My prefererred operating system is superior to your preferred operating system

Wasn’t that an Onion story? Anyway.

File this one under predictable: Guardian writer and professional misanthrope Charlie Brooker calls the Mac faithful a bunch of smug tossers, the smug tosser element of the Mac faithful wades in, a PC versus Mac thread kicks off and there’s the occasional Linux evangelist too.

It’s not all bad, though. All hail commenter Schmamba!

Funny how these comments all boil down to:

A) Hello! I’m a PC
B) Hello! I’m A Mac
C) Hello Charlie! I wish i was your friend


Posted

in

,

by

Comments

0 responses to “My prefererred operating system is superior to your preferred operating system”

  1. Ms Mac

    I had a good chuckle at that yesterday which was only ruined when I got to the comments and was rolling my eyes at the pc & mac fanboys by about comment 4. Mr Mac, the house Linux Evangelist, was being very boring while he was reading the comments and mumbling insanely under his breath about the lack of representation of Linux users in the debate. Geeks!

    ;-)

  2. This is what Brooker does. Why do people get bothered by him? Unfortunately, this article seemed lacking in his usual (admittedly sparse) well turned phrases.

    >>and there’s the occasional Linux evangelist too.
    Slightly to the side. There were a series of Dilberts the other week about a superior alien being coming to earth to share his superior tech knowledge. This was the last one. You’ve no idea how much that talked to me – I’ve been in this job too long.

    Much further to the side: Mother-in-law jokes? Tsk, tsk.

  3. Very funny article. It’s obvious bait, but what the heck – it made me laugh.

    I’m a current Linux user but I’m fairly sure that I’ll be getting an iMac next. Why? Because it seems to me to have a far more user-friendly interface than Windows. Plus I’m a bit shallow and think it just looks so bloody cool!

    Please don’t hate me ;¬)

  4. Gary

    Tony – Unfortunately, this article seemed lacking in his usual (admittedly sparse) well turned phrases.

    I’m sure I’m reading too much into it, but I thought the Vonnegut reference on Screen Wipe the other night was interesting. Early Vonnegut stuff was hilarious, but later stuff tries to plaster gags on top of pretty obvious cynicism and anger. Obviously I don’t know how much Brooker exaggerates his angry cynic persona, but I think his columns have been going the same way for a while. Overanalysis? Me?

    Much further to the side: Mother-in-law jokes? Tsk, tsk.

    Was that the Fred show? I don’t know why, but I’ve been more nervous than usual doing that stuff lately. Which manifests itself as babbling. I’m even worse with podcasts. Thank god for editing.

    Rutty – Plus I’m a bit shallow and think it just looks so bloody cool!

    My main reason for using a Mac is, I’m sure, the most devastating anti-PC argument you’ll ever hear. When I write stuff on my Mac, the way it renders 9 point Helvetica makes my words look pretty. Which proves that anyone who buys a PC is an idiot, or something.

    The thing that bugs me about fanboys – not just mac fanboys, but fanboys in general – is the assumption that anyone who doesn’t follow the One True Path is an idiot. If only you were educated, you’d choose the same disposable bit of consumer electronics as me! The idea that someone can sit down, work out what they want/need and come to a different conclusion to them just doesn’t compute.

    Naturally I’m well aware that most people *aren’t* fanboys – it’s just that the fanboys are vocal and visible – and I’m equally aware that this is an ancient and rather dull argument. But what’s the point of having a blog if you can’t rehash ancient and dull arguments?

    I’ve been asked for PC/Mac buying advice twice in the last fortnight. Once by a friend, and once on the radio. The former was for business use with a bit of home stuff, the latter was advice on buying a multi-purpose computer from scratch. In the former case it turned out a Dell (or whatever) pre-installed with Vista was the best bet; in the latter, I said Mac – but only if you could afford an iMac and didn’t own a games console. In fanboy land the first scenario is because I’m mental/uninformed/an MS shill, and the latter shows I’ve seen the light but I still need time in a re-education camp to appreciate that the Mac Mini is the greatest thing in the world ever and that Macs are *brilliant* for games.

    There’s a definite lack of self-awareness in fanboy land, I reckon. From where I’m sitting there’s no difference between forum posters whose sig lists every last bit of their Mac’s spec and forum posters whose sig includes fifteen photographs of Nicola from Girls Aloud, and there’s precious little difference between “Macs rule! PCs suck”/ “PCs rule! Macs suck!” arguments and “OMG! Sugababes are much cooler than Girls Aloud”/”You’re a cloth-eared get! GA RAWK!” barneys.

  5. mupwangle

    I’m sorry, but Macs *are* brilliant for games. All seven of them are excellent.

  6. Mother-in-law jokes: It were the .net podcast

  7. Gary

    Ah, right. I was very nervous and very much gabbling in that one.

  8. In more post diversion: Haven’t watched any of the recent series of Screen Wipe, but have been…erm…taping it. However, I did think that Popmouse on the Davina McCall Room 101 the other night was one of the most profound pieces of satire on the sleb-obsessed dumbing down of our culture that the represents the epitome of that I’ve ever seen.

    Got me thinking that they should get Chris Morris to present the next series (or at least be heavily involved in it). OK, no-one’ll go on to the series after, but it’d be fun.

  9. Gary

    Popmouse? Is there a torrent you could point me towards?

  10. UKNova? (Not sparking it up here, as I’m cookied in and it disconnects me at home.)

    She chose Sinatra “but, only his singing”.

  11. Fair enough. I think his singing’s hugely overrated. His acting, however, was excellent.