Amidst yet another article about Windows PC sufferers and their Stockholm Syndrome/Cognitive Dissonance (Guy buys a Dell with Windows Vista; thing doesn’t work; much time and money wasting ensues), The New York Times’ Harry Hurt III writes, “I called John C. Dvorak, a prominent columnist for PC Magazine and a podcaster on the Podshow network. ‘I advise everybody to buy a Macintosh because Apple products are the easiest to use,’ he said. ‘If you own a PC, you have to find a local nerd, a kid, maybe a relative. Every family has one unless they’ve just moved here from a foreign country. That’s the only solution.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Does Mr. Hurt take Dvorak’s advice (which is not new, BTW, as Dvorak’s been advising this at least since July 2007) and return his 3-day old Dell and get a Mac instead? No, of course not – he has Stockholm Syndrome and/or Cognitive Dissonance, after all.
Hurt reports that John, his PC tech support guy, ultimately had to remove the data on the hard drive, wipe it clean, and then reinstall all the data and Vista. The total cost was about $800, over half of what Hurt had originally paid for the Dell. But, Hurt writes, “I was so happy to hear the crunch of S.U.V. tires on my driveway when John returned with my newly repaired machine, I told him I didn’t begrudge paying the tab.”
Check out this article for more on why Windows PC sufferers will do and try almost anything before they ultimately stop the insanity and go buy themselves Macs:
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness
And, Macs aren’t just easier to use, they’re better. Macs will make you more productive and you’ll enjoy using your computer instead of being scared of fouling it all up with a simple software install.
Is it April 1? Did he’ll freeze over?
Using Windows is a socially accepted form of masochism.
He’ll be living in a world of…Hurt? Nome est omen?
Bollocks, I missed an “n” out there
I believe a parka shop has just opened up outside the gates of hell.
Better buy those extra pair of long johns cause it’s getting cold in there.
Wow, and a supposedly intelligent guy, too. he was HAPPY spending $800 to “repair” his Dell?
All I could think reading the article: What an idiot. What a fucking idiot.
“Harry Hurt”
I thought that was a stage name for a bondage film star.
FTFA:
“I vowed to shave Michael Dell and Bill Gates with a broken beer bottle.”
I’d pay to see that.
My parallel universe experiment DID work. What a fascinating place this is.
Hmmm. What else could he have done with $800?
Here’s a thought.
Mac Mini, 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB memory, 120GB hard drive. Ships: Within 24 hours. Free Shipping.
$799.00
It won’t be too long before Mr. Hurt will be hurting once again.
> John ultimately had to remove the data on the hard drive, wipe it clean, and then reinstall all the data and Vista. The total cost of these surgical procedures was about $800
It cost $800 to do THAT. Windows people are getting ripped off big time by predatory “technicians.” Microsoft should demand a cut of that extortion money for making it possible.
MDN: That was a misleading headline.
When I first saw it, I also thought I would learn that Dvorak was under a court order to take his meds.
MDN – You also slipped up in not telling us that the hurting Mr. Hurt can be e-mailed at pursuits@nytimes.com
@Mr. Reese
“All I could think reading the article: What an idiot. What a fucking idiot.”
Thank you for that, I was raised not to use language like that
“Microsoft should demand a cut of that extortion money for making it possible.”
They already do. It’s called MCSE.
I would have done it for $250.
PS. I did that yesterday for $250
I AM OUR FAMILY/LOCAL NERD. (as are a bunch of you i bet)
After years of being a nice relative/friend/neighbor, I had to put my foot down.
I NO LONGER SERVICE WINDOWS.
I NO LONGER SERVICE WINDOWS.
I NO LONGER SERVICE WINDOWS.
PERIOD.
@Ken1w,
“It cost $800 to do THAT. Windows people are getting ripped off big time by predatory “technicians.” Microsoft should demand a cut of that extortion money for making it possible.”
Actually, I believe Microsoft does just that. How else do you explain them making so many billions each year. ?????
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Its called being licensed in Microsoft technologies. LOL
en
I have a lightly different view to Fatal’s.
I’ve told all my friends that I will continue to service their current Windows POS boxes, but – when they die – they’d better buy Mac as my life is too short to continue supporting that rancid crap unless I’m getting paid for it.
On a slightly different note, how much of an idiot is this man if John Dvorak emerges from his article as the voice of reason?
> I quickly confessed that when it came to computers, I fell into that vast gray area between being a moron and a complete idiot.
At least he admits it. So let’s see, the technician saved all his data to another drive, reinstalled Vista, then added all his data back less the offending Norton AntiVirus crapware….
The question is what happened to the data that went into the technician’s spare drive? No worries, he’s probably honest, respectful of the privacy of his clients, and conscientiously securely wiped that data off his drive.
Either that or he’s laughing at the fucking idiot’s personal files. All the way to the bank too.
Rules for the paranoid:
1) Back up
2) Buy new drive
3) Install system in new drive
4) Add data back from your backup drive
5) Destroy old bad drives yourself
6) Pocket the change
we all have our price… what is yours?
This article should be required reading for anyone planning to buy a new computer.
Use this rationale with your PC-using colleagues:
If you bought a car that broke down at least once a month, would you buy the same car again?
Yep, like fatal I’m the local nerd for the neighborhood and friends. I’ve converted everyone I still support to Mac’s, the others I send to Best Buy.
What an idiot. First, he paid that much for a Windows machine. Then, he paid that much to get it fixed?!?
He writes for the Times, he should’ve just asked Pogue what he recommended before throwing away his cash.
Fool.