Mac vs. PC flamewars - stop it already

August 2, 2005 12:25 PM

Is there any way to curb the Mac vs. PC flamewars that always seem to erupt when there's a Mac-related FPP? I point to this versus this on today's front page, which makes the blue seem like sort of geek Hatfield/McCoy thing. Should we just ignore it until it goes away? Is there a solution at all? (This is my first MeTa post, and I didn't get far with the search function, so many apologies if this is an unanswerable question or has been thoroughly covered in the past.)
posted by hifiparasol to Etiquette/Policy at 12:25 PM (64 comments total)

I think the obvious solution is to not make a front page post that is just an advertisement for a friggin' mouse.
posted by Galvatron at 12:30 PM on August 2, 2005

There are many "problems" here that have "obvious solutions" to the logical mind. Note their effectiveness.

We've covered AppleFilter before. It (sadly, IMHO) falls into that category of FPPs that we all know at some level are bad, but Matt tolerates because People Want To Talk About It. Unfortunately, there tend to always be a few people (I'm looking at you, seanyboy) who love to talk endlessly about how people shouldn't be talking endlessly about it.

And then there's the inevitable MeTa post about it.

Such is the circle of life, Simba.
posted by mkultra at 12:36 PM on August 2, 2005

Is there any way to avoid the Liberal vs. Conservcative flamewars that erupt when there's a politics-related FPP?
posted by SeizeTheDay at 12:36 PM on August 2, 2005

Two men enter, one man leave! Two men enter, one man leave!
posted by yhbc at 12:37 PM on August 2, 2005

As David Spade says in his Capital One commercials, "The answer is always no."
posted by SeizeTheDay at 12:38 PM on August 2, 2005

Send them to Slashdot and tell them to have fun, maybe?
posted by voltairemodern at 12:45 PM on August 2, 2005

You can't stop people from fighting the classic arguments:

vi vs. emacs
Canon vs. Nikon
Apple vs. PC/Microsoft
posted by smackfu at 12:46 PM on August 2, 2005

Thanks for the recap, mkultra. Sorry to rehash old material, everyone.
posted by hifiparasol at 12:47 PM on August 2, 2005

There are none that I know of. Even if Matt decides to take a heavy hand and eradicate posts about Apple making a new mouse, or a new size of iPod coming out, there will occasionally be real, interesting, big things that happen related to Apple (Apple hiring Torvalds, or Apple joining Microsoft, or Apple deciding to become a car manufacturer, or whatever), and then the exact same arguments will happen again.

Rephrased: we can probably reduce the frequency of these AppleSuxWindowsSux wankfests, but not the severity of them.
posted by Bugbread at 12:48 PM on August 2, 2005

The solution is damn easy and obvious: quit posting frigging PepsiBlue crap to the front page.

There would be hell to pay if I were a digital camera fanboy and posted every frigging Canon update to MeFi.

There would be hell to pay if I were a Dodge fanboy and posted every frigging old-is-new-again car style update to MeFi.

I am an Opera fanboy, but you guys would slaughter me if I were to post every frigging update Opera makes.

So STFU already about the goddamn Macintosh, iPod, and Microsoft updates. They are not front-page worthy.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:49 PM on August 2, 2005

They aren't going to be deleted. I mean, we have at least two or three posts a day obviously designed to lure PP out of his barrow-mound so the poli-kiddies can play darts, and those never seem to be deleted either. Just take a deep breath and enjoy it all. It is what it is and won't ever become a knitting society.
posted by selfnoise at 12:50 PM on August 2, 2005

If nothing good somes of thisn, I am glad to see a "batshitinsane" meme blossoming.
posted by psychotic_venom at 12:56 PM on August 2, 2005

The question isn't whether it can be curbed - the entire Internet is an experiment demonstrating that it can't - the question is whether or not it should be curbed and the answer is no. Because it's hilarious.
posted by Ryvar at 12:57 PM on August 2, 2005

Ryvar wins.
posted by selfnoise at 1:01 PM on August 2, 2005

five fresh fish: "So STFU already about the goddamn Macintosh, iPod, and Microsoft updates."

Flag it as noise. Move on.
posted by Plutor at 1:09 PM on August 2, 2005

MeFi has done tech posts from the beginning. The flaming is a shame, but I don't think it is necessarily logical to blame the post. I, personally, quite liked the Microsoft post.
posted by nthdegx at 1:10 PM on August 2, 2005

This holy war has been fought since time immemorial. You think it can be stopped by a simple request in metatalk? If it can, I have Israel and Palestine on the phone.
posted by crunchland at 1:16 PM on August 2, 2005

iCame
iSaw
iConquered
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:18 PM on August 2, 2005

Wait, crash...i thought it went:

iSaw
iCame
iDisappointed
posted by SeizeTheDay at 1:25 PM on August 2, 2005

smackfu writes "You can't stop people from fighting the classic arguments:

"vi vs. emacs
"Canon vs. Nikon
"Apple vs. PC/Microsoft"

Beatles vs. Stones
Cats vs. Dogs
posted by OmieWise at 1:27 PM on August 2, 2005

You think it can be stopped by a simple request in metatalk?

