Rumours and gossip

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padishahemperor

UNIX Powered Dervish
I realise many things have changed since I last owned a Mac in 1997, the number of Mac forums being one of them. But something which really strikes me is the the sheer amount of rumour-mongering, gossip and what-if articles and postings which are almost plague-like now.

I'm not being unkind, it's a genuine curiosity on my part, I've been involved in a few UNIX related forums over the last couple of years but why is the Mac community so fixated on rumour? Even when I was heavily involved in the Zaurus community, the majority of rumour-mongering was Apple related.

Is this or that being phased out, are Apple making a new PDA, when will OS X be ported to x86 and so forth seem litter the net. I've seen some of the same questions going on year after year. Even the rumour section of this site has a staggering number of posts, over 90,000! Only one other section only narrowly beats it.

This is a genuine question, because I genuinely don't understand! Why? What is the fascination? Does anyone else think it's a bit odd? I've lost track of the number of Photoshop'ed PDA devices people come up with. Are Mac users not happy with their Macs and always looking to possible better machines?

Thanks :)
 
Consumerism will never reach a peak. That is my understanding of it. People will always want something better, more powerful, better looking. Having rumors, discussions, and Photoshop'd pictures is just fuel to the fire. It feeds the information hungry and at the same time makes them hungrier. It will never stop, and people will neverendingly talk and share ideas on what's next.
 
Doesn't fill me with any confidence as someone about to return to Mac, also it doesn't answer why it seems more so among Mac users, unless it says more about the kind of people buying Macs nowadays? Are you saying people who own a Mac now are just mindless consumers? Victims of capitalism gone wild?

Makes me feel like instead of buying something which is a wise investment, like when I bought Macs before which would last years, now I'm just buying into a commercial fad - transitory and worthless?!?
 
You took that wrong. I was talking about consumerism in general. The reason Mac users tend to show more interest in whats coming up next is because Apple always has a product that blows your mind. Remember the 1984 introduction of the Macintosh? When something in the PC market gets unveiled, it usually doesn't have that kind of impact as what something from Apple would make in it's community. So, naturally you are going to have people that show more interest in their products than they normally would. Saying that Mac users and buyers are mindless consumers of capitalism gone wild is absurd. The only reason that Apple supporters get so exited with whats coming up next because they know it will be amazing. Also, don't base coming to the Macintosh platform on others. One of the main reasons that Apple is so great is because it lets you express INDIVIDUALITY. Also, keep in mind that this is a Mac-based forum.
 
I think I understand what you mean. I still don't get why people do it though, I don't get why people do a lot of things many take for granted.. oddball I guess ;-) I understand it to a point, it just SEEMS disproportionate though compared to other platforms I've been involved with.
 
Makes me feel like instead of buying something which is a wise investment said:
You're wrong. Macintosh is still a great choice, and they will continue to be a great choice. I can't believe that you are actually saying that Apple is so far up the rear end of capitalism/commercialism that they are worthless. This is just completely untrue.
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We're out of sync -read reply above.

I am not saying that, I was wondering if that is the position you were putting forward.

For me, since ordering our Macs, I've read quite a lot of stuff, a lot of it being rumours etc. and I can't help wondering if I'm wasting my money, am I buying into a G4 platform with no future? Will Tiger work on my Mac mini? Are they porting OSX to x86, if so why am I wasting my money? Better the devil you know as they say. I think I understand that it may be the result of zeal but I think the rumours and speculation can be detrimental to a potential convert.
 
Ok, sorry if I took you wrong. I can definitely see why you would consider this disproportionate. You have to understand, however, that with the fact that the Apple community is getting larger, and the fact that Apple is new and exiting for a lot of people, that you WILL have more of this consumerism. If it does bother you, do your best to ignore it, and be your own person. You can always post your feelings on forums, and you can always get feedback on how you feel. I don't really mind it, in fact I even engage in some of it. But, when it does become a little much, I just tune it out.
 
