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Wil Shipley tears apart Larry Bodine's Essay on why he doesn't like the mac

wilshipley.com — Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster, as an early birthday present to himself, exposes all the inaccuracies and contradictions in an article criticizing the Mac. A hilarious read.

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 16, 2006

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  • Quix, on 10/12/2007, -6/+75"The author of the story for which the rebuttal show here was expressing his frustrations, and why "HE" doesn't like the MAC."

    Hey, I'm all for using whatever operating system you want, but if you're going to post a public critique, you should be sure you have your facts straight. And a lawyer should understand this better than most. Shipley was right to expose this guy's rants for the heap of nonsense they contained.

    "Websites with Flash don't work in Safari," etc. etc. is just complete rubbish.

    Sadly, most articles I read that are critical of the Macintosh or OS X demonstrate a similar level of ignorance and ineptitude. And I won't even mention all the Apple-hating nonsense you see from Digg posters, who sink far below the level of basic ignorance.
  • perre, on 10/12/2007, -13/+64Shipley writes a very entertaining flame. The funniest retort was the following, in response to the guy saying AOL was "dumbed-down" on a Mac:

    "AOL was dumbed-down? How would that work, exactly? I mean, this is like saying you got a dumbed-down version of a George Bush speech."
  • DeezKnots, on 10/12/2007, -6/+54"The author of the story for which the rebuttal show here was expressing his frustrations, and why "HE" doesn't like the MAC.

    This story is akin to saying that if you state you don't like meat, you just haven't tried the RIGHT meat.

    There is nothing to write a rebuttal about, the author found using a MAC go be frustrating.
    There is no way to say he wasn't "really frustrated", now is there. "

    *****. Read the artical, he speaks from stupidity. He thinks the only way to do a screen capture is to use image capture. Their are 5 keyboard shortcuts to do this. He claimed to use mac mail you have to buy a .mac account. I use my gmail and isp mail with mac mail. Every single sentance was absolute *****. He is so full of ***** and this was clearly an attempt at being a complete dumb ass which he has done.
  • TriZz, on 10/12/2007, -23/+71"I'd happily buy your mac, but I'm afraid that you may have smeared some stupid on it!"

    HAHAHAH!
  • JayClark, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35The real problem with the initial article is that he spouts a lot of information that is simply incorrect. Coming from someone who supposedly consults on technology, this is inexcusable.

    For example, I use Safari as my every day browser, and it certainly does support Flash. It's certain Javascript that is a problem, in my experience, and for that I keep a copy of Camino on hand. The fact that he says he tried Firefox and Netscape, and found them to be no better, really puts his credibility in question. Oh, and his problems with Typepad stem from this Javascript problem.

    Another example is his claim that you have to have a .Mac account to use iCal or Mail. That's a ludicrously stupid thing to say, and would take mere seconds to disprove if he had actually tried using either.

    An a final example, he talks about incompatibilities between the Windows and Mac versions of MS Office programs, and the "dumbed down" versions of some other software. First off, MS is notorious for creating incompatibilities between different versions of Office on the same platform, let alone between different platforms, and the problems he talks about are entirely MS's problem, not Apple's. I've never seen a case "dumbed down" versions of software myself (I use Windows all day, every day at work, and have both a PC and a Mac at home), but if it has happened, that's the other company's fault, not Apple's.

    I'm not talking about opinions here, I fully understand that some people prefer Windows, or the Mac OS, or Linux, or whatever, and that's fine. Use what you know and like, they're all perfectly capable if you know how to use them. But at least have the decency and intellectual integrity to be truthful and accurate when you're talking about your preference.

    Larry Bodine should be ashamed of himself.
  • grunherz5x5, on 10/12/2007, -7/+34I know dude. I mean, I'm not switching to a healthier lifestyle for similar reasons. I mean, I'd be thin and healthy and young college girls might suddenly find me attractive.

    I'd probably end up cheating on my wife!

