Joy and Pain, Sunshine and Rain
June 19, 2010 4:52 AM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is just a weak comic intended to start an argument. -- vacapinta
Man, I don't want to be Captain Literal, but that's not really what it's like to own an Apple product. Maybe that's what it's like to an Apple fanboy or something, but most people I know who own Apple products are satisfied with them and don't feel the need to always buy each new iteration.
Plus, new car lines come out every year. TVs improve every four months. Gaming systems. Tis the nature of technology to improve incrementally, not just Apple. Oh, and the joke is old.
Oy. Grandpa Killjoy McGrumperson over here needs more coffee.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 4:59 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Plus, new car lines come out every year. TVs improve every four months. Gaming systems. Tis the nature of technology to improve incrementally, not just Apple. Oh, and the joke is old.
Oy. Grandpa Killjoy McGrumperson over here needs more coffee.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 4:59 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
I agree AHWO, I just liked the comic, it reminded me of INTERNET!
posted by bwg at 5:04 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by bwg at 5:04 AM on June 19, 2010
I like The Oatmeal as much as the next guy, but this joke is just old and tired and this post is clearly not front-page-material. What's next, some dis about one-button mice?
posted by mrbarrett.com at 5:05 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by mrbarrett.com at 5:05 AM on June 19, 2010
What's next, some dis about one-button mice?
No shit hey. As I sit at my desk with a Logitech G500 with its 17 trillion buttons I often wonder why people bother.
Also, do any other Mac users go absolutely fucking batty with trying to use PC trackpads? I reach for my two finger scrolling and two finger right click and realise they're not there.
I don't know how people put up with some of their trackpad settings. My mum has tap to click enabled on hers and it drives me up the bloody wall.
posted by Talez at 5:10 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
No shit hey. As I sit at my desk with a Logitech G500 with its 17 trillion buttons I often wonder why people bother.
Also, do any other Mac users go absolutely fucking batty with trying to use PC trackpads? I reach for my two finger scrolling and two finger right click and realise they're not there.
I don't know how people put up with some of their trackpad settings. My mum has tap to click enabled on hers and it drives me up the bloody wall.
posted by Talez at 5:10 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
I own an iPod and a MacBook Pro, but I am in no way like this poor little egg-shaped bastard in the comic. I don't want or need more.
Apple stuff is overpriced, though, that's for sure.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:10 AM on June 19, 2010
Apple stuff is overpriced, though, that's for sure.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:10 AM on June 19, 2010
metafilter: Last week's Digg and reddit.
Surely MeFi is better than this.
posted by sien at 5:17 AM on June 19, 2010
Surely MeFi is better than this.
posted by sien at 5:17 AM on June 19, 2010
This ain't a joke, it's a warning. I just read an article in playboy by an anonymous apple employee that apple is working on how to REQUIRE you to turn in your old apple devices when a new version is released. I know, sounds fishy but even if it's not true it sounds true so we should just accept it as truth.
posted by sexymofo at 5:22 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by sexymofo at 5:22 AM on June 19, 2010
Apple stuff is overpriced, though, that's for sure.
Actually, if you admit to owning two of their major product lines, it sounds like they're priced just right.
I don't think Apple's business plan is to have every Apple owner own every iteration of every product simultaneously. There are some zealots who will, but realistically, the "ipod and Macbook" people are the bread and butter and there are a lot of them out there.
posted by Hiker at 5:23 AM on June 19, 2010
Actually, if you admit to owning two of their major product lines, it sounds like they're priced just right.
I don't think Apple's business plan is to have every Apple owner own every iteration of every product simultaneously. There are some zealots who will, but realistically, the "ipod and Macbook" people are the bread and butter and there are a lot of them out there.
posted by Hiker at 5:23 AM on June 19, 2010
Wait, I thought comics were supposed to be funny and not lame retreads of worn out stereotypes that don't have much basis in reality?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:25 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:25 AM on June 19, 2010
Yeah Talez, the audacity of some people, setting up their computers to satisy their own wants rather than Daddy Steve's.
This is exactly what Apple do. Case in point: my SO had one of the last iBooks and was gifted a new iPod classic. Plugs it in and it just works, right?
Nope. Apparently, Mac OS X 10.4 wasn't shiny enough for this iPod. It wanted 10.5 so it could play with the latest version of iTunes. Forget that she isn't interested in the store or anything and all she wants is to manage her MP3 collection and synch it to her iPod.
Thing is, 10.5 wouldn't work on her PPC iBook.
Cut to 1 hour later and she's running Ubuntu on the same laptop and happily synching her brand new iPod with Banshee, Rhythmbox, whatever. And Apple lost a customer for ever.
posted by littleredspiders at 5:28 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is exactly what Apple do. Case in point: my SO had one of the last iBooks and was gifted a new iPod classic. Plugs it in and it just works, right?
