dj orta

I am everything nerds love to hate.

After seeing

[info]bemused_muse

‘s recent return to Macs (receiving a shiny new MacBook Pro), I came to a realization- I am everything nerds love to hate. It’s an odd conclusion to come to, yes, but it’s kind of… well, true.  I am a big Mac fan and a Playstation 3 fan to boot, both of which aren’t very popular to represent in some online communities I frequent. I’ve been a Mac fan… well since I started using computers, which was back in the second or third grade, if i recall correctly. My elementary school was populated with Macs, and I used both the regular

LC 520 and the Performa 5300 in the computer labs. I distinctly remember preferring the Performa 5300 due to the better sound that would come out of the games i would secretly install on them (Command and Conquer, anyone?). But at home, I would use a PC, so growing up, I had been accustomed to both computer types. But the impressions Macs left me were undeniable- I even requested a colored case, “Just like a Mac” on my Pentium III machine. Today, I still use my PC from time to time, but I am a huge Mac fan, as i have discovered the ways of QuickSilver and its productivity brethren that have risen out of the Mac application community. I await eagerly for the “next big thing” from Apple, downloaded the iPhone SDK, and wear black turtlenecks. I don’t go on angry tirades to support Apple, I don’t defend them even when the situation is hopeless (I still don’t really use the iTunes store unless the tracks i want are in DRM free format), I do think the Macs are utterly hopeless at playing video games (that’s what my video game consoles are for!) – But to have a creative and powerful machine for high end applications for sound, image, web, and video editing- my Mac does it all wonderfully, and I’ve been happy with it so far. I’ve been a Playstation fan since… well, the PS1 days. My friend Primo used to own the original back in elementary school, and I loved to play Armored Core games (god, that’s one series that have gone downhill). I owned a PS2 for three years before it stopped working (dead laser). So I just played games for a while on my brand new PC at the time (now, the system barely qualifies for minimum system requirements, if not, at all). At the time, i was looking forward at the “next-gen” consoles, and I started leaning towards the Xbox 360, for the games (Halo 3 caught my eye early). But as reports of console failures started leaking out, I was getting worried about having another dead console on my hands. Plus, I realized that I didn’t like the Halo series at all, finding the story to be rather cheap, in my opinion. With the coming of Metal Gear Solid 4, I used the high paying job I had at the time to buy the 60 gig PS3 with full backwards capability.

And you know what? I don’t regret it. I had a keep my mouth shut for a while on owning the system, as forums I frequented declared early victory to HD-DVD, as porn would have decided a victor. I had to hold myself back from gloating when Blu-Ray became the victor… because I found it to be not so sportsman-like of me to do so. Yeah, the Xbox360 got some games I really wanted (Dead Rising, Mass Effect), but I did get some great games on the PS3 to play (Echochrome, PAIN, Ratchet and Clank). Plus the games I really wanted- Rainbow 6 Vegas 2, Rock Band- are multi-platform on the PS3.
The jokes I get for using both the PS3 and the Mac are… well, rather endless. I had a freshman in high school attempt to mock me for using the PS3, commenting, “Great, the PS3! You can play all the game it has!” (oddly enough, this same joke was used by a webcomic artist I know). I also get similar ridicule from mostly gamers on using the Mac, not understanding that the biggest application I use for the Mac- Final Cut Pro- IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON THE MAC. For what it does, the Mac gives me what I want, and does it damn well. Same goes for the PS3- I use the multimedia capabilities on the PS3 almost daily, watching DiVX-encoded films and episodes of my favorite shows without having to be sitting down at the computer all the damn time.  So yeah, I’ll be mocked for what I have. But I’m a silent supporter- I’ll stay with both the Mac and the PS3. It’s a source of ridicule, yes, but they work, and I’m happy enough with that.

EDIT: IF i may indulge my Mac loving for just a little while longer, this is an excellent blog post on the advantages of the Mac platform, as done by a former windows programmer:

http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/14/50-reasons-to-switch-from-microsoft-windows-to-apples-mac-os-x/

DJ Orta

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7 responses to “I am everything nerds love to hate.”

  1. Yes, I’m already being mocked for my “baby-toy status symbol” of a computer, and it hasn’t even arrived yet! XD

    P.S. I’m really just waiting for Atlus to confirm a Megaten game for the PS3 before I shell out on that, too, haha.

  2. You know what’s really odd though? There’s a bunch of people in the CG community that use macs. a big proportion more than anywhere else I visit. You, me, Cort, Michelle, IVstudios, Ryan, hell, there’s a lot of them.

    and honestly, i bought the PS3 for Metal Gear Solid 4. and maybe Disegea 3, once that comes out here. damn you persona, make the switch to ps3!

  3. The MGS series is totally a guilty pleasure for me (sooooo ridiculous! so much fun to play!), but since everyone and their mother loves the games, I know I’ll be able to snag a copy of the newest one whenever I happen to get a PS3. Meanwhile, Atlus’s RPGs are awesome and tend to go out of print the day they’re released. (I never got into the Disgaea games, thankfully.)

    And yeah, macs are really good systems; at the very least, artsy people have taken them up. It’s just that a lot of people (especially people our age) treat them like fashion accessories and buy overpriced low-end models just to have something cool with the Apple logo on it. When I was placing my order at the campus computer store, the clerk seemed a little off-put by my request for a higher-end one; I suspect he figured I was just going to use it for MSN and Facebook and was debating whether he should try to save me some money on my pretty new toy. (Girls don’t do anything else with computers, you know.)

  5. My brother in law is enjoying his Mac products but put little bits of electrical tape over the logos on the case because he doesn’t like Mac culture.

    Funny little bit of denial, there. Funny or sad, depending.

  7. hahah! I have heard of stories of Microsoft programmers who would put windows stickers over the mac logos- only to have the apple logo shine through the windows sticker. an odd idea, yeah, but i find some of the more ravenous mac fans to be rather scary, to be honest. Detract the mac at least a little bit and they’ll attack you with angry emails.