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thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
May 28, 2005
9,148
3,147
Pennsylvania
Haha he puts into words how I feel just about every time I meet a mac user, too!

You may have a beautiful looking Macbook Pro, but I dare you to find a $300 laptop that'll connect with Windows XP as semelessly as my Dell Mini!
 

Darth.Titan

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,905
753
Austin, TX
That was good for a chuckle thank you.

Yes a lot of us Mac users can be annoying twits. I'm of the firm belief that the decision to "go Mac" is personal and cannot be "preached". I have never recommended that anyone switch from Windows if that's what they're used to. However when I'm called in to troubleshoot a Windows machine with issues, I let my Mac portable speak for itself.

People notice when their "computer guy" has something different and then wonder, "I wonder if I should get one of those..." When asked about switching I am careful to lay out the pros AND cons and recommend they do some research and decide for themselves.

Mac proselytizing is counterproductive in my opinion.
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,328
4,716
Georgia
I definitely get what he is talking about and was more than guilty of this behavior. Nowadays I have a preference for OS X but do like Windows 7. So when people ask if they should get a Mac I ask what there use for the computer is and their budget and give my opinion from there.

Though when I come across a Vista user I do tell them about Windows 7 and that it comes out Oct 22. Since June anyone looking to buy a new PC I told them to wait for Windows 7 in October.

For some Mac owners it is definitely like a religion. They say they are new converts, speak of when they converted or that they are trying to convert someone. Typically their families are the first and most frequently gone after.
 

djellison

macrumors 68020
Feb 2, 2007
2,229
4
Pasadena CA
I definitely get what he is talking about and was more than guilty of this behavior. Nowadays I have a preference for OS X but do like Windows 7. So when people ask if they should get a Mac I ask what there use for the computer is and their budget and give my opinion from there.

Holy ****. It's a sensible, non fanboytastic, realistic, both feet on the ground Mac users.

Hi - I'm Doug. The other one.
 

CylonGlitch

macrumors 68030
Jul 7, 2009
2,956
268
Nashville
Man I almost turned my office into the subway when I read these lines.

I know Windows is awful. Everyone knows Windows is awful. Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Yeah, a lot of Mac people are cultish, but I'm running into a lot more of day to day Mac users who are just happy with the way it works.
 

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
Well some people can't afford anything besides McDonalds or can't leave abusive relationship.
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,328
4,716
Georgia
Holy ****. It's a sensible, non fanboytastic, realistic, both feet on the ground Mac users.

Hi - I'm Doug. The other one.

I use to be a zealot. Then I built my first gaming rig using XP. This made me realize I know so much about computers it really doesn't matter whether I use Mac OS or Windows. Both will work a well as possible under my use.

Though for the average computer user whom is confused and flustered by the concept of copying a file to a flash drive. A Mac would definitely be better if it has the software they need (Parallels/Boot Camp is not an option for them as it would be far too confusing) and can afford it. Though they are so confused by computers that a Mac would be too daunting and different.
 

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
I can kind of feel his pain..

I'm a looong-term Mac owner, several-time Apple employee; and yet I don't like Apple, am frustrated at several of their policies and think the Mac guy in the adverts is one of the most annoying characters ever created for an advert.

But I still can't switch to Windows! :)
 

captincroc

macrumors newbie
Sep 27, 2009
17
0
I'm a looong-term Mac owner, several-time Apple employee; and yet I don't like Apple, am frustrated at several of their policies and think the Mac guy in the adverts is one of the most annoying characters ever created for an advert.

But I still can't switch to Windows! :)
I suppose that's just the work of :apple:'s products; Once you use it, you've signed your soul to Steve Jobs and you'll never get it back.

Ever.

On to the topic, I love Charlie Brooker. Anything he writes will ensure hilarity.
 

zephead

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2006
1,574
9
in your pants
It's funny 'cause it's true! :D I especially liked these parts:

Go back to your house. I know, you've got an iHouse. The walls are brushed aluminum. There's a glowing Apple logo on the roof. And you love it there. You absolute MONSTER.

When I clicked on an application it spent a small eternity contemplating the philosophical implications of opening it, begrudgingly complying with my request several months later.

I know Windows is awful. Everyone knows Windows is awful. Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it.
 

NT1440

macrumors G5
May 18, 2008
14,430
20,354
Haha he puts into words how I feel just about every time I meet a mac user, too!

You may have a beautiful looking Macbook Pro, but I dare you to find a $300 laptop that'll connect with Windows XP as semelessly as my Dell Mini!

:confused: "connect with windows xp" ?

I'm not trying to be funny or anything jaded, I really don't know what your saying here.
 

Thomas Veil

macrumors 68030
Feb 14, 2004
2,636
8,862
Much greener pastures
That's a terrific article. I'm gonna save it.

I think the idea of being "trapped in an abusive relationship" is a wonderful metaphor for Windows users. :D

And if I'm a Mac snob, I don't apologize for it. If you can't afford a Mac, then I feel bad for you; but if you can and you choose Windows anyway, then whatever you get is your own damn fault.
 

No1451

macrumors 6502
Oct 20, 2008
474
0
Ottawa, ON
That's a terrific article. I'm gonna save it.

I think the idea of being "trapped in an abusive relationship" is a wonderful metaphor for Windows users. :D

And if I'm a Mac snob, I don't apologize for it. If you can't afford a Mac, then I feel bad for you; but if you can and you choose Windows anyway, then whatever you get is your own damn fault.

