Great points Stephen. Many dimensions to this discussion. I too like ‘the only company is yourself’ mantra but there is a people side to consider because workgroups, like corporations, sometimes behave stupidly and don’t choose the best tool based on its merit but rather on its marketing and user base culture. I’ve lived through a number of workgroups where group opinion gains a power of its own and can force unwanted decisions upon the individual. Being defensive and proactive (outspoken) is a learned response to those kinds of pressures. People do develop strong biases in those settings. Group decisions are rarely objective. To the extent that Apple’s marketing history has always been aimed at making people feel different/empowered/more creative, there will always be pushback from those who feel that the power of Appledom is always there lurking, waiting to overpower them in some unseen snarky way.

 

I work in a shop right now where those same forces are always at work. It’s like you have to speak out to defend your individualism.  Strange how corporations affect us.

 

John

 

 

> It is always with dismay that I read the list when Apple comes out with something new. Trashing Apple has become a cottage industry among the cognoscenti.

 

I do agree the emotional reactions to products is out of place. The counter point is I always find with dismay that people attach emotional feelings, good or bad towards any large corporation at all. In the age of technology, such feelings are deeply, profoundly misplaced. Corporations, regardless of their stated intentions or more importantly, their marketing campaigns designed to get us to attach feelings towards them – exist solely to create profit.

 

If you want to make good decisions about technology (before returning to filmmaking in 1999, I had a highly successful career as an IT infrastructure guy), you have to pay no attention to all the “I prefer xxxx, I hate xxxx, I use to love xxxx”.

The only important company is yourself, not even the company you work for - who has no loyalty to you either and will cut you off as soon as the money runs out. This is not cynicism, it’s reality. Corporations, large or small, despite what the Supreme Court said, are not people. People are real and matter, companies, not.

The new Mac Pro is simply a tool and both it and the company making it deserve critical analyses. For everyone on this list, the technology infrastructure platform – hardware and software, is the largest expense and a strong determining factor on daily productivity. How well it works, how well we can use it, how reliable it is over time.

 

I value critical discussion of software and hardware without “brand loyalty” or any other misplaced emotions as I feel it helps me and others make good long term decisions.

 

 

 

It is always with dismay that I read the list when Apple comes out with something new. Trashing Apple has become a cottage industry among the cognoscenti. I understand the impulse. I have the same reaction to Microsoft which is – usually – to think the worst. Sometimes it's justified (see the new XBox announcement for a classic "I'm now going to to shoot myself in the foot" teaching moment) and sometimes it's not. Same goes for Apple. On the list, however, the most acute rancor seems to be reserved for Apple. Adobe is, perhaps, a very distant second. And while I occasionally enjoy indulging in schadenfreude, I know it's not my best moment.