The cult of Mac 


It's a good time to own a Mac. Software updates are flowing out of Cupertino like sweet manna from heaven (the recent iLife and iWork software suites being just two examples), and the eagerly awaited OS X 10.4, aka Tiger, is available later this month (I've already ordered my copy). New quad-G5 processor Power Macs, widescreen iBooks and the much anticipated iHome media hub look likely to be released later this year, and the small but beautiful Mac mini is selling like the proverbial hot cakes. This article from a BBC reporter likens worship of Apple products to some kind of religious cult, and the phenomenon has reached a whole new level with the recent success of the iPod, whose white headphones can be seen adorning the head of every self-respecting teenager and student across the country, and the iMac G5, a personal computer that would look more at home in an Ikea furniture store than your average high street retailer. He may have a point. 

Apple's emphasis on innovation, user experience and great design have spawned an immensely loyal and evangelical following, of which I am (somewhat unashamedly) a devoted member. There is a kind of semi-religious fervour with which us Mac enthusiasts, embattled though we are as a tiny minority in comparison to the Wintel-worshipping masses, attempt to convince our peers to transcend the limitations of their current operating platform and see the light. After undergoing a religious conversion, it's sometimes difficult to curb one's natural enthusiasm, and if we sometimes overdo the missionary zeal, it's only because we want to bring the same ease of use, stability and Aqua interface to others so that they can enjoy the inner peace and harmony that we ourselves feel every time we switch our Macs and hear that comforting start-up chime.

Of course, many Apple iUsers—or Podlings as we are sometimes known—actually hate Apple (the company) whilst simultaneously revering their wondrous creations (the Mac platform). Apple is merely the church whose purpose is to interpret the Word of the great God of Software and Industrial Design and, like any organised religion, they sometimes make mistakes. However, like all compassionate beings, we forgive them for their transgressions, and if Pope Steve the Pious sometimes misdirects his reality distortion field, then we accept that this is the price one has to pay for being in such close communion with divinity.

So, as we eagerly await the rapture of near-instantanious document searching and floating desktop widgets, the Mac faithful quietly go about their daily business, taking comfort from the knowledge that they have found the one true path, and the world's most advanced operating system is safe in the hands of an enlightened oligarchy with Mr Jobs firmly at the helm (you can almost forgive him for being an American). We know that in time, the world will come to realise the truth of our convictions and, like the Dalai Lama returning to his erstwhile homeland, the third age will usher in a new era of downloadable rich media and interoperability. As somebody once said, ‘blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth’. Or was it ‘the Mac’…?

Amen. 

Posted on Friday - April 22, 2005 at 11:29 AM            

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