Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech • Hacker News Board

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#11

Post by Ygg2 » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:06 PM UTC

Swizec wrote: post #4

Terretta wrote: post #2

Interestingly, the same phenomenon that makes people write those emails can make them "double down" on a tech choice. A friend defaults anti-Apple so refused to buy the "Jesus phone". After four Android phones, each less reliable than the last while his sister's still rocking an iPhone 3GS, he switched last week ... To Windows Phone 7. He just paid $500 for a phone that, 3 days later, was announced would not be upgra…

Casual Apple user here - it entertains me to no end how quickly everyone is to denote all Apple users to be fanboys to such an extent that they are downright anti-apple fanboys. In reality I think more Apple users would ditch Apple as soon as something significantly better came along, than Android users (who chose to use Android, not people who bought a "generic smartphone") would ditch Android should something bette…

As a casual PC user, some of the stereotypes are not unfounded. In my experience I know of quite a few pro-Apple and anti-Apple extremists. Just looking at them quarrel makes me wonder what do they put in those products?

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#12

Post by ilamont » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:20 PM UTC

One thing that wasn't addressed in the article: Unlike the 80s or early 90s, online anonymous discourse is now a mainstream activity. The standards for discourse on practically everything -- politics, local news, technology, style, health, etc. -- tend toward rudeness, hyperbole and ad hominem attacks.

Another trend: Writers are no longer seen as a protected class. Magazines, newspapers and broadcasters and other professional gatekeepers (PR agencies, marketers, etc.) used to control the discussion. While they still guide and feed the discussions, readers know they make mistakes and have biases. To many, the media is suspected of being under the thrall of some perceived agenda (liberal media, Apple fanboy, shill for XYZ).

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#13

Post by nhebb » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:22 PM UTC

This isn't really surprising when you think about human nature. We tend to create rivalries where none should exist. Country vs country, state vs state, college vs college, high school vs high school, team A vs team B, boys vs girls, company vs company, department vs department, ... well, I think you get my point. People are tribal and competitive. Tech fanboyism is just an extension of that.

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#14

Post by robomartin » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:24 PM UTC

Not one person likes to be wrong about the choices we make. That's human nature. Some individuals have a need to defend these choices to death, even when faced with greater realities that negate anything they could possibly say about their choice. I remember one guy who would show-up at these professional meetings around the time the iPhone came out. He would make it a point to go around the room and tell everyone that his Blackberry was the only professional business phone out. I was using Blackberry myself at the time and had done so for ten years. Even I thought he was beyond weird. He simply didn't want to be wrong. Never bothered to engage with him in any way. It was pointless.

There's also a tribal or team-oriented element. This effect is often seen in fora such as, yes, HN. Group behavior is also a very natural human trait. Some find it hard to resist it. If you dare go against tribal dogma you become the subject of a brutal "coordinated" attack. Unless you have a thick skin these events can be emotionally draining.

It is often hard to be the one thinking outside the group. People have a natural aversion to change and will resist and attack anything that goes against the direction of group thought. Either join them or deal with the punches. Just remember that all nearly all great discoveries stemmed from questioning what the majority took to be the truth, sometimes at great personal risk. The message is that, just because everyone thinks a certain way, behaves a certain way, supports a certain product it doesn't mean they are right. It just means that they are doing what "everyone else" is doing.

It'd be interesting to see the range of hate-mail these tech columnists get.

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#15

Post by silvestrov » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:25 PM UTC

ThePherocity wrote: post #7

Terretta wrote: post #2

Interestingly, the same phenomenon that makes people write those emails can make them "double down" on a tech choice. A friend defaults anti-Apple so refused to buy the "Jesus phone". After four Android phones, each less reliable than the last while his sister's still rocking an iPhone 3GS, he switched last week ... To Windows Phone 7. He just paid $500 for a phone that, 3 days later, was announced would not be upgra…

iOS 6 won't run with most features on 2 year old hardware. Windows Phone 8 - Won't run on They're all shite.

iPhone 3GS will be 3 years old when iOS 6 is released.

iPhone 4 will be 2 years old. It will only lack Siri, FaceTime over cellular network and support for 'Made for iPhone' hearing aids.

I wouldn't call that 'most features'.

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#16

Post by msrpotus » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:26 PM UTC

stevenwei wrote: post #6

There's something very specific about the tech industry that seems to attract this kind of vitriol. I mean, you don't often hear people saying, "Oh, you bought a Camry instead of a Civic? You're a fucking idiot!" But when it comes to technology this type of flaming is all over the place, even as times change: yesterday's Windows vs Mac has become today's Android vs iOS, and programmers are constantly arguing about st…

I think it's actually most fields that have that. Listen to people talk about places they've visited and you get some of the same things. It might be that just because this is online, in a tech forum, we see that kind of anger about tech.

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#17

Post by ilamont » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:33 PM UTC

stevenwei wrote: post #6

There's something very specific about the tech industry that seems to attract this kind of vitriol. I mean, you don't often hear people saying, "Oh, you bought a Camry instead of a Civic? You're a fucking idiot!" But when it comes to technology this type of flaming is all over the place, even as times change: yesterday's Windows vs Mac has become today's Android vs iOS, and programmers are constantly arguing about st…

The discussions occur in practically any field where there is a perceived rivalry among brands. All you need is a forum and a critical mass of anonymous or semi-anonymous users (and trolls). E.g.,

lol do this in an unmodified civic you’d get your ass whipped by that camry

http://conceptmods.com/modified/camry-vs-civic/

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#18

Post by apu » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:36 PM UTC

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#19

Post by gfodor » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:49 PM UTC

planetguy wrote: post #3

Good article. I'm trying to think of other products which inspire this sort of pointless religious war. Cars are the big one; try reading the comments section on autoblog one of these days. Typical Ford POS. Glad to see they haven't changed at all...same irrelevant company with the same irrelevant, mediocre products. Gm is just not good at making decent cars.i cannot think of a single GM car that i would ever conside…

Calling the things we carry in our pockets today "phones" is nothing more than an artifact of history. (In fact, my iPhone is a terrible phone.)

Smartphones are devices we use constantly, all day, probably some absurd number of times per hour, and it is a statistic that is surely going up. It's hard to think of any other product we have a more intimate relationship with. It's become more and more of a tool that we cannot live without. These are the attributes of a product that cause an emotional attachment, and is the reason people get so worked up about "phones". (You'll note this ferver didn't really reach a fever pitch until after "phones" were no longer phones.)

Re: Hate Mail and the New Religious Wars in Tech

#20

Post by ThePherocity » Sat, Jun 23, 2012, 4:51 PM UTC

silvestrov wrote: post #15

ThePherocity wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS 6 won't run with most features on 2 year old hardware. Windows Phone 8 - Won't run on They're all shite.

iPhone 3GS will be 3 years old when iOS 6 is released. iPhone 4 will be 2 years old. It will only lack Siri, FaceTime over cellular network and support for 'Made for iPhone' hearing aids. I wouldn't call that 'most features'.

iPad 1 released in 2010 (two years old) lacks all features. iPhone 4 lacks turn by turn navigation, 3D maps, Siri, and Facetime over cellular.

So I get what with an iPhone 4? Passbook, Facebook, and a maps app that no longer tells me what train I can take?

Im going to have to stick to the most features.