Who are more smug? Apple or prius owners?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dave @ Feb 14 2007, 01:50 PM) [snapback]390454[/snapback]</div>

What can I say? I'm past due for my mid-life crisis, and isn't every man supposed to buy a sports car when he has his mid-life crisis? Except that I wouldn't be caught dead with a gasoline-powered sports car. Gotta be all electric all the time.

On the other hand, I may have to cancel my trip to see it this month, on account of my prostate issues. I'd hope to still get down there later this spring.

Judging by my conversation, however, I'm more smug about my Prius than about my iMac. I think the Mac is a better computer than a PC, but it's still just a computer. The Prius is an entirely new concept in automobiles: something that's never existed before (the unique way the power train functions: not merely that it's hybrid, but the way HSD implements hybrid in a manner that eliminates any sort of conventional transmission.) ... Yep. Definitely more smug about the Prius than the Mac.

 

None of the above.

EV drivers trump them all. I hope we'll have Daniel among our ranks soon.

 

I used to love Macs, but they lost me when they refused to license their OS and also went with the over-hyped Power PC chip. To see them about face and grovel back to Intel is almost comical.

And to see their farcical TV ads is enough to make you puke. Really - no crashes? I see it daily in our creative shop at work.

And just try to open pc files, run 90% of the world's software, etc. Interconnectivity with off the shelf hardware? Hmm - good luck. And bootcamp? Why not just own up to reality and buy a PC. With the money saved you could take a nice vacation. And virus problems? Just get a good anti-virus program and you're good to go. Sure, they are an elegant machine. But highly overpriced and highly over-rated.

And I have to agree with Steve-O about devotees working "Mac" into every sentence. It must be a mental malfunction resulting from some sort of primal Mac DNA defect.

Oh - so my answer - Mac owners are definitely more smug.

 

I also own both.

But I think I'm more smug about my Prius.

About my Apple....I just feel superior.

 

I've used Macs since my introduction to computers (Apple IIe back in the early 80s - learned basic on these suckers back in the 4th grade - one of the benefits to growing up in San Jose, CA). Bought a Prius in January... so I guess I just reek of smugness. I feel especially superior whenever my husband's PC crashes/freezes/cha-chas.... whatever it does to give that poor guy a headache. :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dreichla @ Feb 14 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]390394[/snapback]</div>

You can't compare apples and oranges. You should know that.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Feb 14 2007, 09:41 PM) [snapback]390709[/snapback]</div>

I hope so, too, but my medical condition may force me to postpone my visit to see the Tesla, and the waiting list is over a year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TimBikes @ Feb 15 2007, 12:03 AM) [snapback]390745[/snapback]</div>

I switched when the 900-lb gorilla of security software had begun to consume so much of my PC's resources that it would no longer function properly. And my laptop, which I only use when I travel, took forever to update itself (patches, virus signatures, etc) every time I turned it on after a month in the drawer, which was a real headache. I've got Linux on it now. Not as good as OS X, but fine for my limited needs while travelling.

As for cost, while you can buy a cheaper PC, a cheap PC is a lesser machine in every respect. A PC that has comparable features and quality to a Mac will cost about the same, so you can save money on a PC only if your needs are very limited, in which case Linux might be a better solution than Windows.

 

I think its 50 / 50

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Feb 14 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]390395[/snapback]</div>

:lol: Yeah, I think there ought to be that third category of 'both'. We're more smug that those with one but not the other.

 

think there was a poll on this already and about 60-70 % of Prius owners have both which is much higher than in nature. as for me, i own all 4. have two 1)Macs, 2)3 MS/intels, 3)a Ford F150, Toyota corolla and my 4)Prius.

 

I own both.

I have an Apple® sticker on my Prius.

Oh oh.


(snifs air), ah, that smells great...

 

Probably an iPod wearing person stepping out of their Prius in their all-natural un-dyed hemp clothing on their way to the vegan co-op to pick up some heirloom tomatoes.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Feb 15 2007, 08:55 AM) [snapback]390888[/snapback]</div>

I completely disagree. I just price compared a MAC and a PC recently. For about the same price, the PC had more RAM, a much bigger hard drive, a larger screen and extra features the MAC didn't have (like light scribe, memory card slots, dual layer DVD burner, etc).

I think the MAC argument is elegance and ease of use, not price comparability.

