Absolut MACsochists

It's amazing what people can get you to do with a slick advertising campaign and a flair for beautiful designs.

W put it rather succinctly (and I quote him completely out of context): Apple can make you buy anything. It can take an MP3 player, remove the functionality of the LCD screen and make it seem like they just reinvented sliced bread. Their selling point? It's unpredictable and thus cool.
I've come to appreciate the Mac Marketing Machine for the sheer genius of their spin doctors. To illustrate, let's put up the following arguments that have been whitewashed and completely retconned by said machine:

1. Powerpc's are vastly superior to Intel.
   
2. There will never be a need for video on an iPod because people will never want to view videos on such small screens.
   
3. Mac OS's are vastly superior to Windows. A Mac will never boot windows.
   
4. Macs will never need a two button mouse. One is enough.
   

Hmmm...3 arguments. 180 degree turns. And yet, despite the initial outcry of Macheads wailing and screaming, we now have the the brainwashed masses echoing the Mac Marketing Machine:

1. Intels on Macs (Hereby known as Mintels) surpass the processing power of Powerpc's...the production of which is so archaic that they've come up with no architectural reforms for yonks.
   
2. Video is the new audio on iPods. Video Podcasts are the r0xx0rz.
   
3. Boot camp's going to create a bridge for Windows users to move over to the Mac.
4. Behold, the Mighty Mouse!
   

The 3rd point's the one that I have most issue with. If Windows users are moving over to Macs because Windows now boots on Mac machines, why don't they just buy a cheaper Wintel?!

It boggles the mind. If I'm comfortable with Windows to work on my stuff and if moving over to a Mac because it boots Windows means that I'll be using Windows predominantly on the machine (I can't even call it a Mac anymore...[Looks like a Mac, sounds like a Wintel and works like a hybrid]) why am I paying more for the little pretty apple casing? Who does Boot Camp actually appeal to? Not I. I'm going for the cheaper Wintel system. The only people that are really going to buy into this technology are going to be Macheads who can't play games on their systems.

Let's just drop this in:
Macbook Pro:
15.4-Inch TFT display with 1440x900 resolution
2.0 Ghz Intel Core Duo with 2MB shared L2 Cache
667Mhz FSB
1 GB 667Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
100GB 5400rpm Serial ATA HDD
Slot Loading Superdrive (DVD+-RW)
ATI Mobility 1600 with 256 GDDR3 RAM

Total cost: $4588

Acer 8204:
15.4-Inch TFT display with 1680x1050 resolution
2.0 Ghz Intel Dual Core Processor with 2MB shared L2 Cache
667Mhz FSB
1GB DDR2 SDRAM
100GB 5400rpm Serial ATA HDD with Anti Shock protection
DVD RW Multi format drive
ATI Mobility 1600 with 512 MB Hypermemory

Total cost: $3998

It's the same machine that I'm going to be using Windows on and it costs $600 less...Hmm...which to choose?

Somehow or another, Mac's been able to effectively do what the Singapore government's been doing all this time. Here's what I mean:

Step 1: Listen to what the people want improved.
Step 2: Tell them that they're better off without the improvements that they are suggesting.
Step 3: Announce that you are (innovatively) coming out with new ideas.
Step 4: Implement improvements that you came out with. (Which coincidentally are similar to the ideas that the people have been suggesting)
Step 5: Sell the idea back to the people in a pretty package for a big fat profit.

It's pure genius...And despite the many betrayals by the powers that be, the people keep coming back for more. It's almost like watching lemmings getting flayed.

"What a mindjob." ~ Cypher. The Matrix