We live in a world of competetive marketing, and from that comes hordes of equally competetive consumers. Fans fight it out over which brand is the best, and these brands can vary from TV shows to movies to computer operating systems to video games consoles to anything else. The problem is that these mass-debates bring forth a rather annoying set of people. The fanboys.
For those who wouldn't spot a fanboy if they met one (or worse, for those who wouldn't mind) I've given a short summary of typical fanboy qualities. Admittedly, this is nicked from another website i found, but their points have been altered and re-worded from scratch by me. See what you think.
1. Fanboys become upset when something they like is questioned.
The basic principle of a fanboy is that they've decided their brand is the best, no matter what. Thus, if somebody expresses a view opposite to theirs they're likely to get worked up about it. They'll argue back that their brand is better as a matter of principle, rather than in an attempt to gain wisdom on the matter. This is rather unhelpful, since the defence of a brand unconditionally can easily prevent the brand's improvement, when they really need honest feedback.
2. Fanboys are intellectually lacking in their fields.
Believing that they are always right, fanboys manipulate the facts to form their illogical arguements. Common practices include hiding or refusing to admit factual truths against their brand, whilst also using bad arguments in favour of their own brand or worse not actually researching what they're arguing against at all. If you meet someone bashing a brand, first ask if they've actually used/seen it!
3. Fanboys resort to insults and personal attacks when debating.
You can tell you've won a debate when the other person's comeback is "well you suck". Insulting someone or their brand doesn't make you right, and it just proves you've run out of decent arguements and you're really quite immature. It also shows the rest of us that that's as far as you're debate's going to get. Never continue to debate with someone who's idea of a debate includes insults.
4. Fanboys value the defeat of their enemy over their own victory.
By that I don't mean it's bad do cheer when the sports team you were playing against loses, but creating your own defeat for your enemies. In the techie world this is done via spamming rival forums or defacing wikipedia articles (both of which are primarily insult-based), but it can vary. Basically it's the idea that distubing rival people's peace is entertaining.
5. Fanboys bring nothing new to a conversation
The debates over the various brands are fuelled by the media and the people therein who express their opinions loudly in order to get attention. For some reason those high profile figures can get away with bashing the brands they don't like. Fanboys, however, don't come up with their own take on things, they just see what their leaders (or their peers) are saying and mimic it. As such their arguements tend to reflect the poor arguements given by media representetives (who just want to be heard) and the mobs (who are stupid by definition). A sensible person will review the competition by themselves and will gain much more wisdom from it.
Ever since I started meeting fanboys I decided I wasn't going to be one. I support Linux and Nintendo, but I'm not a fanboy for them. I trust Nintendo, which is something I can't say for many brand names. I trust that I'll enjoy whatever they plan to do next. So far that's worked.
But since I'm not a fanboy, I can see the things that the competing brands do well. Microsoft has brought forth numerous useful additions to the world of computing. It's also seriously helped to make computers accessible to non-techies by standardising things across almost all computers (through market domination). Whilst I wish Apple and Microsoft were in opposite roles, the mere fact that somebody has market dominance means that newcomers to computers can retain their limited skills from computer to computer, instead of re-learning everything each time. Also, because it's the standard, most things are straight forward to run on it.
The Playstation 3 has a slowly growing number of good games, including 'Metal Gear Solid 4' and their critically acclaimed 'Little Big Planet'. Their soon-to-be-released free downloadable online network system, 'Home', has also received good repots. It works like most online community games, but having it built-in to the console itself will be useful. Obviously it's graphics are gorgeous, and the controller's not the worst. It has some motion sensing, allowing for some genres to be upgraded wii-like, and it has nice shoulder buttons. I don't even need to say anything about the Xbox 360. It's just awesome. If I had the money I'd get one.
My message is basically not to be a fanboy. I run Linux because I'm willing to put in the effort to get everything working how I like, and I find the final customised product is more enjoyable to use than Windows. I have a Wii for hundreds of reasons. It's much cheaper than the other consoles, it has Nintendo's own games, it allows me to play games with non-gamers (a social aspect I'd rarely been able to experience pre-Wii), it lets me buy my favourite retro games from the shop, it's easy to use and frankly just awesomely cool. As I said, I trust Nintendo to deliver what I need from a console, and they've never yet dissapointed. But I don't demand everybody gets Linux or a Wii. I see the advantages for Microsoft and the other two consoles.
