Submitted by Well, this will come as no surprise to OSAlert readers, but as outlined in a recent BBC documentary, UK neuroscientists have studied brain scans of hard-core Apple fans and have found that their mental reactions to Apple imagery are quite similar to scans of religious devotees’ brains when shown images of their iconography. The DigitalTrends article summarizing the finding singles out Apple users, but I think we all know that, RDF aside, this is not an Apple-only phenomenon.As anyone who’s ever read blog comments or online discussion forums (or BBSes, or 18th century pamphlets, or cave paintings) knows, people tend to form strong opinions about their passions, and even though those opinions might have initially been formed based on objective factors, human nature gradually compels us to cling to our notions, defend them from attack, and build them into our identity over time. I believe it’s one of the cornerstones of the human experience.
Somewhere early in our evolutionary journey, our distant ancestors who were able to listen to the words of a charismatic villager and really buy into some idea (“We need to migrate to new hunting grounds”) then cling to that idea, even when faced with setbacks or difficulties (This river is full of crocodiles), had a survival advantage. Nowadays, it’s not just religion that people profess faith in and will defend from attack, but political ideologies, sports teams, allegiance to a group or family or ethnic group, patriotism or nationalism, and yes, OS preference.
And just as one religion professes disdain at other sects for their heresies, and one ethnic group makes up slurs about another, whether you’re a Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Newton, Amiga, Sinclair, Nintendo, xBox, whatever user, you’ve certainly got a quiver of insults and stereotypes to deploy at a moment’s notice for anyone who doesn’t share your geekly passion.
Honestly, it’s gotten pretty old.
So yes, at some time in the past, we made a decision about which technology platform worked best for us. Maybe that decision was even made for us, by a parent or teacher, or at least influenced, by a friend. Maybe we responded to an organized evangelical campaign. But we made that decision, and even when things get hard, and we momentarily doubt whether we made the right choice, we not only have the substantial investment in money and time sunk into it, we also have our innate human nature to grapple with. Sometimes, like mid nineties Mac fans, or current Symbian fans, our loyalty and devotion is a little pathetic. But let’s cut each other a break. In most civilized societies, it’s considered very poor manners to attack or mock someone else’s religion. Maybe the OSAlert crowd can finally extend that social more to the topic at hand.
lol apple fanbois!!!1
Honestly, I don’t know what’s worse… Apple or Android fanboys. One would think Fandroids are a little more informed, but when Netflix for Android comes out supporting like six phones (including the Droid Incredible, but NOT the Incredible 2) and they still insist that fragmentation on Android doesn’t exist/isn’t a problem, you have to wonder what Kool-Aid they’ve been drinking.
Note: I like Android and have a Droid Incredible myself, but even the most enthusiastic supporters of a platform need to be realistic about its problems. For example, iOS REALLY needs a better notification system and the option to be untethered from iTunes.
Edited 2011-05-19 19:54 UTC
Netflix only working for six phones is an artificial fragmentation.
Anyone with a rooted phone can get Netflix to work on their device. I own a Motorola Droid, running Android 2.3.3, I have Netflix and it performs fine. We should be asking why Netflix just didn’t release an app for all Android phones, who paid them off to only support the magic 6?
That is hardly the fault of android. Netflix only supports those phones due to the paranoia of the mpaa and their ilk. The qualcomm chips have a drm module that netflix needs. The program is perfectly capable of running on ther devices.
However, regarding fragmentation …
Yes, there is fragmentation, as a consequence of choice and variety which far better than the monolithic iphone or the (practically) WP7 clones.
Since when have we expected pcs or even macintoshes been expected to homogeneously run any piece of software equally? it would be pretty boring and this site would have absolutely no reason to exist.
Fragmentation is only a major problem if you choose to view it as such.
Edited 2011-05-19 21:20 UTC
Note to self: Avoid joking in OSAlert.
Hi, you must be new. Welcome to the internet. After the Eternal September, humour was outlawed here.
Exceptions are made for jokes that are still funny.
You are probably not aware that Netflix officially supports Nexus S, which does not have a Qualcomm SoC. Nexus S has Hummingbird from Samsung.
They are totally different beasts. Apple is a brand and Android is an OS. There are Android fanboys but they are fragmented. They are not a single mass with a single message. They come from different backgrounds and they don’t repeat the same message from the same leader. Some of them are reactionary anti Apple fanboys who see Android as a counter power, some of them adhere to the free software political ideology, etc. Very few, if any of them just repeat what Google says.
