The Macalope: An Apple blog

How green is my Apple?

The Macalope — Fri, 09 May 2008 22:45:00 GMT

Rest easy, dear reader. They've found the major cause of global warming. It's Apple.

Thanks to the perspicacity of Climate Counts (double entendre intended!), we now know that Apple is

A choice to avoid for the climate-conscious consumer. This company is not yet taking meaningful action on climate change.

Now, before we get into this, the Macalope would like to stress that he really has no idea if Apple is bad for the environment.

But, hey, guess what?! Neither does Climate Counts! That's right, for every category where information was not available, Apple was simply given a zero. And in Apple's case, that basically explains the entirety of the low score.

Of course, it's perfectly possible that Apple doesn't give out this information because the secret ingredient in iPhones is ground-up puppies that are rendered in a floating complex in the Indian Ocean that's powered by huge coal furnaces and wood stoves.

It's also possible that these scorecards are cynical attempts to gin up publicity for an environmental concern nobody's ever heard of before that's funded by yogurt pushers (who knows what their insidious agenda might be!) by dinging the famous fruity company that sells that thing that you like. Pillorying Apple may or may not be valid, but it sure does generate a lot of free PR.

Climate Counts says:

The higher the score, the greater the company's commitment to fighting global warming.

Well, that's not exactly right. Click through to Apple's page and you'll see the following ratings.

Review: 0/22 points. Climate Counts found no publicly available information on Apple's efforts to measure its companywide impact on global warming (i.e., its greenhouse gas emissions or climate footprint).

"No publicly available information."

Reduce: 8/56 points. Climate Counts has found that Apple has completed analysis of the impact that many of its products have on global warming while being used by consumers and has engaged with its employees and other companies on climate-related issues.

The horny one was scratching his furry head at the low rating here based on the favorable-sounding text, so he downloaded the detailed Apple scorecard (PDF) and, again, it's all because of the paucity of information.

Policy Stance: 0/10 points. Climate Counts found no public information to suggest that Apple supports public policy that addresses climate change.

"No public information."

Report: 3/12 points. Climate Counts has found that Apple has made some public information available on its efforts to address global warming.

Again, a rating based on the level of information available. The Macalope doesn't know about you, but when he hears Apple is to be avoided for its poor environmental record, he wants to see some pictures of indigenous people being forced to eat old iPod batteries. He doesn't want to see spreadsheet columns full of "information not available".

Apple certainly has a PR problem and it does seem the company is not as concerned about environmental issues as it could or should be. The Macalope makes his home in the woods and high mountain plains where he romps naked, so he's very concerned about the environment and would like to see Apple take whatever steps are possible to make itself a better global citizen.

But Climate Counts' score cards are the kind of thing that would make Edward Tufte go postal. The low score really bears no relation to Apple's environment performance but rather its lack of transparency. There's simply no basis to Climate Counts' assertion that the next best technology company's environmental record is 200% better than Apple's.

Would the Macalope like to see more transparency from Apple on this issue? Absolutely. He'd also like to see Climate Counts be more up front about what its real beef is.

Are Macs a smart career move?

The Macalope — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:10:00 GMT

The Macalope had to do a double take at this piece on eWEEK that argues that a well-rounded IT background should include knowledge of the Mac.

An article on Macs in business that reasonably lays out the pro case?

A quote about religion that is about Microsoft instead of Apple?

A reporter who didn't get a quote from Rob Enderle?

A planet where apes evolved from man?!

"There is almost a religious belief by existing IT staff in the Windows religion, and it's a symbiotic relationship: They keep getting Microsoft certifications and they keep telling their bosses to continue buying Windows," Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheil told eWEEK.

Ezra, you're lucky you're not in the same room as the Macalope right now, because he wants to sweep you up and give you a great big hug and that would be embarrassing for both of us.

Probably more so for you.

Definitely for you.

But it's true. Mac home users are constantly derided as some kind of "cult", completely in thrall to Steve Jobs. But it's Microsoft that has created an entire church, with priests, acolytes and altar boys (also known as "Access developers").

Though consumer and enterprise technologies function in largely separate universes guided by wildly different demands, the uptick in Mac use puts pressure on enterprises to allow employees to use what they're used to.

Well, the Macalope doesn't know about that. Since when does corporate IT care about your needs?

Since never, that's when.

