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nayr x · 03:53 AM

And now, an apple-flavored rant for my fellow macintosh lovers:
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I have been using apples since their inception.
I have had half a dozen macs.
I have pushed the greatness of apple down the throats of anyone who asked a question or prompted an argument.

For most of my young life, macintosh was more than just a computer, it was an indispensable part of who I was. It helped my creative nature bear fruit, and opened up the doors that have lead me to where I am now. For these reason, my macs have been more than simple tools, they have been friends.

So, naturally, I felt an investment in the future of Apple.
I followed the rumors. I got my daily dose of "apple flavored drama," I fought for the underdog and felt a sense of camaraderie with my fellow mac zealots. I loved apple.

This year, for reasons I can't fully explain...
...I no longer care.

I liken the feeling to that which one might experienced when their favorite inde band is suddenly a staple of "TRL." Or when the style you've been wearing for years is suddenly a fad. Or when a long time friend ditches you at a party you both worked to organize.

I can't quite put my finger on it.

Afterall, this is what we mac-addicts have all been striving for for years. "Convert the wintel users! Everyone NEEDS an iPod!! A mac in every home! Apple domination!!!"

I know we are still far from a mac in every home... but the battle no longer seems worth fighting. Our adversaries are sitting around our campfires, helping to plan the next assault. The people I argued with bitterly in defense of my beloved mac now want to show off theirs.

I know the mac is possibly greater now than its ever been- despite the sacrilegious switch to intel, perhaps even because of it.

Uninspired name aside, I know that the "MacBook Pro" is everything the PowerBook needed to become. I know that bootcamp, which will allow the masses to boot and use the unspeakable Windows XP as their primary OS on a beautifully designed macintosh will likely sell more macs than ever.

But I don't care anymore.
I will continue using macs. I will listen to my iPod, I will download from the music store. But it is no longer the fling it once was. My favorite band has sold out. The music has died.

With the loss of my firewire iPod, my 'G' prefix and with the airwaves of appleturns broadcasting only static, so is my interest lost.

So,
Fair the well, PowerMac!
The "Mac Pro" which replaces you will have a place on my desktop,

...but never a place in my heart.

Do any of you longtime macintosh users share this feeling? Or am I the only one?

Ω · Apr 18, 2006, 03:23 AM

Meh.

nayr x · Apr 18, 2006, 03:31 AM

I am jack's complete lack of surprise.

Tomchu · Apr 18, 2006, 03:33 AM

Your first mistake was treating a company like a religion, and emotionally attaching yourself to it.

Your second was posting this thread.

macaddict0001 · Apr 18, 2006, 03:41 AM

Not me.

Ratm · Apr 18, 2006, 03:43 AM

I feel your pain....

Chuckit · Apr 18, 2006, 03:46 AM

I care about the Mac just as much as ever for the same reason as ever: It's better than anything else out there. I don't feel any deep, abiding affection for Apple, but they make a good kind of stuff.

nayr x · Apr 18, 2006, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by Tomchu

Your first mistake was treating a company like a religion, and emotionally attaching yourself to it.

Don't worry, I'm not loosing any sleep over it.

...Oh wait, what time is it? Sh*t!... maybe I am!... Uh... *ahem*:

Other than tonight, it's not something I regularly loose sleep over. I just thought I might find a few of you who've lost interest as I have.

( *whew* saved it...)

Originally Posted by Tomchu

Your second was posting this thread.

Meh.
I've never been popular on this board anyway.

'night!

analogika · Apr 18, 2006, 03:52 AM

Originally Posted by nayr x

This year, for reasons I can't fully explain...
...I no longer care.

Welcome to adulthood.

CharlesS · Apr 18, 2006, 04:12 AM

Put me in there with the "I like Apple because they make good stuff" crowd.

IMO, not liking something because it's popular and thus "uncool" is just as shallow as liking something because it's popular and all your friends have it. Just go with whatever seems like the best tool for your needs. For me, that's the Mac.

OB1 · Apr 18, 2006, 04:16 AM

Originally Posted by nayr x

I can't quite put my finger on it.

I can. You're a snob.

- - e r i k - - · Apr 18, 2006, 04:48 AM

Originally Posted by nayr x

I liken the feeling to that which one might experienced when their favorite inde band is suddenly a staple of "TRL." Or when the style you've been wearing for years is suddenly a fad.

Don't worry. You can always get one of these:

Or one of these:

Or my personal favourite (I actually own this shirt):

starman · Apr 18, 2006, 08:06 AM

Who ar you and why do I care?

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Apr 18, 2006, 08:45 AM

Actually, your post merely underscores that you *do* care, and to a disturbingly personal degree.

Get a life!

besson3c · Apr 18, 2006, 09:57 AM

Be part of a more revolutionary shift. Instead of just replacing one company (Apple) with another (Microsoft), be a part of the move to open source software. It can save government/education/business thousands of dollars, and represents an interesting shift in the tech sector where OSS produces more innovation than proprietary software companies.

Apple innovates within the Desktop, but I would say that the innovations coming out of the open source community easily surpass even what Apple has been doing.

Plus, this shift has far more interesting political ramifications and possibilities than simply advocating Apple domination.