Edited 2011-05-20 06:07 UTC
“Fan” comes from “fanatical”, and you’ll see fanatical comments and thoughts (even the “that’s this way”, “that it’s wrong”, “I’m right and you are not”, etc) in a lot of fields, specially if there are options to choose.
Yes, I realize that but my point is that Apple fans are not the same as Android fans. They are both fans but for different reasons. What is unique about Apple fans is that they were indoctrined by a marketing department and their number. They are not a handful of geeks but a whole class of people and they don’t have a philosophical background, just a brand and a leader.
Ah, but at least Apple and Jobs exist. This article was meant to highlight that Apple fanatics have turned the ‘cult’ part of the mind to follow actual products that make our lives better, unlike people who are still clinging to their invisible buddies.
Once again, Apple wins!
How dare you imply that others (non-Apple users) may be mentally capable of such love and devotion; this is something that only those of us evolved enough to use Apples products can understand! This part of the brain is merely shut-off in the rest of the lower population. You know what, from now on don’t speak unless spoken to or given express written permission from Supreme Commander Jobs!
In all seriousness though, thank you to the author, That was very well stated.
Edited 2011-05-19 19:40 UTC
Long live atheism!
^aEUR|the new religion.
What this study has shown is that a human nature exists that presents itself in different people under different guises, be it idolism of a company, or of a religious dogma, or the rejection of religion. People can be religious about atheism.
Yes, I believe that was the joke.
Yes, that original commenter thinks that he knows what will happen when his body is dead. Also he thinks that some things are wrong and some are right. He has a religion, he has also chosen, even if he says that he does not have a religion.
Edited 2011-05-20 02:49 UTC
Atheism is not a belief.
It is the idea of following the scientific method, which is a methodology and not a belief.
The only difference between being agnostic and being atheist is the certainty between the two.
I don’t consider myself Athiest or Agnostic … but somewhere between the two.
Atheism is that the person believes that there are NO supernatural forces whatsoever, agnostism is that the person doesn’t currently believe in any specific supernatural force but doesn’t deny the possibility of such existing. I don’t see how you can be “between those two” because they’re quite clear about the distinction and are mutually exclusive.
I personally am agnostic: I don’t believe in any specific supernatural being or force, ghosts, spirits or anything the like, but I don’t deny the possibility of such existing even without my knowledge of them.
Not believing in supernatural forces usually means that you base your beliefs and opinions on repeatable scientific facts. I see them as opposite sides of the same coin.
When I say that I am somewhere between Atheism and Agnostic, I quite firm enough that these things don’t exist. However I not arrogant enough to say it with 110% conviction.
Edited 2011-05-20 19:03 UTC
I think I know whether or not pixies exist. And I think I’m right about it. Does this make me religious? I’m not sure about your definition.
10 Commandments from the Lord Thy Jobs
—————————————————————
1. The Lord thy Jobs hath one button, and the number of buttons is one. Thou shall have no other buttons before thee.
2. Thou shall not take upon thy Mac any graven images. Neither of creatures that creep, nor of swimming blow fish.
3. Thou shall not take the name of thy Mac in vain. It is normal and good to reboot regularly.
4. Though shall remember the Apple Store and keep it holy.
5. Thou shall remember thy motherboard and honor it. Though shalt not allow dust to prevail therein.
6. Thou shall not kill the power to thy Mac except by shutting down properly.
7. Though shall not adulter thyself by running Windows, Linux, or any other OS except thy wife, the OS of X.
8. Neither shall thou steal from the Lord the Jobs by installing Mac software on any other machine except thy Apple-provided Mac.
9. You shall not bear false witness to thy neighbor – Macs do not cost more, if you factor in total cost of ownership.
10. Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s computer, especially if it is a Macbook Pro, of the unibody construction. Neither shall thou desire your neighbors’s iPad 2 or white iPhone 4.
http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=A2MvNEh5
That was deep! Good article, vary good reasoning and it did make me take a look at myself and wonder why I would defend and OS as though it was my god. Worship comes in many forms. Thanks for making it so clear.
What a lame thing to get so polarized about, when there are far more important and meaningful things, like Mario vs Sonic.
Well everyone knows it is sonic.
Yet, Sonic couldn’t save Sega from being forced out of the console market.
I think that means Mario wins.
I’d like OS X a whole lot more if Finder was updated to even 2001 file manager standards.
