A Blog About Making Culture
Smug Ugly
October 28, 2007
Although I've been accused sometimes of reflexive contrariness, the truth is I'm just pretty consistent in my assessments of technology, with little regard for the perceptions of the companies or people who provide those technologies.
The best case in point I can use to illustrate this is an example of the worst thing about Apple. There is simply nothing less attractive than a person who is both flawed and smug, and apparently one of the few plausible justifications for treating corporations as legal persons is the fact that this holds true for companies as well. And Apple is a smug company.
The new version 10.5 of Mac OS X [1] rather famously features the following display when you're browsing machines that appear to be running Microsoft Windows:
Now, I'm all for a little sense of humor in the world of technology. But the image here deliberately uses an aged-looking monitor and a crashed computer as the illustration of your other computers. The disdain here isn't for the unfortunate unwashed who have to suffer through Windows because they're so clueless -- it's a snide shot at the other computers you own, or of your family's other machines around the house, or of the computers of the peers you work with. In short, the derision is likely aimed at people who care a hell of a lot more about you and your boundless Mac-enhanced creativity than, say, the OS X team does.
And all that is assuming the image is even accurate. Plenty of Linux and other Unix machines show up as Samba file shares, meaning they'll be presented as unstable blue-screening machines, despite the fact that they're likely more stable than OS X. That's the heart of the issue -- it's not like the Mac is completely stable; It's got its share of crashes just like every other operating system.
Arrogance is ugly. If you claim to care about aesthetics and design, it's in your interest to keep from being completely tacky and lacking in taste.
To be honest, there's really only room for mocking everybody else if you're absolutely flawless. And even then, it's pretty bad taste. I've seen exactly what it looks like firsthand to see people take cheap shots and make snide comments about their nominal competitors, and it invariably makes the complainer look worse than the ostensible target. When the company you're taking a shot at is Microsoft, that's saying a lot.
Perhaps most disturbingly, it's not at all implausible that this little easter egg was, at least implicitly, approved by Steve Jobs himself. It's a whole 'nother post to explain why that level of meddling megalomania is kind of pathological for a multi-billion-dollar global corporation, but let's not digress too much. Suffice to say, the presence of this image means that there's permission to be this passive-aggressive and, well, lame at all levels of Apple's organization.
So, to Apple: Your company's value, as measured by market capitalization, is way up. You're dominating the markets you care about. The quality of your products is generally very good -- my main laptop runs OS X and we've got the requisite geek household pile of various-generation iPods around. Apple's got my money, to the tune of thousands of dollars. But this level of sneering arrogance, at a time when a little humble appreciation of success is well in order, would go a long way. You're succeeding. Act like it.
(Thanks to Joerg for the image.)
[1] Referring to versions of OS X by cat names, when those names appear nowhere in the operating system itself, seems astoundingly user-hostile. I have no idea what the cat name is for the operating system I'm running, and yet when I try to evaluate shareware, the authors are often asking me if I'm a panther or a tiger or something. Hasn't anybody noticed how stupid that is over at Apple?
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Another unbelievably “right on” post - kudos!
Christian
…or, it’s just a light-hearted joke, ‘cuz, you know, people still like to make jokes once in a while. Even during big projects, they like a good joke. Lighten up a bit. Or, actually, lighten up a lot.
dansays
My hunch is, this was an easter egg from the beta version that slipped through to the release. Regardless, there’s plenty of smugness to go around in this industry. :)
Anil
I’ve seen the Zune team’s bin, Dan, and I think it’s actually substantially different — that’s an internal promo for the team, not part of the finished, shipping product. And it’s also an acknowledgement that they’re facing a formidable competitor, one that their own team has bought products from. Considering that Zune has a market share roughly comparable to OS X’s share of the operating system market, I think it’s at least a little more tasteful to keep the lame back-and-forth hidden away on campus instead of building into the OS. But yes, nobody has a monopoly on smugness.
David Badash
Thank you! I felt like I was stupid for not being able to remember which undomesticated feline my current laptop is running. And, regardless of whether or not Steve Jobs knew about the BSOD, attitude always starts at the top. That’s just the way it works.
dansays
As I said, I honestly don’t think this was meant to be part of the shipping version of Leopard. I agree that it’s inappropriate, but I still think it’s kind of funny. Childish, but funny.
j. brotherlove
Two thumbs up!
dave
Dan, I doubt that Apple would let something like this “slip” by them into a production release - the image was definitely put there intentionally, and I would imagine, lightheartedl, albeit without a bit of tact.
My question is: what would be a better image to use as a replacement? I’m guessing they’re not using the windows logo for a reason, so what else is there to denote a windows box from a mac one?
n/a
From the desktop, clicking Help > Mac Help I get the following: (http://i23.tinypic.com/r76s8p.gif)
There is also teh google.
Mihir
Kudos to you! Nice write up.
AmbroseChapel
I think of Six Apart as one of the smuggest companies on the planet, just for the record. Smug, assured of their own cuteness and tone-deaf when it comes to public relations and customer communication.
I still wince when I think of Mena’s blogging around the time SA acquired LJ, let alone the time MT stopped being free and it turned out nobody at SA had thought through the pricing.
So, pot, kettle, etc.
Jerry
Sheesh. Lighten up. This is taking cranky to a new level!
MikeJ
Dave asks how else you could tell a windows box from a mac. I have a different question: why would I care?
random8r
Damn!
There’s nothing less consistent about a blogger than a blogger who plays up their own consistency.
