June 28, 2004

• I can't see this being anything to get upset over, but then again, I didn't get upset over the Asimov thing, so I'm guessing I don't have as many sacred cows as most people.
• This is trollbait. You're arguing that apple users are elitist and zealots! You realize of course that this means war! *wiggles eyebrows* oh . . ahhh . . scratch that. Reverse it.
• yeah apple users get tagged that way because many of them are elitist and zealots - but to be fair there isn't another comparable phenomenon. Linux isn't comparable because it's not hardware based (or as hardware based anyway) as Apple. The crowd that *truly* scares me are the pro-Micro$ofties. They give me a "Isn't this Hitler guy great!?" feeling. Err - this was not a Godwin. These aren't the droids you're looking for. This is not a pipe.
• It's ok Sandspider. Just throw poo in the same direction as the others and you'll be fine.
• Wired story referenced: 02:00 AM Feb. 04, 2004 PT >"This is not trollbait." Then what is to discuss? What ARE you arguing? While I don't advocate abuse (via email or otherwise), what he described IS the equivalent of getting a Mini Cooper and then taking the body off and putting it on a Yugo. Cool, huh? I'd say the guy was a moron, too, though I probably wouldn't feel it necessary to tell him so. The fact that it was a hoax, shows the guy was probably smarter than that. So essentially, what he did was yell "fire" so he could point and laugh at all the people stampeding out of the building. Who is the real moron?
• So essentially, what he did was yell "fire" so he could point and laugh at all the people stampeding out of the building. Actually, it was more like, "Hey! I set myself on fire! It was totally awesome!" and a bunch of people telling him how stupid he was for doing it.
• "trollbait" -- isn't that, like, a really HOT 17-year old troll?
• Well, when this first hit the internet half a year ago, there was a lot said so I'll summarise: a) not everyone who said the hoaxer was an idiot was a Mac user. This was originally posted on a PC tech forum, and plenty of PC people said the same things, with the same emotion. In fact, unless all the hate mail the guy got was signed "Mac user", how is this specific to the Mac userbase at all? b) The violent reaction wasn't because this was a Mac, it was because this was a super expensive piece of equipment that this kid didn't appreciate--it was because the computer, as the story was told, was a gift from his parents. A $5000 gift, which he proceeded to destroy. People are angry because the kid was a spoiled brat. The original hoax was meant to troll *everyone*; overclockers, Mac users, people who can't afford a $5k computer, people with any sense at all, etc.
• I'm with Daniel, especially on his last point. What kind of person buys a G5 and then rips it to shreds?
• mmmmm, hot 17-year old troll. do age of consent laws apply to trolls?
• First, I must say the Wired article I originally read was on spanish and published this day so that explains me being outdated. Second, Daniel, the article says that, aside from the forum, the hoaxer, received a lot of email mainly comming from disgruntled mac users. So saying that most of the personally injuring comments came from them is justified if you take his word for it. Third, I agree with you that retrofitting a G5 as a generic PC is quite moronic. Still it doesn't deserve threats (which, by the way, I don't believe were mean to be taken literally) or insults of any kind. Again, I laugh at the morons (PC or Mac) who got enraged by this inoffensive hoax.
• mmmmm, hot 17-year old troll. do age of consent laws apply to trolls? That depends, Weezel, Do you know how old is a 17 year old troll in human years?
• You may laugh at those morons, but I think it's akin to having a picnic lunch in front of a group of homeless people but then deciding that you don't like what you brought and throwing the basket into the lake. It may not be deserving of hate mail, but I do see why people would be upset, and it certainly doesn't make you a terribly good person. The fact that it was a hoax, or that your picnic basket was empty, is incidental. And really, it was only a thousand people that emailed, out of hundreds of thousands who saw the thread. Perspective, friends.
• You're equating Mac zealotry with homelessness? Well, maybe you have a point there. Both are indeed great burdens.
• Clearly you know that's not what I'm saying, but whatever. I also thought the least entertaining part of Jackass was when they did similar hoaxes, e.g., Knoxville would trip and drop his "baby" in the street, and everyone would rush to help him. I did however, find the stuff they did to themselves funny. I don't know what that says. Shrug.
• Of course I'm teasing you, Daniel. Still, I don't find either of your comparisons particularly illuminating. This is a computer, not an infant. Ov3rcl0ck3r geeks -- or, indeed, anybody who can summon such outrage over the use or abuse of a material object -- deserve to have their chains yanked in just this way.
• deserve to have their chains yanked in just this way. And there I was thinking of pissing on a cat.
• A grown-up cat, obviously. Heck.
• /me edges towards the door . ..
• I also thought the least entertaining part of Jackass was when they did similar hoaxes, e.g., Knoxville would trip and drop his "baby" in the street, and everyone would rush to help him. I did however, find the stuff they did to themselves funny. I don't know what that says. Shrug. I'm certainly the complete opposite. I loved, for instance, the bit where they parked a hearse on a hill, and had the coffin roll out onto the street. That there is comedy, just like this little hoax.
• trollbait -- rrrrroowr!
• It's funny. If we'd found it before knowing it was host, we would be laughing and saying, "I bet it's a hoax". It isn't funny to really frighten people, but to pull their leg a little is. I would be happy with a PC in a Mac tower - Apple has beautiful design work for hardware, but I really dislike the operating system (don't really know why - I'm no Linux geek who wants to control all. It's just one of those things). So this computer would be perfect for me.
• *knew it was a hoax. I make more sense when I try to write in English.
• jb, have you seen Alienware? Maybe they aren't your type but they do look to slick to be PCs. And are as overpriced as Apple's.
• Those are very cool looking, but are they really designed as well? (I have heard that they are just regular laptops, recased and marked up). It's the care in design (not simply style) that impresses me about Apples. My roommate recently bought a small Ibook - and there were just really nice things about it, like the way that the power adaptor has two little ends around which you can wind the cord to keep it neat. The plug similarly tucks away into the adaptor. I don't want an Apple myself (though you can get very good specifications for what appears to be cheaper than similar PCs, if you step off the top of the market), but I wish PC manufacturers would take a lesson from their industrial design.