One of the RSS feeds I read in my daily informational overload posts interesting “bits” from all over the internet. Some are news stories, some are editorial pieces and others are just plain cool stuff to look at (aka time killers). For the most part the items have a scientific or technological edge but not always. In any event, the site allows members (which I’m not) to comment on the links as a method of general feedback. I’ve found that the comments will fall into two categories… those that say how great the company/project in the link is or those that slam it for the same reason. Comments are almost always drawn along company lines and you can pretty much predict what the concensus is going to be.
Things that are great:
-Apple products, especially iPods
-Firefox browser
-Linux OS
-Google
-Sony products, especially PS3
Things that suck ass:
-Microsoft products, especially XBox360
-Bill Gates
-RIAA
-AOL
Now I know I shouldn’t care what a bunch of internet nerds think is and isn’t cool but for some reason this bothers me. It’s not just the site, there’s obsessive mob mentality about a lot of things these days. I mean I understand brand loyalty as I’m a fan of that myself but there’s also such thing as blind allegiance. Some of the opinions about these companies/products are clearly warranted (i.e. RIAA) but I believe it’s gone beyond personal experience. Does “Oh man did you see how awesome the new iPod is?” or “Microsoft is an evil empire and Bill Gates is the devil!” sound familar to you?
Apple and Google have some innovative ideas and solid products but I don’t need to buy every iPod that comes out (I know someone who does this) or use every Google product when I have absolutely no need to (read: Google Talk). The PS3 is going to slam the failure that is XBox360? Is this the same PS3 that people have no clue when it’ll be released owning a system that most people haven’t even played yet?
Perhaps I’m biased because I actually believe in the machine that is Microsoft but they’ve done more in the last 10 years that most companies could do in 100. Just because they aren’t perfect doesn’t mean they’re not a good company. I’ve installed Firefox a half dozen times and every time I go back IE pretty damn quick… it’s just not for me. What about the widespread screen scratches on the iPod Nano? If jocking Apple, Google and Firefox while hating Miscrosoft is cool then I’m guess I’ve just grown too old to be cool anymore.