A write-up on hating the Macs

[Sylph]

They make you feel good, Apple products – until you try to do something they don't want you to do

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/28/charlie-brooker-pfroblem-with-macs

[Gurn Blanston]

That is a simply splendid, understated, spot-on little bit of editorialism. The Mac'er's among us simply haven't a clue and will complain about having their 'nads unfairly kicked (again), but for any PC user who has had even peripheral contact with an Apple device, it is the Truth Writ Large.    0:)

[mc ukrneal]

That is a simply splendid, understated, spot-on little bit of editorialism. The Mac'er's among us simply haven't a clue and will complain about having their 'nads unfairly kicked (again), but for any PC user who has had even peripheral contact with an Apple device, it is the Truth Writ Large.    0:)

He may have a bit of an attitude, but the content is pretty much true. Just today, I was trying to get itunes to show me the path for all my files. It simply isn;t a choice. Windows Media, Media Monkey, etc. all show it or have it as an easy option to add. But not itunes. I guess I am not supposed to look under the hood...

[petrarch]

That is a simply splendid, understated, spot-on little bit of editorialism. The Mac'er's among us simply haven't a clue and will complain about having their 'nads unfairly kicked (again), but for any PC user who has had even peripheral contact with an Apple device, it is the Truth Writ Large.

It's true that iTunes is a monolithic beast and if you want to sync on a (non-jailbroken) iOS device, you have to use it. But that's all. Want to play any music or video format on a Mac? Use VLC. Want to stream FLACs and dozens of other esoteric formats from your computer to iPad/iPod/iPhone? Use Squeeze Center with iPeng and the player add-on. Want to write a script, program an application? Use Xcode or any of the open source tools and languages that run on your typical Unix flavored OS. Want to run your favorite Windows apps? Get Parallels or Fusion and install Windows on a VM. For ebooks, get a Kindle. Etc, etc, usw. And iTunes is actually a breeze to use on and integrated with the Apple TV, which is the only reason I fire it up on a daily basis.

I use Windows 7 in a pretty souped-up development machine at work. 3 years ago I went the Mac way at home with some reticence due to the feeling that I wound lose control and would no longer be a power user on my own computer. Unfounded fear. 90% of the time, I find I don't really need that control and I just want the thing to work and not waste my patience with flakey drivers or abysmal user experience. The remaining 10% is spent doing work-related Windows-only tasks and for that I fire up Win 7 on Fusion on my MBP. Best of both worlds. The peace of mind that "it just works" is invaluable and I will never go back. Clueless? No. Stress-free? Yes.

[The new erato]

I won't touch an Apple product as long as they insist on being in control of my use of it. It's like buying a car and having the manufacturer tell you - no; forcing you - to drive it as they intended, and only into areas accepted by them. Who in their right mind would accept that?

[DavidRoss]

I particularly enjoyed this passage:

"The better-designed and more ubiquitous they become, the more I dislike them . . . I don't care if every Mac product comes with a magic button on the side that makes it piddle gold coins and resurrect the dead. I'm not buying one, so shut up and go home."

Why? Because I hate Apple's propriety exploitation of folks who don't know any better...almost as much as I hate Apple fan-boys' insufferably smug ignorance.
 

That is a simply splendid, understated, spot-on little bit of editorialism. The Mac'er's among us simply haven't a clue and will complain about having their 'nads unfairly kicked (again), but for any PC user who has had even peripheral contact with an Apple device, it is the Truth Writ Large.    0:)

He may have a bit of an attitude, but the content is pretty much true. Just today, I was trying to get itunes to show me the path for all my files. It simply isn;t a choice. Windows Media, Media Monkey, etc. all show it or have it as an easy option to add. But not itunes. I guess I am not supposed to look under the hood...

I won't touch an Apple product as long as they insist on being in control of my use of it. It's like buying a car and having the manufacturer tell you - no; forcing you - to drive it as they intended, and only into areas accepted by them. Who in their right mind would accept that?

Amen to all. Others' mileage may vary.  Some folks obviously like paying twice as much for half the performance to a giant authoritarian corporate monolith because they feel cool every time they lap up Apple's slick advertising that makes them feel as if they're "hip, with-it rebels striking a blow against the giant authoritarian corporate monolith."

And I doubly despise them (although I respect the marketing deviousness) for getting in bed with the schools so they can get kids hooked on their products.  I don't like electronic drug pushers on school campuses any more than I like chemical ones.

Those interested in the subject might also like http://www.marketwatch.com/story/missing-the-point-on-apple-its-a-retailer-2011-03-25?siteid=rss&rss=1

[Scarpia]

I haven't noticed that Windows 7, or any prior versions, was so enthusiastic about letting me do what I want the way I want.  It was Microsoft that introduced incompatibility as a weapon. 

I remember fondly when I was in the Unix world, where the systems were designed to inter-operate, in their clunky way.  The one thing MAC OS has going for it is that it is Unix underneath and you can open a command window and pretend it is a Unix platform.

[Gurn Blanston]

I haven't noticed that Windows 7, or any prior versions, was so enthusiastic about letting me do what I want the way I want.  It was Microsoft that introduced incompatibility as a weapon. 

I remember fondly when I was in the Unix world, where the systems were designed to inter-operate, in their clunky way.  The one thing MAC OS has going for it is that it is Unix underneath and you can open a command window and pretend it is a Unix platform.

PC OS's are still modestly flexible in letting you hack and whack and do what you want. Unless things have changed, that's not true of Mac's.

