Happy Endings Todd Stauffer
(tstauffer@webintosh.com)
A Different Perspective
Think Differently.
In Columnist School, they were very specific about avoiding exactly the sort of column I'm about to write. You should never pin yourself down too specifically -- never say anything that could only be interpreted one way. As an Analyst, it's more important to maintain obscurity than it is to remain objective -- plausible print deniability.
Think Differently.
It's also purely possible that I've been infected by the fabled Reality Distortion Field. After all, two weeks ago I sat only 15 rows back from the stage where Steve Jobs first introduced Apple's latest -- in a long line -- of slogans. I didn't realize the RDF was so pervasive, so incompassing and so...gradual.
Think Differently.
But as the days have passed, it just keeps sinking in. I have an advertising background and have always had an affinity for the persuasive word. There's certainly a balance to the slogan, but, at the same time, a brilliance in its confusion. It may even, unconsciously, make itself more memorable because of the vagurities of the grammar. Was it "Think Different?" or "Think Differently?"
Think Differently.
Sure, my little corner of Webintosh is called Happy Endings, and maybe that's because I'm an upbeat guy. Or maybe it's just because it comes out on Friday (usually). I'm not really sure.
But I have to say, I like this slogan.
I feel a certain Zen about this whole Mac thing since I got back to Boston. It's a different feeling from San Fransisco earlier this year, although that Macworld offered a few grains of hope as well. For some reason, this particular Macworld Expo has gotten me almost giddy over the Mac's prospects.
It's probably because I finally get to think differently.
For so many years we've competed with Microsoft, competed with Windows, competed with WinTel PCs. They have more of this, we have more of that. They're the status quo, we're zealots. They're the ones with the market share, we're the ones with our silly little Mac-only programs. Whatever you can do, I can do better.
But, maybe that's over. The Microsoft deal -- the guarantee of Microsoft Office upgrades for the next five years, and a commitment made solid by a $150 million investment -- helps. For me, it means my book publishers can't jump up and down because they want me to use Word Ô02 so we can communicate to one another using embedded holographic AudioSpores. Useless as those spores can be, we've got Ôem for Mac, too.
And, now, Steve Job's new vision frees us to focus on those things that most Mac owners love to focus on anyway -- teaching people and creating things. That means ideas and art. Diversions and dissections. Internet and intellect. Everything that we want to focus on anyway -- without worrying about who's peering over our shoulder or trying to pull the plug on our favorite electronic tool.
The new board of directors at Apple means we can even spend a little less time -- hopefully -- watching to see what bonehead move Apple is going to make next. Whatever they do, we can feel a bit more assured that they'll make intelligent business decisions, that they'll do something about all the damning press and, if we have any luck, they'll begin marketing their bloody machines.
But, perhaps most importantly, this new direction for Apple might finally mean that Apple users and potential Apple users can feel okay about the decisions -- even the compromises -- we've made. No, we don't have all those games. No, we can't program in Visual Basic. No, we can't stop by Radio Shack for too many spare parts.
But we still use the Mac OS. Why? Because we choose to Think Differently. We've decided that it's the best tool for us, and we'd appreciate it if you'd just accept that. As WinTel users, you've decided to think The Same, which is noble and just in its own right. After all, everyone is compatible with Excel, so what's the worry? (And even Mac OS users can have a Pentium MMX system if we want -- Virtual PC was $129 at the show price.)
A sigh of relief. A new focus on what's important. A chance to go our own path and use the sort of computer we think best suits our needs. And, if all goes well, a company that is changing the way it thinks about its customers. A company, hopefully, that's willing to do it's best to put out the best tools for educators and creatives -- without screwing around, without pecking the balance sheet to death -- without compromise.
I guess the feeling I'm feeling this week is that nobody is really wrong. I'm even looking at the MSFT entry on my Excite Live stock ticker a little differently these days. (Just a little differently.)
What if we all get to make our own decisions about what tools we'll invest in without the myths, without the bias and without the Analysts hounding us for making the wrong decision -- no matter which way we go? What if Apple does refocus on education and creatives, making sure that we get the coolest damned Hypercard/QuickTime/Quark solutions to the new problems and challenges that await our attention? And what if the pundits and PCers finally decides that we're just too weird for words -- but we've got Office -- so everybody can just live together peacefully?
If there's anything I've learned in the last week or so, it's that we can get along. Whatever investment decision you've made, hopefully it was the right one for your circumstances, needs and the sort of work you do. Because, ultimately, nobody -- whether or Mac user or a PC user -- is particularly wrong or particularly right.
We just think differently.
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