What does make a difference is when the IT professionals themselves get sick and tired of Microsoft's licensing requirements or Dell's build quality and try using the Mac. You know this guy, right? After years of dismissing the Mac, he's all, "Boy, it turns out Macs aren't so bad after all! Boy, if it hadn't been for those obnoxious Mac users who keep saying how great they are, I would have converted years ago! It's obviously their fault and not because I'm a pig-headed ignoramus!"

Mmm-hmm.

Well, whatever these people tell themselves in the mirror, the horny one has seen an increasing number of these once-straight IT professionals who are now taking a walk on the wild side.

OK, that may not have been the best analogy.

"I've spoken to IT directors who have liked many things about Macs, but the rarity of Mac technicians and the commonness of Windows skills was an issue for them," said Kay.

For "issue" you may feel free to read "excuse".

Until Microsoft refuses to give companies loopholes that allow them to use XP and Microsoft to claim it as a Vista sale, there's probably going to be little movement toward the Mac. It's a down economy, so corporations aren't exactly chomping at the bit to undertake a big software and/or hardware conversion. They're content to sit on XP.

Again, the Macalope's not sure he necessarily agrees with the entire premise. Sure, there's little doubt that some companies are going to give the Mac a try, but it's not going to be a wholesale switching. There's too much investment and cultural bias to overcome for substantial movement to happen. Still, this piece was a pleasant change from the usual claptrap we've been forced to endure.

Clone Wars.

The Macalope — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:41:00 GMT

So often when deconstructing a work of silly punditry, the Macalope will log on later to see that there is a response, a comeback, a retort.

And he will sigh.

Because they're always really lame.

Can't the brown and furry one just let the air out of a piece without having to spend an entire week on it?

Well, such was his initial reaction upon finding that ZDNet's Jason Perlow had posted a response to his piece from Monday. But to his delight, he found this response was different. This was saucy, with a piquant flavor and none of the usual bitter aftertaste so many of the Macalope's other sparring partners have left him.

The Macalope's frown? Turned upside down.

In response to the pointy one's point that the legs of the Mac cloning biz might be short and stumpy, Perlow replies:

What, amputees aren't entitled to have fun? You got a problem with veterans who had half their limbs blown off in the OS wars?

See what he did there? He riffed on the Macalope's bit. It's almost unheard of. A tip o' the antlers to you, sir!

But I guess Macalope likes to get his point across using inflammatory and tasteless metaphors.

Inflammatory, yes, but as a gourmand such as yourself should know, taste is subjective.

I believe the good Macalope is again confusing harmless PC hobbyists doing things in the privacy of their own homes with the activities of a struggling upstart computer manufacturer, whose business practices are under very close examination. Not once have I advocated people actually go out and buy systems from companies like Psystar. Yet.

Fair enough. Whatever freaky hermaphroditic PC action people are into at home is their own business.

But I have said, continuously, that Apple could significantly expand its market share by allowing Mac OS X to run legally on other hardware platforms, particularly to leverage and entice the efforts of the Open Source community working on Linux and similar systems.

The horny one would argue with you about how significantly cloning would expand market share. But, more importantly, market share is not the most important metric. If it comes at the cost of profit, it's not much of a prize. As a matter of fact, it's the kind of "prize" that can put you out of business. Remember, we have precedent.

The Macalope was there, Jason, and maybe he remembers it a little differently than you. In his recollection, it went down like this:

Technology pundits say Apple must license or die.
Apple licenses and has its lunch eaten.
Steve Jobs returns, kills licensing and returns the company to profitability.

OK, there are some details left out, but that's the Reader's Digest version and the Macalope's seen nothing other than your unsupported assertions to the contrary that would belie this historical truism.

But, who knows? Maybe you're right. Clearly Apple's doing something wrong, huh?

Not everyone thinks the Apple industrial design ethos fits their ideal of cool or sexy, mister smart antlers.

The Macalope doesn't argue that you and many others want more choice -- everyone loves choice -- but our fundamental disagreement is over whether it's in Apple's interests.

Oh, and "mister smart antlers"? Awesome.

Don't you know anything about Godwin's Law?

That was actually the Macalope's point -- that you were flirting with it.

Incidentally, the most hysterical example evah of Godwin's Law was executed by a former ZDNet blogger you might have heard of.

Well, Jason, the Macalope can't say it hasn't been fun because it has. He looks forward to our next bout.

Mac clone lust.

The Macalope — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Ah, spring! When a gentleman's fancy turns to Mac cloning! Like ZDNet's Jason Perlow.

... I have to think that this whole idea of commercially produced Mac Clones has legs...