Agreed, terribly funny article, though I must say: an OS is only as terrible as you make it. I know NOTHING about OS X, I'm still learning and it at times is just absolutely sluggish, with Safari taking 15+ seconds to open a new tab(I think it hates Top Sites).

As for not being able to afford it, the truly lucky do what I did and own both, for the best of both worlds. I game and tinker on my PC, I run a file server with FreeNAS and I wander out of the house on my Macbook. A place for everything, and everything stays in it's place.
 

craigp

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2007
59
4
Here's my article-in-reply:

Charlie Brooker: I love you. There, I've said it. In a platonic way, obviously (I've got the wife and kids now), but your blend of black humour, narcism, sardonic social commentary and biting wit keeps me lapping up every single torrid word that spills from your frothing mouth.

You are, of course and at best, a sociopath. And now you've directed your laser sights onto a tenet of my world, you've put me in a really weird place. You're wrong and I don't want to admit it, because for me that now cheapens and insignificants all of your previous works. I'll never be able to watch Screen/Gameswipe with such co-consipiratorial fervour again, now in the knowledge that you've taken aim at something I hold dear and, it has to be said, missed quite spectacularly.

You made a pop at the Mac. This isn't your first attempt - I remember you wrote a piece a while back citing similar gripes (the self-serving, whimpering, Mac zealots who worship at the alter of Jobs and revel in the schadenfreude of watching others suffer in the Dante's Inferno-esque torrid abyss of using the Windows operating system). But, I let you have that one.

But now, you've walked into my back yard, dropped your scats and are taking a piss all over my azaleas. You may already have done that to my neighbours, and I've found it very amusing, but doing it on my property and on greenery I've spent many hours tending to, it isn't quite so funny.

So, first off, the Mac's design. You say the better something is designed, the more you dislike it. I happen to be a software user experience designer. I spend my day pouring over (what can seem at times to be) the most miniscule of detailto make the experience of using software I design easier for the user. I love my job, I think it's a noble trade - not in the same league as teachers, doctors or third-world aid workers - but an attempt to make the world we live in slightly more friendly, less frustrating and more seamless.

The design that has gone into Apple's products is the result of hundreds of massively talented people spending many a tortuous day locked in a darkened room with nothing more than a whiteboard, a painfully expensive latte, and a deadline. Making something highly functional yet immediately accessible verges on art. Usability design is the constant raging battle against entropy.

I know, Mr Brooker, you're trying to make a joke. Ha ha… look at me and how contrary I am. The rest of the world thinks simplicity is good, but I want you to go boil your testes if you agree. Well, well done. We've had a bloody hard time of it, here in the software industry over the last ten years, trying to convince people that good design is better than features, price or fashion.

Whether it is funny to poke fun at Mac advocates or not, surely the bitterly painful truth that the king of operating systems is actually wearing no clothes should gnaw at yours and everyone else's injustice glands until they burst. It just isn't right that ****** Windows is allowed to profligate and maintain it's cast-iron manacle around the necks of the world's population. Computers help the world progress. These computers probably run Windows. Windows stops people doing what they really want to be doing more than it should. Therefore, Windows is holding the world's progression back.

As for your claim that I wander the streets at night, an etherial force keeping me six inches off the floor, waiting to catch an unsuspecting bystander trying to install their third security patch that evening, then simply laughing in their face - you're wrong, because you're judging me (and the others like me - I'm not refuting they are out there) as you judge yourself. You'd stand there laughing in disbelief while the stupid fumble with their primitive doohickies. I feel a genuine humanistic urge to help pull these poor frightened souls out of the dark, hateful existence they've found themselves in. Not because I love comparing their plight to my perfect existence, but because I think I can see something they can't or they may not have realised was there. I stopped out-and-out preaching years ago - I realised the inherent apparent sanctimoniousness of it was outweighing any benevolent message I was trying to get across. Now, I only advise when asked. But there will always be a part of me that wants to help people out of their misery. That's because I, very much unlike you, don't find comfort wallowing in the blackness.

Mr Charlie Brooker. I still love you. You need to keep doing what you're doing to put everything in perspective. I'm not going to stop reading your column, watching your programmes, or being far too intimate with the little doll I've made of you, but don't think you're getting away with this kind of cheap jibe again. Next time you're scrabbling for ideas, please think twice about taking aim at my Mac.
 

iBlue

macrumors Core
Mar 17, 2005
19,180
15
London, England
I read that article the other day, found it hilarious.

Your reply makes my eyes glaze over because of the sheer length. I could barely skim the surface before deciding it wasn't worth the read. Brevity is the soul of wit and all that. ;)
 

bruinsrme

macrumors 604
Oct 26, 2008
7,170
3,034
thank you for not posting the original article, whew.
Oh sheet more malware coming my way:rolleyes:
 

kate-willbury

macrumors 6502a
Feb 14, 2009
684
0
didn't even bother to read the article or your ridiculous response. anyone who writes *that* much about windows vs mac nonsense needs to get a life.
 

bartzilla

macrumors 6502a
Aug 11, 2008
540
0
And here's my response:

tl;dr.

Isn't it amazing how people find people like Charlie funny until he tramples on one of their sacred cows then act all, what are the kids saying these days... oh yeah, butthurt.
 

Shivetya

macrumors 68000
Jan 16, 2008
1,669
306
Everyone knows Windows is awful. Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it. OK, OK


Oh, that is so tagline ready...
 
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