But the point is that if you don't like IE you can junk it and use Firefox or Chrome. If you don't like Office, you can use any other suite you want. If you don't like Photoshop, you can use CorelDraw/CorelPaint. AFAIK, you can't just pick any software that suits your fancy and put it on your Mac. Especially: if you don't like iTunes, then that's too freakin' bad. I have/use a half dozen little digital music apps, and if I don't like one all I have to do is delete it and get another one. If you delete iTunes, correct me if I'm overstating, but I believe you are screwed!

[Scarpia]

PC OS's are still modestly flexible in letting you hack and whack and do what you want. Unless things have changed, that's not true of Mac's.

But the point is that if you don't like IE you can junk it and use Firefox or Chrome. If you don't like Office, you can use any other suite you want. If you don't like Photoshop, you can use CorelDraw/CorelPaint. AFAIK, you can't just pick any software that suits your fancy and put it on your Mac. Especially: if you don't like iTunes, then that's too freakin' bad. I have/use a half dozen little digital music apps, and if I don't like one all I have to do is delete it and get another one. If you delete iTunes, correct me if I'm overstating, but I believe you are screwed!

Hmm?  They control what "apps" you can get in their iPhone "Appstore" but anyone can write an application for Mac and sell it, no?  You can get OpenOffice on Mac.  You can also get Firefox for Mac.

[Josquin des Prez]

The one thing MAC OS has going for it is that it is Unix underneath and you can open a command window and pretend it is a Unix platform.

Yeah but at that point just load up BSD, or if you are lazy, like i am, some prepped up Linux distribution (the best i found being Mint).

Currently running Mint 10 (Gnome based) with Windows XP in dual boot to satisfy my gaming needs. I just cannot imagine a reason to ever use an Apple product, at all. I bought an Ipod classic because at the time it had the largest hard disk among similar devices and i've regretted my purchase ever since. It took me hundred of hours to fill it up, and that's with using some third party substitute to itunes. Not to mention all the time spent in devising some sort of tagging system to sort out all that music. I could have saved myself hours upon hours of tedium with a simple drag and drop operation, but nooooooooo, Apple is too good for that.

[The Diner]

[The new erato]

I won't touch an Apple product as long as they insist on being in control of my use of it. It's like buying a car and having the manufacturer tell you - no; forcing you - to drive it as they intended, and only into areas accepted by them. Who in their right mind would accept that?

Or - in case of the iPad - buying a pair of reading glasses and having the producer tell you you could only read books approved by them.

[drogulus]

     I don't hate Macs, I just don't need one. PCs are enough for me, and they are amazingly easy to customize to my liking. If there was a big thing I couldn't do it would be a different story.

     I have a quad core PC I bought for ~$500. I added a graphics card and a Blu Ray drive for ~$140, and now it's smokin'. It's preposterous to think a Mac could compare with that.

[Lethevich]

Another Apple-avoider here, the valium comparison in the article is a good one.

"Sacrifice a little freedom for safety. Now a little more, and some money too."

I prefer the chaotic democracy of the PC

[Cato]

Sorry Mac haters!

I had an Apple IIGS for 20 years: 1984 to 2004.

It never crashed, froze, crashed, wobbled, crashed, lost data, or crashed! 

I had a used PowerBook for 2 years and then bought a MacBook: neither of them ever crashed, froze, crashed, wobbled, crashed, lost data, or crashed! 

Like Mickey Dolenz I'm A Believer!   

[Lethevich]

Windows PCs don't really crash anymore - I can't recall having one since XP.

[Daverz]

Yeah but at that point just load up BSD, or if you are lazy, like i am, some prepped up Linux distribution (the best i found being Mint).

I started using Linux around 1994 (Slackware).  I also worked for Red Hat for a few years doing tech support.  I used Linux pretty much exclusively until about the time that Apple came out with Tiger.

I've pretty much switched to OS X for most day to day usage.  It has a very good terminal app and all the unix tools (I use macports to supplement this), but everything else just works without the heroic tweaking that is so often necessary with Linux.  This is mostly a matter of vendor support.  I do use an Ubuntu box for my Squeezebox server and for various server and development work.

[drogulus]

    Hey, Windows Millenium crashed, so PCs suck.

    The only problem I have on a regular basis is caused by me. The more powerful my PCs get the more I try to do, so I multitask the beast until it slows to a crawl. Typically I'll be doing a giant download while moving hundreds of files to a new drive while transcoding a bunch of other files. If I was a bit more patient I'd just hold off on one of these tasks and everything would be fine. But everything is getting done.

[Scarpia]

Sounds like Amazon is trying to give Apple a few blows to the solar plexus.  First they announce their "App-Store" and now they are advertising their "cloud drive" and "cloud player" allowing you to maintain a music collection on their server, to be played through any conceivable device whenever you want.  iTunes killer?

[The new erato]

Sorry Mac haters!

I had an Apple IIGS for 20 years: 1984 to 2004.

It never crashed, froze, crashed, wobbled, crashed, lost data, or crashed! 

I had a used PowerBook for 2 years and then bought a MacBook: neither of them ever crashed, froze, crashed, wobbled, crashed, lost data, or crashed! 

Like Mickey Dolenz I'm A Believer!   

If you don't understand that this isn't about quality of product (and my Windows setup haven't crashed for years, either), the spindoctors at Apple already have you firmly in their hand. And I'm not a Mac hater, just very sceptical to the corporate control Apple more or less openly are wielding over it's (more or less uncritical) users. This isn't about Macs, iPhones or iPADs, it's about Apple. Your post certainly confirm my suspicions.

What really amazes me is how Apple have managed to instill a sense, in their users, of being the independent alternative for free and creative minds, while all the time being one of the most controlling big business companies of all time.