    Nope fat and ugly for me. I can't trust myself otherwise.
  • mr.hostility, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26What's really scary here is this guy has anything to do with recommending technology to people. AOL...I think that sums it all right up there.
  • nixdoctor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+29haha! Macs in stupid hands dont' do much good - neither to the idiot, nor to the Macs!
  • jonj, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24even for a lawyer, he perhaps should have considered something other than the most expensive box that apple makes before complaining about the cost.
  • enderu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26He does make his living programming for the mac. Anyone spouting off the glaring inaccuracies like the original column did, in a tech column no less, is possibly taking away future sales of his software. I can understand being upset.
  • Snowcone, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Last time I checked my version of Word (2003) doesn't have a File > Delete option either. How many times have YOU actually opened Word with the intention of deleting files? I'm going to surmise that the number is in fact less than 1.
  • zorlok, on 10/12/2007, -4/+24They are blog replies. Remember blogs, those personal web logs where people talk about whatever they want because they are PERSONAL journals. Who cares if they both present their opinions. They aren't addressing a court or senate commity. They are simply waxing on their personal blogs. They can say what they want and sound however they want--just like I get to read your stupid comments on here because this is a public comment system.
  • Quix, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Ah, thanks for illustrating the Apple-hating nonsense I was referring to, dclowd9901. Now hurry and get back to Counter Strike before recess is over.
  • spidoman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Wil looks too much like Wii.
  • LoungeActx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Very nice rebuttal. I have a few questions about the original article, such as where did this guy even find a copy of IE for the Mac? Microsoft took down the download for it, and in it's place they have posted a message saying, "Please use Safari or Firefox." So this guy had to actively search out a defunct browser, and then gets upset when sites won't render well in it.

    Also, with the screen grab, you can use the screen shots hot keys, or you can use Grab which is located in the utilities folder which has a number of options for screen grabs. You don't actually have to go out and look for third party software.

    If the guy likes Windows so much he should have just bought a nice Windows machine. I'm surprised the guy didn't you know, try out the computer at the store, or use a friends machine before dropping the money on the G5. It's a disservice to your clients to call yourself a tech advisor and be this technically inept.
  • johnhummel, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22Maybe when the blog entry is by a:

    1. Respected developer who has created award-winning software in the past, and
    2. Shows the sheer innacuracies and outright lies depicted in someone's story?

    It's like if I wrote an article about how much I hate my new Toyota because they promised me I'd get 35 MPH, and I gave in to the hype. The fact that it *does* give me 35 MPH isn't an argument against it. The point is, someone who claims to be in a position of authority and opinion writes an article full of incorrect data needs to be blasted, and hard.

    There are plenty of reasons to bash Macs and Windows and Linux - but just be accurate about it.
  • spiffyfitz, on 10/12/2007, -26/+43Sadly, this is the way most PC users feel about the Mac. They're too absorbed into the world of Microsoft to even consider Mac.

    I recently persuaded a friend to get a Mac. She did, and immediately downloaded the old IE and AIM and told me how much she hated it. After a sitdown and a talk, I weaned her off of Internet Explorer, and got her hooked on Safari and Adium. She loves her MacBook to death now.
  • lonelycanuck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18Why not just email him and let him know that the article he wrote is a load of winbloze fanboy crap? I already sent him a copy of will's article

    Lbodine@LawMarketing.com
  • wphj, on 10/12/2007, -21/+31So true, that article was really just about how much he hated MS Word.
  • jeremybell, on 10/12/2007, -29/+40Thanks Wil... you made my day.
  • heyitsme23, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15no, we just tend to respond to obviously inaccurate press. If someone wrote that about something you used that you like you would do the same thing. If someone made an article about the xbox 360 that said graphics sucked, games didnt work, the controller doesnt fit my hand properly, im throwing it away, its the same thing.
  • whitesaint, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11"This is a horrible writeup, the guy trys to nitpick more than my grandmother, while he's really throwing blanket answers...And the fact that he has "kittens are fuzzy" at the top of his blog speaks volumes for his lack of humor, and really made me lose any credibility I had for his writings."

    How is this horrible? The lawyer Wil Shipley is ripping on has no idea what he is talking about, and Wil Shipley shows the truth in every aspect of the lawyer's arguments. I don't know about you but I thought Wil answered the lawyer's findings quite well while adding a sense of humor to it. And you lost credibility for his writings? I'm quite anxious to hear what this guy has to say, I mean he did start up two successful software companies and is well off.

    "Indeed I too got a very childish feeling from reading his reponse to that essay.He can talk about how Mac's rock his world all he wants, he still just has to remember that nobody cares.90+% of people still use PC's and I have a feeling it will stay that way. Numbers dont lie."

    Yea because 90% of the people really jump on the latest technology instead of doing what everybody else does.
  • chmod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"Go ahead, mod me down..."

    Done.
  • JayClark, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I'll admit the response article is childish, sure, but come on. Pointing out that someone is making incorrect claims (not opinions, but factually incorrect claims) is not elitism.

