I guess he's not switching...

January 10, 2004 5:21 PM

"Crash Different"Well, I think this editor probably isn't going to continue using a Macintosh if he can help it. A decent spoof video, actually, on the "Think Different" / "Switch" campaigns. [via MemeStreams]
posted by djspicerack (43 comments total)

I think this is stupid. In the three years I've used OS X I've had two crashes ever and I'm a long time windows user. OS 9 definitely sucked from a stability standpoint, but OS X is rock solid for me. It's unix with a pretty face on top, but still unix.

By the way, I've only had three or four total crashes of XP since it came out on my workstation, so people making fun of computer stability to me rings kind of hollow.
posted by mathowie at 5:40 PM on January 10, 2004

hmm in a word 'asshat'
posted by MrLint at 5:40 PM on January 10, 2004

YMMV. OSX crashed on me about 2-3 times as often as Windows XP does when I use it. I still probably prefer it, though (though I don't use it regularly). But by all means, let's not let the fact that both OSs leave a lot to be desired in the stability department get in the way of a good "My OS is better than yours" shoutfest!
posted by rushmc at 5:50 PM on January 10, 2004

Well, I've had all kinds of crashes on the OS X Macs at school. Windows XP never crash-crashes, but individual programs do go down pretty often.

Me, I thought the video was funny, just because he sold it pretty well, and it seemed like he was doing it impromptu even though he probably wasn't.
posted by Hildago at 5:53 PM on January 10, 2004

I had less problems with 9 than with X too...I already had an unrepairable Kernel Panic thing, due to some hidden something conflicting. I miss the accessibility of everything in 9.
posted by amberglow at 5:57 PM on January 10, 2004

I'm going back to Windows Me.

/sarcasm
posted by blade at 6:29 PM on January 10, 2004

I thought it was cute. I love my mac but I've had some of that stuff happened (have had to remove the battery to get the PB to turn off, for instance, and have had it crash when I wasn't doing anything). Well done vid.
posted by dobbs at 6:36 PM on January 10, 2004

jeez ... I just had XP pro open 53 instances of internet explorer. Had a dvd paused, saving a mars pix in firebird and accidently right clicked 'send' instead of 'save as'. I think having nelson mail organizer in front of outlook confused it, or it didn't like me switching the default browser to mazilla. Do you think computers have life?
posted by JohnR at 6:44 PM on January 10, 2004

I think it was meant to be more funny than anything, so people can chill out about it. I got a kick out of the fact that he did the whole thing on a Mac more than anything.
posted by djspicerack at 6:49 PM on January 10, 2004

*YAWN* I am tired. Tired of people being angry at any operating system because they require you to learn a behavior. Of course it is stupid that copying files from a CD to the desktop requires the option key to be held down while dragging... until you learn the behavior. It is also stupid that we have to use a "mouse" to "drag" a "file" at all. All computers require you to learn things that do not make sense compared to our historical way of doing things. Why else do children eat up computers and seniors often struggle with them? Children are cognitively at their peak to learn these behavioral challenges. I own and work on a Mac. I don't care one lick about OSX or XP or Linux or whatever so long as the person running their OS is comfortable with it. Guess what I had when I was a kid? An Amiga... but then a Mac. (And I think the Amiga was the most stable computer I have ever used.) This guy just needs a behavioral adjustment.
posted by fezdel at 6:52 PM on January 10, 2004

I've been running OS X for 6 months so far and I've only had one crash near the beginning. Nothing since. And I have it running for weeks at a time without a restart. OS 9 crashed on me daily, but this thing is solid like a solid thing.

Anyone complaining about school macs should check to see if there's actually a mac tech on staff. Chances are there isn't and they're doing wonky things to the poor beast. It's tragic, really.

Still, I enjoyed the video. Disagree with it, but I enjoyed it.
posted by Hildegarde at 6:55 PM on January 10, 2004

This video is a little old, and the guy is obviously a pro video type (or at least he makes it sound like he is) so he'd be talking about the general experience with OS 9.