Qion said:
Ok, sorry if I took you wrong. I can definitely see why you would consider this disproportionate. You have to understand, however, that with the fact that the Apple community is getting larger, and the fact that Apple is new and exiting for a lot of people, that you WILL have more of this consumerism. If it does bother you, do your best to ignore it, and be your own person. You can always post your feelings on forums, and you can always get feedback on how you feel. I don't really mind it, in fact I even engage in some of it. But, when it does become a little much, I just tune it out.
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Pre-order jitters on my part maybe? It's hard for a newbie to filter it out -to separate the wheat from the chaff- especially when the proportion is so high. The one I found tonight - that Jobs may license OS X to 3 PC makers - really does not do anything for my own consumer-confidence.
 
mbveau said:
Yah, that's great. Not to change the subject, but have you guys heard about what they're doing with Tiger? They're gonna put support in for the new 128-bit processors that I heard Intel was coming out with! Isn't that gonna rock?! Man, my new Powerbook is so outdated, I need the new one.

;-) That was a joke guys...really. (Sorry for interrupting a serious conversation; I couldn't resist.)
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Must... not... gossip... but yeah, Apple are prototyping a 15Tbyte HD PDA with 256bit G9 processors, I read it online in an interview Steve Jobs gave.. credible blog source you know.. :p

That REALLY is how it seems to me..
 
padishahemperor said:
Must... not... gossip... but yeah, Apple are prototyping a 15Tbyte HD PDA with 256bit G9 processors, I read it online in an interview Steve Jobs gave.. credible blog source you know.. :p

That REALLY is how it seems to me..
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HAhahahahahahahahahahah! :D
 
padishahemperor said:
The one I found tonight - that Jobs may license OS X to 3 PC makers - really does not do anything for my own consumer-confidence.
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Wow, I hope this is just another (haha) joke on your part. Could you send me the article or whatever you got this info from?
 
I agree with Qion; the fact that Apple creates these new, innovative projects neccesarily attracts those who are attracted to inovation. Those people naturally want to talk about it, in places like this (enter from stage left: speculation). That's not to say that everyone here is like that, or that having that as a priority is wrong, merely inevitable. Padisha (may I call you that?)- I think that's why it's so much more prevalent in the Mac community, especially as it becomes more mainstream.
 
Qion said:
Wow, I hope this is just another (haha) joke on your part. Could you send me the article or whatever you got this info from?
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No, I read it while browsing earlier while I had a Knoppix CD booted, so I have no history, it came from some interview Jobs gave last month I think to a magazine, maybe an online one which requires subscription for the whole thing. If I can google it.... AAAAAHHH!! I'm doing it now!!
 
mbveau said:
I agree with Qion; the fact that Apple creates these new, innovative projects neccesarily attracts those who are attracted to inovation. Those people naturally want to talk about it, in places like this (enter from stage left: speculation). That's not to say that everyone here is like that, or that having that as a priority is wrong, merely inevitable. Padisha (may I call you that?)- I think that's why it's so much more prevalent in the Mac community, especially as it becomes more mainstream.
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You can call me anything that isn't rude :) It's Francis, or anything you like.
I think I'm understanding it a bit more, it is natural, I guess it is as I've conceeded before such a major icon in society and the hardware/software is in such a class of it's own, it's almost a cult! That I can understand, I suppose the disproportionate rumouring is an extension of this.

I suppose with my ordering Macs and me trawling the web for all things Apple, the amount of speculation can just hit you - POW! Left me thinking 'what?'
 
As far as I can follow this conversation; One has to consider the way Apple wants to create some sort of secrecy about its new products, I'm thinking of the recent lawsuit.
Since 1984 Apple has been. one way or the other, feeding the buzz and with products that are creating such response as the iPod the people will be thus prone to gossip.

BTW found a great definition for padishaemperor : http://www.em.ca/mas/chess/duneset/emporer.html

N.B. Agree with you and Love your sense of humour
 
Yeah.. :eek:
I actually I am quite a fan of the books, but with no aspirations for interstellar power, not tonight anyway, I'm too tired ;-) The only emperor I admire is the one who said “That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned..” I think you know who I mean, but that's another conversation... ;-)

I'm really grateful to everyone that has responded, I suppose the logical extension of all this is a month or two I'm going to be gossiping too...
 
padishahemperor said:
Yeah.. :eek:
I actually I am quite a fan of the books, but with no aspirations for interstellar power ;-)

I'm really grateful to everyone that has responded, I suppose the logical extension of all this is a month or two I'm going to be gossiping too...
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Don't think you'll be falling in the trap soon

The Marley fan :rolleyes:
 
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