    Bodine makes claims like Safari not supporting Flash, and iCal and Mail requiring a /Mac account, which are factually wrong. He also makes the mistake of assuming that problems with MS Office are somehow Apple's fault, which is weird since Apple doesn't make Office. These are factually incorrect statements, but they're coming from someone who people turn to for intelligent opinions and guidance.

    He deserves to be attacked for this, just as anyone who claims that Windows crashes constantly and will be infected by thousands of viruses in mere minutes deserves to be taken to task for it (both are possible, but extremely unlikely and more than likely due to user error, just as most of Bodine's claims are due to ignorance or 3rd party problems).
  • emildew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10chriswo said "I use a PC all day and when I get on my wife's PowerBook I've found all of the same frustrations."

    The same frustrations? You too used the imaginary "Outlook for OS X" application?

    Or do you mean that you have similar frustrations? If so, are you making the effort to learn the differences? Because once you become familiar with the way things work on a Mac, it becomes easier. This is more easily accomplished if you're trying. I'm being honest and serious and not trying to be a jerk.
  • TheSolomon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11That's an interesting point. To do anything useful from a productivity standpoint on a PC frequently requires Microsoft products in addition to the operating system. In fact, many excellent features of Windows XP and Outlook are not even available unless you are connected to a Microsoft Active Directory or Microsoft Exchange server, respectively.

    This sort of mentality doesn't translate well to the 'OS X' world. New Macs come bundled with some really useful software, actually. On a PC, this concept is foreign. (Sure, new PCs come with bundled software, but you'd be hard pressed to find bundled software on the PC that's both *useful* and *not* a trial version.) If you come from the world of "well, I have a new PC; time to buy Microsoft Office so I can get to work," I could see why you wouldn't even think of trying the stuff already loaded on the hard drive.
  • Bhima, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Actually, the guys got something of a point... MS Word is the worst application I use on my Mac and I had to pay for it. As someone else pointed out earlier people are so absorbed into the world of Microsoft that they won't even consider much else.
  • Angostura, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Hmm, I'm using the v.X version of Office on a Mac, and I think it is fine.

    I can understand why the response to the original article is a bit snarky: The original article *is* a bit strange though - the stuff life 'Safari doesn't work with Flash' and Mail.app requires you to get a .Mac account are just plain just plain wrong. And the first thing I didn when UI got a Mac was buy a cheap two button mouse with scroll wheel.
  • akinder, on 10/12/2007, -31/+40Ack, a Mac has been insulted, FIRE UP THE BLOG TEAM!
  • mr.hostility, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9It's cool he doesn't like OS X, it's not for everyone. Using both everyday in my life, there are times when I like the pc better, albeit the more I used the Mac, the less cases of that there were. I was a convert over to Apple, and I'm very happy with it. I run Parallels if there is anything I need to do in Windows, or use my work laptop. But I can count how many times I've had to do that on one hand.

    The problem with the "experts" opinion is he is just stupid. For a guy who recommends technology to be that...dumb is incredible. Flash doesn't work in Safari?!? Flash doesn't work in Firefox?!? 5 million plus users would probably tell you otherwise.
  • flipmeat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The Scientology comparison is completely inaccurate and inappropriate.

    Mac folk are touchy about these things due to a long history of getting bashed in print and online. The difference now is that most of the old arguments are no longer valid, and the community has plenty of good ammo to shoot back with. :-) It's a nice change.

    Some who have fought to get a Mac at work must battle daily against snide managers, and scheming, MS-obsessed IT folk who want that Mac gone. No matter now useful it is, no matter how productive and happy that user is. "What do you mean, she doesn't need any tech support? If management finds out about this, we're toast!"
  • totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14That HAD to be a parody article (the original, not just Shipleys :p )
  • radiofrequency, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Larry Bodine is an idiot. Anybody who hires him for "technology consulting" is a sucker. I don't care if doesn't like the Mac or likes the PC, Bodine is just plain uninformed and incompetent and it shines through in his article (which I expect him to remove shortly, BTW).

    Flash doesn't work on a Mac? Please. A newer version of flash in bundled on Macs than is with Internet Explorer - and it works perfectly with all

    WYSIWYG editors (I assume he means web-based) - Just use Firefox. Yes, Safari WYSIWYG support sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Heck, WYSIWYG editing doesn't work in IE for Mac either.