Better to leave judgements of you to other people, Anil.
That aside, my general experience with using Windows is that it’s very crashy… not just the operating system, but the programs, and using them… I use Windows and Mac all the time… and Red Hat, too… :-) I’ve been using computer since I was 7, and I used to run a graphic design business on a PC. I used to reformat my drive all the time and spend half the time with my machine in pieces rather than doing work.
The blue screen of death and indeed Windows not doing what I want is generally my experience, so the blue screen of death makes sense as a Windows icon, to me.
Bill
FWIW, I thought it was funny without being arrogant.
gr33n
i’d say that actually “mocking everybody else if you’re absolutely flawless” is arrogant… its like laughing at the criple because you are in different leagues… you can mock others only when you are guilty as well, and so it is actually a healthy thing to do since you are laughing at yourself… i also like this setup where there is an “Apple” who is inserting dirty icons into builds and then there is some other “Apple”, who is letting them thru… i’d say, all as a part of a big plot/conspiracy to hurt microsoft’s feelings… yes, apple wants to see tears in their eyes, because that is all they can do at the moment since they don ‘t meet the specification for those for whom it would be acceptable to comment on competitor… But that’s not all - actually Apple is aiming at You and your family, and any reasonable man with enough confidence and self-esteem should analyze and regard those little icons as personal insult to his family… when you are done with system, move on to applications folder :) i say - much a do about nothing… in real life it is not some big bad “Apple” with agendas about everything but it is John, or Peter, or George or UmbaTumba - live real people who accidentaly get the idea, who implement it and i bet share it with their friends, ex/future colegues in microsoft… and laugh at little soap-box journalists who see a sign in everything… and as about accuracy - icons need to be distinctive and easy to spot/recognize/understand… not accurate - who cares?! i’d say you are the only one looking for separate icon for each linux distribution…
Adam Brown
And what of things such as about:mozilla?
“The Windows version of IE showed a blank HTML document with blue background color. Possibly a joke reference to the “Blue Screen of Death”. Removed in Windows XP SP2 but it can still be shown by typing “res://mshtml.dll/about.moz” instead.” -Wikipedia
Also, my Airport Extreme shared disk uses SMB (for windows clients) and shows up as a BSOD. :-)
Margaret
This is one of the things that makes me hesitate to get a Mac when I get my first laptop next year. Spec-wise a Macbook would fit my needs perfectly, but I’m just not sure I want to become part of the Mac demographic. Unfortunately, said demographic tends to intersect with the irritating-smug-people demographic and I don’t want anything to do with that. I like Macs, but I wish the company was secure enough in its betterness to present itself simply as creating great products, not as a creating products that are better than everything else.
Jason Scott
“To be honest, there’s really only room for mocking everybody else if you’re absolutely flawless. And even then, it’s pretty bad taste. I’ve seen exactly what it looks like firsthand to see people take cheap shots and make snide comments about their nominal competitors, and it invariably makes the complainer look worse than the ostensible target. When the company you’re taking a shot at is Microsoft, that’s saying a lot.”
Anil, did you intentionally make a cheap shot at Microsoft at the end of a paragraph deriding the use of cheap shots?
jim
I’m no Windows lover but I’ll tell you — Ever since Win2K, I don’t relate to Windows OS as being crash-prone at all. Win98 and earlier were god awful.
In my 6-month ownership of this particular XP machine, it has crashed once that I can remember. And I work the heck out of this machine: audio production, gaming, productivity apps, Windows developing, heck I even run Adobe apps. :-P Current uptime: 16 days.
I lament the giant divide between Apple’s impressive hardware design prowess and their total lack thereof when it comes to software. The BSOD is a damn arrogant statement.
Michael Moncur
I’m a recent switcher who still has a few PCs and considers them equally stable. Nonetheless I found it funny.
I have to admit I agreed with Margaret before the switch, though - the least attractive thing about the Mac platform was that I might become “one of those smug Mac people.”
I think a large part of Apple’s recent success were the “Mac vs. PC” commercials - while they had some smugness, the fundamental message was that Mac and PC are both nice guys and generally get along just fine.
Apple could use more of that sort of message, and things like this don’t help.
Rex
Gates has tried to point out this smugness about Apple too. I suspect there will be a backlash about it soon, which will probably make both companies a little bit better.
-Rex (Microsoft badge-holder who took that iPod Photo Bin photo and MacBook user)
baron
Well, Apple is more of a music company than a computer company as far as raw earning power goes. Maybe that will change but as of now they aren’t even underdogs in terms of market share. I’m a happy mac user but woe is me when I try to connect to a Windows network. Connecting to printers is more or less up to luck and even browsing the network was problematic.
The “Easter Egg” if it is in fact so (and I don’t think it is) is more or less there to alleviate mac user frustrations due to short-comings in Apple’s ability to connect adequately with MS computers and various printers.
The BSOD monitors on Leopard put a smile on my face not because they’re taking cheap shots but because I could finally access MS computers on my network without jumping through hoops via esoteric finder menus.
adam alexander
Who else but Apple could make a Blue Screen of Death on a CRT look so appealing?
It’s a jab, but not below the belt. Tough love, I think they call it.
adam alexander
Who else but Apple could make a Blue Screen of Death on a CRT look so appealing?
It’s a jab, but not below the belt. Tough love, I think they call it.
Abhilash
I think I can hear someone saying “Ha! Where’s this bloke’s sense of humor?!”
