This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz
by Keith Ray.
Original Post: I Got Quoted
Feed Title: MemoRanda
Feed URL: http://homepage.mac.com/1/homepage404ErrorPage.html
Feed Description: Keith Ray's notes to be remembered on agile software development, project management, oo programming, and other topics.
When I heard that a Chronicle reporter was looking for Mac "Fans" for a newspaper article about Apple's up-coming 30th anniversary, I expected that would get printed would be the usual condensed history of Apple and several examples of those "crazy" Mac fans who shave or tattoo the Apple logo into their hair or body. I sent an email to the reporter in hopes that maybe they would do a little more than that.
But that's pretty much what happened. They did at least interview Woz and other people associated with Apple's history, though Steve Jobs declined to be interviewed. And they quoted me. The irony of course, is that despite quoting me, they pretty much did what I hoped they would not do.
Here's what they printed, in an article entitled "Faithful, sometimes fanatical", in a section that starts with "Well, you might be an Apple fanatic if:"
You get annoyed with how the media portrays Mac fanatics.
"One thing I don't like is newspapers and TV newcasters reporting how 'fanatic' Mac fans are, without even trying to explore the reasons for their preference," said Keith Ray in an e-mail. "Please don't you continue that lazy tradition. We're not crazy. Some Mac fans are rocket scientists at NASA and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), others are very non-technical like my mom."
What got edited out of that paragraph was "Probably all of us have used other platforms -- I doubt any Mac user has been fortunate enough to have only used the Mac."
My full email follows:
Responding to "Iâm writing a story about Appleâs 30th birthday and am looking to talk to Mac fans in the San Francisco Bay Area, the more devoted, the better. I want to hear about how they fell in love with their Mac, what they do to show their commitment, and, of course, what they think about Apple turning 30 next week. [...]
I wanted a Mac 'way back in 1984 when Byte magazine showed us what it was going to be: What You See Is What You Get. MacWrite and MacPaint and the Mac operating system were revolutionary in ease-of-use, and they were quite powerful given how little RAM and disk space the Mac started with.
I've worked on Mac and Windows and Unix and other operating systems since then and have preferred the Mac for many sane and logical reasons. I don't have time to list them all here, but suffice it to say that the alternatives have so many little irritating deficiencies that whole books have been written on their problems.
[books: "The UNIX Hater's Handbook", "Windows XP Annoyances", "Windows XP Annoyances for Geeks", "Fixing Windows XP Annoyances", 'Windows ME Annoyances", "Word Annoyances" -- all these titles are available at Amazon.]
People who haven't used the Mac don't understand that life with computers could and SHOULD be easier than what they experience every day.
One thing I don't like is newspapers and tv newcasters reporting how "fanatic" Mac fans are, without even trying to explore the reasons for their preference. Please don't you continue that lazy tradition.
We're not crazy. Some Mac fans are rocket scientists at NASA and JPL, others are very non-technical like my mom. Probably all of us have used other platforms -- I doubt any Mac user has been fortunate enough to have _only_ used the Mac.
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