“We’ve been living, for the past couple years, in Apple’s world, a time and place in which the normal rules of commerce no longer seem to apply to the once much-beaten-down firm. The company has seen an extraordinary string of hits recently. The iPod is bigger than Jesus. Apple is literally selling these things faster than it can make them. Now, for the first time in almost two decades, there’s a good — great — feeling attached to the Apple brand, a haze of optimism that is unlike the sensation we feel for all but the most cherished of consumer tech products,” Farhad Manjoo writes for Salon.
“So, perchance to dream: After iPod, can Apple make a comeback in the world of personal computers? On Jan. 22, the company began shipping the Mac Mini, a diminutive entry-level machine aimed at Windows people. The computer is tiny, beautiful and, at $499, cheap; already, it’s receiving generally positive praise from reviewers,” Manjoo writes. “What happens now? The entire effort could fizzle, certainly. Apple releases nice Macs all the time that never spark in the Windows world. There is a theory, though, that this go-round might be different, that the moment may be ripe for the Mac Mini to take off. The landscape of the personal computer market has altered. In recent years, the home computer has increasingly become a digital entertainment center; people use it for the Web, they use it for e-mail, and they use it for photos, movies and music.”
“The Mac is not just good at these few tasks: It’s the best there is. There’s simply no arguing that Apple’s built-in software and operating system make for the single most powerful photo, music and movie system you can buy. But the things that the Mac is good at make up just one part of the story. There’s a flip side — the increasingly obvious failings of PCs running Microsoft Windows. Among Windows users, there’s a rising feeling — accounted for mostly by anecdotes and not all that well-measured, but nevertheless important — that the system is becoming too hard to maintain. Talk to experts at computer security firms and they’ll give you some pretty scary straight talk about how spyware, adware and viruses are just killing the user experience on an ordinary Windows PC,” Manjoo writes.
“It’s not unusual for people to throw out their year-old Windows computers because they’ve become just too clogged with bad junk, says Richard Stiennon, vice president of threat research at the anti-spyware firm Webroot. The Mac, in contrast, simply doesn’t suffer such afflictions,” Manjoo writes.
Full article (subscription required) here.
MacDailyNews Clarity Alert: We didn’t write the line, “The iPod is bigger than Jesus,” Farhad Manjoo wrote it in the Salon article.
Here comes the never ending war between the religious zealots and the atheistic biggots. Is it at all possible for us NOT to go there. Probably not…
Careful.
Flip, retro, Beatles quotes are fun, but it didn’t do John Lennon much good, no matter how innocent his intentions. Which were meant to be of astonishment at the popularity of the Beatles, and never meant to be disrespectful.
He had to publicly apologize (I’m pretty sure)
DV
Or because I’m 55, and the oldest person here, only a handful of others will get it?
But I DID see them on their first concert tour, one benefit for being born when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
DV
No, you’re right. John Lennon did eventually apologize after saying that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus. He was only stating a fact, that more people listened to their music than went too church in England, but it wasn’t too well received by the masses.
Typical of Salon…
David V, I’m only 29, and I got it.
Personally though, I think that Kenny Loggins is Jesus. Every time I see either of their pictures, I can’t tell them apart.
The Crunge:
Well, certainly our talent for archiving the past for the benefit of Beatles completists, and everyone else, will keep this trivia alive. The day I knew I was OLD was around 1982 when I asked for research on Timothy Leary and the young assistant asks.
“Who’s Timothy Leary?.”
Leary was a household word for decades even among the unhip. Magazine like LIFE made sure of that. But there is that cut-off point.
I have a 22 yr old employee who is not sure who the Rolling Stones are. He’s into rap. This is the result of the ‘narrowcasting’ life we lead now. 40 years ago with only 3 TV stations, 2 or 3 major magazines, and four A.M. radio stations meant that everyone heard everything or of everything that was put out there.
David Vesey
David,
I also thought about John Lennon’s comment as well, and the firestorm of controversy it ignited among conservative Christians, with the anti-Beatle rallies, record-burning etc. Lennon himself meant no disrespect and was astonished (I wonder why) at the reaction. In this current climate, with evangelicals in a much more assertive and militant mood, Manjoo should be careful.
MDN magic word is “lack”, as in there is a horrible lack of tolerance in society these days.
DV….
Youre not the only “Boomer” here …..
I plead guilty as well !!
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‘Tis true, the headline to this article may cause the Religious Right to foam at the mouth … but, they have never been known to have a sense of humor anyhoo !!
