The Los Angeles Times has published two letters in response to their recent article, “No More Internet for Them: Fed up over problems stemming from viruses and spyware, some computer users are giving up or curbing their use of the Web.” MacDailyNews covered their article last Friday at which time we wrote, “The article goes on and on with very entertaining, from the perspective of a Mac user, anecdotes of Windows suffering, but amazingly makes no mention of the real solution: get a Mac. Unbelievable! For our Windows-only friends, there is a better way, so for more information about smoothly adding a safe, secure, powerful, and fun Mac OS X machine to your computing arsenal, please click here. If we may be so forward, you might want to take a look at Apple’s new $499 Mac Mini – it just might be the perfect machine for you. And don’t forget to bump the RAM up to 512MB, you’ll want it.”
The letters to the Los Angeles Times read as follows:
It’s unfortunate that the Jan. 14 Column One, “No More Internet for Them,” failed to mention Apple’s Macintosh as an option to unplugging. No viruses, no spyware and no speed decrease because of those gremlins. The statement “No one is immune” and then using Bill Gates as an example could have been restated as “No one with a Windows PC is immune.” The stereotype that nothing exists but the Windows PC shouldn’t be propagated in this day and age. There are real solutions besides unplugging.
Bill Taggart
Cincinnati
*
The laments of Internet users mentioned in your Column One article puzzles me. My experience with the Web is overwhelmingly positive. I have had no viruses, spyware or pop-ups. I cruise the Web for hours without a glitch. Almost all of my shopping is done online, with few problems. The difference, I suppose, is simple: I use a Macintosh.
Bill McGuire
Soda Springs, Calif.
Link here.
MacDailyNews Take: Both are excellent, level-headed letters that clearly state what The LA Times should have stated in their original article. A good job by both!
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Windows users giving up or curbing their use of the Web; time to get a Mac? – January 14, 2005
Good job it wasn’t Bill Palmer, with one of his 3000 word diatribes!
I wonder how many letters from “enthusiastic” Macintosh readers slammed the LA Times they received compared to the cogent letters published in response?
I’m glad the LA Times had the temerity to publish those letters.
*tear
Well, my email was returned so perhaps they were flooded.
I was also one of those that sent a level headed response. But I sent mine straight to the author of the article.
I also sent a level-headed response directly to the author, and he responded with a nice reply.
Luckily they didn’t publish the average letter:
Dear Cocksmoochers:
You suck! How dare you not mention the Mac. What are you stoopid? Of course you are! Every PC weenie may only have one functioning brain cell left but that’s all it should take to realize the superiority of the Mac if they were to simply consider the option.
I realize the real reason why you really didn’t mention it though. I know. You are in Bill Gates’s pocket. Admit it. You’re whores. And you really really suck. The Mac is far superior to PeeSea and you know it. You’re scared. And you suck.
Best regards,
Mac Zealot X
Well said! Here here!
effwerd
What the F*ck are you doing reading MY mail?
Good Job LAtimes. I only hope that other publications have the objectivity and journalistic integrity to follow your example. Oh, and next time you can mention the Mac as the solution from the start. The only thing I could have asked for in the letters would have been that they made it crystal clear that there isn’t ANY malware for OS X in the wild right now. Not “fewer’ like most articles that mention the Mac claim.
Oops. I meant to have a
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It should never be forgotten that a well written and well reasoned letter will do more good than a thousand flame-mails. If you want the media to think Mac users are not some kind of cult then stop acting stupid.
smorr, I’ve modified my tin foil hat to intercept email from anywhere in the world. It works pretty well. I’m thinking of hooking a Mac mini up to it next. I might even be able to transmit.
god damn hilarious, effwerd.
I wrote a letter along those lines from my Windows laptop while on the road. It was returned with an accompanying virus. Norton actually caught and isolated the virus. LMFAO.
whew….for a second there I thought they might publish the freak letters that are typical of over zealous Mac heads. It is always the fringe elements that end up hurting their own causes. All you have to do is look at the leftists who are violent during demonstrations, or look at the current crop of ultra religious Neo-cons to see that.
LMAO! effwerd, you hit the nail more accurately than you realize, and I’m sure the Macintosh Al Qaida probably necessitated decontamination of the LA Times mail servers. I thank the writers who responded for their polite and reasonable letters, and I thank the LA Times for printing them.
effwerd,
The only reason that is funny is because it is true. I think many of us mac-lovers have stopped writing flame letters. I think mac-HATERS have taken over this duty to make us look bad.
How hard is it to “look” like a mac-lover and keep up the appearance of zealots? Not very hard. Just talk like a school kid and bash PCs, use a copious amount of profanities, and there is the recipe.
I guess maybe I am a conspiracy theorist; but just because you are paranoid does not mean they are not after you!
The Dude abides.
magic word…. “sent”…. as in… those PC Geeks SENT letters posing as mac-zealots.
Heh, I could probably whip together an AppleScript to generate these kind of letters. It’s really not that tough. And getting the material to harvest from wouldn’t be too tough either. Just post a bunch of anti-Mac comments on various Mac sites, and voila. Of course anti-Mac rants would be just as easy to script.
The Dude, sounds like you might want to borrow my tin foil hat
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And, they can even earn a free one!
Free Mini Mac for everyone! Whoo-hoo!
And, oh yeah, effwerd — you kill me.
I also sent a well thought out response..No reply from them…That would have been wierd to see my reply published….
Also there is a an Editorial on Steve Jobs, on today’s LA TIMES…
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-apple18jan18,1,5314423.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials