The Inquirer reports on attack of Apple cultists, blames MacDailyNews for inciting ‘email fatwa’
Friday, March 03, 2006 - 01:09 PM EDT"Apple cultists have rounded on the heretical INQUIRER magazine. Earlier this week we ran two opinion pieces, one by myself and the other by the magazine’s curmudgeon and spinster of this parish Andrew Thomas, which implied that Apple's claims that its ugly boom box offering was up to Hi-Fi standards were bogus," Nick Farrell writes for The Register. "Doing a quick search on the World Wide Wibble, it appears that comments on a MacDailyNews forum might have stirred up the most fuss. It said: 'They invent the fantasy of an entire class of Apple fanatic Steve Jobs worshippers who will buy anything with an Apple logo simply because it looks nice, or because they're gullible, stupid, brainwashed or whatever - anything they can think up except that Apple's products are actually genuinely better.'"
"Of course we should not expect too much from a magazine which once suggested that anyone who didn’t like Macs was suffering from a mental disorder called Stockholm Syndrome," Farrell writes. "But if the iconic Apple cult did not exist, then why is Andrew’s inbox full of about 300 snottograms from the angry faithful? Might it be something to do with the fact that MacDailyNews readers have been told to write to complain to Andrew, Mad Mike (and even the Rogister) about INQUIRER coverage?"
Farrell posts an edited sample of an email he received; there's no way to tell if a MacDailyNews reader sent it, although it sounds more like a Howard Stern listener wrote that one. He also provides a link where clickers without much else to do can peruse other missives supposedly received by The Inquirer.
Farrell continues, "Declaring email fatwas on people because they disagree with a belief that it is possible to produce a Hi-Fi speaker for less than $300, seems a little odd... a psychological look at the letters shows a streak of racism, ageism and a belief that reporters should be botoxed and just write nice things about Apple. There is also a belief that we must be in Microsoft's pocket to write such things, when actually we are perfectly capable of being rude and unpleasant to any vendor. At the heart of this cult there is a deep held belief that however implausible it might be, whatever St Steven of Cupertino says is right.... If that is the case do they really believe that Steve Jobs is really giving up his expensive speakers at home?"
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: How quaint. For the record, in our coverage of Thomas' article yesterday, we wrote a "MacDailyNews Take" that we stand by 100%. Nowhere within our coverage did we declare an "email fatwa" or even post an email address; just the usual link to the original Inquirer article. We didn't even bother with Farrell's original screed. What has the Inquirer's panties in such a bunch seems to be Steve Jobs' statement that he threw out his stereo system and replaced it with an iPod Hi-Fi. They also seem to take umbrage at the use of "Hi-Fi" in the iPod Hi-Fi's name and the marketing slogan used for the unit: "Home Stereo. Reinvented." "Marketing" would be the operative word here.
Good Apple Cultists know that besides the candles, incense, flowers, flowing robes, and chanting, a basic understanding of marketing-speak and the ability to read product specs is important. We all know the iPod Hi-Fi is neither "Hi" nor "Fi." We know that Leader Steve is just selling a nice shelf speaker system and that he probably still has his real stereo somewhere (probably squirreled away over at his Jackling House until the wrecking ball gets approved). We know all of this because we're not morons; just good little cultists who don't process everything that's said or written literally.
We ordered an iPod Hi-Fi yesterday. We need a nice speaker setup for iPod use that fits on an office shelf that we can also grab and take outdoors with us. We didn't buy it because of what "Saint Stephen of Cupertino" included in his usual hyperbolical product pitch. We bought it because the specs are very good for what we want it to accomplish, it's nicely-designed, seems to be constructed with typical Apple quality, we're sure it'll work well with our iPods, and because we got free shipping from the Apple Store.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Inquirer writer: Apple Mac, iPod users are gullible saps - March 02, 2006
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness - December 20, 2003
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...anyone who didn’t like Macs was suffering from a mental disorder called Stockholm Syndrome...
That's not what the article said. It said that anyone who would continuously put up with the abuse of Windows and not consider any alternative was suffering from Stockhom Syndrome. They didn't even understand the article--if they even read it.
MDN Magi Word: french - This journalist must be French.