Comments on: Why do Apple customers care so much?

They engage in flame wars in online chats. They stand in line all night just to get their hands on new products. They expect nothing but the best. Every company should have such happy problems.

[naftalim]

Mac

I'm 52 and a recent convert to the Mac, after having been in the Microsoft world for 27 years. I can see where some of the passion comes from.
First from a design point of view. My new Aluminum 20" iMac looks a lot nicer than most PC desktops I see out there. It stands out in a sea of me-too products from Dell, Acer, HP etc.

I had Vista just prior to switching in December. It worked well enough, though it wasnt as fully Vista ready as was claimed on my new Compaq laptop. What got me thinking about switching is that Microsoft spent 5 years and millions of dollars and all they could come up with was a weak imitation of OSX. Lastly, when I was in the Microsoft world, I dreaded major updates, as I knew I would be spending a lot of time troubleshooting. When I see there is an Apple Update, I can't wait to get home to install it.

[Ian Joyner]

Long History of FUD

FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) goes back way before Apple
was ever thought of. The modern IT usage of it goes back to
NCR and its founder Patterson in the 1890s ? he found bagging
competitor's cash registers a very effective marketing technique.
His offsider was T.J. Watson who went on to IBM. Patterson went
to gaol for his crimes, and the Sherman Antitrust act was born.
(See Richard DeLamater's Big Blue: IBM's Use and Abuse of
Power.)

IBM then took over people's thinking because people like to
sound knowledgeable by pouring scorn on competitive products.
There was never any shortage of IT types who bagged anything
not IBM. These people then moved on to Microsoft. IBM
successfully bagged Burroughs even though Burroughs
machines were way ahead of anything else (with high-level
language operating systems, virtual memory, etc). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B5000. Robert S Barton who was
the principle designer of the B5000 and B1700 went on to be a
professor of computer science at Utah University, where he was
very influential on Alan Kay the inventor of the window and thus
everything Xerox and then Apple did (and then Microsoft copied
in a rather inept way).

The FUD technique was used on Apple and for a while very
successfully. Thankfully these IT people are not so successful
these days because people are not so naive about computers
and can spot their rubbish. They still tend to be very vociferous
in spreading lies and Apple supporters often respond to their
lies an unreasonableness and attract derogatory labels like
"Apple fanboys", etc.

As the author pointed out in his previous article, Apple is not
perfect ? things go wrong with computers, it's just the nature of
the game, but Apple cares very much about quality and
innovation and avoid many classes of problems you get with
Windows and PCs.

[b8375629]

Quit playing victim

"They still tend to be very vociferous in spreading lies and Apple supporters often respond to their
lies an unreasonableness and attract derogatory labels like "Apple fanboys", etc."
----------------------------------------

Which means the fanboys are just as much to blame (for FUD) as anybody else. Nice try...

True of any topic people get caught up with

I'm not sure why but at some point people crosses over from fan to fanatic. And once they reach that point then they can't see anybody else's perspective as anything but totally wrong and evil. Examples:

1. My religion (insert belief here) is the real religion. You preach to a false god and you will go to hell. Or we'll make you believe.

2. If you are not pro life then you are murderers. We'll bomb and kill you to prove it.

3. I'm a vegan and everybody should be as well because we are being cruel to animals

4. Your football team sucks. Mine is the best.

5. Commodore sux. Atari is the best. here's why
6. Atari sux. Commodore is the best. Here's why
7. they both sux, apple is the best. here's why

People....Chill Out. That thing on top of your desk, that phone, that thing that used to be a phone but is now a portable satellite.....its just a piece of plastic. You don't have to have it to make your life worth living. Be happy with what you have. Worry about real things like the parents you've neglected to call or visit or kids you decided to have but haven't spent time with because you're on the phone with tech support for that new satellite/phone/pc/camera/toaster/butt cruncher you just bought. At least go wash your car.

[M C]

CNet's trolling for clicks not just a Mac/PC thing...

