Memorial Day
-
“Happy Memorial Day “ seems to be all you hear in the week prior to
Memorial Day. When the very definition of memorial is to remember, it seems
odd to say ...
9 years ago
- L S. "Spencer" Olsen
- I don't really care if you agree or not. Just saying what I think.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
So I will respond.
I have to agree with you. Most of the "I'm a Mac" commercials really boil my blood, not because they are inaccurate but because they mislead a tad.
Let's take some claims from one of the older commercials.
Not only is this misleading, it's just plain wrong. And while there are certainly more viruses for the PC than the Mac it is not for shoddy programming or poor quality that the PC is the target of virus artists worldwide. Saying that a Mac is better because there are less viruses is like saying that bread is better than meat because no one protests bread; no one is picketing Bunny Bread with a "Wheat is Murder" sign. The fact of the matter is that no one is really out to get Steve Jobs and his uber-corporate Apple Computers. Bill Gates has a price on his head and programmers the world over are looking to destroy him and his evil capitilist juggernaut Microsoft once and for all. In fact, most virus creators use windows only as a lab tool for testing while they plunk away on their Linux or linux-based Mac computer. But what drives the average hacker is greed. (Lyman, 2005) The true fact is that the PC has the largest market share worldwide. What that means is that if you are a virus author and want to make money or inflict the most damage, go after the largest market share. Plain and simple. Mac is seeing a resurgence and has a market share today of about 20%. As they grow, they will become a target just like everyone else. Case in point, the iPhone has become a target already. Take that, Apple. By the way, when it is your turn, you will fall hard, because unlike Windows who has been shoring itself up for years, you still have the back door unlocked because that kind of thing just doesn't happen to you. Or does it...
Let's look at the next claim. I can't find the video that I really want to post, but you have seen it - the PC is dressed in a Mac disguise and the poor consumer is asking which computer to buy. The disguised PC tells her to buy a PC. "But I want a computer that doesn't get viruses." and then the gem - "But I want a computer that just works."
This is a serious claim, that a PC doesn't "just work". Now, granted a Mac (and I have been using one for a little while now) is stupid easy. I mean stupid easy. But a PC is easy as well. Apple's product design creates programs with a basic set of functionality designed to be used with minimal effort. Unfortunately, this also means that most of their basic programs lack advanced functionality or options - you know, so it will just work. The marketing team over at Apple seems to think that the comsumer who doesn't mind doing a little extra clicking is a gullible moron. But better than that, Mac "just works" so well, that there are 3,440,000 results for "mac troubleshooting" and 46,800,000 for "Problems with my Mac" in a google search. My experience with my Mac is that when something really goes wrong, I have to turn to the terminal (more often than not) and use advanced shell techniques to solve said problem. That doesn't make it "just work" - that makes it a normal operating system with normal problems. By the way, the best part of my Mac is how when I want to shut it down, it "just works" so well that, like my PC, I have to go through hell closing programs. Now, the interesting part that I have found is that after I close a couple of programs, my Mac forgets that it was supposed to be shutting down and I have to start all over again.
This one has to be one of my favorites.
Here it is asserted that the Mac is ready to go while the PC will take some time to sort out. Well, technically true, but not completely true. Anyone who has owned a Mac will tell you that they were not able to unbox it and immediately begin working on a website or a movie, etc. In fact, the first thing you have to do when you startup your brand new Mac is watch an annoying video that says welcome in about a million languages. Then you have to set up your user and if you have a webcam, it will snap a picture of you during the setup process. Then you will have to make sure that you can connect to a network. Heaven help you if you want to share files from a Windows network server, etc. PC does about the same thing. That whole "get rid of trial ware" thing is debatable depending on who you buy your PC from. Oh no! Capitalism strikes again!!!
But my favorite, absolute favorite commercial is, again one that I cannot find, but it was early on when Apple releaesed its new iMacs. You know, the one that is the monitor/computer combo.
The claim was that it eliminated all that mess of cables that PC's are known for. BS.
This configuration only eliminates 2 cables - VGA and Power for the Monitor. I am not so stupid that I will believe that if I buy an iMac that suddenly I will have no cable problems. I still need a mouse, keyboard, and several USB ports open for peripherals. So shut up, Apple. I'm not that stupid.
Bottom line.
Mac is a good computer. I love using it and it indeed doesn't have some of the same problems that a PC does. But a potato doesn't have some of the same problems that a tomato does either. I just wish people would take a look at Apple and decide that, no, Steve Jobs is not on the right hand of God and that if anything, Apple's corporate policies are far worse than Microsoft's. But that's another topic for another time.
Citation:
Lyman, J. (2005). Profile of a Virus Writer: Pride to Profit.Retrieved September 10, 2009 from TechNewsWorld: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/nad0dhhkr056au/profile-of-a-virus-writer-pride-to-profit.xhtml?wlc=1252590302.
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