Yup, Finder is a complete piece of crap. Try TotalFinder or Forklift.
So… If Finder = piece of crap, then TotalFinder = Total piece of crap?
So the conclusion of the researchers is that if you’re a strong devotee of X, and you see symbols relating to X, then you’ll have an emotional reaction that’s similar across various X’s, including religions.
There seems to then be the implication that being a devotee of X is therefore irrational.
While I admit that fanboiism can TURN irrational, no one seems to talk about why someone became a devotee of X in the first place. Maybe there WAS a rationale for it. And since the choice worked for the eventual devotee, they have stopped worrying about the justification. Humans naturally try to simplify their lives, and it can be disruptive to be constantly reevaluating one’s choices, most of which are trivial and arbitrary anyhow (not to belitte them–one’s preferred brand of ice cream does not need to be constantly reassessed when all you want to do is have ice cream while watching a movie, and it makes the ice cream shopping quicker).
I switched to using Macs when Windows caused revulsion in most people. Now that Windows 7 is out, it’s quite usable, but I still feel this sense of dread at the idea of using it. Besides that irrational sense of dread, there’s also the practical resistance to having to unnecessarily learn a new system. Not that I can’t learn it, but that I have other work I have to do, and I don’t want mucking with an OS slowing me down, which is why I switched to Mac in the first place. I want the computer to get the hell out of my way, and Macs _generally_ do a better job of that.
Also, I like Mac aesthetics. I like the rigid unibodies. (I’m not a big fan of the plastic MacBook’s aesthetics.) I like AppleCare, which costs money but has fantastic service. And of course, I like the appearance and usability of MacOS and many of the major apps (like OmniGraffle). But when I build my own computer from parts, I don’t try to make a hackintosh. I install Linux. (But I mostly only build my own if I want a server.)
Sorry, I had a point to make, but I have other work to do, so I’ll quit here.
The article seems to imply that the result of the study can apply to any fan of any OS.
The study was not about an OS, it was about a company that literally invented the evangelism as marketing concept. It does only apply to Apple. The fans are not after the OS, they are after the brand. They are not a handful of geeks either. They are a mass. No other brand or system can enjoy the kind of phenomenon that made the iPhone and the iPad so popular. Every media talked about it for free, hordes of fanboys were defending the lack of feature as a feature, etc. This is the result of Apple’s unique marketing technique.
Then the article tries to picture the fans as some kind of enlighten people with an analogy with people who cross rivers. This is totally misguided. This is like comparing political belief or religion that is based on philosophical concepts with a sect that is based on giving away your money to the leader. What the study is showing is that Apple has managed to use sectarian techniques as a marketing technique. By trying to depict that as a good thing, the article looks like an article written by a fan.
Steve Jobs never said I deserve to spend eternity being burnt alive while being eaten by maggots. Nor do Apple fanboys see every wedding and funeral as an opportunity to sell me a Mac. I much prefer Apple fanboys to Jesus fanboys.
I think there is a difference between Apple users and iPhone owners.
A lot of people own iPhones and I know a whole bunch, but a large number (mostly women, oh well) don’t even know Steve Jobs, don’t have a Mac and don’t even know which type of iPhone they have. Sure they love their phones, but you can’t call them Apple fanatics.
The “religious” Apple user is in fact a percentage of all Apple product owning people. It might be a big percentage, but even so you can’t say every Apple product owning person believes in the Apple Church.
Also one can’t become an Apple fanatic before you get influenced. That just proves Apple knows how to make cool stuff and more important sell it. At least their stuff has a personality (like most computers did in the 80’s). Other companies just try to bump the specs, dish it out and pull it as quickly if it doesn’t sell well enough.
I believe it’s their clever marketing that makes you think they make cool stuff. Their stuff is still just dumbed down Unix, much less cool than my customized LFS but they sell it like something magic and the fans do that marketing for them. That is what the personality of their stuff is about in my opinion.
I think it’s more that marketing. It’s a certain vision they put in to practice where they both control the hard- and software. Add attention to detail and of course marketing and you have something.
At home I have a lot of retro stuff, a lot from the 70’s and 80’s. A lot of stuff breathes personality and is part of the producer’s history. During the 90’s this was lost, IMHO, when the PC clones took over. All computers turned in to ugly PCs with DOS and Windows.
Sure my Amiga is crap compared to a 2011 PC, but it is more fun.