...as much as you'd like it to be. Just today "Radiohead gives up on free" was a top headline. It was also a guess at best, and a gross misrepresentation at worst.

Amy Tiemann's "parent angry at the world" series of inflammatory headlines was also a great source of cheap traffic, until people more or less realized it was just one note, played over and over again.

I realized recently the only reason to read CNet at all anymore is to see what they're going to do for cheap clicks today. (Congrats, BTW.)

[pritchet1]

We care so Apple will care

When Apple screws up we jump all over them because we expect
perfection and no excuses.

We care because Apple gives us the benefit of the doubt and
doesn't look at us as liars, stealers or pirates, but as folks who
want to get a job done right the first time.

Apple's "competitor" looks at its ""lusers" as not to be trusted in
any way, shape or form.

I've worked in both camps for a couple of decades. I liked the
Mac so much, I made a magazine about it - macCompanion.

Shouldn't you care how your money is spent too?

[Celliwill]

Because it usually works

My computer using days go back to Wang, followed by Windows
3 and Windows 3.1. That was what I used at work. When I
decided that I wanted (not needed) a home computer, in the
mid-90s, I went with the anti-DOS. Who really needed that at
home? So, I've been a Mac user ever since; and I'm a better
Windows user at work for it--I'm a go to guy for Word and
basic Windows' problems.

My wife had never worked on a Mac until three years ago when
we started going out. She now does her important, personal
work, like resume, at home.

It's not perfect or the answer to computing. But, the Mac is the
way to get work done. And, that's what anyone who takes the
time comes to realize.

I care because Apple does it right.

[suyts2]

Because

they are a very strange group of people. A weird sentement for some hardware and code. It's very strange.

[groink_hi]

What people don't understand about the Apple ads...

I can't believe how much people hate the Apple vs Windows ads. I find them really funny. And I'll tell you why...

These ads are VERY much like the comic strips you see stuck all over just about every office in America. The most popular has to be Dilbert. The reason why Dilbert is so popular is the common basis it has with white-collar America. Businesses need IT. IT is usually run by these anti-social people like a Dilbert or Dogbert. When you see Dogbert take a helpdesk call, all of you can relate to the conversation - and the BIG problem behind it.

That is what the Apple/Windows ads are. They're designed to trigger the same feeling Dilbert brings out. It is a FACT that the majority of America use Windows because they feel they're forced to. That's what brought on those anti-compeitive/monopoly lawsuits against Microsoft. Just about every user has experienced problems with their Windows PCs. And it is aggravating! But despite the anger, we continue to use Windows. If you think Apple fins are a bunch of zealots, then what do you call a Windows user who constantly abuses himself day-after-day using this software? If you don't call this a monopoly, than it can only be a plea of insanity! Remember that "If you keep doing the same stupid thing over and over, that a sign of being insane" statement?

So, when Windows users see these commercials, the CMs are trigger the EXACT same feelings as the Dilbert comic strips. Your boss is like Dilbert's boss. You have co-workers like Dilbert's. AND, you experience the same Windows problems as "the PC guy."

The Apple ads do two things.

1. It attempts to pull the Dilbert on current Windows users. "Yeah, I've been there before!"

2. It is meant to drive the Apple cult even further into cult-ville. This is good old Harvard Business School strategy - the "Make the Apple customer feel EVEN better about his choice of computer"

You keep re-affirming your Apple user base that you're the smart one who chose Mac OS X. And, it keeps reminding Windows users that "You're not the only one with problems - everyone else has Windows problems."

[Andy kaufman]

Hmmm, I think Maddox answerd that question

long ago:
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

[Jared Plank]

who cares what anyone else uses?

