Posted by Ryan
November 12, 2009
Dear AT&T, Walmart, Microsoft, Dell, T Mobile, Sprint, HP, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Best Buy, and a myriad other* companies** people love to hate,
Thank you for doing what you do. People give you a bad time (myself included), often for valid reasons, and I’m sick of it. I’m tired of complaints.
So, thanks.
Regards,
Ryan
* There are companies I believe should cease to exist, but this isn’t about them. This is about companies people hate when, in fact, their existence makes their lives better–not worse.
** AOL not included. I have my limits.
Posted by Ryan
September 19, 2008
A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent’s position. To “set up a straw man,” one describes a position that superficially resembles an opponent’s actual view, yet is easier to refute, then attributes that position to the opponent.
- Straw man argument, Wikipedia
In case that description didn’t make you think of Apple’s “I’m a Mac” ads, read it again. It should now.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Microsoft has launched a new ad campaign to reclaim Windows’ supposed battered image. The response seems largely in response to Apple’s “I’m a Mac” ads.
The first two ads were really weird, but I have a wacky sense of humor so I quite enjoyed them. The New Family is hilarious. As funny as I might think they are, I still don’t know why on earth they made them. They’re very random and weird.
Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld: Shoe Circus
Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld: New Family
The newest ads, released yesterday, are much better. They make owning a PC look cool again. Not that I needed any more reasons. I’ve been happy running Windows for years. Barraged as I may be by Mac lovers, I really don’t see myself switching. I won’t say I won’t switch, because it’s always possible. It’s just that right now I don’t have any compelling reason to switch. They’re both good operating systems.
I’m a PC 1
I’m a PC 2
I’m a PC 3
Anyway, these ads are cool. I hope this will help people see through Apple’s straw man argument. They aren’t educating people about the truths of the PC. They are creating a misrepresentation of their competition, and then tearing it down. I guess it’s pretty common in advertising, but I’ve never liked it. I believe a company should and can tell people why they’re better than the competition without tearing anyone down.
Tearing someone else down to build yourself up is really just another way to express jealousy. I know all those Mac users out there are extremely jealous of my sweet Dell. Yes, it runs Windows. And I like it.
Posted by Ryan
October 17, 2007
Lest the visitors from my sister’s site really believe I’m in love with Microsoft…
It’s really more of a dislike for Mac OS than a liking of Windows. I think Mac OS is ugly. I don’t find Windows particularly fun to look at either, but it does have the benefit of not making me want to puke.
I know it’s all just a matter of personal taste, so all of you Apple fanboys and fangirls can just let me have my personal taste, ok? Thank you. You’re so nice.
So why not Linux? Linux is cool. I’ve used Ubuntu, but as you can see in the right column of this page, I write software for Windows. Well, I should say I used to write software for Windows. I haven’t updated any of that software in a long time. I can’t bring myself to completely abandon the idea of writing more software for Windows though.
The main reason I stick with Windows is because I’m so used to it. I’m not a big fan of getting a system up and running the way I like it, especially when it’s a system I’m not already familiar with such as Linux or Mac OS. As proof, I probably need to reinstall Windows to get rid of junk*, but I don’t because it means I’d have to re-do everything. Yes, I have backups and all that, but if I were to re-do everything I’d want to do some things differently and I just don’t have the time for that.
* The speed of the machine is fine. Really. I don’t know what people do to their Windows machines that makes them run slower over time. People have to re-install Windows every 6 months?! I find that extremely hard to believe and I work my computer as hard as anyone I know. I’ve been running this installation of Windows for over 2 years now and the only time it slows down is when I’ve got gazillions of things open at once. Oh, and as new software comes out that’s been written for newer systems my computer will obviously be slower, but that’s not Windows related.
