Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: I do my part to help the Mac

Author:Jeff A. Campbell
Posted:5/3/1999; 1:38:10 PM
Topic:Linux' wide open spaces
Msg #:5573 (In response to 5558)
Prev/Next:5572 / 5574

>I used to feel that way too. But once Frontier was ported to Windows I >made the transition in a couple of weeks. Windows seemed slightly >strange for probably four or five months, but the strangeness felt

I guess it happens differently for different people. In my previous job (as a Mac support technician), I was required to use a WinNT Workstation box for the better part of a year and a half, daily. I did all of my logging and billing on there, as that is what management (surprise surprise) had chosen. Everything I did, I felt as if the OS was fighting against me. It made every little thing I did a chore - something that I had to fight through to accomplish. I don't consider myself a dull person, but Windows (in my opinion) feels like an OS designed by committee... And it shows. The UI is inconsistent, sluggish, and seems driven by marketing more than anything.

Not to mention the OS vendor seems to want to put everyone out of business.

>I guess I had to get fed up with all the BS in the world around the >Mac (the loser thing).

Well, I personally try not to characterize an OS by its users - I know a lot of artistic, creative Windows users. I also know somewhat dull Mac users. :>

I realize that in the Mac community there is a sort of 'loser complex', the feeling that would normally be attributed to an oppressed people. Now that Apple has been doing the Right Thing (at least, in a business sense - their stock just hit its 52 week high), this is beginning to disipate.

Remember, even during the Mac's heyday it was always a 'loser' platform in the sense that it never achieved complete success, market-wise. It's a bit depressing when, as a 'dedicated' Mac user, you view what you can only perceive to be the only OS designed by the only ones who 'got it right' being blundered by incompetence in the highest levels of Apple. In the end, mediocracy won out over (in my opinion) a sure-win. This is always disheartening to see...

I don't think I'd be the only one who would say that they didn't feel any sort of allegience to Apple, at least not in the traditional sense. I feel that if something hurts Apple, it could hurt the Mac (which I DO have an allegience to, I suppose). I personally viewed cloning as a way for Apple to break out of its shell, and was a bit upset to say the least when Apple killed that off. I was steamed at Jobs for having done the deed, but a year and a half later I realize it's hard to second guess someone who brought the company full circle and brought the near-corpse back to life.

In the long run, Apple needs to bring cloning back. But a healthy Apple is a healthy MacOS. Hopefully soon once the environment is a little more stable, it'll be time to give it another go.

>But I got even more stubborn, and remained a Mac user even when it >hurt to be one.

Many of us did. I did too (albeit on a Power Computing box). When Apple was having its pitfalls, there was an increased focus in the Mac community on 'alternative' operating systems. The BeOS had just been released and was making a lot of waves. I was there. Linux was starting to move onto the PowerPC platform. I was there too. I've gained a bit of knowledge of other operating systems and learned a thing or two that Apple could do better. And yet, none of them fit the way I work like the MacOS does. In the end, my primary platform remains the Mac (this became a bit less distressing once I realized that no, Apple would not pull the carpet out from under me).

>BTW, I'm not claiming that there are any universal truths here, we all >have our threshhold of pain, some people even like fighting the >"impossible" fight.

The Mac using population has had some issues to deal with given Apple's recent success. We're no longer 'losing' by any stretch of the imagination. Apple has been continuously "going out of business" since the Mac was introduced, so it's easy to get defensive. I guess this is a defining characteristic of Mac users. :>

But - it doesn't have to be. Apple's path no longer threatens our platform of choice. We're no longer forced to deal with the prospect of being forced to switch to Windows out of sheer desperation. It's a happy time, and a great time to be a Mac user. Sure, we still need to get rid of the victim motif, but that's no reason to ditch the platform - it is responsible for so many good things as well...

...

Anyhow, that's my take on things. At the very least, this has grown into an interesting thread. :>



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