I used pcs up until 3 years ago. I played with my girlfriends emac,
liked it, book an ibook and now own a macbook and a mini for my
home theatre. I love my macs and prefer the experience over the
windows boxes I have used. If someone asks me why I just tell
them they have to use one for awhile. more than 20 people i know
have switched and all have better experiences. Gamers are the only
hold outs. My mac isnt necc. better, I prefer the experience of
computing on it

[Troll Hard]

I don't care what I use

as I don't get emotionally attached to technology like Mac users so obviously do. If they love their Mac so much, why don't they marry it?

[baisa]

(usually) great products, great design

One of my biggest pet peeves is tech devices that are too complicated and feature-bloated to be usable or enjoyable. Less is more. I just love the emphasis with Apple products on design and ease of use. It seems that it takes a egomaniacal CEO dictator these days to overrule the evil duopoly of Marketing+Programmers who together conspire to create baffling horrifically overcomplicated devices -- Marketing want a huge list of "features" (like, an MP3 player in... everything, like my camera, my GPS, neither of which I've ever used); Programmers have zero understanding of product design, and never found a button or control they couldn't overload with 20 modal functions simply because they can write a C++ case statement (see "The Inmates are Running the Asylum" by Alan Cooper).

A colleague demonstrated his iPhone for me the other day -- it astounded me in its power, elegance, and simplicity -- my Treo uses the same OS that basically hasn't changed in what, 15 years?

It is no wonder Apple has legions of adoring, zealous fans -- good design is so rare in general, that people are starving for it -- Apple is the Messiah of design and usability.

[Troll Hard]

Let me settle something here

Windows users are capitalists.

Linux users are communists.

OS/2 users are NAZIs.

BSD Unix users are socialists.

Mac users and Apple // users are homosexuals.

Commodore 64 users are poor.

Atari 800 users are jerks.

Amiga users are Europeans.

MS-DOS users are cheapskates.

Nobody really cares about a computer, except highly emotional morons who believe anything Apple marketing has to say anyway, who live their Macs so much that they should just marry their Macs. For the rest of us, we don't love computers, as we are highly intelligent and highly evolved and just use a computer as a tool, and not a sex toy.

[HeyFriends]

Dear highly intelligent and highly evolved,

"?who live their Macs so much?"

Did you mean "love"?
OS X has a dictionary. One of the reasons I love it so much!

[The_happy_switcher]

To 'Andy Kaufman'

You are clearly a disturbed individual with WAY too much time on your hands. Did you forget your meds today?

[Andy kaufman]

Nope but you forgot your meds

or maybe you didn't and smoked some weed or something?

[The_happy_switcher]

'Andy Kaufman' and 'Proustian' are probably

the same person. In any event, you are both idiots.

[McBlayde]

Maybe they are both this guy

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/11/zune-tattoo-guy.html

[Andy kaufman]

Lost the debate

and now you want to call other people names? Look in the mirror!

[ParallaxRebel]

You make us Mac users look bad

when you do things like that.

The Mac works better than Windows, but why the need to bash Windows users? Shouldn't they have the freedom to choose their own OS?

[Proustian]

Aw did someone get his feelings hurt?

Didn't get the joke and took it seriously? Maybe next time you will get it, as this time it went right over your head.

[His SHadow]

Why The Hell Should We Stop?

Now that Apple has momentum on its side, does this finally mean we're nearing a day when we can have a coherent discussion of the pros and cons of Apple's approach to the computing world?

When the blinkered Windows drones stop lying about a platform they have never touched, Mac users will quiet down.

Let's take a quick look at the iPhone. It was painfully evident to any sentient being that the iPhone was going to be a game changing device. Painfully obvious. You would have to be brain dead
not to realise that the iPhone was the future, even if the iPhone itself was a failure.

What did we get from tech "journalists" and industry "analysts"? Lies. Nonsense. FUD. Crap. Whining. More lies. From the exact same people who didn't see the success of the iPod, didn't see the success of iTunes, didn't see the success of the iMac or even Apple itself.

And we are supposed pretend that it's let bygones be bygones time because after decades of lazy journalism and lies, Mac users should just be happy and ignore the continuing attacks?