Jough Dempsey
I think it’s funny to use a ten year old crash screen of a competitor’s product to define that product, but the BSOD screen shows up no matter what PC-based share you’re connecting to. The BSOD doesn’t even exist in XP or Vista, does it?
I mean, there are still those white text on blue NT failure screens, but they’re few and far between.
I switched to Mac back in March, and my Macbook is no more stable than my now two-years running XP machine is. In fact, it’s a little less so, although all of my crashes have been Parallels-related (hosting Ubuntu, not Windows) and while I think OS X should be stable enough to not throw a kernel panic (maybe we could dub this the “semi-transparent grey screen of death”?) it clearly isn’t.
Anyway, it’s funny, but the BSOD is a relic of the past. Why not use a vinyl record as the iTunes icon?
Ryan
“The disdain here isn’t for the unfortunate unwashed who have to suffer through Windows because they’re so clueless … the derision is likely aimed at people who care a hell of a lot more about you and your boundless Mac-enhanced creativity than, say, the OS X team does.”
This is exactly where your whole complaint = FAIL. Because it’s not at all about taking cheap shots at people in any way; this is a joke, made by OS designers/engineers about a competing OS; designers/engineers whose concerns are related to their product, not the users of that product.
If, as a PC user, you feel personally insulted/attacked by this simple joke, well, I’d say that’s your own insecurity manifesting itself. I don’t see anything in that screenshot that says “TEH PC UZERS ARE TEH STUPID IDIOTS.” You’re the one suggesting that.
Joe Crawford
Which is worse — passive aggression of Apple with this icon or aggressive aggression of Microsoft? If you recall, they have a history of predatory behavior. This was predatory behavior entered into the record of court cases MS lost.
As far as the feature — I wish Windows had included insulting icons for Mac in older versions of their operating system. Maybe a little black and white bomb? to represent Mac machines and Mac networks? Sadly, no they typically chose to not include Mac-friendly networking by default. Interoperability from inside Windows has been “passive aggressively” ignored.
Microsoft’s history is to fear interoperability with other networks, and to not build such features in. Ever installed Mac services on NT? I have — pain in the butt. At least with Mac, interoperability with other systems is something that is valued, perhaps with a snicker or a sneer, but the feature is there.
rem nice
you need to chill fool.
David
Great post, fully agree.
Side note: why does Quicktime suck so much? It tries to take over my windows machine every time I decide I just have to see some mov file and forget why I uninstalled it the last time.
jamEs
Would a newer monitor with a darkened grey screen displaying a Vista Cancel or Allow dialog box been more on point for you?
John
Lighten up folks! its a jab at windows and its funny. Have you missed all the PC vs Mac ads? They’re funny too.
I use both Mac (home/freelance) and Windows (9-5)are both are very good and both have their little “issues”. If Windows could display Mac clients on the network, I’m sure it might use a snarky icon as well.
Slick
Wow. Such ado about nothing. People need to lighten up.
Except Jason Scott, who was right on. Do tell us, Anil: how easy was it for you to take that cheap shot at MSFT in a paragraph decrying cheap shots? And did you feel smug?
Or did you just think you were being funny?
apple is proud
My dear people whoever thinks that windows crashes, this comment is for them. Run any operating system but windows as root and talk to me 7 days later if anything remains of it. THIS IS AN ADVICE FOR ALL, USE WINDOWS WITHOUT ADMINISTRATIVE PRIVILEGES. CREATE A LIMITED ACCOUNT AND USE THAT.
Kingsley
Can’t we just have a good old fashioned bitchfest once in a while? I often think of Apple as a fun & bitchy acquaintance. Not an actual friend, mind you, I save that status for my flawed but lovable PC.
Anonymous
Speaking personally, I am shocked, SHOCKED that people are making fun of Windows! Round up the usual suspects!
bewlaybrutha
Yes, lighten up. This seems a pretty harmless and lighthearted dig to get so worked up about. It’s also pretty funny
Lars 
I think it’s double funny now that Leopard has turned out to be wholly untested and rushed and produces a blue screen of it’s own.
I’m a Mac user and am getting mighty tired of the “it just works” attitude, when in fact, OS X has it’s own peculiar set of bugs.
David
http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/10/leopard-upgrade.html lol
Jesper
The reason Leopard installation produces a blue screen in some circumstances is because people have installed stuff that messes with their systems on a very deep level. I wouldn’t blame Apple for not including workarounds to detect old versions of such software when it’s very clearly unsupported in the first place.
Lars is right that OS X has its own bugs. You don’t get to choose the OS with the fewest number of bugs, you get to choose the OS whose particular strengths mask away its particular defects best. It is entirely possible to be satisfied with your choice with any alternative today, even though none of them are anywhere near perfect.
And as for the blue screen? I might be upset if it wasn’t a big fuck you aimed at Redmond, and Anil admits tacitly that Microsoft might not be such as bad target himself. That other shares running on Linux- or BSD-based OSes can’t get another, nice icon is regrettable, but the point is nevertheless made, and it’s nice that someone has the stones to carry this out.
And needless to say, I completely disagree that only flawless people should be able to act like asshats towards other people.
Jamison
I had the same experience as Adam Brown, seeing the blue screen of death icon for my Apple Airport Extreme and I was glad to see this little joke backfire on them. I hope someone will create (warning: lazyweb request) a nice replacement icon that families well with Apple’s Mac icons minus the negativity.
Jason
@Anil.