Nope. Apparently, Mac OS X 10.4 wasn't shiny enough for this iPod. It wanted 10.5 so it could play with the latest version of iTunes. Forget that she isn't interested in the store or anything and all she wants is to manage her MP3 collection and synch it to her iPod.
Thing is, 10.5 wouldn't work on her PPC iBook.
Cut to 1 hour later and she's running Ubuntu on the same laptop and happily synching her brand new iPod with Banshee, Rhythmbox, whatever. And Apple lost a customer for ever.
posted by littleredspiders at 5:28 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
The Banana PC Junior: Now with tint control!
As an aside, it's kind of funny that Apple stuck with the one-button idea so intensely, until they could pretend they hadn't been wrong all along. That's what multi-finger clicks on the trackpad and area-sensitive buttons on the Mighty Mouse are.
It's also funny how religiously Apple boosters clung to the idea that single-button mice were superior until Apple provided a proper alternative.
posted by Malor at 5:32 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
As an aside, it's kind of funny that Apple stuck with the one-button idea so intensely, until they could pretend they hadn't been wrong all along. That's what multi-finger clicks on the trackpad and area-sensitive buttons on the Mighty Mouse are.
It's also funny how religiously Apple boosters clung to the idea that single-button mice were superior until Apple provided a proper alternative.
posted by Malor at 5:32 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Teehee. You guys are hilarious.
posted by BeerFilter at 5:36 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by BeerFilter at 5:36 AM on June 19, 2010
Dude, you bought the iPod, you're already hooked.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:36 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:36 AM on June 19, 2010
I bought my first Mac in 2006, the first-gen Intel iMac. It's still running, and it's still pretty zippy, which is a lot more than I can say for any 4+-year-old PC I've ever owned (although that could be due to the pace of tangible hardware advances slowing way down). My 4g (black & white) iPod from 2005 still works, although barely. I'm pretty satisfied, actually, with the Apple hardware.
But yeah, there does seem to be a--maybe not large, but at least vocal--demographic that just lusts after new hardware. Why? Computers are tools. Use them until they wear out or stop doing what you need.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:40 AM on June 19, 2010
But yeah, there does seem to be a--maybe not large, but at least vocal--demographic that just lusts after new hardware. Why? Computers are tools. Use them until they wear out or stop doing what you need.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:40 AM on June 19, 2010
mrbarrett.com said: "What's next, some dis about one-button mice?"
A Christian inspirational video.
posted by sidereal at 5:46 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
A Christian inspirational video.
posted by sidereal at 5:46 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, the Apple page for the Classic says 10.4 should work with iTunes. My 10.4, PPC, machine works fine with iTunes 9.1.1. Running software update reveals that iTunes 9.2 is ready to download to this PPC G4 machine.
So, littleredspiders, are you sure the Classic wouldn't work with iTunes?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:50 AM on June 19, 2010
So, littleredspiders, are you sure the Classic wouldn't work with iTunes?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:50 AM on June 19, 2010
theoatmeal is a pretty terrible, comic? I don't even know if it's a comic. It just takes really obvious cliche things and paces through them in comic form. Most of the time they blow things way out of proportion to make it "funnier". "Apple products cost money, so I'll make it cost 12000$, hah."
posted by Napierzaza at 5:51 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Napierzaza at 5:51 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
My hammer is better than your hammer.
posted by crunchland at 5:52 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by crunchland at 5:52 AM on June 19, 2010
Apparently, Mac OS X 10.4 wasn't shiny enough for this iPod. It wanted 10.5...
Not saying you're wrong about yours not working, but the iPod classic does work under 10.4.11... Maybe something else was wrong.
posted by Huck500 at 5:55 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Not saying you're wrong about yours not working, but the iPod classic does work under 10.4.11... Maybe something else was wrong.
posted by Huck500 at 5:55 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Materialism is a treadmill. Film at 11.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:58 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:58 AM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Tis the nature of technology to improve incrementally, not just Apple.
Once a technology can adequately serve the stated purpose, you no longer have to be chasing the future. This is why, for instance, some industrial control systems still run DOS.
Apple's business often features showing the possibility that the desired utility is likely to be achieved in the near future. Web-surfing on a low resolution portable wireless device is just as much about doing something, as it is about demonstrating what it might be like once it actually becomes possible to carry around the functionality of a desktop or laptop with high speed internet, and rehearsing for the day that it happens. You pay to participate in a process of questing, in the hopes of leveraging your preparation and training.
That doesn't make this funny, though.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:59 AM on June 19, 2010
Once a technology can adequately serve the stated purpose, you no longer have to be chasing the future. This is why, for instance, some industrial control systems still run DOS.
