Yahoo, religion and the web

What is the point of this article? People should see the good in all things, not just things they're predisposed to like? Well, okay, but I that's fairly obvious. There's a reason the term 'fanboy' is never used in a positive way.

Using monotheism and polytheism as a metaphor here was a poor choice. I really get tired of the myth that the polytheistic cultures of antiquity were much more religiously tolerant than the later monotheistic cultures.

This is a myth caused by an appeal to common sense that is not supported by the evidence. Let's take Roman society as an example. They may have had plenty of gods to worship, but there was an official state religion with compulsory worship, and they were hardly tolerant of deviation (see the ancient Christians for examples).

While I think the monotheists are the most outspoken (and easier to get behind), I don't know whether the overall point is true. Continuing the purely anecdotal style of the OP: I know a lot of people that might fall into the monotheist camp at first glance, but once you start talking, it really isn't true. In my circles, I can quickly name the following configurations:

* The all-out Mac/IPhone user that is constantly eying for B2G and some Linux desktops to finally hit the point where he wants to switch. * IPhone users complaining that Windows Phone hasn't taken off. * Windows users using OS X at work and being pleased by both...

I could go on and on. Once you start talking to all of those people, they will happily admit many advantages and flaws of their platforms. The problem is that once you picked one, people automatically assume that you dislike the other. You won't talk much about the nice little things of a platform that you don't use on a daily basis.

I couldn't agree more. I remember talking to a senior exec (acquired as part of a startup buyout) at a previous job and he stressed that there's always room under the big contenders (in areas they can't or don't care about) in any market until you begin to chip away at their market share and become one yourself. In an ideal world, I guess. Good post.

I really do want to be a Yahoo! fanboy too. Wish they would improve Flickr before I migrate to 500px.

Actually, romans were usually tolerant of other religions. Yes, some religions were persecuted, but that was usually due to political reasons. Many (most?) christians were persecuted not for not following official religion but for creating unrest and speaking against Rome.