Don't pretend you're always right. Do your research and appreciate everything for what it is.
For those who wouldn't spot a fanboy if they met one (or worse, for those who wouldn't mind) I've given a short summary of typical fanboy qualities. Admittedly, this is nicked from another website i found, but their points have been altered and re-worded from scratch by me. See what you think.
1. Fanboys become upset when something they like is questioned.
The basic principle of a fanboy is that they've decided their brand is the best, no matter what. Thus, if somebody expresses a view opposite to theirs they're likely to get worked up about it. They'll argue back that their brand is better as a matter of principle, rather than in an attempt to gain wisdom on the matter. This is rather unhelpful, since the defence of a brand unconditionally can easily prevent the brand's improvement, when they really need honest feedback.
2. Fanboys are intellectually lacking in their fields.
Believing that they are always right, fanboys manipulate the facts to form their illogical arguements. Common practices include hiding or refusing to admit factual truths against their brand, whilst also using bad arguments in favour of their own brand or worse not actually researching what they're arguing against at all. If you meet someone bashing a brand, first ask if they've actually used/seen it!
3. Fanboys resort to insults and personal attacks when debating.
You can tell you've won a debate when the other person's comeback is "well you suck". Insulting someone or their brand doesn't make you right, and it just proves you've run out of decent arguements and you're really quite immature. It also shows the rest of us that that's as far as you're debate's going to get. Never continue to debate with someone who's idea of a debate includes insults.
4. Fanboys value the defeat of their enemy over their own victory.
By that I don't mean it's bad do cheer when the sports team you were playing against loses, but creating your own defeat for your enemies. In the techie world this is done via spamming rival forums or defacing wikipedia articles (both of which are primarily insult-based), but it can vary. Basically it's the idea that distubing rival people's peace is entertaining.
5. Fanboys bring nothing new to a conversation
The debates over the various brands are fuelled by the media and the people therein who express their opinions loudly in order to get attention. For some reason those high profile figures can get away with bashing the brands they don't like. Fanboys, however, don't come up with their own take on things, they just see what their leaders (or their peers) are saying and mimic it. As such their arguements tend to reflect the poor arguements given by media representetives (who just want to be heard) and the mobs (who are stupid by definition). A sensible person will review the competition by themselves and will gain much more wisdom from it.
Ever since I started meeting fanboys I decided I wasn't going to be one. I support Linux and Nintendo, but I'm not a fanboy for them. I trust Nintendo, which is something I can't say for many brand names. I trust that I'll enjoy whatever they plan to do next. So far that's worked.
But since I'm not a fanboy, I can see the things that the competing brands do well. Microsoft has brought forth numerous useful additions to the world of computing. It's also seriously helped to make computers accessible to non-techies by standardising things across almost all computers (through market domination). Whilst I wish Apple and Microsoft were in opposite roles, the mere fact that somebody has market dominance means that newcomers to computers can retain their limited skills from computer to computer, instead of re-learning everything each time. Also, because it's the standard, most things are straight forward to run on it.
The Playstation 3 has a slowly growing number of good games, including 'Metal Gear Solid 4' and their critically acclaimed 'Little Big Planet'. Their soon-to-be-released free downloadable online network system, 'Home', has also received good repots. It works like most online community games, but having it built-in to the console itself will be useful. Obviously it's graphics are gorgeous, and the controller's not the worst. It has some motion sensing, allowing for some genres to be upgraded wii-like, and it has nice shoulder buttons. I don't even need to say anything about the Xbox 360. It's just awesome. If I had the money I'd get one.
My message is basically not to be a fanboy. I run Linux because I'm willing to put in the effort to get everything working how I like, and I find the final customised product is more enjoyable to use than Windows. I have a Wii for hundreds of reasons. It's much cheaper than the other consoles, it has Nintendo's own games, it allows me to play games with non-gamers (a social aspect I'd rarely been able to experience pre-Wii), it lets me buy my favourite retro games from the shop, it's easy to use and frankly just awesomely cool. As I said, I trust Nintendo to deliver what I need from a console, and they've never yet dissapointed. But I don't demand everybody gets Linux or a Wii. I see the advantages for Microsoft and the other two consoles.
Don't pretend you're always right. Do your research and appreciate everything for what it is.
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