Man, who cares? I’m at an office that is very pro Mac. We all laughed when we saw that on friday (installing our OSs onto production machines the same day the OS came out). We laughed, then we went on with our business.
If you don’t remember, I think the Mac vs. PC ads were way more smug. I actually disliked Mac and sort of cheered for PC (obviously, that had something to do with John Hodgman, whom I particularly like.
But in the end, I think the problem is with people. If anyone, Apple employee, Microsoft Employee, or any computer user at all, finds their personal identity and sense of value by the computer they use, they’re sorry individuals.
I love my Mac, and I recommend them. But I don’t think highly of myself because of it. And those that do, regardless of which camp they belong, need to go outside and get in touch with reality.
mcd
I found the icon to be funny, but I find that kind of reaction even funnier.
Jason
Wow… all I have to say is… dont you have anything better to do? The people saying “lighten up” are making some severe understatements.
GET. A. LIFE.
Jesus.
Its called a “joke” and its a pretty funny one actually. You even admit you use Macs yourself, but yet you are unable to see this humor, and feel the need to create this over inflated blog entry. What exactly is the point? Oh right, to toot your own horn and come off as a cultured, sophisticated intellectual.
Dont you have a thesis to be writing or something? Leave the funny stuff to the people who have senses of humor.
Bubba Mac
Methinks the PC user doth protest too much
Anonymous
they can do what they want douche
scarabic
I don’t think you can really call them smug. They’re an underdog. You use the phrase “dominating markets” but come on. They’re a market share underdog. They have to be scrappy.
There was the whole John Hodgeman TV campaign that turned every aspect of using a PC into a joke, but you think THIS is smug? What about the TV ads with the flaming Pentium guys being extinguished? Now Apple’s all-Intel. THIS is what tipped it for you?
it’s a snide shot at the other computers you own, or of your family’s other machines around the house, or of the computers of the peers you work with
You can claim their intent to be whatever you want, but you’re inferring. And taking it pretty personally, I might add! Suddenly Apple has flipped from underdog to ugly fat cat and taken their impudence out on your family, friends, and colleagues! How dare they! I’m writing this on my PC, and I think you’re taking it a bit too seriously.
rob
Haha this made me laugh - who gives a fück about arrogance? Do I give a shît about people who think they are in some way superior? Hell no - life is too short.
And if you think that anybody who criticises should be free of flaws themselves, I suggest you get a good book on logic out of the library and read it, as this idea and others like it (logical fallacies) will seriously waste your time and mental energy, to say nothing of having your ego dented a dozen times each day.
Get a thicker skin AD!
Anonymous
Just passing through … as this page has become part of the comedy circuit.
“Referring to versions of OS X by cat names … seems astoundingly user-hostile.”
Oh Please, steady on there cup cake, or should that be … Tiger !!!
Regarding the Big Puddy cats. The promotion of the various Mac OS X products by means of advertising and distinctive design, Apple have established, the Mac OS X brand with an exotic hint, suggesting - fierce and powerful with predatory instincts, while also, testifying to a lithe and graceful OS with dynamic attributes. It’s just a marketing ploy, aimed to identify and imbue concepts in the product.
Get over yourself already.
SKY LARK.
frisky?
+100
Totally agreed with this statement: “Arrogance is ugly. If you claim to care about aesthetics and design, it’s in your interest to keep from being completely tacky and lacking in taste.”
Anonymous
The operating system is Mac OS 10.5. “Leopard” is an internal code name to refer to the product, just like “Longhorn”, oh wait, isn’t that “Vista”? Apple uses cats, Microsoft uses ski runs at Whistler/Blackcomb. Get over it. At least the icon is 3D. Get over it.
Marcos
Big meanie Apple is making fun of poor little Microsoft? Last I heard Windows still has 90% market share and MS was making billion dollar profits. Lighten up.
Oskar Syahbana
I’m using Tiger right now and not planning an upgrade in a foreseeable future (Tiger is very stable for me), so when I saw this icon first hand, it really cracks me up ROFL
Dale Brown
10.5 does refer to itself as Leopard at least during the install. But don’t let that get in the way of your smug rant.
ro
Guys, seriously, lighten up. It’s a pity that this is your first article I’m reading. Respect to Apple for daring to have a sense of humour.
Anonymous
Karma sorted that out though didn’t it. Leopard BSOD even if it was fairly short lived hopefully served as a little grounding for apple.
If apple wanted to have a dig at MS there are much more subtle ways of doing it. Maybe they should have put Samba on the screen a nod to those who know that windows use FOSS to implement their networking.
george
I find the icon amusing, but perhaps the thick rhino skin I’m wearing prevents tiny jokes from hurting me…
Anonymous
(From the transcript of the interview Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg conducted with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the D5 conference on May 30, 2007.)
Kara: And do you look at yourselves as rivals now? Today as the landscape has evolved–and we’ll talk about the Internet landscape and everything else and other companies that have [gone] forward, but how do you look at yourselves in this landscape today?
Walt: Because, I mean, you are competitors in certain ways, which is the American way, right?
Kara: We watch the commercials, right?
Walt: And you get annoyed at each other from time to time.
Kara: Although you know what? I have to confess, I like PC guy.
Walt: Yeah, he’s great.
Kara: Yeah, I like him. The young guy, I want to pop him.
Steve: The art of those commercials is not to be mean, but it’s actually for the guys to like each other. Thanks. PC guy is great. Got a big heart.
Bill: His mother loves him.
Steve: His mother loves him.
Kara: I’m telling you, I like PC guy totally much better.
