Citizen Godden
Interesting things, all of the time!

So I found this article on Rolling Stone. So I thought, “what the hell, maybe I’ll read it.” Next thing I know I’m staring at a “Apple think they’re heading to be Microsoft” article AGAIN! So I analyse the article (AGAIN) and decide on these points…

Apple has always wanted to be Microsoft so have always been heading to be Microsoft. It’s obvious, I mean COME ON! Why would a company spend so much money on advertising “apple vs PC”, and trying to divide and conquer the PC market by trying to make the PC users feel inferior by dressing the “PC” up in stupid maths teacher clothes whilst the “Mac” has normal clothes? Who actually thinks that an office worker dresses in tweed (which is the obvious dig at Microsoft users, trying to find the “uncool” angle that doesn’t exist)? Sorry – you 12 year olds can put your hands down, you don’t count. The vast majority of people (count not required) do not believe that the average “boring” office worker ever looked like the old or the new version of the PC in the apple vs PC ads. The average office worker that uses a PC is an average person you see walking down the street. Not “nerdy” or “weird” just someone trying to get their job done. When you use a PC, do you think you look stupid or uncool? Do you actually even THINK about it? I mean, come on, it’s a computer not a lifestyle for christ’s sake!!!

PC users DON’T EVEN CARE about apple users. (apart from a few of them that feel a part of the apple community, by some lesser or greater degree – These people normally have a Mac at home, or wish they had a Mac at home and spend most of their time wining about using a PC for work). If you really find it such a chore to use a PC, why not get another job and stop annoying the people that are trying to get work done WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT THE PLATFORM THEY’RE USING… We have work to do, and the PC helps us do this in the workplace.

It’s like the age old rivalry between the Australians and the New Zealanders. The New Zealanders spend all their time thinking about how much better they are and how oppressed they feel with their Australian cousins always making fun of them, when most Australians actually wonder where New Zealand actually is..

Another point that doesn’t bode too well for Apple.. If they’re so great, shouldn’t the computers sell themselves?? Why do we constantly have to be reminded about how uncool we are for using a PC if Macs are so god-damn good? Should we not already know this without Mac vs PC? Should it not be apparent by the hardware? If a company that sells peanuts tells you peanuts are the only food you need, would you just accept that?

And why does Apple try to continually push bad press towards Microsoft unless they feel consistently threatened? Why do they drop stupid ill-thought-out comments about “security” problems on a PC being the whole reason a virus wound up on a video iPod, rather than blaming the incompetence of their tech departments? Why do they suggest people don’t upgrade to Vista at the moment because iTunes doesn’t work yet on the system???

It’s all cheap shots… I mean, iTunes, is that not an Apple product? If it is, does that not mean that Apple, if supporting Windows, should sort their product out so it works with the OS? If they can’t just yet (understandable because the OS is so new) should they not be honest to their users as to the reasons – new OS that’s still maturing – or not understanding how it works fully etc..? Why is that they use it as a reason to slate Microsoft? Because you couldn’t be bothered to sort out a problem that MUST have been obvious from beta versions of Vista 6 MONTHS AGO? Why are WE supposed to feel stupid for choosing Vista? WE didn’t write iTunes! Yet Apple are using this as another reason to stab at Microsoft. And you think it’s for the consumers benefit? To make you feel COOL?

It’s all down to money and image. Apple aren’t making the money Microsoft do, and they want to. Simple. Therefore it’s nothing to do with what’s “COOL” or not. It’s about shareholder’s bottom lines. DON’T BE FOOLED! Apple don’t give a crap about you as long as you buy Apple. It’s the same for Microsoft. These corporations are no different. The only difference is we’ve accepted Microsoft as being a big corporation out for making cash, much like the other big corporations, but Apple is still considered a caring, sharing, user-focused company – don’t be fooled – they may have more focus towards the end user experience, but their bottom line is always going to be money. Accept this and reject the feeling you “belong” if you own an Apple. It’s not a club, it’s the same as Microsoft, it’s about your wallet.

Don’t think for a moment I’m a Microsoft fan-boy. To be honest, I think linux is the way of the future, and the only reason I’m using Microsoft at the moment is because I have to. I have to for work and my future work prospects. I’m smart, I know where the money is. Linux is about the community which is where the internet is going. I (hopefully) don’t have to tell you that the community is what is growing and building the internet at the moment, and will continue to do so. OS’s will eventually be all online. Apps will be online, and companies like Apple and Microsoft and IBM etc will have to adapt to this change. Getting back to the rant, products that Apple produce are generally, graphically, really cool. I’ve used OSX, and SHOCK I thought it was better than XP (at least intuitively). I’ve played with the web cam and made stupid faces on the Mac too for my sins, like every new Mac user. I’ve used the apps that come with it, that really, in all honesty, feel like freeware for a PC.

But dealing with servers and active directory on Windows boxes every day, I’ve never seen an Apple “server” product advertised anywhere – not that I’ve gone looking in any great depth. And to be honest, I probably wouldn’t want to, if all it focused on was the UI and how it can win over users with cheap graphical tricks and TV ads.

At the end of the day when I choose a PC, a laptop or even a server, I want something that is complicated enough to give me power, not simple enough to think I’ve got power.

As a final note.. Did you know that the biggest money spinner for Apple is the iPod? And do you know the platform that it’s used on the most? Yeap, the PC. Even though Apple don’t release stats on what’s [what], it’s funny that most people that work for the support companies actually see more Windows queries about iTunes than Apple ones. So maybe, Apple, you shouldn’t instil hatred in PC users for not using Apple Macs, maybe you should embrace them, because they’re the ones – with their iPods – keeping you from awkward questions by the shareholders. [SHOW ME]