Do you honestly care what brand of electronics another person uses?

[Rakehellion]

"the problem"? What problem exactly are we talking about here? Buying overpriced garbage is the problem here, not elitism. I couldn't care less if someone is behaving elitist and they're entitled to such elitism... However if someone is being elitist when they have no standing, that's a problem. Being a wasteful pig and looking down on others because they're not also wasteful pigs is a problem.

De irony.

What's actually being wasted that causes you concern? You talk like they have to chop down rainforests to make a $2000 computer while a $1000 computer is made using renewable whale farts.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Only when they're using the wrong kind.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Usually no. Friends and family who ask my opinion prior to purchase, buy some other piece of overpriced crap, then whine about it or ask me to fix it...... hell yes

 

[chubbyfatazn]

I used to care so much about how people spent their money mostly because I see how 'poor' people are around me and how much they complain of suffering from not having enough money, etc. But all this 'caring' has made me feel numb like a social worker and making me care less and less. I've learned that there are lots of people out there that you cannot help nor save and that you should limit your energies to those who appreciate and can benefit from your help while ignoring everybody else.

I agree with your last point in principle, but... unless those people have some sort of direct impact on your life or you actually are a social worker, why should you care? You're not in charge of their lives or habits.

If some guy decides that buying a $2k computer each year is necessary for his Farmville addiction, then so be it. I don't need to "help" him or waste my energy telling him his IQ is inversely proportional to his spending habits. Unless he asks for my advice, but even then I'll just (nicely) say what I think and that's it. I'm not gonna get all bent out of shape just because someone doesn't agree with my opinion.

 

[BurnItDwn]

When people make stupid purchasing decisions that do not affect me, I only say mean things about them or to them, when they are on a platform announcing their bad decision making skills.

 

[Geekbabe]

Does your blood boil when someone says they own an Xbox instead of PS4? Do you have to hold your tongue when you see someone using a pair of Beats headphones or a Bose soundsystem? Do you feel the urge to rant when someone shows off their new AMD-powered Alienware desktop? Do you roll your eyes whenever you see a stranger with an iPhone even though you'll swear Android is just as good?

If so, why? Express your nerd rage here. I'm listening.

I am always curious to see what devices people are using, it amusing me but get my blood boiling? Never, competition is good for consumers.

 

[Kaido]

Friends and family who ask my opinion prior to purchase, buy some other piece of overpriced crap, then whine about it or ask me to fix it

Oh my gosh, so much this. I used to really put some effort making recommendations to help people out, but 99% of the time, they'd go buy something else entirely different. And yes, then whine about it. So frustrating! The only time I'm willing to dig in that deeply now is if they say "here's my card, here's my budget, buy what I need" or we go shopping together. I spec'd out a super nice system for a relative a few years, and she ended up buying a $1,700 HP laptop from Best Buy for basically checking email. Ahhhhh!

 

[Geekbabe]

No but I do notice cell phone brands when out in public.

Apple and Samsung definitely dominate the average consumer market. Every now and then I'll notice an HTC M8, Note 3/4, Moto G or Nexus 5/6.

My son and husband love HTC phones, I get a kick out of hearing groups of Samsung phones chirping notifications 😀

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Oh my gosh, so much this. I used to really put some effort making recommendations to help people out, but 99% of the time, they'd go buy something else entirely different. And yes, then whine about it. So frustrating! The only time I'm willing to dig in that deeply now is if they say "here's my card, here's my budget, buy what I need" or we go shopping together. I spec'd out a super nice system for a relative a few years, and she ended up buying a $1,700 HP laptop from Best Buy for basically checking email. Ahhhhh!

I'll only spec something out if someone is actually building their computer and wants me to guide them through building it (which happens a lot more often than I'd expect, but whatever).

Otherwise, if they know nothing about computers, I just ask for a budget and what they need to do with it, and then throw a bunch of links for prebuilts their way.

I'm lucky in that my family will actually pay me for any help/repairs I do to their machines. Not that I ask for any, but it's still nice.

 

[tortillasoup]

De irony.

What's actually being wasted that causes you concern? You talk like they have to chop down rainforests to make a $2000 computer while a $1000 computer is made using renewable whale farts.

Money is wasted, money is a resource. Materials, energy etc. on excessive consumerism, buying inferior products with planned, designed or forced obsolescence.