Steve: Wow.
Kara: I do. I don’t know why. He’s endearing. The other guy’s a jackass.
Steve: PC guy’s what makes it all work, actually.
Walt: All right.
Steve: It’s worth thinking about.
Anonymous
Dude, learn to take a joke.
And its Leopard. Its one word. Don’t hurt yourself trying too hard to remember it ;)
Anonymous
Great joke for in the beta, but this should have been changed before it went gold.
Seth
This reminds of the whole “running up the score” debate in football, especially the recent Patriots victory over the Redskins. Microsoft are a big company, they can take a joke. And if they’re not, it’s just business, they can be equally “funny” in the next version of Windows.
So it goes.
Kevin
I think Apple is walking a fine line. Certainly this type of smugness has gained them a significant market share. But at some point stunts like this start to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths and these people will avoid purchasing Apple products so that they can stay out of the lunch room food fight.
Such smugness is in fact common among many cultural revolutions. And Apple is truly a tech culture revolution. Many joined the Apple base as a protest against status quo. Such cultural revolutions often result in a better-than-thou attitude. This is best demonstrated by environmentalists that shun individuals that use compact fluorescent bulbs but drive an SUV. They fail to accept that every little bit helps.
Apple is acting in the same manner. Many of us own many different types of computers and Anil is right many of us do not share Apple’s dislike for Microsoft. And thus many of us will refrain from purchasing Apple products if we feel like we are walking into a fight in the sandbox.
I recognize the humor in this image. And I admit I think it is funny. But it is a tangible example of a palpable level of arrogance on Apple’s part. Viewed by itself Anil’s critique of Apple over this image is a bit whiny. But viewed in the ongoing demonstration of arrogance by Apple it is dead on and completely justified.
Every time Apple makes a smug statement like this they are implicitly suggesting that non-Apple users are below them. Yet Apple fails to realize that non-Apple users are their potential customers.
Richard
Devs just having a bit of fun. Chill. Just don’t be offended when something slips through from M$.
Chris
“The operating system is Mac OS 10.5. “Leopard” is an internal code name to refer to the product, just like “Longhorn”, oh wait, isn’t that “Vista”? Apple uses cats, Microsoft uses ski runs at Whistler/Blackcomb. Get over it. At least the icon is 3D. Get over it.”
Oh wait… you’re an idiot. Longhorn is the code name for Windows Server 2008.
And this BSOD joke is just really getting old. Since XP has come out I have very very rarely experienced any sort of blue screen that was not entirely my fault. Overclocking way beyond what I should or other such things have been my only cause of blue screen for years. And from what I hear “Leopard” had an issue with it’s own little blue screen. It’s called karma. ;)
Great little rant there. I do believe I will start reading your blog a bit more.
Cats are dumb
“The disdain here isn’t for the unfortunate unwashed who have to suffer through Windows because they’re so clueless”
I don’t really care what apple does, and I agree that the icon may be in poor taste due to their recent successes. But, Anil aren’t you calling windows users (90% of the computing community) unfortunate and unwashed. I feel thats a bit of a shot below the belt, so you should feel right at home with BSOD icon. I’m a vista user and I definitely showered this morning so I don’t feel unwashed and I certainly feel fortunate to be free of the mac smugness.
So let me take a cheap shot of my own considering your nationality, I’d bet I smell better than you do.
Anonymous
Chris, Longhorn was actually a bar between whistler and redmond somewhere.
Anonymous
Is apple developing nuclear weapons to sell on the open market or did they bury an icon as a joke in their operating system?
It’s hard to tell from the post.
nathan
From a pure UI/icon design standpoint, what other image could instantly portray a PC on the network (short of the MS logo, that is). It’s funny, but the fact is that the BSOD is the only screen-filling Windows feature that would be recognizable in a dock icon. The start button or other graphical nuances would be impossible to see (except in that CoverFlow view). Ugly beige + OS crash = Windows. Instant recognition.
Hax Or
This was an Emo Alert. ID-10-T detected.
You need to calm down. The emotions are controlling you.
Apple won this round. I can’t believe how much crying there is over an icon. Hahaha. What’s it like to be controlled by your emotions?
You have a brain. Use it. Change the image if you don’t like it.
Anonymous
@Jesper Quote: “The reason Leopard installation produces a blue screen in some circumstances is because people have installed stuff that messes with their systems on a very deep level. I wouldn’t blame Apple for not including workarounds to detect old versions of such software when it’s very clearly unsupported in the first place.”
You’re going to have to start holding Apple to a higher standard. If they continue to experience the success they are currently having, soon they will be in the same position as MS. i.e. sundry applications will be written, and will have huge installed bases. Random vendors will make hardware that people will purchase, and the drivers for this hardware will not always be 100% reliable.
People love poking fun at the incumbent. Imagine what would happen if MS were to try to cover up crashing issues or defects the way Apple does, by deleting forum posts etc. The furore would be uncontrollable. When Apple gets similar market share, they too will understand what it means to be vilified for every move they make.
Joe
Dude, lighten up. I think it’s friggin hilarious not to mention spot on.
mdmunoz
Icon-related jokes: Serious Business.
Anonymous
Maybe Windows users, locating a Mac on the network, should display an icon of a Powerbook (or the ilk) with a rupturing Lithium battery. Nice and vivid fire, maybe some smoke.