Lol, well though it might be true most of my fellow 20-somethings might not know who Leary was, you have to admit that no other generation did a better job of turning on, tuning in, and dropping out.
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Wait, he was referring to TV, right?
Puts a new twist in the iPod halo!!!
If Jesus had an iPod (and I’m sure he would if he could), what would he be listening to?
The same people that attend church and then come home to beat the wife and lie to their friends, are the same ones that go to WalMart to buy the $10 white iPod-knock-off ear-buds, sticking the loose end into and empty pocket, just to look cool.
I think too many people confuse Jesus with an iPod; everyone seems to load him up with what THEY want him to be. That is what an iPod is for, not Jesus. Actually, I do not care what people think about Jesus. Trying to define a character that is based on a few thin books that were based on verbal tales passed around for decades and not actually written down until a hundred of years AFTER he existed, and then discovered a thousand years later, does give some latitude for any narrow-minded idiot to fill in the canyon-sized gaps of Jesus’ life with their own 21st century social experiences. Jesus makes for a great religious iPod; there’s enough space to insert your own religion, then play it on an endless loop until you believe it as fact, then you can use this “fact” to go kill someone not listening to the same baseless crap that you are.
*****NEWS RELEASE*****
In order to more effectively compete with the iPod and other portable music devices, leaders of major Christian religions announced today two new products:
The Jesus mini (perfect for praying where space is at a premium) and the Jesus shuffle (you don’t know what dogma will be next!).
DV
im 18 and i got it, beetles still suck.
and isn’t Jobs jesus? he has outdone himself with one of his own creations.
[I]they have never been known to have a sense of humor anyhoo !![/I]
Don’t be so hard on them – they must have a sense of humour, look at their preferred political candidates.
God will get all of you for this stuff.
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You know, I hate to disagree with the writer, but I don’t see the iPod being bigger than Jesus…
Now, when the misselettes, books, and songs are replaced with iPod Minis…
I’m 35 and I know of the Jesus reference AND who Timothy Leary is (although I must admit I only know who he is thanks to a reference on Genesis’ “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” album – I was 14 and asked my mom who Timothy Leary was – she was really surprised!).
I don’t know if Jesus would have an iPod if he was around today or not (probably) but I do believe he’d look at Christianity today and wonder what the hell happened.
Religion is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on humanity. Windows is the second greatest hoax. (Oh no, the worms are wigglin’ outta the can!) Anyway, from there on down, any company with an advertisement promising a benefit that is mostly taken away by the fine print (as most of them do nowadays) deserves to have the bejeesus kicked outta them.
Just because you can wear it around your neck does not make it an iPod
Well, ‘Bigger Than’ is hard thing to define.
Everyone who LIKES something?
Everyone who has HEARD of something?
BTW I’m sending these posts from a hospital bed, and my laptop and iPod U2 SE is turning heads right and left. I’ve switched 3 people in the last 4 days alone. Some who are fed up with Windows, others who are blown away by the coolness of the iPod/laptop combo. The doctors stay 3 times longer at my bedside. The nurses are are dreaming of silver iPod Minis.
The Revolution. And so it begins.
I STILL meet people (not here) who are middle aged, wealthy, and fairly tuned in who haven’t even heard the word ‘iPod’.
That surprises me.
But the iPod ‘BIGGER’ than Jesus? Well, there’s a LOT of Catholics out there, and I should know, I’m one of them. Anyway, I say ‘no’. But then, Jesus had a 2,000 year head start.
I hope we all take comments like that in the spirit they are given, as a commentary on the social landscape.
I’ve seen Lennon speak that quote a million times and he did have a .01% arrogance factor. But then I don’t think he could order a coke without being a little stuck up. But he had the right to.
DV
Man the press has been GREAT for Apple lately. I have only read a handful of negative articles and they all sound whiny. If this trend in the press and my personal experiences so far are any indications, the Mac mini is gonna be bigger than Buddha.
“Just because you can wear it around your neck does not make it an iPod.” – Marcie88
That’s true, Marcie88. I have a string of human ears that I’ve worn around my neck since my three tours in ‘Nam and they are definitely not iPods.
aryegaetu… strong words. however, one should always remember that there is a difference between those that “profess” and those that “practice.”
What many priests teach is irreprehensible… and not bible based.
magic word: “thirty” pieces of silver.
Jesus? You mean Jesus Morales? …my gardener? Wiry little guy, but still, he is technically bigger than my iPod. More disposable, though.