Ah, so Perlow's a leg man. Well, Jason, the Macalope's not sure what you're into but, just so you know, these particular legs are likely to be of the short, stumpy variety.

But despite all the lusting, is this relationship meant to be? Sure, cloners were able to legally have their way with Windows, but OS X ain't that kind of girl. She's gonna put up a fight.

There is the obvious difference here that Apple owns Mac OS X and the rights to the hardware platform it runs on, whereas IBM had a non-exclusive license from Microsoft which prevented a loophole from being closed, but to use the hackneyed phrase -- when there is a will, there is a way.

There are certainly going to be more attempts to create unlicensed Mac clones. The problem is, who wants to buy a computer running an unsupported operating system from a company that has the life expectancy of a fruit fly?

I have always said that it made absolutely no sense that Apple backed off from the prospect of cloned systems.

And the Macalope has always said that the water fountains at ZDNet must be served with lead pipes.

How easy is it? Well, along with legal copies of Mac OS X and a special EFI firmware emulator for PC BIOS-based equipment and instructions how to put it all together it doesn't really require any more effort than what it would have typically taken a PC homebrewer to assemble their own DOS or Windows-based white box 10 or 15 years ago.

Hmm. The Macalope likes your American ingenuity, Jason, but he's not hearing the words that brings this sleazy scenario to its tacky nadir: steampunk casemod. Think about it.

If you want a clone Mac or a "Hackintosh" that badly, you can have one, for just a small amount of effort and a very modest cash investment in a relatively generic PC motherboard, processor, RAM, video card and case with power supply assembled from an ever-growing list of compatible parts.

Rob Griffiths might disagree with the "small amount of effort" part. Here's what he went through:

After all of the parts arrived at my home, it took a few hours to build the machine. ... But building the hardware is actually the easy part of the process.

...

Next, I installed Vista on the PC, just to be sure everything worked. From there, it then took many more hours to get OS X working right--while the process is relatively straightforward, there are a lot of steps involved, and BIOS settings to tweak. If you want to run Windows and OS X on the same drive, there are more hoops to jump through to get it all working. But after many hours of reading, assembling, disassembling, screaming, installing, uninstalling, reinstalling, saying bad words, pestering friends, and generally not having very much fun, I was done: my machine was up and running, and capable of booting into either Windows Vista or Mac OS X 10.5.2.

Jason, the Macalope decrees your pimp name to be "Sugar-Coatin' Perlow". But over at ZDNet, hope springs eternal:

In all likelihood, you probably can run it on the PC you have now...

That's true! But, in the Macalope's case, that's because the PC he has now is a Mac. You see, time being money, this colossal exercise is only economically worthwhile if your only opportunity cost is the hours you'll lose from your job as a fry chef down at the DQ.

Oh, you'll need to be your own support person, and it will probably be more than a little bit messy, but if you are determined to "screw the man" so to speak, than a private citizen can effectively do whatever the heck they want without any interference at all from the Evil Fruit.

Who burned the Reichstag? Why, Steve Jobs burned the Reichstag, of course. Jason's just having a little fun, but when did the computer company with the 7% market share become the Great Satan?

Don't get me wrong, Ubuntu Hardy Heron is nice and all, but a Mac OS X I could easily and legally install on any random $500-$700 Dell or Taiwanese special from Costco or Wal-Mart?

OK, the Macalope may be an ungulate, but he still doesn't like it when other people make him throw up in his own mouth.

It's baffling how someone could get through an entire article and neglect to address one simple question: what's in it for Apple?

Attracting homebrew Linux users? No offense, Jason, but that's not exactly the gold ring of desktop computer market share.

This is not business analysis. This is technology fantasy porn. And Apple's just not that into you.

All things being equal, the brown and furry one would much rather steal market share from Windows than Linux. The Macalope has a lot of respect for the neck-bearded Linux gnomes who solder and compile long into the night. Sure, they're cheap, but they live by a noble, if smelly and hirsute, code. And the Macalope loves the idea of three viable desktop alternatives really competing against each other.

In any event, licensed Mac cloning is simply not going to happen. The experience from the mid '90s is that licensees don't increase sales, they rob sales from Apple. And the amount of money to be made on licensing is never going to be greater than the sales of Apple hardware lost. That leaves unlicensed cloning which will never be really mainstreamed because of the obvious legal, technical and, well, moral implications.

Sadly, this won't stop some fevered imaginations from going on and on about how very, very hot it gets them.