No. It's not going to happen. Longtime Mac users who suffered the intense ignorance of Apple detractors are going to gloat, and we are going to gloat long and hard, and we are going to continue jumping like a pack of dogs on anyone who, no matter how many times he is wrong, continues to spread nonsense about Apple, the Mac and Mac users.

Apple detractors are reaping what they have sown. They deserve no quarter and none will be given.

[huanbei]

Because Microsoft Pissed Me Off BAD?

why did i even switch at the first place if Windows works so
perfectly? Spending a fraction of Windows Troubleshooting time
and go on the internet and write about how it sucks.. so worth it..

[cowboy704]

Why care?

3 primary reasons.

1. Mac OS X works, period.
2. iLife - use it everyday in one form or another and the
applications like the system just work. they're also crazy
inexpensive or even free when a new mac is purchased. People
buy computers to do things. Not having to buy additional
software or receive watered down applications is the way it
should work.
3. Availability. In 4 years I've had to assist my wife just 3 times
with her mac. With our windows PC I was constantly assisting
her with any number of issues. Macs require much less care and
feeding.

Microsoft has some decent products and for Enterprises have
some products that share the advantages Mac's have in the
desktop market over their Enterprise competitors (IBM, Oracle,
BEA). They also have a number of issues. I've sold millions of
dollars of Windows specific System Management and Monitoring
Software as well as Configuration Management Software as a
result. Microsoft has been good for my bottomline.

I won't buy a PC but I'm thankful businesses still do. LOL.

CWBY

[elbertshort]

I am not a "Mac" groupie

I can honostly say that I was always partial to windows based PC systems but the poor quality components that are standard and the over seas customer support that is a joke has driven me away. My recent experience with Dell can take credit for this transformation of my opinion. I would like to add that it does seem like this site caters to the PC companies (especially Dell), so I think your rant about Apple systems and its users is a humorous irony because I see the exact opposite happening on your site with the support of Dell systems. I guarantee that Dell with have one of if not the lowest rated customer service rankings and highest reported systems issues in the very near future.

[ewsachse]

What does Dell have to do with all PC's

If Dell has lousy PC's and lousy customer service, then try a different PC manufacturer. There are many companies to choose from.

That is the beauty of PC's - freedom of choice. Freedom to choose who builds your PC, freedom to add more variety of hardware to that PC, and freedom to choose from a large set of software.

With Apple, you can only get the computer hardware from them. If they provide poor customer service, then you are stuck with them. There are no alternatives to Apple if you want a Mac based computer.

[luis alvas]

Not about, against

Tom Krazit, you don't write ABOUT Apple, you write AGAINST
Apple.
Talk about doctoring information. You offer only bad news about
Apple, and if news are not forthcoming, you dish out negative
speculation.
My, my. You are one of the bad guys.

[maverick_nick]

Mac users are stuck in a loop.

Mac users say the same thing over and over and over again. However, none of their comments tend to have any concrete evidence. They talk of severe problems with Microsoft technologies. Why is it then that Microsoft is the most trusted technology company in the world? They'd say that Windows is a rip-off of OSX. All cars have steering wheels, but nobody claims that the invention was theirs.

My computers at home and work are PCs with Windows. I use them every day and they just work. There may be the occasional hiccups, but I doubt that Mac users don't experience similar troubles.

Apple is a good competitor, as is Novell and Red Hat. They drive Microsoft to remain the benchmark.

[ppgreat]

Most trusted???

Hardly. MS has been proven to be the LEAST trusted tech time
and again in side-by-side comparisons on sites just like this.

How much extra did you spend on your Windows PCs for
software to avoid spyware and viruses? Are you running Vista on
your PCs? Do you deal with bugs and non-working devices for a
year at a time until a new "SP" finally rolls out?

Mac users may be stuck in a loop by preaching quality all the
time, but you, my friend, are just stuck. Period.