Kalimat al-Mutafalsif

I hate those new Mac commercials. "Hi I'm a PC, hi I'm a Mac"... ring a bell? I found out (via slashdot) that there's new ones for Britain. I watched 'em, and sure enough its the same stupid argument. PCs are only used for work... too virus ridden, etc. Why is that such a stupid argument? Here goes...

First off, the argument that PCs are only used for work, is a crock, plain and simple. When it comes down to it, more games work on PCs than macs. For the same reason as there's more virii on PCs, there's more of them! Game makers will focus on the largest market, which is PCs. Now there are people out there dedicated to porting games to and I'll hand it to them, UT2k4 is great on my brothers nice Mac. But come on, this is a stupid argument, as the software load on any system is decided by the end user. If they WANT it for work, then they'll load Office (preferably Open Office) on there. If they want it for play, some nice games. Perhaps photo software? Same goes for a Mac, its up to the user!

As for there's more virii out there for PCs, I say wait a few years. Virus writers concentrate on the easiest game, which right now is Windows, same reasoning as to why there's more games for WIndows. However some people were also pissed off by the Mac is better commercials and have decided to go break OS X a bunch. Ok, so it happens that "PC" is synonymous with Windows right now, which is a shame, but do not blame a system for its weak software. This does not mean there's more virii for PCs, merely for Windows machines. Hey, don't believe me? Go read a Mac magazine say that Macs have "no more inherent security" than PCs. Sure there's not a lot of virii out there yet, but just wait. The larger the market share, the more virii you'll get. But please, don't say all PCs are more susceptible, because I've got three here that'll prove you wrong.

So, here's how the commercial should go:

PC: Hi! I'm a PC.
Mac: Hi! I'm a Mac.
PC: I'm running Windows XP! Gotta love the DRM and license issues.
Mac: Sure do! I come with my own DRM and licenses!
PC: I'm glad we agree on something Mac.
Mac: Me too, but its not the only thing we agree on.
PC: Its not?
Mac: No, you see it appears I'm compatible with you.
*Mac moves his mouse over to PCs keyboard*
PC: Mac... what are you doing?
Mac: I'm installing myself on your hardware, don't you like it?
PC: Yea, the dual-boot does seem a bit nice. Is that a snug fit?
Mac: Nah, you've got a huge disc!
*Small penguin walks in*
Tux: What the?! What are you two doing?!
PC: We're just... uh... dual-booting!
Mac: *mutters* I was gonna bootstrap you later*
Tux: Don't you see? You're both alike! You run on the same hardware, and are both encumbered by, well, the obvious licensing issues.
PC: Encumbered?! I was told it was better, who do you think you are?!
Mac: Yea! I'm the better one here! I'm impervious to all viruses!
Tux: *mutters* Keep that line up... I know some people that like to release code to break you.
Tux: My name is Linux. And if you don't like who I am you can grab one of hundreds of others like me. If you still don't like it, you can change me however you want.
PC: That's... that's not a good license. How will you make any money?
Tux: If you'd forget about money you'd realize that both PC's with windows and Mac's with OS X give up your freedom! THINK! GO take what digital rights you can before you lose them !!
*Tux grabs a broadsword and hefts it over his head*
Tux: FREEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOM *cuts PC and Mac in two*

Yea, believe it or not this is one of the things going through my head as I walk on campus. If anyone wants to make this dream come true, let me know and I'll skip a few days of class to shoot it.

When we take this to the basic argument, you have intentional confusing (which, I suppose is what good marketting is). You have Apple trying to convince the population that "Windows" == "PC" and that Mac == "Mac OS X". Also that there's such a huge difference between the two of them. Really, there's not. Both are just pieces of hardware that you, as a human, can make do your bidding. If you want to use the OS that comes with it, go ahead. If you want to throw more open software on there, go ahead. If you want to put Windows on a Mac, or OS X on a PC go ahead. See? These ads are nothing but propaganda!