Ew, indeed.

AAAAGH! I'M BLIND!

The Macalope — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:13:00 GMT

There is seriously something wrong at Microsoft (tip o' the antlers to David Chartier on the Twitter).

The problem with Windows.

The Macalope — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:08:00 GMT

Poor Microsoft.

No, really.

OK, stop that. Stop that snickering.

OK, well, just a little snickering. Go ahead.

OK, done now?

OK.

But, look, they really have a tough job. Apparently -- and who could have predicted this? -- there's a cost to being everything to everyone. The Macalope doesn't envy them. They have a gazillion different users with a gazillion different requirements and hundreds (thousands?) of hardware manufacturers they have to get their software to satisfy those requirements on.

Suddenly the Apple method of making the whole enchilada doesn't seem so bad now does it?

So, again, please tell the Macalope how Apple desperately needs to license the Mac OS, because facing the choice of continuing to wrestle with this unmanageable hydra or breaking it apart into multiple code bases as Gartner is suggesting just sounds awesome.

Of course, it's not to say that Microsoft should necessarily jump on this advice. Gartner, you may recall, is the firm that famously said Apple should get out of the hardware business (albeit by licensing to only Dell).

Go back and read the arguments Gartner put forth. They seemed laugh-out-loud funny then and are even funnier now. So let's just say that not all of Ma Gartner's sons are business geniuses.

Big deal.

The Macalope — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:25:00 GMT

The Macalope is in general agreement with Jupiter Research's David Card that today's announcement of hot four-way action between MySpace, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner could be huge. The reason, of course, is because the kids love the MySpace. There are also a lot of details missing and there's plenty of room for them to screw this up, as is frequently their wont.

But the horny one had to chuckle at the press release on Warner's web site:

"MySpace Music" Empowers Artists and Consumers Globally With Unprecedented Digital Music Service and E-Commerce Platform

New Company to Leverage 30 Million Unique MySpace Music Traffic to Activate Monetization Around Music Content

Boy, they really know how to talk to their customers, don't they? The Macalope doesn't know about MySpace users, but when he hears that there's a new service that "empowers" "content" "monetization" through "e-commerce", he just wants to rush right out and cut himself off a slice of that!

The Macalope realizes press releases are not really directed at customers, but they do get put into news reports that customers read. You'd never see a press release from Apple like that. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Apple's the number one music retailer in the U.S.

Is Microsoft talking smack or taking it?

The Macalope — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:45:00 GMT

It seems that Microsoft's Scott Rockfeld was talking some smack about the iPhone at the London launch of Windows Mobile 6.1.

"We are not at all worried. We think we've got the one mobile platform you'll use for the rest of your life."

"Here lies Ted. He used Windows Mobile." Yeesh. Thanks for the creepy marketing campaign, Microsoft.

However Rockfeld was quick to dash Apple's hopes of dominating the smartphone market...

Uh, that should probably be "quick to try to dash Apple's hopes". The Macalope expects that if one were to drive over to One Infinite Loop right now, Steve Jobs wouldn't exactly be sobbing into his falafel.

"They are not going to catch up", he said before reminding us that Microsoft shifted more licences of its mobile platform than RIM and Apple did handsets put together last year.

"Shifted" should probably have been "shipped" there [in comments, shedside indicates that this is a Britishism] but, knowing Microsoft and how it uses its channels, maybe "shifted" is right. "Watch the lady! Watch the lady!"

But what's wrong with that statistic Rockfeld's running up the flag pole there? Well, he kind of sort of left out the fact that the iPhone didn't ship until mid-way through 2007.

If you look at the fourth quarter -- you know, the most recent quarter we have data for -- you'll see that Microsoft had 12% of the global smartphone market, RIM had 11% and Apple had 7%. And, the last time the Macalope checked, 11 + 7 = 18 and 18 is greater than 12 (please feel free to check his math).

Plus, the iPhone is already ahead of Windows Mobile in the U.S., all on its lonesome. And the iPhone was only getting started globally in the 4th quarter and is still only available in a handful of countries.

So, the Macalope doesn't know about it "catching up" -- maybe Apple has no plans to bring the iPhone to other countries, or maybe Apple's just a-scared of Microsoft and is getting out of the smartphone business soon -- but where and when both WIndows Mobile and the iPhone are available, the iPhone is winning hands down.

You can't fault Rockfeld for gilding the lily a bit. That's his job. But it's worth pointing out that it's not based in reality.