RAILhead · Apr 18, 2006, 10:20 AM

Railroader · Apr 18, 2006, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by analogika

Welcome to adulthood.

Spheric H. beat me to it.

Chuckit · Apr 18, 2006, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Be part of a more revolutionary shift. Instead of just replacing one company (Apple) with another (Microsoft), be a part of the move to open source software. It can save government/education/business thousands of dollars, and represents an interesting shift in the tech sector where OSS produces more innovation than proprietary software companies.

If by "innovation," you mean "horrible programs with UIs that make Windows blush," you are absolutely right. After thrice installing Linux on one or another of my computers and thrice finding that it simply wouldn't work right in any easy manner (ah, who needs networking?), I've really come to appreciate what Apple does. I'll take a lesser shift in the right direction over a radical leap into the awful.

ShortcutToMoncton · Apr 18, 2006, 12:18 PM

Oh man, this guy has obviously not heard the new Calexico album yet.

greg

Now Playing: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Sympathetic Noose

besson3c · Apr 18, 2006, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

If by "innovation," you mean "horrible programs with UIs that make Windows blush," you are absolutely right. After thrice installing Linux on one or another of my computers and thrice finding that it simply wouldn't work right in any easy manner (ah, who needs networking?), I've really come to appreciate what Apple does. I'll take a lesser shift in the right direction over a radical leap into the awful.

By innovation, I didn't necessarily mean within the mainstream Desktop GUI space, although there some gems there too: Firefox, OpenOffice is decent, a lot of people use Audacity, Gnucash, VLC, etc. There is quite a long list of innovation outside of mainstream Desktop GUI applications.

Which Linux distribution did you install, just out of curiosity?

Lew · Apr 18, 2006, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

Here you go. Now you have a rat's ass of your very own to give to whomever you like

analogika · Apr 18, 2006, 01:42 PM

That's a depressingly bleak cage.

Naplander · Apr 18, 2006, 01:59 PM

and a very amusing post!

touche

Lew · Apr 18, 2006, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by analogika

That's a depressingly bleak cage.

You can tell from a small portion of it? Amazing!

RAILhead · Apr 18, 2006, 03:15 PM

I think that would a rat's nads.

Lew · Apr 18, 2006, 03:34 PM

Well, it's kind of difficult to photograph a buck without his torpedoes taking up most of the shot.

RAILhead · Apr 18, 2006, 04:02 PM

1. Grab camera and get ready.
2. Grab rat by the tail.
3. Lift rat into air.
4. Take picture of rat's butt.

Salty · Apr 18, 2006, 05:07 PM

I confess this year I feel a bit less special. It seems everyone in dorm is now saying that they're seriously consider a Mac or wish they had one instead. A guy today said that he would have gotten a Mac if it was cheap enough and stuff... and everyone has iPods. I remember when i got to school two years ago I was one of two and then finally 4 Mac users. Last year we converted a good number, and this year the iBook is the most ubiquitous laptop on campus. It's not uncommon for me to sit with a few friends and realize... everyone there is a Mac user. And suddenly... I really don't feel special. I'm tempted to get an Acer and put Ubuntu on it

.

I'm kidding of course... but I miss being special.

Lew · Apr 18, 2006, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

2. Grab rat by the tail.
3. Lift rat into air.

Only if you want to hurt and terrify the rat.

shunt · Apr 18, 2006, 05:32 PM

Great forums these are....run by a really great bunch of people.

I think you know what I mean , what I really mean.

*not to be confused with what I really, really mean...that's something entirely different.*

nayr x · 04:11 AM

I guess that's why the newly burgeoning ubiquity of macs has made me increasingly indifferent. While there are a number of you who consistently write post worth reading (whether in agreement with my views or not), the majority of you would rather discuss rats' asses.

There was once a time when the mere act of using a mac set you apart from the majority of the population, which is teeming with RAEs (rat ass enthusiasts). The explosion of mac popularity by faddish marketing alone does nothing to filter out the RAEs, in fact it relentlessly attracts them.

With the shift of the mac-user majority from creative professionals to RAEs, Apple's priorities shift from delivering competitive professional laptops to delivering Christina Aguliera albums on Rats' Ass Edition™ iPods.
[preemptive edit: Yeah, the MacBook Pro is great, how long did we have to wait for it?]

The fact that many (or all) of you currently debating rat-ass photography are long time mac users only makes obvious the hopelessness of the situation ("what situation?") and reveals the fallacy in my assumption that because you are all mac users, you are the kind of people that might throw a few thought-out paragraphs back at me when I hazard to post a thread. (Revisit second sentence before expressing indignation).

Chuckit · Apr 19, 2006, 04:12 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

By innovation, I didn't necessarily mean within the mainstream Desktop GUI space, although there some gems there too: Firefox, OpenOffice is decent, a lot of people use Audacity, Gnucash, VLC, etc. There is quite a long list of innovation outside of mainstream Desktop GUI applications.

Certainly true, but we mainstream folks aren't going to be the ones who support that.

Originally Posted by besson3c

Which Linux distribution did you install, just out of curiosity?

Ubuntu. People had told me it was the most user-friendly. I probably could fiddle with it into submission…but like I said, I like the Mac because I don't have to do that.