I think the worst part of all is that I hate the idea of supporting companies that make overpriced, low value products. For example, Walmart or Harbor Freight, they sell cheap shit sometimes and the customer service shows but otherwise it's a good value. Tesla makes an expensive product but it's a good value. Toyota makes a decent product at a decent price, a good value. But Apple? Bose? Beats? They sell a product with fairly decent build quality but it's using yesterday's technology, tomorrow's prices and forces all sorts of artificial limitations (both physical and software) and intentional obsolescence into the product makes their stuff a poor value.

 

[Dankk]

Brand loyalty is cancer. Don't be one of "those people".

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Money is wasted, money is a resource. Materials, energy etc. on excessive consumerism, buying inferior products with planned, designed or forced obsolescence.

I think the worst part of all is that I hate the idea of supporting companies that make overpriced, low value products. For example, Walmart or Harbor Freight, they sell cheap shit sometimes and the customer service shows but otherwise it's a good value. Tesla makes an expensive product but it's a good value. Toyota makes a decent product at a decent price, a good value. But Apple? Bose? Beats? They sell a product with fairly decent build quality but it's using yesterday's technology, tomorrow's prices and forces all sorts of artificial limitations (both physical and software) and intentional obsolescence into the product makes their stuff a poor value.

You're right, but unfortunately there's not much you and I can do except to vote (figuratively) with our wallets.

You sound like you value function over form. Nothing wrong with that; that's the approach I take as well. But in a vain and narcissistic society as ours (and every society before ours), someone's gonna make something that appeals to the converse, and that Apple/Beats/etc are incredibly profitable just means you're gonna kill yourself worrying about something you have little to no control over. That might be a cop-out to you, but you can't deny it.

Lighten up and live a bit

 

[tortillasoup]

You're right, but unfortunately there's not much you and I can do except to vote (figuratively) with our wallets.

You sound like you value function over form. Nothing wrong with that; that's the approach I take as well. But in a vain and narcissistic society as ours (and every society before ours), someone's gonna make something that appeals to the converse, and that Apple/Beats/etc are incredibly profitable just means you're gonna kill yourself worrying about something you have little to no control over. That might be a cop-out to you, but you can't deny it.

Lighten up and live a bit

Well it's like designer hand bags. It's not that I'm bothered that a woman has 30 different bags or shoes (I am though but what ever), it's the fact that they paid so much for the shoes. That they wouldn't be buying the shoes based upon their looks but just because of the branding. A $400 gucci bag doesn't have $400 worth of design, materials or anything in it. It's a piece of shit $20 bag like any other bag which is why I have no problem with knockoffs. But the whole idea of people feeling superior just because they paid more for something, even if it brings no extra value makes me feel ill, especially if it's a person with money problems who squeeze others to save them money in other regards.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Well it's like designer hand bags. It's not that I'm bothered that a woman has 30 different bags or shoes (I am though but what ever), it's the fact that they paid so much for the shoes. That they wouldn't be buying the shoes based upon their looks but just because of the branding. A $400 gucci bag doesn't have $400 worth of design, materials or anything in it. It's a piece of shit $20 bag like any other bag which is why I have no problem with knockoffs. But the whole idea of people feeling superior just because they paid more for something, even if it brings no extra value makes me feel ill, especially if it's a person with money problems who squeeze others to save them money in other regards.

Meh. I imagine if you applied that context to something YOU placed a higher value on you'd get the same results. And I don't just mean price when I say value.

Men obviously have little to no use for those kinds of purses/bags. But hey, if it makes the missus happy...

 

[skyking]

I'm a live and let live kinda guy. The real benefit from not using iphone/apple stuff is, this cuts out a whole segment of people asking for help with his/her product. I can look them right in the eye and claim no knowledge whatsoever.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Not really but it does make me cringe seeing hordes of people walking around with $1500-2000 Macbook Pros knowing they're just using it to surf facebook and send emails.

Why? They are just adding to the economy of scale to give you cheaper prices.

 

[tortillasoup]

Meh. I imagine if you applied that context to something YOU placed a higher value on you'd get the same results. And I don't just mean price when I say value.

Men obviously have little to no use for those kinds of purses/bags. But hey, if it makes the missus happy...

Like I said, it's not even the fact that they have so many different bags, but that one of the primary reasons they buy the bags is because they're expensive. Even the smartest, most logical of women knowingly purchase this shit just because it's expensive. I HATE Veblen goods.

I'm a live and let live kinda guy. The real benefit from not using iphone/apple stuff is, this cuts out a whole segment of people asking for help with his/her product. I can look them right in the eye and claim no knowledge whatsoever.