Anonymous
So Apple needs to be humble? Do you mean humble like the DOJ fearing Microsoft is humble, who doesn’t put cute easter egg icons in it’s OS but instead uses it’s OS leverage to crush competition and force Alpha build quality products onto it’s users because, ‘What choice do you have?’. Dear Apple flaunt it, you’ve earned it after 20 years of ‘Apple Who?’ jokes from Microtards, let them eat Vista.
dorrk
Interesting background on the period during which Apple turned around into the success story they are now, from Wikipedia:
At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would be entering into partnership with Microsoft. Settlement discussions regarding Apple’s “Look and Feel” lawsuit and the QuickTime piracy lawsuit resulted in a five-year commitment from Microsoft to release Microsoft Office for Macintosh as well as a US$150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock. (This event is often inaccurately described as a “bailout” of Apple by Microsoft. At the time Apple had a little over US$1 billion in cash and cash equivalents according to their 10-Q statement.[29] Microsoft later sold its shares for a tidy profit.) Jobs also announced that Internet Explorer would be shipped as the default browser on the Macintosh. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates appeared at the expo on the large screen, explaining Microsoft’s plans for the software they were developing for the Macintosh, and saying that he was very excited to be helping Apple. This was met with a less than positive response from the audience. Steve Jobs said:
“If we want to move forward and see Apple healthy and prospering again, we have to let go of a few things here. We have to let go of this notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose. We have to embrace a notion that for Apple to win, Apple needs to do a really good job. And if others are going to help us that’s great, because we need all the help we can get, and if we screw up and don’t do a good job, it’s not somebody else’s fault, it’s our fault. So I think that is a very important perspective. If we want Microsoft Office on the Mac, we should treat the company that puts it out with a little bit of gratitude; we like their software.
“So, the era of setting this thing up as a competition between Apple and Microsoft is over as far as I’m concerned. This is about getting Apple healthy, this is about Apple being able to make incredibly great contributions to the industry and to get healthy and prosper again.”
jon deal
I think it’s a funny joke that probably crosses over into arrogant and nasty. Fine for the devs and beta(s), but they should have taken it out when 10.5 shipped, IMHO.
Though it does beg the question, What should they have used to represent an SMB share or Windows machine? The Windows logo? Not likely since A) it might get sticky legally to have a Windows logo in Apple’s OS. Do they need a license to show the logo? It’s trademarked or copyrighted or whatever, right? B) Why would Apple ever want to show a competing product in their fancy pants new OS?
But it is sad that people make a direct correlation between Windows and BSODs.
Rob
This is so easy to fix, just repeat 10 times: It’s just an icon, it’s just an icon, it’s just….
kexi
I can’t believe people are actually hurt over an icon. It’s a joke!
If this offends you, then you need a new life because the one that you have now is sad. You’ve forgotten how to laugh.
DaveN
After reading most of these comments, I’m reminded of why I don’t blog. I enjoyed (and agreed with) your original post, though, Anil. Thanks.
Dave (not an iSheep)
Beerzie
Um, it’s no big deal. Lighten up.
Anonymous
I use Windows XP, Ubuntu and Mac OSX. I’m not a “fanboy” for any of them. But here is a simple fact: I have never had a BSOD in Windows XP. I had one on my Win2K box at work, but it was caused by faulty RAM.
By contrast, in OSX 1.4 I’ve had to restart a few times due to a “kernel panic” (because if you call it that you can claim that your machine doesn’t crash…). And my Mac gets far less use - not because of preference but because of the types of applications I use most.
Smugness is bad. Pointing back to the reason you were “better” than your competition 8 years ago as though it still matters today…much worse!
DDA
I have to agree with AmbroseChapel; for SA to call anyone smug and arrogant is just over the top. Given the current state of LiveJournal, I’d say there is plenty of incentive for SA not to point fingers.
JT
Anil, are your feelings hurt?
Talk about smug.
Jenna Fox
This is a matter of identification. Mac OS tends to be more visual than textual in communicating idea’s. Large amounts of animations and effects are used where most companies would use text to tell the same story. They don’t seem to have used the real windows logo anywhere through the system or they’re marketing, so I guess they don’t have a license to those logo’s. They could have used a very similar logo that people may have recognized, but instead they used something many mac users instantly recognize as distinctly windows. It drove many of us to the mac platform to begin with.
It certainly was a joke shown by steve jobs at a developers conference. I don’t think it slipped through, I think the mac team just couldn’t think of imagery which would represent windows to the mac user audience as well as this one in time. The windows logo has certainly been watered down in our minds by countless windows only products that work fine with mac’s too.
It is tasteless. It makes Apple look bad. But darn it, when I see that icon, I know exactly what I’m about to connect to!
Carlo
I like when a company has balls. While this is only a piddling little icon, I think it illustrates Apple’s spunk very well.
Tony
You’re right Anil. The BSOD was gone long before I ever switched to using Mac computers, and I haven’t owned a monitor like that in even longer. It’s not even really funny. But, all the same, I don’t really care. It’s just an icon.
james
Oh anil, you’re such a funny little man. Now go back to pushing crappy 6 apart sites.
Pascal
Yes, lighten up. No one is out to get you with their mean PC monitor image.
Anil 
I see there have been a few digs at Six Apart here — I should clarify: This is my personal blog, and my personal opinion. And probably more relevantly, while we’ve certainly made our share of mistakes at Six Apart, I do think we own up to them and try to fix them and are sincerely apologetic when we do screw up. More importantly, I’d defy you to find any time when we’ve ever said something negative about another company in our industry, or mocked the foibles or shortcomings of our peers. I’m not saying companies have to be flawless, or that every person at an organization has to be perfect, I’m saying company culture shouldn’t countenance mocking other companies for a flaw that is universal.