Apple's business often features showing the possibility that the desired utility is likely to be achieved in the near future. Web-surfing on a low resolution portable wireless device is just as much about doing something, as it is about demonstrating what it might be like once it actually becomes possible to carry around the functionality of a desktop or laptop with high speed internet, and rehearsing for the day that it happens. You pay to participate in a process of questing, in the hopes of leveraging your preparation and training.
That doesn't make this funny, though.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:59 AM on June 19, 2010
I own a 1992 Powerbook Duo 230 that still runs perfectly (OS 6) although there's nothing I can do with it. I wrote my PhD dissertation on that machine while on the road with my band -- it introduced me to the possibilities for mobile computing. 20 years later and I am writing this on a MBP that literally arrived Wednesday. I think it's my 17th personal Mac in the intervening years, although the personal ones and the office/lab ones sort of run together so I am not sure.
In all that time, I've had only a couple of major hardware failures that weren't my own fault, and one of those was a lemon that failed early on and was replaced by Apple. I subject my machines to pretty extreme conditions. My latest black Macbook (the one this MBP replaced, and itself the replacement for the lemon, which was a 2008 black Macbook) lasted 2 years and 7 trips to the arctic, where I often had to use it under brutal conditions. It still works fine except for a few dead pixels on the screen and the lettering being worn completely off the keyboard. It will remain my sidearm for arctic use.
Call me a fanboy or whatever, but after 20 years my loyalty is secure.
posted by fourcheesemac at 6:01 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
In all that time, I've had only a couple of major hardware failures that weren't my own fault, and one of those was a lemon that failed early on and was replaced by Apple. I subject my machines to pretty extreme conditions. My latest black Macbook (the one this MBP replaced, and itself the replacement for the lemon, which was a 2008 black Macbook) lasted 2 years and 7 trips to the arctic, where I often had to use it under brutal conditions. It still works fine except for a few dead pixels on the screen and the lettering being worn completely off the keyboard. It will remain my sidearm for arctic use.
Call me a fanboy or whatever, but after 20 years my loyalty is secure.
posted by fourcheesemac at 6:01 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
Also, do any other Mac users go absolutely fucking batty with trying to use PC trackpads?
Seriously. Haters are gonna hate, and whatever, but as far as I'm concerned a machine without a multitouch trackpad might as well not have a screen. Going back to using PC trackpads is infuriating; I might as well be wearing oven mitts. The Multitouch trackpad, like the iPhone, like Tivo or owning a dishwasher, you might like it a little or a lot, you might think it's rough around the edges in some places, but you are absolutely not going back to not having them if you've got any say in the matter.
Macs are expensive in the same way cheap hardware is inexpensive and Linux is free: it's only true if your time and attention have a dollar value of zero.
posted by mhoye at 6:01 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
Seriously. Haters are gonna hate, and whatever, but as far as I'm concerned a machine without a multitouch trackpad might as well not have a screen. Going back to using PC trackpads is infuriating; I might as well be wearing oven mitts. The Multitouch trackpad, like the iPhone, like Tivo or owning a dishwasher, you might like it a little or a lot, you might think it's rough around the edges in some places, but you are absolutely not going back to not having them if you've got any say in the matter.
Macs are expensive in the same way cheap hardware is inexpensive and Linux is free: it's only true if your time and attention have a dollar value of zero.
posted by mhoye at 6:01 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
Regardless of the quality of the comic and lack of any fresh insight, what's horrifying to me is that this is exactly the mindset that Apple (and others hoping to capture a share of the brand/cult's marketing magic) is trying to create among their audience.
Without naming names, once an editor/founder of a gadget/bling blog pointed to my old digital camera and said it was high time I got something shiny/new instead of that old thing. I said it still worked fine but his response gave me food for thought in that the point wasn't that it could still do its job but that it was out of style.
As someone who believes we've come to the end of the 'consumption/consumerism/new and improved' pattern as the only path forward or the best/right approach, this comic exemplifies the essence of mainstream consumer culture conditioning that has been going on for some three generations now.
But yeah, there does seem to be a--maybe not large, but at least vocal--demographic that just lusts after new hardware. Why? Computers are tools. Use them until they wear out or stop doing what you need.
posted by infini at 6:03 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Without naming names, once an editor/founder of a gadget/bling blog pointed to my old digital camera and said it was high time I got something shiny/new instead of that old thing. I said it still worked fine but his response gave me food for thought in that the point wasn't that it could still do its job but that it was out of style.
As someone who believes we've come to the end of the 'consumption/consumerism/new and improved' pattern as the only path forward or the best/right approach, this comic exemplifies the essence of mainstream consumer culture conditioning that has been going on for some three generations now.
But yeah, there does seem to be a--maybe not large, but at least vocal--demographic that just lusts after new hardware. Why? Computers are tools. Use them until they wear out or stop doing what you need.
posted by infini at 6:03 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by bwg at 4:54 AM on June 19, 2010