And now when Dell or HP comes with a new product you know it’s just specs in a box. That’s what they sell specs for a price. Most non-tech users hardly know the brand of the PC they use (well, most don’t even), let alone the type.
Yesterday someone at work even offered me an old computer. Hoping it was not a PC I said I might be interested. What was it? Well, a PC. A Dell or an HP. They have had it for years, don’t even know what brand. I told her to bring it along but I wouldn’t pay for it. I’ll use it as a test machine or give it away if someone is interested.
I do like the IBM XT though.
Apple does not control the hardware since about a decade or so. Sun or IBM do but not Apple. They are just selling the same hardware as Dell or HP in a shiny box. If you think they control the hardware it is because of their brand and marketing. They just control the OS and that OS is just collection of modified open source components with a shiny interface on top. This is very far from the Amiga. My opinion is that they have that brand that makes people think their stuff is more cool than a random PC with Ubuntu.
Apple certainly uses a lot of off-the-shelve components, but I doubt you could build your own MacBook Air with stuff you can buy in a shop.
It’s easier to clone an HP or Dell spec-wise. Arguably your Dell clone will be cheaper and higher specced than an iMac, but a Mac has OS X that’s tailored to the hardware.
I’m not sure about that. I think Pystar proved that technically you can build Mac clones. I don’t think it’s any harder than building a PC. The biggest problem is of course Apple’s legal team. I believe Apple does not like clones because it removes the magic in people’s mind.
Well, a quick Google finds:
***
Cons :
No Wi-Fi
No Bluetooth
No OS updates
Limited OS X
***
On a Mac everything (usually) works, which is part of the success. When I switched from Linux to OS X I stopped spending time getting things to work and again after an OS update.
My wife uses my old iMac G5. It came with Panther, which I found a bit disappointing. It was upgraded to Tiger and then Leopard. It never needed a reinstall, nor did any Mac/MacBook here. Only used Macs I get my hands on I reinstall.
Buy a Psystar Hackintosh and I’m sure you’d need to google and fiddle around to get stuff working.
Wait, those are not TECHNICAL problems. On Pystar machines, wireless technologies like Wifi and Bluetooth were optional. You can technically build a Mac clone with wireless, Pystar did build them but they choose to sell them as options for commercial reasons. The limited OS and lack of updates are legal problems, not technical.
It’s a myth that everything works more out of the box on a Mac. It does not work anymore out of the box than a random Dell with Ubuntu. Many hardware and software components do not work on a Mac, just like on any random computer. If you want something that work with most things out of the box, buy a Dell with Windows.
Edited 2011-05-20 12:56 UTC
At work I have a Dell with Ubuntu. I could list a number of things that didn’t work and some that still don’t work.
For 125 euro from my own money I bought a Power Mac from 2002 and replaced the company Dell with it. It may not be fast, but at least Lotus Notes doesn’t keep breaking after every few updates.
But all of this deviates from my opinion that Apple computers at least express some personality while PCs don’t. Being able to build your own Mac doesn’t change that.
Well, I can list a ton of things that do not work on a Mac.
I’m convinced that your opinion that Macs have a personality comes from clever marketing.
But this shows you totaly miss the point.
To disprove my statement about Apple computers being the only ones left with a personality you bring up stuff like being able to make your own hackintosh or that Windows handles certain soft- and hardware that a Mac, which van run Windows, doesn’t.
To bring out the traditional car comparison:
Me: I like Porsches, they are so cool.
You: Not true, you can build your own car.
Me: But Porsches are very reliable.
You: So are trucks and they can carry more cargo, so Porsches can not be cool.
You would have had a point 25 years ago when Apple was actually making computers.
Let’s say we are in 2050 and there is no more oil. Porsche is still making cars that run with oil but nobody is buying them because there is no more oil. At one point, the CEO wakes up and realizes that nobody want oil powered car anymore. What should he do? Designing new cars with new engines? No, he just buy electric cars from Tata, put a Porsche logo on it and sell them 3 times the price. Do you think people will buy it? Yes they will, because it’s a Porsche.
And there you come and tell me that Porsches are cool and I say yes they were but now, it’s just a Tata with a Porsche logo. You say no it’s not, I say yes it is. You say it does not matter, it’s cool. Well, ok.
Edited 2011-05-23 05:25 UTC
That’s bull. Apple wants you to think that the os is tailored to the hardware, but it is not.
As for not being able to build clones, you don’t even have to build clones, you can install it to your PC, like I and many others did.