On one side you have the fanbois: the people that really like what they have; and on the other you have the guys who hate them. Ironically, these anti-fanbois generally feel that THEY are the critcal thinkers; and the fanbois are mindless drones who just like what they like because — well they like it.

It’s a fairly assinine attitude.

I do have to admit that I was a bit dismayed at the speed that the term “dependency injection” was adopted when the word came down from on high in lengthy form that DI was oh so much more preferable to “inversion of control”. Personally I still perfer “hollywood principle”. But to what end? I was annoyed, but there wasn’t really any harm being caused, was there?

You point out three harms that could occur when people don’t think critically about what they are adopting: people could waste time adopting something that does not meet their needs, people could adopt a solution that may exceed the learning curve required for other people to adopt it, and last of all the technology being adopted could get a bum rap when it fails for the non-critical adopter.

Of these I see the first two as being significant: these actually have the potential to waste resources. Perhaps you could explain the thrid a little more? Who cares if someone is ignorant about why their adoption failed, are the people you mention actually listened to?

Setting the harms next to the powerbook comparison makes that part of your blog smell like rant. Or are you suggesting that these powerbook followers will a) find their shiny new powerbook inadequate and blame Apple, or b) prevent other people from being able to use their computer?

I like analogies– what do you think of this one: lots of people love cars that they know little about mechanically, suck way too much gas, and provide a substandard amount of cargo room for their category. But they look cool, smell nice, have little touches here and there, and other bells and wistles that make you smile.

Anyway, I was pretty much set to dump the Mac before OS X came out, but it was the perfect combination of what I wanted, unix at the core, with a great UI and user experience on top of it. As for Windows, I’ve always disliked it, and as for me “losing out on a job” it was more like me turning it down if I had to use Windows all day long… Life is too short for me to spend all day using an OS I can’t stand…

As for “bandwagon jumpers” yeah, too many people see the “cool new thing” that everyone says is the “cool new thing” without fully evaluating it, and make a quick decision. I’d call it part early-adopter, part foolishness in some cases.

And Vinny, as far as switching from Windows to OS X and dealing with software, there is a ton of open-source stuff that will do what you need. I own very few commercial apps, since I can usually find an open-source solution for OS X, so unless you have some specific niche in software you can’t live without, chances are, you’ll be ok.

Oh yeah, by the way, IDEA looks beautiful on OS X.

I am happy with what I have, a PC running Windows 2000 with loads of customization and tons of applications. The only reason I will switch to a Mac is if someone presents it to me and someone volunteers to configures it for me with my favorite applications. The first may be easier looking how people are getting fanatic to move everyone to Mac, the second is harder.

You have to admit Steve Jobs is a genius in catering to public tastes and sensibility.

I noticed that at all these Symposiums ( eg No Fluff , Just Mac most of the -your-own-book-author-pseudo-thought-leaders’, used a Mac.
and then soon if someone carried a poor Dell, you are pretty much a outcast.

I have had no need yet to reboot my linux server in three years.Recenly I lost one of my Laptops ( blue screen of death) and initially it looked all cool, but soon i started to miss all the little enhancements I had.
It look me a long time even after having the backups to make the new machine back to the same state.

The familiar open dos prompt here, cygwin, Firefox plugins and so on.

In the Microsoft problem , the reverse problem is Microsoft ships the whole world as a part of the .NET, Visual Studio , Team install.

I have seem folks drag and drop components without having a clue what they are using just based on the fact that some part of the Microsoft site said that was the coolest thing to do.

When they find they are stuck, they have no clue how to fix.

Your point on “Don’t just assume that because it comes from Apache, it has to be good” in the Microsoft world is translated to “Assume that everything from Microsoft is good”, which is not always ( or may i say ) never true:)

Wow, it must be tough being you…