Macs: they're not for everyone.

The Macalope — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:23:00 GMT

Yesterday ComputerWorld brought us 5 reasons to ditch the Mac and return to PCs (tip o' the antlers to John Gruber via email). And, sadly, they weren't April foolin' us.

Listen, then, Mac user to the tale of one "Mac fan" who switched... back! (Please shoot the Macalope now.)

So while Apple's sales continue to grow, Keanini decided to buck the trend, and gave up on his most recent Apple machine, an Intel dual-core based MacBook Pro.

That seems like kind of a waste since he could have just used Boot Camp to run Windows on it, but whatever.

"I am all PC at home and at work now, because frankly, if I'm not working, I'm gaming. And the Mac doesn't have games," Keanini said, though his household still has three Apple machines in use by other family members.

One really wonders why Keanini switched to the Mac in the first place. It's not as if it was a great gaming platform back in 2001 when he says he first started using Macs.

It's easy to fall in love with the aluminum cases used in Mac hardware and the slick interface design of the Mac OS X, Keanini said. Those are two reasons why more people are moving to Apple products...

This article is really confusing. Are we talking about home users or business users? Because home users can certainly be excused for making decisions based on the "It's shiny!" index, but businesses cannot.

A cynical person would say that it sounds like the business decisions at Keanini's company were based first on his inclination to be distracted by shiny objects and are now being based on his desire to play games.

Fortunately the Macalope is not so cynical.

"My rule is to find the technology that makes your company most productive and be honest with yourself about it," he said. "Don't bring religion into it."

And here we all thought that if we just prayed to Steve Jobs harder, Macs could magically run vertical applications in the insurance industry or legacy accounting packages or MS Project.

But according to Tim, that doesn't work. Thanks for clearing that up, Tim!

Work-arounds waste time

Dur-hey.

"Everything is going to be a little bit different, and that little difference in everything eventually adds up," Keanini said.

No, Tim, not everything is going to be a little bit different. If you rely on the most proprietary of Microsoft technologies, obviously you're going to have problems, but Macs connect to Active Directory networks, run Citrix, connect to printers, hell, they even run Windows for crying out loud! Arrgh.

One company engineer woke up Keanini the night before presentation slides were due for a conference, his voice cracking with stress, because his slides -- exported from Apple's Keynote presentation application to Microsoft PowerPoint -- looked nothing like they had on the Mac.

Yeah! They probably looked like crap! Which would cause any sane person to ask why the hell he was exporting them to PowerPoint in the first place instead of just plugging a Mac into the projector, but not Keanini. He reminds the Macalope of Ned Flanders' beatnik parents when they said "We've tried nothing and we're all of out ideas!"

You may become quite attached to a Windows application or two and decide that Apple doesn't have a comparable equivalent. Apple is well known for creating user-friendly applications, but for Keanini, Microsoft has a lead with at least one program: OneNote,, which he uses for personal information management.

Well, if Keanini loves OneNote so much why doesn't he marry it?

Seriously, so Keanini's got this One Application He Just Can't Live Without™ that doesn't exist on the Mac. So, yes, maybe the Mac is no longer for him, if it ever was in the first place. The Mac doesn't need to be for everyone, you know. But Keanini seems to have attached a awful lot of emotional value to this one application that takes notes. One might even say he seems religious about it.

Hmm!

Frankly, the Macalope had never even heard of OneNote before (and despite the Classic Mac head, he does have experience with the typical Microsoft enterprise) so he took a look at it on Wikipedia.

Agh! Oh. Uh, looks great, Tim. That's a... handsome application you have there. The Macalope is sure the two of you will be very happy together.

"The designers of Mac -- again, this is their priesthood...

WE GET IT ALREADY.

... are not thinking about letting their users go," Keanini said. "It's like Hotel California: They are not expecting you to leave."

I'm sure the members of the Mac-using community would be more than happy to help pack your bags, Tim.

Companies that move over to the Mac OS X should expect to spend a lot of time converting data if they decide to move back to Windows, Keanini said.

???

And you didn't have to convert anything to go from Windows to the Mac? Do you even hear yourself talking?

"Today, companies need to be thinking about interoperability," he said. "It's the users' data, not the vendor's data."

Well said! Say, Tim, let's take a look at some of the items on the list of Key Shortcomings on the Microsoft OneNote Wikipedia page:

Limited generic export capability or API functionality.

