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besson3c · Apr 30, 2007, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by APPLEFAN08

I know I asked a simple question Windows or Mac? Then everyone starts making suggestions on how I post. This isn't school I don't proof read. I just type what I say. I'm getting a 17" Next month from Apple.com and customizing it. Can't wait!

If you want to come across as smart and with it, you need to take care of business. If you are justifying this weakness by claiming that you are lazy, is it fair to expect us to not be lazy in our responses to you?

If you don't want to come across as smart, I strongly suggest you take pride in your own intellect and reconsider this decision.

besson3c · 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by vasic

For every one of us that made a comment about grammar, spelling and/or proper English, there are probably ten readers of these posts that think the same, jus don't bother. If I can make an effort, as a foreigner who hadn't started learning English until adulthood, a 17-year old native speaker should make an effort, for his own future's sake.

The better you express yourself in your question, the better answers you'll get. It's that simple. Rambling on, following your train of thought, not bothering to correct, usually makes many people give up (there was one post above that implied that there is even a whole movement advocating exactly that... he lost me mid-way, with so many misspelt words...).

As for your purchase, I'd still recommend getting 20-inch refurb for the same amount of money. A new 17-inch machine will still be a mean Mac, though.

I agree!

It seems like there is a war going on (although "war" is admittedly an over-dramatic label for it) between people who want to sound smart and people who think it doesn't matter and manage to come up with lame justifications for sounding dumb. I believe that email and SMS messaging and similar technology has made it easy and convenient for "functional" communication, and that this stream of conscious writing style and has crept into semi-formal writing mediums. There was a NYTimes article a while back about how some businesses are actually paying for some of their employees to take remedial writing classes... I wish I still had that article bookmarked!

The conflict seems to be between people that care and want to preserve coherent English vs. people who say "it doesn't matter", "give this person a break", "stop being a grammar Nazi", "this isn't school/English class", etc.

It seems like the latter is winning out, and this is quite a pity.

Monde · Apr 30, 2007, 12:45 AM

Dudes-chill on the spelling, grammar and elocution. Nary a post here is without some sort of faux pas in this regard and don't even get me started on style. If online posting language or the quality thereof chafes so, then post a topic on it-should be a good read.

Just the same, good luck to you kid. The iMac you bought should serve you well. As you move forward, to college, don't depend too heavily upon technology to do the legwork you must do yourself. Any computer (Macs included) are simply dumb tools, it will be you providing context and content worth paying attention to.

besson3c · Apr 30, 2007, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by Monde

Dudes-chill on the spelling, grammar and elocution. Nary a post here is without some sort of faux pas in this regard and don't even get me started on style. If online posting language or the quality thereof chafes so, then post a topic on it-should be a good read.

As has been said before, the issue is not with faux pas, but with repeated misuse of particular common faux pas (e.g. they're/their/there, etc.). No one is without flaw, but for those who cannot get these basic grammar rules correct naturally, this is a problem that needs to be addressed, and too many justify this weakness to themselves so that they don't have to confront this issue.

There are threads about bad grammar, in fact one is open right now, but as long as those with this weakness come up with these justifications, they won't read these threads anyway.

My hope is to encourage people to sound smart, because we are all better off this way.

Padapwn · Apr 30, 2007, 02:01 AM

Quite the odd post we've got going here. Started out with a simple question concerning what type of computer he should pick; turned into a spelling and grammar lesson.

Personally, I believe spelling and grammar are key in communication, yet I had no trouble comprehending his posts. What makes it even more ironic is that generally the people correcting APPLEFAN08 were making silly '4th grade' mistakes as well. Honestly, when you're trying to prove a point, it helps if you don't make those same mistakes yourself

Anyway, back to the real topic at hand. Lucky for you to get a iMac. I'm hoping one day I'll eventually have the funds for the 20' iMac. I plan on waiting for the quad-cores to be released and then hopefully find a deal on a dual-core. However, for now I'll still have to rely on my trusty G4 Mini

-Padapwn

centerchannel68 · Apr 30, 2007, 03:20 AM

Originally Posted by bratstarman

Just as you have have apparently received an education and incorrectly written "Jesus christ."

It is spelled "Jesus Christ", and there is no punctuation because it is not a sentence.

So before you criticize please realize we are all less than perfect.

I don't capitalize Jesus on purpose sometimes, because I don't think he was the son of god. If I capitalize him, it shows some belief in him. Same with christianity. I don't capitalize that on purpose either. And thank you for your post, before you had posted I was convinced I was absolutely flawless, and now that I realize I have flaws, it is utterly impossible for me to comment on someone's horrible butchering of the English language. In a similar respect, I am unable to comment on anybody's car because I don't own the coolest car in the world, and I'm unable to talk about politics because I've never been a politician.

shifuimam · Apr 30, 2007, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by centerchannel68

I don't capitalize Jesus on purpose sometimes, because I don't think he was the son of god. If I capitalize him, it shows some belief in him.

Uhh...that does make sense. Jesus is a name. It was his name, as in the one he was given when he was born. Now, if you believe that Jesus didn't even exist, you'd still capitalize his name - that would be like not capitalizing the name Rapunzel because you don't believe that a woman with ten-story-long hair ever existed.