There are a few OS 9 faithful that I know, and they seem to not have many problems with it, but it wasn't until OS X finally took hold that I could even consider the mac.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:22 PM on January 10, 2004

Dumb. As is anything that proposes a difference between Macs and "PCs" Are these people required by law not to say "cheaply manufactured personal computer no doubt running the Windows operating system" instead?
As long as Mac vs. "PC" debate continues, it'll mean that Windows users will always be able to say that Macs. Of course it works the other way around, too--would you rather use a computer or a Computer?
posted by emelenjr at 7:35 PM on January 10, 2004

Guh. "...say that Macs aren't computers."
posted by emelenjr at 7:47 PM on January 10, 2004

He's definitely talking about OS X. OS 9 doesn't have a dock that makes the updater hop up and down like a Jack Russell.
posted by Hildegarde at 8:30 PM on January 10, 2004

Completely inexcusable. I mean, how dare anybody suggest that the Mac is less than nectar of the gods? You'd think that Mac users were humorless acolytes who would hand over their firstborn to Steve Jobs without a second thought?

(looks at thread)

Oh, wait a minute.
posted by ed at 8:47 PM on January 10, 2004

Hey, come on! I thought it was funny! I have a sense of humour!


Really, I DO!!!
posted by Hildegarde at 9:05 PM on January 10, 2004

hahaha. splendid ed, splendid! i used to do macs at school... old piece of shit, but thats because they were abused by the students. mine ran tip-top when i formatted it and started fresh. others kept begging me to come and help them. i prefer windows, but macs are straight too. and the new ones look so damn cool.(but too expensive)

i run Windows 2000. up weeks at a time. dont like XP too much because its panicky and whiny. one little issue and next thing you know you get "NTLDR is missing" or something of that nature.

anyways, macs suck, pc's suck. the only operating system thats teh shiznit is my brain.
posted by spidre at 9:09 PM on January 10, 2004

Mac users are masochists. I've never seen a group of people whine and complain more about something, then turn completely around and praise it like it was Ghandi. Mac users enjoy punishing themselves.
posted by fatbobsmith at 9:21 PM on January 10, 2004

For some reason these little spoofs of the ads with the goofy elephant walk music never gets old for me.

Thanks for the link.
posted by tomplus2 at 9:26 PM on January 10, 2004

dumb.....don't like the computer then don't buy one. it's not like you don't have a freakin choice. it's just a tool. it doesn't make you cooler. doesn't make you more handsome or attract friends. it just works or it doesn't.

in other words: get a life.
posted by photoslob at 9:48 PM on January 10, 2004

By the way, I've only had three or four total crashes of XP since it came out on my workstation, so people making fun of computer stability to me rings kind of hollo

My XP crashes at least once a day. Maybe you aren't really doing anything with your PC.
posted by HTuttle at 10:05 PM on January 10, 2004

Mac users definitely do complain, but more out of an expectation of perfection rather than because there's more to complain about.

If you ever want to hear a biblical diatribe about spring loaded folders, or a sad lament on the retiring of the happy mac startup logo, you'll find it and more like it on any mac discussion site.

Windows users, on the other hand, are faced with things like Windows XP's 'find' app that doesn't even let you type in a filename you want to find without trying to trick you into using MSN to search for email addresses. It's a totally different world, and users seem more defeated from the get-go.
posted by Space Coyote at 12:49 AM on January 11, 2004

It's funny. Laugh.

If you can't laugh at it, you DEFINITELY take your computer too seriously.

Some like Windows. Some like Mac. Deal.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 1:02 AM on January 11, 2004

Every computer crashes, because every OS sucks. (quicktime)
posted by bashos_frog at 2:32 AM on January 11, 2004

personally i think these "switch" spoofs are better. even if you don't think they're as funny, they look better.

maybe instead of mac vs. windows we can argue bard vs. umass.
go hampshire!
posted by magikeye at 2:33 AM on January 11, 2004

Seriously, though, ever tried to use OS X while, err.. intoxicated? If you have your dock set small, and your icons zoom, it is near impossible to click the right one, with them moving under the cursor and all. Annoying.

I thought the clip was hilarious, and I use OS X, Linux and Win2K at home. Win XP at work, too.
posted by bashos_frog at 2:38 AM on January 11, 2004

I restart osx once every three weeks - only because usually i've installed the newest security update, or other apple software panel update and it's required.

Sure Safari might crash from time to time, (but then i tend to have 20 tabs open) or Photoshop might nosedive, but as intensive as PS is, and the fact I'm using a 4 year old G4... I can't say I'm too perplexed as to why.

