Low End Mac Reader Specials
TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com
OWC: Get the Right Memory / Ram for your Mac. Top Quality, Competitive Prices, Lifetime Warranty. Expert Support and Video Installation Guidies too! 4.0GB Matched Sets from $87.99, Options up to 32GB. Click here
Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how
to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full
Tilt Poker Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.
The Exclusivist Mac
.txt" -->
- 2001.05.16
Last time I outlined the basic Mac
"Populist" user. To recap:
The Mac Populist believes that Macs should appear on every desk in
every home and office. Their interpretation of "The Computer for the
Rest of Us" is that the Mac is a computer meant for the mass market,
and it's destiny is to be the machine that dethrones the "suits" who
champion computers that are hard to use and frustrate users.
While this may sound like a perfectly reasonable interpretation of
"The Computer for the Rest of Us," other interpretations exist.
One such interpretation is that "The Computer for the Rest of Us" is
the computer for the people who "get it." Some Mac users clearly feel
that using a Mac marks them as a different breed. They are not the type
of people who follow the masses or conform to computer industry
norms.
Much of this attitude can attributed to Apple's marketing. A small
market share along with the slogans "The Computer for the Rest of Us"
and "Think Different" have created a brand that has (more or less)
created an aura of exclusivity around Apple machines. The "Think
Different" ad campaign in particular compounds this exclusionist
perception.
While the Think Different ad campaign was undoubtedly formed to help
the buying public realize that Apple was out to smash accepted computer
industry wisdom, their use of high profile figures that are anything
but ordinary people placed the exclusionist subtext.
Of course, there are many Mac users that truly believe that their
choice of computer platform makes a serious statement about who they
are or, in this case, are not. They are not the buttoned-down,
mainstream, tie wearing, sheeplike public. They are individuals in the
computing world. They are the people that feel they march to the tune
of a different drummer.
"The Rest of Us" in this case is the people who are not "them" in
the commercial. However, the exclusivist believes that the "them"
(conformist, boring, stodgy people) are not restricted to the business
world but include all those poor people who don't realize that there
are alternatives and willingly buy Windows.
Of course, the exclusivist enjoys some smug satisfaction about her
or his computer choice. They are wiser, more independent, and less
prone to follow the herd.
While the Populist user wants to see a Mac on every desk, the
exclusivist would prefer that the Mac remain a niche product. If the
Mac becomes ubiquitous, they will just be another face in the crowd,
one of the herd.
Of course, I've been generalizing in these two columns. Every person
is different. For some, the Mac means a lot; to others, it is nothing
more than a tool that gets the job done.
Invariably, I find that most Mac users fall somewhere in between.
They'd like to see a Mac on every desktop but are content to be part of
a minority platform.
Links for the Day
Recent Content
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06.
Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06.
/newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05.
Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04.
SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04.
The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03.
Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03.
New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03.
Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02.
Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02.
Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02.
Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30.
Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30.
Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30.
System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