    And why does Bodine make websites "optimized for Internet Explorer"? Haven't "technology consultants" heard of web standards?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Very true point. My Macbook is my first mac ever, after years of building PC's. When friends ask "You mean you didn't have any problems switching over at all?" to which I simply reply "Nope," it is quite a shock. The reasons as to why my transition was rather effortless is because of my frequent use of open source software in Windows - all of which translated nicely to OS X. Half the battle is how readily you are willing to embrace new/different software. There is an equivalent for 99.9% of everything I did on my PC. Keeping an open mind goes a long way. What I discovered in turn was the incredible wealth of brilliantly designed and functional open source, freeware, and shareware programs available for OS X.
  • zeroed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Everyone is saying it is a brand war, but its just a mac fan dispelling the lies. It would be the same as if someone stated that the only way to get on the Internet on a PC is to buy AOL. Wil flames the lawyer because what he said was completely wrong. I mean, if he wanted to do a real critique, he should have said "I got annoyed at the fact I couldn't right click as easily".
  • jav1231, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The problem is that this asshat thought he could just fire up his Mac, a completely alien environment for him, and do things that he was used to. Yes, to an extent you can. But how many people who get their first PC know that Alt-PrtSc will capture an image of the screen? You have to ask questions. Talk to people who own that OS and find these things out. It takes very little Googling to figure out Comm+Shift+4 will capture the area you select. This guy is likely a pompous ass and probably bitches at his IT guys all the time until they come by and show him, "Dude, click...click...done. Can I close your ticket now?"

    The good news is that he now looks like a bafoon to a whole lot of people. One of the great by-products of Free Speech is that it helps us know who the idiots are.
  • heyitsme23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6the mac way is to either drag and drop into trash (what the trash was made for), to use open office instead of word, or apple's iwork. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the mac version of ms office, its just not identical to the windows version, differences both better and worse.
  • JayClark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6No, but hopefully it will teach him to be accurate and factual in his writing (he is neither in this article). It probably won't, but a little intellectual integrity is sorely needed.
  • flipmeat, on 10/12/2007, -8/+13To the Blogmobile! Zap! Pow!
  • jav1231, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Mac fanboy or no, any OS fan is going to get pissed when someone misrepresents the truth. Kinda like the story on the Linux BSOD's with all of the pics where half were simple boot screens.
  • macdaddy23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Lbodine@LawMarketing.com - We should e-mail him the article!
  • jonj, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality
  • Rsulliv1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Or you can just hit the Apple-Delete key, which drops the file into the trash. It's two keys at the same time opposed to window's method of hitting the delete key, then hitting 'yes' to verify the deletion.
  • emildew, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6It's inaccuracies that get annoying, and it's the fact that this article will be read by people who will nod sagely and say, "Yes, this is why I won't try a Mac," when it gets so many things flat-out WRONG.

    Make a claim for the PC, sure, fine, I don't care. Use whatever tool you'd like. But if you're going to try to explain why you don't like a hammer, don't include the fact that it doesn't turn screws very well.
  • designpunk, on 10/12/2007, -27/+30Seems that someone touched a Wil Shipley nerve here.

    He defends a computer as if it was his own child - rather unhealthy I would say.

  • chmod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Agreed. As I understood it most people with a windows machine do their file management through my computer the same way that mac users can use the finder.
  • whiteyMcBrown, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I agree that both windows and macs are basically the same. Tools with different handles, if you will. I agree with the rebuttal too, though. I mean, if a story is put out there and contains inaccuracies, then it should be refuted. The screen capture thing... he just didn't know how to do it on a mac. There's a simple and fast way.. in fact, it's better on a mac, because there are more options and no reason to open an image editor to crop anything. Firefox on a PC and Mac are the same. Saying that, my next work computer will still be a PC and my next home computer will be a Mac. I prefer both at different times, for different reasons.
  • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5That Bodine fellow was, in the words of Aaron Sorkin, "galacticly stupid".

    Thanks Mr. Shipley, for raising this 'tard's skirt and exposing his business!
  • Angostura, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You think it's scary, you should look at his Web site.
  • tobsterius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Actually, not really. Because if I(a mac user) wrote something like 'Windows can't copy and paste text' or other ignorant statements that clearly showed I never really learned how to properly use the OS, I'd get a ton of email telling me that I was wrong and how to do it. Which exactly what Mac users are doing to Mr. Bodine. There is a major difference between making broad, misleading and inaccurate statements--which is exactly what Mr. Bodine made, he apparently forgot to read the book he bought--and writing an article with intelligently written and well developed arguments.
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