Occupy Steve Jobs

Last night, while walking through Zucotti Park, the center of the mico-city that is emerging within the Occupy Wall Street protest, I overheard part of a conversation about Steve Jobs. I thought that maybe he, like Radiohead, had been rumored to make an appearance. Only after I got home and online did I realize that he was dead.

My Twitter feed was full of tweets on both subjects. I follow a lot of tech enthusiasts, and also a lot of people interested in social justice, so the confluence didn’t surprise me. Many other tweeters noticed the combination, and some began to snarkily point it out, as if to expose a hypocrisy. How could anyone who is genuinely concerned about the ubiquity of corporate influence and the accumulation of wealth among an elite few, truly mourn the passing of a man who was a part of that elite, and ran a major publicly traded corporation?

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Repaired MacBook Unboxing Photos

Four days ago at noon, I had an appointment at the genius bar in the 23rd St. Apple store in Manhattan. I was there to discuss what seemed to be Random Shutdown Syndrome, in which a mac shuts down due to overheating. The shutdowns were sudden; one moment I was browsing or watching video; the next moment, the screen was dark and the fan had stopped. This was no “going to sleep,” the thing had turned itself off in less than a second.

The mac genius told me that I’d get my computer back in “about three days.” Two days later, it was still listed online as not having even shipped to the factory. On the morning of day three, it was listed as having arrived at the factory. On afternoon of day three, it was listed as ready for departure. At 10am on day four, FedEx arrived at my door with it.

Having only my iPhone as an outlet during this time, I tweeted about the process an awful lot. Who knows whether or not that was a factor. The Apple customer support people are certainly scanning for relevant tweets, but it’s hard to say which ones actually get their attention, and it seems out of character for them to admit that they paid attention to one case more than any other. Read the rest of this entry »

The Difference Between Metaphor and Affinity

Microsoft’s latest ad campaign shows people of all occupations, colors, and creeds proudly exclaiming “I’m a PC.” The implication, of course, is that John Hodgeman’ dorky character from the Mac ads isn’t an accurate representation of the type of people who use Windows.

But here’s the problem. Hodgeman’s chubby, white, bespectacled, clumsily dressed self isn’t supposed to represent PC users. He’s supposed to represent the PCs themselves.

Think I’m splitting hairs? Watch any of the many Mac ads and see if they ever break the mold. The hipster is never a Mac user; he is always a Mac. The doofus is never a PC user; he is always the personification of the machine itself.

But does it really make a difference? Yes, because the new Windows ads rely on the implication that they are combating an unfair stereotyping. A stereotyping of people.

Microsoft’s new campaign implicitly says to the viewer: “Using a PC doesn’t mean being boring and myopic like the fat guy in the Mac ad! It means being an interesting, unique person like yourself, doing the interesting, unique things that you do when you are at your very best.”

This kind of utopian appeal to everyone’s best possible self is hard to argue with. Could a PC be used by all those interesting people, to help them do all those interesting things? Of course.

But the Mac ads were never suggesting otherwise. Their message is actually much more precise and practical. They’re saying: “Choose your tools carefully. Our tools are better.”

And in order to make that point, they have personified those tools…not the users.

The Mac campaign does not imply that PC users are boring people. It implies that they are interesting people with crappy computers.

And, for people who can work through the thought process outlined above… that makes the Windows ads stupid beyond belief.

Right?