Since when have you ever been forced to do something just because you have knowledge? I only do things if I want to. I'll even go as far as to say to people that I'm charging you more just because I know you don't value money and then I'll berate them mercilessly for buying said product while I do what ever I do. Sometimes I'll even go as far as to say I know how to fix it but refuse to because they refused to heed my advice and I'll only go as far as to do something that is beneficial to me... I.e. if you broke you iPhone, I'll only repair it if it means I can sell it or you sell this phone to buy a non apple phone, etc. I'm well known for my knowledge and hate for Apple products and I'm comfortable with that. I don't even own Apple products and I'm more proficient in them than about 99% of people I encounter, not really an accomplishment though.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I HATE Veblen goods.

That is a thread I could rant in. Tech value can be rough, but even with Apple/Bose you are on the same planet as the the better value as far as function (and you can get deals).

Its a different game with say fashion, where getting a deal makes the item less appealing. I can't get that.

 

[evident]

Well it's like designer hand bags. It's not that I'm bothered that a woman has 30 different bags or shoes (I am though but what ever), it's the fact that they paid so much for the shoes. That they wouldn't be buying the shoes based upon their looks but just because of the branding. A $400 gucci bag doesn't have $400 worth of design, materials or anything in it. It's a piece of shit $20 bag like any other bag which is why I have no problem with knockoffs. But the whole idea of people feeling superior just because they paid more for something, even if it brings no extra value makes me feel ill, especially if it's a person with money problems who squeeze others to save them money in other regards.

you know what, i actually see more value in brand bags than i do in an overpriced apple, beats or bose products. sometimes a nice bag or shoes with a timeless style and good build quality can be used for much longer than the apple whatever that will be useless in a year.

 

[evident]

Since when have you ever been forced to do something just because you have knowledge? I only do things if I want to. I'll even go as far as to say to people that I'm charging you more just because I know you don't value money and then I'll berate them mercilessly for buying said product while I do what ever I do. Sometimes I'll even go as far as to say I know how to fix it but refuse to because they refused to heed my advice and I'll only go as far as to do something that is beneficial to me... I.e. if you broke you iPhone, I'll only repair it if it means I can sell it or you sell this phone to buy a non apple phone, etc. I'm well known for my knowledge and hate for Apple products and I'm comfortable with that. I don't even own Apple products and I'm more proficient in them than about 99% of people I encounter, not really an accomplishment though.

i can feel the rage coming through your post as i read that. well done :thumbsup:

 

[Dankk]

I'm a live and let live kinda guy. The real benefit from not using iphone/apple stuff is, this cuts out a whole segment of people asking for help with his/her product. I can look them right in the eye and claim no knowledge whatsoever.

This. The cringe-worthy thing though is when you know someone who is an Apple loyalist because "their products are so easy to use", but they still come to you for help fixing their stupid Mac issues on a semi-regular basis.

I used to work with a woman like this. She was a full subscriber to the Apple cult, but every time she didn't know how to do something on her personal Macbook, she would bring it to me (she used it for work sometimes). There were a couple of occasions where her issues were out of my control (like losing the password to her email program), and she had to put up her hands and say "well, I guess I'll have to go to the Apple store and talk to someone at the genius bar". The fact that such a thing called the 'genius bar' actually exists makes me cringe too.

 

[KeithP]

Tech is a great thing but we have sold a part of our souls to acquire it.

Nope. Tech is just one of many good barometers of our society. As society crumbles, tech reflects that.

-KeithP

 

[poofyhairguy]

you know what, i actually see more value in brand bags than i do in an overpriced apple, beats or bose products. sometimes a nice bag or shoes with a timeless style and good build quality can be used for much longer than the apple whatever that will be useless in a year.

Sure sure. Blanket statements are rarely useful, that is for sure. A fine piece of diamond jewelry that can be handed down to your kids shouldn't be in the same category as some overpriced charm bracelet that is the 21st century equivalent of a beanie baby. Plus value is a funny thing, as its a personal judgement.

 

[Jaepheth]

I am personally offended by machines with a Cyrix processor.

Mostly due to a bug they would cause when running Tie Fighter.

 

[skyking]

I did mess with some apple fanbois back in the day. They'd ask for some help and I would open a shell and get some busy output scrolling by, act like I was fixing it. The GUI only guys would freak. My first server OS was Freebsd and I was right at home with the CLI.