Well, I asked the question because I didn't know the answer.
posted by hifiparasol at 1:28 PM on August 2, 2005

5 dusted pitbulls vs. two well rested midgets with fire axes.
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:30 PM on August 2, 2005

Divine_Wino, your imagery is intriguing. I should be very much inclined to subscribe to your newsletter.
posted by voltairemodern at 1:39 PM on August 2, 2005

mailto: subscribe-aunicorndoodi[e-mail]
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:43 PM on August 2, 2005

hifiparasol : "Well, I asked the question because I didn't know the answer."

No worries, hifiparasol. Some people (Ryvar, myself, and a few others) find it amusing, and some people (fivefreshfish, myself, and a few others) find it annoying, so we/they are just venting. It's not aimed at you.
posted by Bugbread at 1:55 PM on August 2, 2005

vi vs. emacs
Canon vs. Nikon
Apple vs. PC/Microsoft
Beatles vs. Stones
Cats vs. Dogs
5 dusted pitbulls vs. two well rested midgets with fire axes.

Picard vs. Kirk. Nude. Knee-deep in lutefisk.
Dungeons of Daggorath vs. Doom3.
Troy Hurtubise vs. common sense.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:01 PM on August 2, 2005

I'm with Ryvar. I love baiting Mac lusers in those threads. Comedy fucking gold.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:04 PM on August 2, 2005

We ought to club them and eat their bones
posted by puke & cry at 2:20 PM on August 2, 2005

posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:25 PM on August 2, 2005

I feel sorry for all the people who evidently have someone watching all day over their shoulder making sure that they click on every single link in the front page...
posted by clevershark at 2:30 PM on August 2, 2005

i'm with ebk and ryvar the destroyer.
posted by dios at 2:30 PM on August 2, 2005

Troy Hurtubise vs. common sense.

What?!? Carrying a throwing knife in addition to a stabbing knife is the very essence of common sense.
posted by COBRA! at 2:35 PM on August 2, 2005

posted by brownpau at 2:50 PM on August 2, 2005

Oh, mighty Odin, where is thy cleansing thunderbolt?
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:10 PM on August 2, 2005

emacs emacs emacs
posted by bshort at 3:13 PM on August 2, 2005

i think the people bitching about apple fpps are just too poor to own one. (they're probably fat, too.)
posted by keswick at 3:34 PM on August 2, 2005

Well, I think it's a bad series of posts for reasons that have nothing to do with Mac vs. PC wars. (I'm happy to piss off both sides.) The first post is just advertising for the item in the catalog, the second post is an admitted "tit for tat."
posted by KirkJobSluder at 3:54 PM on August 2, 2005

keswick : "i think the people bitching about apple fpps are just too poor to own one. (they're probably fat, too.)"

Nah. I could afford one (my savings are increasing), but I am getting fat (waistline increasing). Maybe the increase in my savings is being cancelled out by my increase in girth?

Hard call, though. The two guys I know who own Macs are both slim, but both have little money. They're also both good musicians, so maybe I'm just not a good enough musician to own a Mac.
posted by Bugbread at 4:04 PM on August 2, 2005

(I'm starting to think there needs to be a KirkJobSluder fan club)
posted by Bugbread at 4:04 PM on August 2, 2005

emacs? vi?

When I use an editor, I don't want eight extra KILOBYTES of worthless help screens and cursor positioning code! I just want an EDitor!! Not a "viitor". Not a "emacsitor". Those aren't even WORDS!!!!

Ed is the standard text editor.
posted by grouse at 4:06 PM on August 2, 2005

I'm going to become a Mac fanboy as soon as my iBook arrives, but I still don't want to see Apple-shilling posts on MeFi.

It's not "Best of the Web", it's not discussion-worthy, it's not interesting, and there are already perfectly fine places tracking that sort of thing, including Slashdot, MacRumours, CNet, Apple News, MacSurfr, MacNews, TechWeb, MacDailyNews... I mean, for fuck's sake, you could not miss the product release today.

Like I said, if we're going to let Apple product announcements slide by, then we sure as hell better start bringing in links about upcoming VIAO releases, Jaloponik automobile news, Digicam releases, and, hey, why not: a front page post about how the MobiBlu DAH-1500i is now sold at Walmart!

Fuck it, I'm going to prove my fucking point.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:22 PM on August 2, 2005

Mac vs. PC wars is a fucking tradition. What are you, some kind of Nazi?