I have had two grey screens of death (the dark multi-language screen telling me I have to restart NOW) in all this time. ( I started using OSX the day iPhoto was released, what two/three years ago?), and when rebooted, it came back perfect.

OSX is the best I've ever seen macintosh and I've been on the bus since 1992. I do not ever once regret updating as it has improved every single update since it came out. Panther is great, Expose is amazing, I can't work without it now.

This guy is a hoser, who is NOT describing OSX but OS9 mostly. Jesus. What a PC dork.
posted by Dome-O-Rama at 4:08 AM on January 11, 2004

That was the funniest parody ad I've seen in a long time. For any PC users who had to try to understand how a Mac works, this guy is so right.

I use both for different reasons, but I definitely like PCs more, just because everything on the Mac always seems backwards to me -- like a mirror version.

That's what this guy is talking about -- that type of experience -- plus he made an excellent parody!
posted by nyukid at 4:17 AM on January 11, 2004

ANYONE who gets this worked up over this OS war thing is too high strung. I laughed, watching this.

If you watch the video with a mac user, you'll notice they laugh when he gets to something they've experienced.

If nothing else, I give apple credit for their advertising. I used to think that macs didn't crash at all. I thought that was the advantage they had for such a closed universe of programs that are written for it. Quality vs quantity sort of thing.

live and learn, crash and burn.
posted by Busithoth at 5:47 AM on January 11, 2004

Back in the days of System 6 and System 7, I worked in a couple of Mac shops, and the joke was "Macintosh gives you the power to be your best....after you've restarted six or seven times and rebuilt your desktop."

If you sit long enough by the bank of a river, the bodies of all your computer's OS developers will float by.
posted by alumshubby at 7:03 AM on January 11, 2004

I thought this was pretty hysterical (as are the knee-jerk negative Mac luvr reactions.) It was a pretty good parody; fast-paced, giving a list of apparently very real issues (which everyone here seems to admit to at least one of), and dispelling the myth that Macintosh is the pinnacle of perfection.

Having never had any extensive experience with a Mac, I've only ever seen reports from hard-core Mac users and enthusiastic switchers, who claim that the Mac never crashes (or crashed once under extreme circumstances that was mostly their fault), never locks up, and bestows eternal youth and beauty upon the wielder.

It reminds me of how, when I decided to get a tongue ring, every last person I'd spoken to with one told me that it didn't hurt a bit. Fuckers.
posted by precocious at 9:16 AM on January 11, 2004

He would have fewer problems if he wasn't such an idiot.

(and I suspect he will have exactly the same problems on
whatever other OSes he tries, idiocy isn't platform specific)
posted by milovoo at 10:28 AM on January 11, 2004

Yeah, I don't really get the accidental deletion thing. I mean, you'd have to accidentally drag your document to the trash, and in some kind of freak set of keystrokes, empty the trash unwittingly. That's a lot of idiotic accidents, really.

I get saving over a document by accident, though. But I mean, you have to take SOME responsibility for your own actions. If PCs don't ever really delete anything, I understand now why you need to defrag the bastard every 20 seconds. I mean, when you say "delete this", macs delete it, they don't just rename it or hide it from you.

Sheesh.
posted by Hildegarde at 10:40 AM on January 11, 2004

At the risk of sounding like someone who takes their OS-of-choice "way too seriously":

I've seen almost all the anti-Mac parodies, and some are even funny... but this one isn't. Why? Because it doesn't make any sense. The guy behind it clearly doesn't understand his technology, and is masking his insecurity behind generalizations and falsehoods.

He claims that his Mac just "shuts off" for no reason. I have never seen this happen on any one of the thousands of Macs I have worked on. Ever. (Now the PC's on the other hand...)

He refers to applications as "executables" and is annoyed that Apple's Software Update fixes his OS for him (as if Windows' Update Mechanism, or the Messenger vulnerability is any better.)

He calls the Apple/Control key a "cloverleaf" and doesn't even know how to force a restart (Control-Option-Power.) Instead, he says he has to unplug the machine and take out the battery. He's applying Old World hacks to New World tools. He's not "thinking different."

