Mato's Blog

Alternative title: But it’s only a computer!

Computers are very important in our life. We depend on them for all kind of tasks, we spend lot of time on the internet, we have to acquire the skills to handle and maintain the machines. By investing so much time and effort it is inevitable, that we become personally attached to our computers.

Some guys regard the computer as part of their personality (sure, it is a PC, a “Personal Computer” by definition, isn’t it?)

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I heard a report on NPR <http://www.npr.org/> that according to a study at Duke University and Waterloo University the exposure to brand logos can influence peoples creativity. A test group exposed subliminally to the Apple loge was significantly more creative than a similar group exposed to the IBM logo.

A Google search <research logo increases creativity> brought me to various news sites and blogs and I was struck by the rude and vulgar comments of Windows and Linux users to the findings of the study.

I have to confess, that I’m a longtime Apple fan, maybe I could even be considered a Mac evangelist. I’m quite happy with our fleet of Mac Mini computers that run here smoothly without any hiccup. To discover that we Mac users are so much despised and hated by the Windows and Linux guys gives me food for thought….

There is a lot of aggression and hate simmering beyond the surface of our supposedly civilized society. It is a fractured society anyway with many niches and fringe groups. Everybody wants to be different, wants to be something special, wants to be extraordinary and outstanding. An attitude that is tolerated and OK, as long as you buy your individuality from a big company. Like for instance: Rolex, Gucci, Levy Strauss, Diesel, Nike, Adidas, Benneton, Swatch….

Fringe groups and outsiders, that are not tolerated and not OK:

Immigrants (except when they keep quiet and do our dirty work)
Arabs, Muslims and other terrorists
Niggers and dark skinned people in general.
Gays and lesbians
Tree huggers, bicycle riders, vegetarians etc.
People, who don’t use cellphones and credit cards and don’t look TV
Disabled persons (not significant – they are locked away already)
Artists who don’t fit into mainstream culture (“Degenerate Art”)
Poor people, except when they pretend to be well off and live on credit
Drop-outs, who don’t participate in the rat race and the shopping frenzy

I’m not sure, if I shall add Apple Mac users to this list. Considering the comments that I found in my Google search I should.

But it’s only a computer!!!

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Martin Luther King was shot dead 40 years ago in Memphis. He went there to support a strike of the communal sanitation workers.

Steve Jobs is not MLK. He may be an interesting person but he is not one of my heroes.

Apple is also a big company, bigger than Rolex, Gucci, Levy Strauss, Diesel, Nike, Adidas, Benneton, Swatch….

Apple Mac users are – at least officially – not yet regarded as subversive.

So: Despite the hateful rhetoric on the web there will be no pogroms and no “Kristallnacht” .

Maybe a virtual “Kristallnacht”. Or some nasty viruses just to prove, that Macs are also vulnerable.

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BTW: All your beloved Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, Sony etc. PC’s are produced in the same country by the same workforce as my Mac Minis (……….). But that is a whole other story.