In fact, Macs are now hip. They have become "cool," in no small part helped by the cult of the iPod.
So, the old vanguard are now singing their own praises and those of the Mac? No. I think most of us, being somewhat nerdly folk, are saddened that every other person in the world learned our nerdly little secret. I'm willing to bet that the most nerdly Mac uses switched to Linux just to stay on the fringes, but those people are weird, like people that refuse to admit that some Backstreet Boys songs are catchy and have a good beat. You know you like it, but you have to be above that popular nonsense.
The problem is people who signed up in the post iMac era, became socialized to the persecution complex felt in the Mac community, and felt they could now speak for all of us and be pains in the butt. Now, I'll admit I'm a mac advocate to others, but only when it's appropriate. I think most average users would be happy with a Mac.
So, I guess I have two points: First, don't condemn us all because of a few Mac evangelists, we're not all nuts, and second, if you've never used a Mac OS where you watched the extensions load on boot up (and you know you didn't if you don't know what I'm talking about), then shut up. If you never owned a beige mac, then shut up. If you never bought a mac you couldn't buy online at the same time, shut up. If you never owned a mac that didn't begin with "i" then shut up.
You're making life hard for the rest of us. Shut up."
