After reading Larry Bodine's "Macintosh ate my children, solicited underaged Congressional pages for pictures, and tested nukes in North Korea" story I could empathize.
You see I was suckered into thinking that buying a Chevrolet truck would make me a better American, a better man. I took "like a rock" to mean that I would get a patriotic workout while driving across the golden plains of this country and wearing a construction helmet. Instead I'm left stuck in traffic jams with a gas guzzling, underpowered, limp product created in every country but America and I'm still bent towards Canadian ideology.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Wil's entry is quite possibly the most satisfying piece of Interweb writing I have ever come across. I can now die happy knowing that somebody out there who loves Macs made me laugh so hard my dog looked at me funny, and then licked my hands and feet just to make sure I was okay. Thank you Mr. Shipley, for making my dog lick me.
At least you didn't buy a Hybrid GM truck... I own a 2006 GMC Sierra 1500 myself, and I looked at the Hybrid versions... They only get about 2mpg more than the V8s. Worth the extra $3K? I think not. (But, you could plug your laptop directly into your truck with the outlets that are provided... Worth the extra 3K? if you're geeky enough, maybe.)
But I love the story you linked to. The "lawyer" i.e. LarryTard™ mentioned in the article just doesn't frickin get it. People get used to the way things are "supposed" to work, and when they encounter something new or something they're unfamiliar with, it's never their fault that the computer is or isn't doing something it should be.
/worried about Rundle
I love that a freaking lawyer thought he needed to spend $4500 on a desktop(!) computer. Shipley's response was delicious. DELICIOUS!
"Did Microsoft pay you to write that ridiculous article about Apple computers? You may already know that your foolish words won't sully Apple's reputation among the computer literate.
Anyone worth their salt with a keyboard, whether it has control or command keys, can tell that your words are vicious and unjust. The words of one doomed to mysteriously vanishing documents, nightmarish virus horror stories, and misappropriated key operating system files. It's not an uncommon condition, my mother's the same way, and I've been trying to convince her to switch to a Mac for years. For those left behind, too rooted to adapt to changing technology, too old to attempt anything new --I'm looking at you, I'm sure your words do have an effect, though.
Do you think it responsible to blame your inadequacies on a company so steeped in user experience and usability? I wrote this email on an AMD Dual Core 3800+ system running Windows XP, with four hard drives and nine 12cm fans, which I overclocked and overvolted to 2.6ghz, and that I built from parts. I know for a fact that you'd be better off with a Mac, as would my mother, you just have too much grey in your hair and too much cotton in your ears."
I'm glad to see the fine folks in Apple Customer Service speak "American."
I'm sure the Apple support folks are doing a jig knowing they will never again have to explain to this doofus why "There is no File | Delete option" in Word (WTF?) Maybe you should have to pass a test before you are allowed to post to the Internets.
> Maybe you should have to pass a test before you are allowed to post to the Internets.
What's that say about the Illinois Bar Exam?
This sounds like the kind of guy that would demand his manual transmission be replaced with an automatic and then complain when the clutch doesn't work.
Shift+Apple+3 will capture the screen, what is this guy talking about?
Why do the Mac fanatics feel its their duty to rush out and belittle anyone who has a problem with the Mac? It's like some weird little cult. So who cares that some lawyer had a problem with the Mac. It's not like Macs are all that great. They're okay, kinda like Linux is okay. Windows is okay too. Oh, and the reason why Macs don't have to worry about virii so much is because its such a small market share than virii writers don't bother.
Marc,
I think the reason people want to rush to defend the Mac is because this isn't just some guy who has a problem with the Mac. This is a guy who published his problem with the Mac in a forum for potential Mac users who stand to be influenced by his ill-founded computer advice.
"Maybe you should have to pass a test before you are allowed to post to the Internets. What's that say about the Illinois Bar Exam?" I think the reason people want to rush to defend the Mac is because this isn't just some guy who has a problem with the Mac.
Thanks for the props, Greg.
As I said on Wil's post, I had to be amused by this:
I'm sorry, anyone that admits optimizing their websites to IE5.5 deserves to have them not work on better, more compliant browsers (which they probably won't - hence making them seem as though they "don't work"). If you program according to standards, they would look just dandy.