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Friday, 28 June 2002 |
On a fairly regular basis Microsoft hatches yet another new scheme to take over control of the Internet, the Web and all the computers in the world, and charge everyone for everything on an ongoing basis.
The depth of such malign intent is unfathomable. What makes an organisation want to be this way? Surely the leadership must be held responsible for it—Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer?
Too many computer users simply shrug their shoulders, and dismiss any need to feel concerned by saying, “Well, I’m just not technical and I don’t understand any of this, so whatever Microsoft is doing must be OK.” Or, “Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, so he’s got to be a wonderful guy.” Or, “Microsoft is so big and so powerful that they can do whatever they want—why complain about it?.”
Robert X. Cringely writes about the latest diabolical Microsoft scheme to take over the Internet and everything else with a thing named Palladium. This is horrifying, and whether you are “technical” or not, a computer user or not, it is of critical concern to everyone.
10:16:04 PM 
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When I first moved to Western Australia as a child, and lived in several country towns in the deep south, the people spoke a very different dialect of Australian English to the one I was used to.
They substituted words and phrases common to most if not all varieties of English with bizarre constructions of their own. These new words and expressions seemed to have no rationale behind them, and when asked the people using them could not explain them either. All they could say was that was how it is, and there was no explaining it.
I was reminded of one of these linguistic habits today, when a classmate in a business course was relating a story to the group, and continually used the phrase “rah, rah, rah!”. “Rah, rah, rah!” was every third or fourth phrase there for a while.
In the rest of the English-speaking world “Rah, rah, rah” is the phrase cheerleaders and sports fans utter in support of the objects of their fanaticism. “Green Bay Packers, Green Bay Packers, rah, rah, rah!”
What Western Australians who use this substitution are doing, wittingly or not, is suddenly and repeatedly bursting out into enthusiastic support for something, over and over again. And yet they are supporting nothing. Nothing at all.
To confirm how odd this usage is, especially if you do it yourself, just swap “rah!” with “hurrah!” and listen to yourself as if listening to another person.
Then use “blah” instead, to hear what the rest of the world would say. “Blah, blah blah.”
5:51:16 PM
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Read these quotes from former Windows users, as originally published on Apple’s Switch web pages.
“I knew a lot about PCs, having learned from experience how to deal with frequent crashes, viruses, and hardware incompatibilities. The PC was downright confusing. No two programs worked the same way, and everything was awkward and clunky, not to mention just plain unsightly.… ”
“I encouraged my friends to buy Windows PCs and discouraged the purchase of Apple computers because “although I’ve heard their computers are nice, they are probably going out of business.” I built PC systems from components. I was the hacking, building, PC-using type of person who loved to tweak and play, messing with batch files and configuration files, the registry and more. Now, I have 1 PC and 8 Macs. How did this happen?… ”
“I am an attorney with my own practice specializing in employment law.… The difference between the two systems has always been vast and wide. My Macintosh is elegant and intuitive. It is first class. Windows-based systems are counter-intuitive. If I ever have to go back to C-colon-backslash again, I’ll scream.… ”
“I work for the oldest continuously operating company in America, and the first traded on the New York Stock Exchange—Bowne & Co (BNE). Like most corporations, they are exclusively WinPC-based. However, I have found it almost seamless working on my PowerBook G4.… ”
“… My HP was slow and crashed too much when I would use music programs to do samples and remixes. I also wanted something portable that I could plug into the DJ booth at the clubs, so I choose the iBook.… ”
“… When I returned to my home studio, within 2 weeks I had my Power Mac G4 running ProTools. I can do more for my music and my customers’ music, not to mention doing it faster and easier than I ever could with my PC. My Mac never crashes, lets me get my work done the way I want to, and has become the envy of all my friends.”
“… While I did networking support for Florida State University I discovered the Mac, the ease of networking, and the elegance of the OS. My business uses multiple Macintoshes for all levels of work, from the databases for tracking and processing orders, to the web development. There is nothing I can’t do with my Macs.”
“Well, I will admit, originally I was one of those people who was completely anti-Mac. I had used one back in the very early 90s but never again until recently.… I love my Mac! I’d recommend them to anybody, and regardless of what people say, they’re very easy to use. Don’t believe anything until you’ve tried it yourself!”
“… Mac OS X accomplishes both the day-to-day tasks formerly done on my Windows PC, as well as all the programming tasks formerly done on my UNIX system. And in most cases, it handles those jobs better.”
Keep ’em telling the truth, Apple. All you ever needed to do was just tell the truth. And permit people to actually get their hands onto the keyboard of a real, genuine, fully working Macintosh computer. Then they know.
12:15:21 AM
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The best trackball… hmm, let me think. The jury is still out on that one. I currently have two, and have thrown out a few more than that. I throw out all the mice that come with the computers I buy—they’re almost ALL an RSI hazard. It has to do with the way the hand is required to be positioned in an unnatural position and state of tension.
Right now I swap between a Logitech Marble Mouse and an old pre-stainless steel Kensington Turbo Mouse. I’d like to try out a Kensington Turbo Mouse Pro next. Logitech’s other trackballs look good, but they’re only for right-handed users. Duh.
Question is, if none of the local retailers can be bothered to actually keep any in stoick, where do you try one out? Little wonder most computer users have no idea they don’t have to suffer mouse-induced RSI.
12:05:15 AM
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© Copyright 2002 Karl-Peter Gottschalk.
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