This is the left speaker

[ApeintheShell]

I've been reading mac news and rumors and so far i'm not amused.
It has its good moments when i actually get to see new products
come out of ridiculous rumors.
_ But it seems like im breaking some mysterious code of honor for being
an owner of a macintosh.
The mac community has revealed the bitter Mac OS 9 users,
the Mac OS X early adopters, cross platformers, the switcher,
the command line guru, the sequential artist and the do it
yourself user.

All these essentially make up the new mac os community.
The problem is none of them get along.
Thus we got whole forums intended for the purpose
of say "Longhorn screenshots" which turns into
a Mac vs. PC debate.

I see this on macnn as well. They post an article related
to the pc obliterating the competition. Which it does
all the time. It bugs me that i have to hear this gloating
every single moment of my existence.
Why don't you just ask the question on your mind, "why?"
Because we're mac users. We don't want to change to your platform.
And yes sometimes we have to use machines that have lower mhz, ghz
and cannot upgrade, we even get to use those pcs you mention in
the articles you enjoy finding.

I don't feel a sense of belonging anymore in the mac community.
It's like pounding on a wall and no one hears you on the otherside.
If i can't have people understand why im a mac user
than shouldn't we surrender to the enemy already?

 

[symphonix]

I've been wondering a bit about this lately. It seems that Apple is reaching really hard for the "switchers" lately - and with good reason. People have a right to expect more out of their equipment and software than what is mostly on offer in the mainstream.

The problem is, when you move to a different platform you have to expect to do things differently. And a lot of these people aren't willing to adapt. It would be as if you moved to a different country and then complained that the people there dress wrong, behave in a different way, or listen to weird music. You could be shocked at the change in culture, and build yourself into a compound, or you could try and slowly integrate into the community.

The relationship of mac-users to PC-users reminds me somewhat of the relationship of bikies to car-drivers. A bikie might introduce a driver to a new, smooth road-cruiser ... only to be asked "where's the cup-holders?"

Entrenched Mac users have built up a community, and sadly many of us are very elitist and defensive about it. The main thing that is so good about using a Mac is that it is so friendly, but that appeal is diminished if the community of users isn't friendly.

It would be far better for all of us if we changed our ways a little. The existing Mac community needs to be supportive and understanding of people who have been taught to use PCs and who are feeling dazed and confused in the Mac world: these are good people like you and me and they'll probably come to love the mac platform once they've gotten over culture shock. In fact, they're most likely original thinkers and creative thinkers, otherwise they wouldn't have even thought of buying a mac ... in other words, good friends to have.

And all those 'switchers' and 'newbies' need to be a little more understanding when they find that the new platform is very different to what they're used to. Just because something doesn't work the same as what you're used to doesn't mean it's wrong.

Peace and Respect!