And for the astoundingly large number of people who are saying to lighten up, or mocking me for even writing the post: It took me a few minutes to dash off something that was off-the-cuff. Meanwhile, you’ve read whatever blog linked to this post, clicked through to read it, scrolled down to the comments, posted your diatribe, and you accuse me of having too much free time?
For everybody posting your various experiences with operating systems: That’s great, but I don’t really care. Sorry! I use both Vista and OS X every day, and I think they’re both fine.
Finally, for everybody saying I don’t have a sense of humor, or the even more astounding assertion that I’m somehow a pretentious intellectual, I’d invite you to check out my ramblings on lolcats or goatse as proof that I really don’t take myself too seriously. Special shout-out to the anonymous guy who said “they can do what they want douche”. I’m convinced!
SpinPapi
Anil, right on! I thought it was funny the first time I saw it too, but I wouldn’t if I had PCs running alongside my Macs and had to deal with it every day. You make a compelling argument. I’m sure the icon can be changed, but, well, must I? Just so Stevie can have his joke? @Christian and similar: smug defending smug doesn’t make you sound fun or funny, y’all. Quite the opposite. =/
j-d
For all the posters commenting that it’s “just an icon,” consider that a technology blogger might have good reason to have more to say about this than you. And there’s no indication of his being personally offended, but arrogance breeds hostility, regardless of to whom it is directed.
As a PC owner, I’m not offended by the icon, but I find it a little immature. I own a Mac, too, and I enjoy using it, but Apple’s marketing department has sculpted a culture that focuses on how bad everything else is, and, like Anil says, it’s smug and off-putting to everyone who’s not a Mac zealot. This is even truer to me when I consider that my PC, which runs Windows XP, crashes less often than my OS X Mac, which is admittedly old, but has a fresh installation of 10.3.
I like to think I haven’t got a massive superiority complex, so when my Mac tells me I’m better than the mindless masses it reminds me of the arrogance and elitism behind the machine I’m using. Thats not something I want to be a part of, and it kept me away from Macs for a long time.
Anonymous
Relax. Let’s not carry political correctness to ridiculous extremes. It’s just an OS…it’s not my life. Now, if it was a caricature of my wife/kids, that’s personal. This is just silliness, and you’re overreacting to something amazingly trivial.
Anonymous
maybe its actually an image of a Linux server with SMB shares, and running the fake BSOD screensaver.
Anonymous
funny how people complain that Anil needs to get a life and not complain about it. wouldn’t the people who spend the time to read the post and then post a comment also need to get a life?
Seems to me the biggest issue is that Samba shares are represented by this image, when a Samba share can be anything. If that is the case a stylised image of a computer as network node or a harddisk as a network node would be more appropriate.
And as to comments about running windows without crashes, i have no problems running both XP (service pack 2) and Vista for very long periods without crashes. As with all OSes the OS is as stable as the reliability of third party drivers and software that you install on top of the OS. This goes for Linux, Vista, XP and OSX.
Anonymous
Yeah, not a big deal and I don’t think anyone is crying in their beer because of the icon, but it does make apple look like arrogant assholes.
The “it’s just a joke” people need to shut up. “just a joke” can be offensive even if that wasn’t the intent.
HG
So the $250 billion corporation can’t take a joke?
It’s really no different than characterizing Macs a ‘toys’. There’s no harm is done with that good-natured poke that the Windows community likes to level at Apple.
Alex
Well written article, you are right on the money.
Nescio
Great post. I agree. Just bought a Mac 2 months ago. It is a great machine. However, it crashes more often than my PC. The marble of doom Oh no the pain the pain.
HG
SpinPapi writes: “Just so Stevie can have his joke?”
So this blog demonstrates the wide range of feelings that each camp has toward each other. I don’t mind seeing iconic blue-screens-of-death which ironically actually do a productive task for a change. They’re a breath of fresh air from the FUD, disrespect and ignorance that people like SpinPapi demonstrate.
Chuck Monroe
Spot on; I believed the first report I read of this to be a fake. But looking back on Apple and Steve Jobs’ increasingly vicious pikes at MS (“Hello, I’m a Mac” being the most ingenuous form), I cannot say that I am too surprised. Thanks for writing the first high-profile dennounciation I came across…
Anonymous
Hey Chuck,
IE just double-entered your response.
MasterCKO
Little things like this is why OS X is never going to reach the majority. Anil is exactly right. To us tech-heads, har har very funny (which is why this is fine as a joke in the beta, that’s your audience in a beta). To Jack Everyman and Jill Purchasing Manager, it’s unprofessional, at best.
Paul Wren
If using a BSOD image to represent non-Mac computers really were “an example of the worst thing about Apple,” I’d be a lot happier.
I think that Apple’s poor treatment of their extremely loyal customer base, their closed systems, and their policies toward DRM are substantive issues.
Meanwhile, you are concerned about an arrogant poke at Windows (which, last time I checked, isn’t hurting too much in terms of market share).
“Worst thing about Apple” is definitely overstating your case.
Robert
It’s an icon, a symbol designed to represent a hard-disk volume having an operating system other than OS X. Not a pejorative statement necessitating a wounded response with invective and spite. Not grounds for yet another fusillade of emotive labels and venomous barbs. It’s just a picture.