Same thing with God. From what I understand, using "God" with a capital "G" denotes a monotheistic viewpoint of God (even if you don't believe in that religion - e.g. if you were referring to the God of Mormonism or the Jehovah of Jehovah's Witnesses). Using "god" with a little "g" denotes a god of a polytheistic viewpoint, such as that of Hindus or ancient Greece.

I'm just sayin'. You don't have to believe in something to use it as a proper noun, especially when it's a specific name referring to a specific entity - which is what a proper noun is...

besson3c · Apr 30, 2007, 01:33 PM

I think maybe what Rob was thinking was in capitalism the h in "Him" when talking about God or Jesus.

besson3c · Apr 30, 2007, 03:40 PM

Rob: if you had to choose between God or Jesus, who would you prefer?

Just doing a little negotiation here.

j03 · Apr 30, 2007, 03:59 PM

Rofl,

Well not to put down the original post but ummm who comes in a mac forum and asks what to get ?

COME ON THE ANSWER IS.... MAC!!!

APPLEFAN08 · Apr 30, 2007, 04:47 PM

What has this forum become? LOL

::maroma:: · Apr 30, 2007, 05:46 PM

Don't worry, this is like any other thread on MacNN. Starts off innocent enough, then takes a wrong turn down a dark alley and all of the sudden we're gettin beat about the head and neck by 4 homeless dudes and a crazy crackhead. But don't worry, you'll find your answer somewhere between here and there.

(The above statement was in no direct reference to anyone on MacNN, nor anyone affiliated with MacNN.)

shinji · Apr 30, 2007, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

Uhh...that does make sense. Jesus is a name. It was his name, as in the one he was given when he was born.

No, it was never his given name. Christ is simply the English version of the Greek word, christos, which means 'the annointed one.'

Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

hldan · Apr 30, 2007, 07:57 PM

Tooki, if you are reading this please lock this thread! It's gotten out of hand. The OP asked an easy question and yet because of his grammatical errors he's basically been antagonized multiple times and now it's become about religion. Please close this thread!!!

APPLEFAN08 · Apr 30, 2007, 08:10 PM

Yeah I agree close this thread! I made my decision, I'm getting a iMac and its my final decision. I'm getting the 2 GHz one customized on apple in june when I get all my money. So close this thread. I can't wait to get my mac and leave windows!

peeb · Apr 30, 2007, 08:15 PM

an iMac. Just sayin.

larrinski · Apr 30, 2007, 09:50 PM

Go join an English Language Forum if you want to be this picky...

besson3c · Apr 30, 2007, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by larrinski

Go join an English Language Forum if you want to be this picky...

Or, this kid could learn how to sound like an intelligent adult if he wants to talk among other intelligent adults.

Just sayin.

larrinski · May 1, 2007, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Or, this kid could learn how to sound like an intelligent adult if he wants to talk among other intelligent adults.

Just sayin.

He was "talking" just fine. Everyone understood him. This isn't a school test and people don't come to this forum to be graded and mocked. They come here wanting to be part of a discussion on computers.

besson3c · May 1, 2007, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by larrinski

He was "talking" just fine. Everyone understood him. This isn't a school test and people don't come to this forum to be graded and mocked. They come here wanting to be part of a discussion on computers.

And I answered his questions as best as I could in addition to adding my comments about his grammar in a polite manner. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

centerchannel68 · May 1, 2007, 02:27 AM

Originally Posted by larrinski

This isn't a school test and people don't come to this forum to be graded and mocked. They come here wanting to be part of a discussion on computers.

Nor is this a forum for idiots who can't speak English very well. I don't come to this forum to decode poorly written English and attempt to figure out what people were trying to say.

peeb · May 1, 2007, 12:28 PM

I'm sorry - I don't mean to pick on this kid, and everyone makes typos etc every now and again, but I am constantly mildly irked by the total lack of effort that some people put into basic grammar and spelling. To me it conveys a complete lack of respect, by signaling that the poster could not be bothered to put even a modicum of effort into formatting and writing their post.

besson3c · May 1, 2007, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by peeb

I'm sorry - I don't mean to pick on this kid, and everyone makes typos etc every now and again, but I am constantly mildly irked by the total lack of effort that some people put into basic grammar and spelling. To me it conveys a complete lack of respect, by signaling that the poster could not be bothered to put even a modicum of effort into formatting and writing their post.

I'm also mildly irked with people who blow off sentiments like this as if there is no legitimacy to them.

flipflopfloss · May 1, 2007, 03:48 PM

If you are waiting until June you may as well wait until after WWDC which starts on June 11. There are rumors Apple may be launching a new iMac - might be right, might be wrong? I am deliberating between 17" and maxxing the RAM at 2gb or a 20" and 1gb.

APPLEFAN08 · May 1, 2007, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by flipflopfloss

If you are waiting until June you may as well wait until after WWDC which starts on June 11. There are rumors Apple may be launching a new iMac - might be right, might be wrong? I am deliberating between 17" and maxxing the RAM at 2gb or a 20" and 1gb.

Yes, I heard about the WWDC and usually there are huge announcements so i'll probably wait til then and see what they have in store for the imac. I am definantly waiting til after that to see if they give any news on a new imac or updates. I agree with you.