Someone forgot Waffles vs. Pancakes and Puppies vs. Kittens.

I like tech related posts, Pepsi Blue or not. People post them, and then we either get to drool all over them like some kind of perverse nerd orgy or make fun of them until they burst into flames. Or both. And Apple finally officially releasing a multi-button mouse is like a sign of the End Times or something, as keswick put it in that thread.

Hey five fresh fish? SHUT YER SANCTIMONIOUS PIEHOLE!
posted by loquacious at 4:55 PM on August 2, 2005

I think all posts with nouns should be deleted.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 5:11 PM on August 2, 2005

All Apple products get discussed here, since the dawn of time. Protesting against the 25th one is a bit silly.
posted by smackfu at 5:21 PM on August 2, 2005

I think all posts with nouns should be deleted.

That's because you're a *DELETED*.
posted by yhbc at 5:32 PM on August 2, 2005

I read that in a Strong Bad voice, and it was funny.
posted by loquacious at 5:39 PM on August 2, 2005

R XNPHB THNKS THT LL PSTS WTH VWLS R LWRCS LTTRS SHLD B DLTD
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:24 PM on August 2, 2005

Is this something I'd need a brain to underst........
posted by Carbolic at 6:37 PM on August 2, 2005

fff, we got the point.
posted by jessamyn at 7:04 PM on August 2, 2005

Is it really mac vs. PCs these days? Nobody but the MCSEs love Microsoft anymore. It's more like "Apple vs. Apple-haters".

It's so irritating to see something pretty standard come out and be heralded as the seccond comming of Bob because it emerged from a spesific company.

The iPod is not the end-all, be-all of portable music, people.
posted by delmoi at 7:15 PM on August 2, 2005

Frankly I thought the iPod was already late to the market when it was introduced.

"The second coming of Bob"... wouldn't that mean something universally considered to be awful and out of place? That's what people thought of Microsoft Bob, anyway :-)
posted by clevershark at 7:19 PM on August 2, 2005

"I read that in a Strong Bad voice, and it was funny."

With the bzzzzzzz!
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:47 PM on August 2, 2005

The funny thing was, FFF's deleted post was better than either protested post.
posted by selfnoise at 7:59 PM on August 2, 2005

"Daddy, daddy, why do we have to hide from the police?"

"Because we use vi instead of emacs, son..."
posted by gimonca at 8:11 PM on August 2, 2005

and bugbreads followup is still there? wtf dudez
posted by puke & cry at 8:13 PM on August 2, 2005

Pirates vs. Ninjas

Robots vs. Monkeys
posted by blasdelf at 8:38 PM on August 2, 2005

GIANT SQUID VS. MONKEY KNIFEFIGHT
posted by loquacious at 8:58 PM on August 2, 2005

Noun is a noun, and should be deleted.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:31 PM on August 2, 2005

It was a response to the iPost, but I think it's a great bit of MP3 kit anyway. WTF?

I rather think you did not, jessamyn. Not at all.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:22 PM on August 2, 2005

I'd like to thank my agent, my personal trainer...

I had a load of fun with these posts. I've never gone for the all out "treat MeFi like my personal playground" thing before and I have to tell you, it was great. I really loved the fact that lots of people were talking to me. Clay Shirky says that internet users prefer to be vocally disliked than ignored, and strangely; he's right.

The mouse post was a shit post, my post was a shit post, but out of all that I think we had some old fashioned MetaFilter fun. Plus I got to annoy people I don't know. How Good Is That.
posted by seanyboy at 12:32 AM on August 3, 2005

puke & cry : "and bugbreads followup is still there? wtf dudez"

I meta'd myself.
posted by Bugbread at 4:22 AM on August 3, 2005

Oh for the love of god. The astronaut is basically a big nerd wearing a bulky suit and the caveman is a fighting machine that hunts sabertooth fucking tigers for sport. The astronaut is toast.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2005

Are you sure? Astronauts are military pilots trained for survival in all kinds of situations, including time travel and dealing with angry ape-men, which are not entirely unlike pre-historic hunter-gatherer cavemen.

Besides, the astronaut could just hand out samples of Tang, Velcro, freeze-dried ice cream and duct tape and the caveman's head would literally explode from confusion and utter disbelief.

"Unga bunga! Vel-crooo? Dry twice frozen Ice... crrream? UNG! TAPE of DUUUCK? UNGA OH FUCK!" *pop*
posted by loquacious at 8:03 AM on August 3, 2005

"Robots vs. Monkeys"

Have y'all seen Geoff Marslett's "Monkey vs. Robot"? He's an acquaintance of mine, a fellow johnnie, and an unusually nice guy. The whole RvM meme went right by me at the time, probably because I'm geriatric.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 5:04 PM on August 3, 2005