In other news. Today’s headline on the whole options timing issue is that the former CFO has rolled over and implicated Jobs. Uh oh.

So Mom said that I should ‘weigh in’ on this, so I said I weigh 174… and then she just looked at me (with that look, you know, the wifely look that can say any one of a number of things). So I guess she meant that I should comment…
My first thought was to just say, “Uhhh OK” like James did, and Liz agreed. But I could say a little more…but not too much, right?(I am almost at the end of my time sleeping on the couch for trying to suggest that Bill Gates is really not the personification of evil). So I did actually learn several things that I did not know previously, like two of my sons are gay and the other one may think that I am a greasy 60+ year-old because I prefer PCs (or PC’s). Mostly because I am a marketing guy, and market share, regardless of how it is gained, is an undeniable reality that cannot be explained away or minimized.
Not that Apple itself tries to do so, but many users certainly make the attempt. Usually not persuasively. And, having started in high tech somewhere around 1982, I have seen the Apple owners’ “I need to convince you to change how you use computers” mode on a number of occasions. It existed even before the Mac was a product. Nobody ever doubted the sincerety of such efforts, but they are unique in my experience as compared with, say, advocating a shampoo or a car brand. And it is not unimportant that today’s Wall Street Journal reports that the SEC has found Apple’s former CFO guilty of backdating stock options and will force him to disgorge several million in illegal profits, and they (the SEC) are also filing a civil suit against Apple’s former General Counsel for the same crimes. I know, they are victimless crimes, right? Anyway, a couple of other things must be commented upon — 1)Joe didn’t format the hard drive on my computer, it was actually our Stake President’s computer which he had loaned me, and Joe’s adventure into “I wonder what happens when you do this” almost cut short my career as Stake Executive Secretary, 2)Little Debbie over Hostess for me too, although I understand that if there were any more preservatives in Little Debbie’s New Jersey-manufactured goodies, they would have to reverse and list the cake as an additive to the main product, a preservative…3)And by the way, Heather, I can get you those WalMart purses by the dozens in just a few short months, just let us know what colors, etc., 4) Why did Dave call the “P” a “pee” and thereby set off James on bird heroin? Under the same logic, wouldn’t he call an “R” an “arrr”, and a “B” a “bee”…you get my drift, just wondering, 5)By the way we have added bird heroin to the potential menu for the reunion in July, as well as a formal moderated debate on Mac vs. PC…,6)James, I had forgotten about the hangers, probably a good thing, and I am just thinking that as you apply to MBA school you should probably avoid asking Joe for a letter of recommendation, or anyone with whom he has been in contact, because the hanger thing will inevitably come out somehow, and once that happens, you will only be able to get admitted to the Univ. of Phoenix… Well, as you can see, I don’t really have that much to say, of importance anyway, but I have enjoyed all the comments and look forward to another time when someone in this richly diverse set of personalities in our wonderful family addresses a subject about which someone else feels strongly, and we will be off and running again. Love you all madly.

P. S. Sorry I don’t have a picture yet, maybe you remember how I look

P. P. S. Finlo says hi to all.

You’re totally right about the technology thing too—it’s an issue of semantics. We were just talking about two different things, but we were using the same word to describe them.

You are right about the Windows vulnerability thing too. Like you said, a user who knows what they are doing won’t have any problems at all. I guess I just meant that if there is a vulnerability in the OS, it’s still there even if the user knows enough to steer clear of it.

You were right on about the AOL/ease of use thing too. Just because something is easy to use, doesn’t mean it it’s better than the alternative. I did leave that comparison out on purpose.

As far as the Mac viruses go, I first want to say that you are totally right that OS X is not in any way invulnerable and that it’s silly (and irresponsible) for any other Mac user to think that just because they are on a Mac that they are 100% safe from viruses.

Concerning the examples that you found, as far as I can tell Inqtana.A, Opener, and Macarena are all proofs of concept (security flaws in the OS that could potentially lead to viruses)—not actual viruses that were ever in the wild. Leap.A (a.k.a. Oompa Loompa) was in the wild earlier this year, but I could only find record of two users actually coming in contact with it (I’m sure there were more). The flaw has apparently since been patched.

I don’t mean to minimize it though, because your point is totally correct—the Mac OS isn’t invulnerable and it’s probably more due to the low number of Macs out there than anything else.

We Mac users are guilty of being blind to reality quite a bit too—like you said. We are too often sucked in by Apple’s “Reality Distortion Field” and end up thinking that the world revolves around Cupertino. You are right that a heinous Windows virus would generate a lot more media attention than a Mac virus.

You are right about UNIX too. I should have said UNIX-like instead of UNIX-based. I guess I just misunderstood the origins of the OS…

I’m sorry about the prior Mac experience/religion example. I thought that you had said that you hadn’t consistently used a Mac before, which was the assumption that I was basing that whole argument on. Since you have consistently used them and still prefer PCs, my original argument/example obviously doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

And lastly, I do also apologize for the acronym/apostrophe/pluralization gaffe. I honestly didn’t know about the accepted use of the apostrophe in pluralizing acronyms. I guess I’m not much of an English major after all!

Looking back on my comments, I really did completely miss the point and ended up proving your point about Mac users having a complex. I started out just wanting to have a fun little Mac vs. PC debate (that I started, not you, like you said), but I got a bit out-of-hand with those posts and pulled some lame stunts just for a few groundless digs. I hope you know that I did it all in fun, and that I didn’t mean anything serious by any of it.