Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in a square hole, the ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, and are the ones who’ll do it. — Apple Computer TV Ad 9/29/97
WHO ARE YOU?
Tough question for some of us, and an easy one for a few others. But this is more than a question of our individuality. We want to ask who we are as a group of people who love the Macintosh. First of all, we are a motley crew. Apple once had the Jolly Roger on its flag pole for a good reason. That isn’t a bad icon for us, either. We a are brash, independent, individualistic, and outspoken bunch. Why is that?
WE ARE MORE THAN A FAMILY
Matthew Ruben wrote in his column, http://macopinion.com/columns/curmudgeon that we are an emotional dysfunctional family. He was rightly upset over all our ‘in-fighting’ which we displayed over Apple’s tendency to send in their lawyers every time some ‘editorial’ website leaked a picture of the new iMac DV. Those sites were not ethical in doing that, even in the name of ‘freedom of the press.’ Nor was Apple acting rational in what they did, even though they had a perfect right to protect their property. We do act like a large, noisy, opinionated family, don’t we? I think he is right on target.
But although ‘our ‘ Apple Computer company gives us a locus for inciting all our joy and anger, the real issue here isn’t about who is right, or whose feelings got stepped on. The issue is not even about how great the Mac has gotten to be, or even which of us has the newer, faster or more colorful computer.
WE ARE MORE THAN COMPUTER LOVERS
Think about it! You loved the Mac from the day you discovered it. That might have been way back in 1984, with an ancient 512k beige box. No hard drive. Single-sided floppy which contained the operating system, the application, and all your files. Or you might be a recent ‘convert’ who runs a creaky 7100/80, like me. (And I build websites and do animations on mine!)
It isn’t the box, it’s the interface we are so in love with. Del Miller calls it “the interface and the industrial design, the parts of the computer that actually touch the human user.” Perfect!
I believe the real reason we love the Mac is because that interface gives us freedom. Freedom to explore, to create, to invent, and to just have Fun! Such an open environment is so rare in the world. A lucky few of us might have had that in a parent or a teacher. Someone who allowed us to try, and to fail, without recrimination. The Mac gives us exactly that.
WE ARE A CONTINUUM
Therefore, we are way more than a family, even a dysfunctional one. We are a Continuum, or a new Order. I call us a Continuum because I believe there has been a fundamental shift in humanity, brought on by the Macintosh personal computer. Those things that make us different from everyone else have always been there, but with the Mac our side is empowered, and we are coming together at last, both in our awareness of each other, and in our validation as a creative and thinking people who love being expressive and free!
WE DON’T JUST THINK DIFFERENT, WE ARE DIFFERENT
I believe that the present dichotomy, or division between Mac and Windows users, is a natural and normal division between people who are fundamentally different, based on how they think.
Again, I ask you to think about it. Some of us love freedom. We love an environment where we can ‘open up and fly.’ But not everybody does. Others, the majority of Mankind, shun that openness. They love the security of structure. They do not want to have to think, or to create. They want their environment to tell them what they can do, and no more. In fact, it is a necessary security to them. Beige is their color. It is safe. It is quiet and unobtrusive. They need it to be.
Like I said, this division has always been there. The Mac just made it obvious to everyone. But more than that, the Mac and the Internet has served to give us a collective voice. One that is growing, as we become more conscious of what we can do, and how many of us there are in the world!
Still, there are a lot more of them than there are of us. Schools remind us of this fact. Their environment is rigid and highly structured. It is geared to that majority who do not think outside the box. Sameness and uniformity is the watchword. Those few of you who hated and endured this environment know exactly what I mean, don’t you? Conformity is rewarded. Creative thinking and independent activity is punished. Most people conformed. It was easier to do. This is exactly the way of the Windows world, isn’t it? This is why so many people are not just content to live in it, they hide in it, and they resent us if we try to liberate them from it. Perhaps it is because that was how they were raised in those schools. Some of them might have once wanted to be creative, or expressive of their individuality, but at a young age it was crushed by some well-meaning teacher, or their peers. Now they belong to the great mass of the business troops, the bureaucrats, and the bean counters who keep our world running.
This is not simply some right-brain, left-brain division between us, or some division between “Creative-Types” and “Mundanes.” Somehow I know there is a permanent and fundamental difference between Us and Them that probably cannot be crossed. It is because of our differing World Views; Free and Open verses Closed and Safe. Where do you fit, in all this? Did the Mac help you get where you are today?
Even the Internet is different for Us and Them. To Them it is a tool. To Us it is a new world to explore! It has become our nervous system that binds us Mac people, and our ideas together. The Continuum, sparked by the Macintosh, has found its highway, its forum in the Internet!
A FUNDAMENTAL DIVISION
This division, illumined, sparked by the Macintosh, will only grow in the future.
We don’t really love our Macs. We love the Freedom that they give us. Freedom that the other side does not want, but in fact they even fear. Therefore, the Mac Continuum will continue, once it has been born. Even if there might possibly be no Apple Computer somewhere in the future. It doesn’t matter. You and I, and those who find what we have found, are coming together, and we, in our collective lives are forever changed by each other. We are more than a family. We are a Continuum. We do not need to fear the Windows people, nor do they need our pity, or our conversion. But we need to know, and we need to be able to express who we are. We need to be able to put into words what it is that makes us different, and why that difference is so right and necessary in this world. Answering this question is made more urgent by our coming together.
We don’t need to fight. We need to create solidarity out of our diversity. You are probably an independent thinker; tell me if I am right. or if you disagree.
At the risk of sounding like Laurien, of Babylon Five, the question for us is:
“Who are we?”
That question then should be followed by another, more urgent question:
“Where are we going?”
Thanks for your time reading this. We are coming together. We are much more than a family. We are starting to use our voice. Therefore, it is so important that we each begin to understand this unique mystery about who we are, both collectively and individually, and then decide where it is we are going.
Thank you for your input. Somehow I think that this is important.
Roger Born
roger@mymac.com
Websites mentioned:
http://macopinion.com/columns/curmudgeon
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