In the same way beauty is in the eye of the beholder, based on the inclusion of one image amongst thousands within the OS, you’re implying an entire company of people suffer from one of Dante’s seven deadly sins, Pride.
Perhaps your post might be seen as indicative of another two; Envy and Wrath.
Steven B
OMG, man. Is it really so difficult to have a sense of humor? Do you honestly believe the folks at Apple got together and decided collectively to take a shot at Windows and all other computers? If you knew anything about IT at all, you’d recognize that this was a joke which happened to make it into the final release - get over yourself!
I’m not fanboy of any particular platform; I use Windows, OS X, Linux, and Solaris. In the end, it’s just funny, and a cultural representation of something we’ve all come to know all too well.
From this post alone, you seem like you’d be exactly the type of “IT Guy” that employees at companies are afraid of dealing with.
Have a drink, try to relax, and take it for what it’s worth: Absolutely nothing but a bit of humor.
Steven Fisher
I agree this is overly smug, but I find myself wondering what image they should have used. A Windows logo? Equally inaccurate, but also a trademark problem. Samba logo? Also inaccurate, plus not recognizable. SMB? There is none. Generic Windows desktop? Too much detail for an icon, and inaccurate, and not recognizable.
(And to one of the comments above: BSOD definitely exists on XP. By default, it just restarts, though.)
MasterCKO
@HG: You seem to miss the distinction between the community of people who use the computers and the company that make the OS.
“Toys” may very well be a common joke that the Windows COMMUNITY levels at Macs and Mac users, but this icon is built in to the OS by Apple ITSELF. How do you not see the difference there? As a successful company, I personally think that it should keep it’s behavior above a certain level. Instead, its corporate culture allowed and probably even encouraged this pretty bonehead move.
When is the last MS product that had a consumer-facing marketing push or often used feature that even mentioned Apple (or in fact, any of MS’s competitors) in a negative light? In-jokes are fine, but once you start facing your customers, you should carry yourself a certain way.
PIp
I’m gonna put my vote in on the side of “don’t get your panties in a twist about it.”
frederick
It’s just an icon? I’m sure companies would boycott Microsoft if they did something like that in relation to Apple computers. It’s so immature. It’s like Apple is in high school. WTF…
Robert C.
As far as mocking goes, I always enjoyed C.S. Lewis’s advice, from the Narnia books: “Never taunt a man save when he is stronger than you: then, as you please.”
Stuart
The odd thing is that other Macs on my network show up w/ the PC Icon sometimes. Rather odd.
I chuckled when I first read about it, but its a bit prominent for an easter egg, and less amusing w/ each viewing.
Mario Estrada
Yeah because putting it on TV is not smug enough! http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
Lighten up! Apple has been doing it for years!
Steven Fisher
Robert, do you remember which book that’s from?
Mario Estrada
“What to use instead of Oink.” Ok… I see you’re being a bit tricky to get some traffic…
“To be honest, there’s really only room for mocking everybody else if you’re absolutely flawless. And even then, it’s pretty bad taste.”
Using that phrase to gain traffic is bad taste!
hanford
“I have no idea what the cat name is for the operating system I’m running, and yet when I try to evaluate shareware, the authors are often asking me if I’m a panther or a tiger or something.”
My favorite on Apple’s: They shortcut key that is a symbol, unless both you and the person you’re communicating with know what that symbol is called, it’s impossible to explain to somewhat what key you’re talking about.
Graham Cox
It’s just a geek in-joke, I don’t think there’s much more to it than that. I do take your point though, and maybe Apple should have thought it through a bit more - I expect 10.5.1 will probably change it (thus creating the “legendary/notorious 10.5.0 PC icon joke” in the process). I think they should use a head shot of “PC-guy”, since a) people like him and b) it still acknowledges the PC/Mac dichotomy.
RobM
A good few people are writing this down as a joke.
It was obviously intended as one, and fair enough. You could argue that it was a bit of fun during the beta stages and I wouldn’t disagree with that in the slightest.
But does this joke belong in actual shipping code? I have to admit, I think that is when the “joke” becomes poor taste. It’s childish, and reflects poorly on Apple.
Their problems with leopard blue screens might not actually be their own fault but you do have to ask if the OS team should have spent a little more time testing edge cases like APE and a little less time on bad jokes.
Lostin Madnez
u are such a a dick, jezuz, ur probably from america and offended about swearwords on radio or tv too. grow up. On one side “Whay to use instead of OINK” Ripping “stealing?” on the other morally superior. U suck.
Anonymous
You need to reboot your sense of humor, it appears to have crashed.
sondjata
Don’t know which cat you’re using? Not good. Maybe for novices but not someone bright enough to write articles on tech.
Seriously.
RobM
A good few people are writing this down as a joke.
It was obviously intended as one, and fair enough. You could argue that it was a bit of fun during the beta stages and I wouldn’t disagree with that in the slightest.
But does this joke belong in actual shipping code? I have to admit, I think that is when the “joke” becomes poor taste. It’s childish, and reflects poorly on Apple.
Their problems with leopard blue screens might not actually be their own fault but you do have to ask if the OS team should have spent a little more time testing edge cases like APE and a little less time on bad jokes.
Graham Cox
It’s just a geek in-joke, I don’t think there’s much more to it than that. I do take your point though, and maybe Apple should have thought it through a bit more - I expect 10.5.1 will probably change it (thus creating the “legendary/notorious 10.5.0 PC icon joke” in the process). I think they should use a head shot of “PC-guy”, s