To me the elegance factor is nice to have but not worth the extra $ or, at the same price, a lesser feature set.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TimBikes @ Feb 15 2007, 04:03 AM) [snapback]390745[/snapback]</div>

Could it be? Could we have a smug PC user? :lol:

I think that the "smugness" is just a phase in the life of a Mac user... probably for a Prius driver too. I've been a Mac user since I started using computers, and I'll admit I used to be a smug jerk about it to people all the time, but then I grew up. I use a PC at work now because I have to, and I generally dislike the entire experience, but I don't complain about it anymore that much. I still come home and do 90% of my computing on my MacBook because I seriously prefer the experience, and I am just more efficient using a Mac... but hey, not everyone is the same.

In all seriousness though, for PC versus Mac, all the smug isn't on the Mac side... hardcore PC users (you know the ones who mock people who can't build their own systems from scratch) can be real smug jerks too, belittling Mac users for exactly the points you made : they paid too much, it's overrated, they can't run your software, or they can't run your games. Also, these smug PC users are also the same type who mock typical PC users when their systems get infected with viruses or malware.

More than enough smug to go around, even for a PC user.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Feb 15 2007, 12:55 PM) [snapback]390888[/snapback]</div>

I've played with Ubuntu. It's really a lot more mature than I expected, and I started running it virtualized on my MacBook (hooray for Parallels!).

I have a Thinkpad T42 from work. By all accounts, it's a well equipped business class notebook with plenty of nice hardware qualities, but the weakest link has to be the software. I can consistently bluescreen the sucker when i try to put it to sleep, out of no failing of my own. Mac or PC, I'm a skilled user, and I know what I'm doing, but some poor interaction with my company's VPN and Windows just causes all kinds of havok.

I built a PC specifically just for gaming a year or so ago, and it works great, when it works that is. Video card drivers are flaky and cause some random restarts and graphical problems in games, especially HDR ones.

Just from my own experience over my computing lifetime, my Macs have been through a lot more use, and I've had a lot less trouble. YMMV.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Feb 15 2007, 04:37 PM) [snapback]391060[/snapback]</div>

I own an iPod, a Mac, and a Prius. I'm pretty sure I'm not a vegan, and I don't have any hemp anything. I think I fall into the "tech-geek" mac user/prius driver category, not the "granola-crunchy" category.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LaughingMan @ Feb 17 2007, 01:40 AM) [snapback]391961[/snapback]</div>

I tried both ubuntu and kubuntu on my laptop before settling on Linspire. The first two were unable to play most media files, apparently due to the proprietary codecs. Research suggested that those codecs are available, but cannot be included in the distributions because the code is copyrighted, and for the same reason (I think) you have to search, and know what you are doing, to find and install it. I am not even sure if it is legal to do so, or if the code, when available, is pirated.

Linspire backs away from the strictest philosophy of open-source by including closed-source codecs (for a modest fee) and making other closed-source code available, also for a fee. It therefore works better for me.

But I could never make any flavor of Linux work with my iPod. Most could see the iPod but could not read the folders correctly. One could read the folders. None of them could write to the iPod. So I ended up getting the iMac. But I don't need to write to the iPod when travelling, so Linspire stays on the laptop and I am perfectly satisfied with it, and do not have the exasperation of Windows.

I'd prefer Windows if it worked. But the security issues render it crippled. And I've read that Vista cripples itself further by giving more control to content rights holders and less to end users. I subscribe to newsletters from PC Mag and eWeek, and every day brings more stories about Windows flaws. To paraphrase the old spiritual: Free of Microsoft at last! Free of Microsoft at last! Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster almighty, I'm free of Microsoft at last!!!

 

My kids thought I had lost it, when they saw me installing windows 2000 on my home-built PC the other day (with Ubuntu on it).

Well, I pop in the install CD, setup.exe runs and declares:
Put Windows 2000 Pro into drive A:, and hit Enter:

WHAT ?!??

I was only installing the crap, in order to run ONE program that lets me transfer a proprietary sound file from a stethoscope and convert it to a generic sound file. Not worth it; I'll use a winblows box at work.

I'm not Mac smug, so much as I think MS is buggy, proprietary (codec and format wise), intrusive, DRM infested, and a security nightmare.

 

Mac ers are much more smug.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Feb 15 2007, 03:37 PM) [snapback]391060[/snapback]</div>

Beryl wins.

 

Well I just switched to a brand new MacBook (the nice looking white one) last week... and I drive a 2006 Prius... so I must be double smug now... and it feels great!