Based on his script, it's sounds to me like he's an old-fashioned DOS guy, and he's just bitter that the entire world has moved to the user-friendliness of a GUI. Someone apparently forced him to use a Mac, and it made him feel like his intelligence has been wasted all these years; he can't be a smug DOS guy anymore, and now the bar is raised. No one cares about DOS anymore, now it's about letting the computer do it's thing so the user can be creative. And that pisses him off. Because he's not creative. All he's good at is DOS. And no one cares. I'm sure the horse trainers made fun of Henry Ford's contraption too.

He's not a Mac guy, he never will be, and he feels like he's been left out of the party.

Seriously, some of the Apple parodies have made me laugh in the past -- this one didn't. It would be funnier if it had any shred of truth to it -- this guy just doesn't get it.

(Not to mention this video meme made the rounds about 7 months ago.) :-p
posted by Fofer at 11:26 AM on January 11, 2004

Mmmmm that's good parody.

If you can't laugh at it, you DEFINITELY take your computer too seriously.

My sentiment exactly. Just because many people have little trouble with their own Mac setup doesn't mean that everyone else does too, and that your own experience invalidates the entire parody. Get over it, laugh a little.

And of course, whenever there is talk of ease of use, this kind of sentiment must rear its head:
He would have fewer problems if he wasn't such an idiot.

Yes, blame the user. Not only is it the user's fault that he/she finds something hard to usem but he/she must be mentally inferior. That must be it.
posted by holycola at 11:28 AM on January 11, 2004

He may or may not be mentally inferior although the fact that
some of the youngest kids in grade school can handle
these machines without difficulty does bring that into question.
posted by milovoo at 12:24 PM on January 11, 2004

Fofer, you sound like someone who takes their OS-of-choice "way too seriously".

While I'm not a Mac person per say, I have worked in a Mac-oriented office and I have seen -- and experienced -- many of these things many times. I'd rather get a Blue Screen of Death than having some application randomly lock up, hit force+quit, and have THE ENTIRE SYSTEM lock up completely. Granted, most of these are OS9 issues; but I've seen my fair share of OSX Kernel Panics.
posted by mkn at 1:51 PM on January 11, 2004

That's the problem -- those are OS9 issues. (I fell in love with OSX back in 10.0.4, the first time that IE crashed and I could just restart it while the rest of the OS soldiered on. After the old OS9way, in which the entire Mac would lock up if you restarted a crashed program, this was like magic. I know other OSes had already figured this part out, but hey...) The kernel panics are so much rarer in OSX that I honestly thought he was talking about 9 in most of the video until he started talking about the Dock.

I thought it had its funny moments, but mostly I was just wondering how the hell he could have these problems that no one else has with OSX. Hell, my not-very-technologically-capable mom is running OSX on a 4 year-old Mac in a house full of grandkids and the thing is stable.
posted by litlnemo at 2:28 PM on January 11, 2004

This is really amusing. Thus far, he's been called an idiot because he accidentally deleted something (I've done it, call it a finger twitch) and was upset that he couldn't retrieve it; because he's not using the sort of terminology that someone who undoubtedly works in the computer field would use and-- oh, I love this,

He's not a Mac guy, he never will be, and he feels like he's been left out of the party.

That's hysterical! Is there a "Users of Macs" club I don't know about? Seriously, I'm pretty sure that there's a "guys with dreds" club, I've seen them do that casual chin dip to each other on the streets and when passing each other in vehicles. I wouldn't be surprised. Is there a secret handshake, too?

I'd love to hear from some other fanatics, this stuff's priceless. Albeit, strangely elitist and slightly irrational, but priceless.
posted by precocious at 5:16 PM on January 11, 2004

PC vs Mac is so 1998
posted by matteo at 6:50 PM on January 11, 2004

I got this error tonight as I tried to import an MPEG-2 clip in to Windows Movie Maker.

Wanna guess how quickly I gave up this little project?
posted by bhayes82 at 9:23 PM on January 11, 2004

As much as I applaud the spirit of this movie, he did use the phrase "if you know what you're doing with DOS, you can..."

I think it's all over at that point. I hear if you "know what you're doing" with the MacOS 7 debugger, you can turn fucking RC Cola into Jack Daniels.

Where did this guy go to J-School? Redmond U?
posted by scarabic at 10:49 PM on January 11, 2004