Saturday, May 06, 2006
 
Spurious Assertion of the Day
Within a piece about computer security on Macintoshes, Arik Hesseldahl makes the following spurious assertion:
    There’s two problems with that statement: First off, Mac users on average pay more for their computers, are self-selected because they tend to know more about technology than your average PC buyer, and by and large are a bit more affluent than those who buy cheapo commodity Windows PCs.
Macintosh users also self-messiah themselves as above the common rabble, so of course they're smarter and prettier than the Windows-using hoi polloi. But more technical? Not in my limited experience.

I work in a part Macintosh, part Windows shop, and I have had to research and teach some fairly basic Macintosh procedure, such as editing the hosts files and whatnot.

That is, they're normal users who happen to use Macintosh. On the one hand, some of them are more technical and into the glamour of their chosen technology; on the other hand, that technology and the operating system are pretty much idiot proof, so you don't have to learn much about the technology since the GUI doesn't crap out.

On the other hand, Windows machines are pretty much a commodity, so the basic user knowledge baseline is much smaller, but anyone with any curiosity into the technology will have to learn to get it working correctly. Additionally, since they're default still for youngsters learning, most extremely savvy people will start on Windows PCs, whether they end up on Linux or OS X or one of the even more compartmentalized niche OSes whose acronyms are only known to cabals of the initiates. Maybe these bring the technology savvy average up enough to account for the monkeys trying to compose The Tempest in Microsoft Works or, heaven forfend, Microsoft Paint.

Still, the assertion that Macintosh users tend to know more about technology than your average PC buyer merits an objection, your honor. Perhaps Macintosh users tend to have more hubris about technology than your average PC buyer. Which plays into the hands of those who would threaten the Macintosh users' security with viruses, trojans, and worms (oh, my!).


- posted by Brian J. @ 10:02 AM
Comments:
I think the real question is not whether Mac users are more technical, vis a vis Windows users.
Like you say, Mac users are fundamentally no different than Windows users, except that many of them have a penchant for berets.

What enlightening is how knowledgeable the "experts" truly are (or not).

Hesseldahl does point out some serious flaws in the McAfee report, but then he goes and makes some on his own. The Randian qualities he ascribes to Mac users are a little odd, although Apple has been successfully drawing UNIX types - such as myself - to their products thanks to OS X's BSD underpinnings. However, I'm sure that this is a fairly small segment of Apple's sales (can you imagine hefty, bearded guys dancing in the iPod ads? Sorry for the image).

Also, the assertion that Windows is more of a target simply because of its huge installed base leaves me cold. It's obviously part of why it's a target, but it's not the complete story. For example, a big Sun box with oodles of diskspace and a fat network pipe is surely a tempting target.

Probably the biggest differences between all of the systems is the OS model. Unprivileged user accounts, not giving certain applications the keys to the system, etc, are just good ideas. True, they make playing games a bit rougher for the developers, but that's what consoles are for...
# posted by Blogger gimlet : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 3:05:00 PM
 


Your Mac vs Window flamewar skills are lacking.
# posted by Blogger Brian J. : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 3:19:00 PM
 


Eh, I've gotten older. I used to hate Windows because I loved Unix so much, but now, I dislike Windows for purely practical reasons. Simply, I am sick and tired of friends, in-laws, and relatives using me for tech support.

I drew the line after my future mother-in-law actually pulled out a list of things for me to fix on their $300 PC when we visited once. I figured that if I had been billing my time, it would have cost more than the purchase price of the computer. It's ridiculous that it literally takes an IT pro to keep something as mundane as a home computer up and running. Would this have ever happened if Reagan were still president?!?

My parents recently bought their first computer since 1996 (ah, the halcyon days of Windows 95 and Slackware Linux!). I talked my dad into an Intel iMac, explaining to him how I didn't have to spend my days fighting my computer, I just used it. He's had a blast, and they haven't had any problems with it. To me, it's well worth the extra price of admission.

And hey, the thing has a lot of Unix in it, so I can still wear my Got Root? shirt from ThinkGeek with my beret.
# posted by Blogger gimlet : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 5:51:00 PM
 


Sound reasoning in a OS vs OS flamewar is misused unless you're enumerating reasons why Bill Gates is the devil.
# posted by Blogger Brian J. : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 8:48:00 PM
 


Yeah, but this ain't Slashdot.
# posted by Blogger gimlet : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 9:45:00 PM
 


So you're casting aspersions upon my blog and it's decidedly tame comment sections, are you?
# posted by Blogger Brian J. : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 9:48:00 PM
 


No, I'm saying that we should keep litter in its place. :-D
# posted by Blogger gimlet : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 10:14:00 PM
 


Besides, I can't find the old Dilbert ad where he meets a Unix admin. "That scruffy beard, that condescending smile - you're a Unix admin!" "Here's a nickel, kid. Go buy yourself a real computer!"

I suddenly feel the urge to go use an old SPARCstation.
# posted by Blogger gimlet : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 10:22:00 PM
 


Hey, with that nickel, you could almost buy a majority stake in SGI if you wanted.
# posted by Blogger Brian J. : Wednesday, May 10, 2006 7:05:00 AM
 


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