It happened again last week. I had just parked my car at the Rockridge BART station, when someone started shouting. Now, at the Rockridge BART station, it’s not uncommon to hear people yelling random thoughts to nobody in particular. But, this time the person was yelling at me. This has happened before. What I heard as I got out of my car was this: “Go Mac!”
You see, I have two stickers in the back window of my car. One is the multicolored Apple logo, and the other is the new minimalist white Apple logo. It got me thinking that as long as I’ve been into the whole Apple “thing,” I have never seen an “Intel Inside” sticker, or that funky Windows logo in the back window — or anywhere else — on other people’s cars. I am starting to see some of the Linux penguins proudly displayed on bumpers, but that community still has a long way to go to catch up with ours.
What is it that makes people who own and follow Macintosh computers more of a community than just a user base? Why do we find common ground with others who use the same platform? I don’t know, but I like it.
I have met the entire spectrum of Apple users. From the “it’s more of a religion” crowd, to the “well, it beats Windows” bunch. No matter where you stand on the issue, you remain in a separate clique. Try going to Fry’s and finding help for Macs and you will see what I mean.
The Apple sticker is almost like a Rotary Club pin, or a secret handshake; it’s letting people know that you are proud to be part of a something. Something different, something cool.
The Apple logo doesn’t have the intrinsic utility of a AAA sticker that will help you if you have a flat tire. Rather it serves as an identifying feature, to let others know where you stand. But then again, you never know. Someone may just pull you over to discuss a neat trick that they can do with AppleScript.