OneNote 2007 notebooks, sections, and pages cannot be opened within OneNote 2003 and cannot be converted to OneNote 2003 format, thereby limiting the ability of different users with different versions to interact.

Cough.

People in glass houses, Tim.

Aluminum cases make MacBook Pro laptops, like the one Keanini chose, very sleek. But, Keanini said, the focus on design overlooked the fact that the computers throw off a lot of heat; so much so that he found he could not use the computer on his lap.

Well, now, that's just sissy talk.

OK, fine, a thin laptop is more likely to put the heat of the processor closer to your skin. So Keanini would rather lug around "a monster" than wear pants (the Macalope hears casual days at Tim's company are wild). To each his own.

"The religion made me blind," he said.

Twas not religion made you blind, Tim. Twas that world-class wankery you're practicing there.

Ultimately, it's Keanini's and his company's business which platform they use, but this list simply isn't a practical set of advice. There are reasons to switch to the Mac other than "it's shiny". For all the claims of lost productivity, there's a counter-argument to be made for gained productivity. And Keanini's "tale" doesn't even make any sense. Sure, it's got a beginning, middle and end (ComputerWorld's Robert Lemos is a reporter, but what he really wants to do is direct!), but it stretches our suspension of disbelief.

Also, the audience should have some empathy for the protagonist. Keanini generated zero empathy with this viewer. Again, if the Macalope were cynical, he'd be inclined to say that his farcical tale and repeated use of Artie MacStrawmanisms were designed simply to get his company mentioned in the press.

Actually, you know what? He is that cynical. That's probably exactly what this is about.

The horny one -- the guy with a Mac for a head! -- has repeatedly said the Mac is not for every person or for every business. But please spare him your jacktastic reverse switcher tales with the clownish religious references. They sicken him.

Working the security drama queens.

The Macalope — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:15:00 GMT

Unless you're too busy doing the rickrolling that's so popular with the kids these days, you probably saw that a MacBook Air got hacked at CanSecWest last week.

In a repeat of last year's "PWN 2 Own" contest, organizers this time offered three different laptops running three different operating systems.

David Maynor says:

I hope this puts to rest the myth that OSX is more secure but I am sure the zealots will have a million reasons why this is a fixed or rigged contest.

Well, the Macalope for one has already acceded to his contention that Vista is more secure based on the technical merits, if not the practical ones. So the brown and furry one's not really sure what he's on about. But he's sure David will find a Slashdot comment somewhere that will validate his Artie MacStrawmanism.

There's certainly no denying that, as ZDNet's Larry Dignan says (no "Mac zealot" he), the MacBook Air was certainly the more coveted target:

[The Fujitsu running Vista and the Sony Vaio running Ubuntu] are still standing, but that may be because there's more hacker glory in taking down the MacBook Air.

Plus, you hack it, you keep it. So, sure, everyone's trying to hack the Air. (The Vista laptop was later hacked, but only after the rules were relaxed.)

But putting it all down to the Air metaphorically having a big red X painted on it is ultimately just sour grapes -- it got compromised, and that's a frowny face in the Apple column.

So the Macalope will reiterate his call -- again! -- to Apple to get more serious on security.

There are several reasons these security "professionals" are spending their waking and non-waking hours targeting Macs.

First, they're lashing out at what they think is a "smug attitude" by Apple on security. Frankly, Apple's corporate position on security is so lame that the only thing these people are basing this on is the "Get a Mac" ads. Yes, really. These people have the emotional maturity of a cup of fruit salad. That's all territory we've covered already.

Second, thanks to the resurgence of Apple, most of them have only just discovered the Mac. It's virgin territory for them and, like when Columbus "discovered" the New World, their first inclinations is to immediately start shooting the natives and giving them all kinds of horrid diseases.

Third, Apple simply has not implemented a comprehensive security policy (see: Leopard firewall, Back To My Mac defaults). It may very well be that it's easier to exploit certain vectors on the Mac. The Macalope's not qualified to make that call.

Finally -- and this is the issue that would the easiest for Apple to solve -- the members of the hacker community just don't know anyone at Apple. They know people at Microsoft because the company shmoozes the hell out of them.

If it wanted to, Apple could probably make serious inroads to this community and at least reduce its PR problem by hiring someone they know. Now, many of these people are not exactly the corporate citizen type. They often dress and smell funny and, if you've been paying attention, have the emotional maturity of a cup of fruit salad. So maybe Apple would want to poach someone from Microsoft or look to those who write about security -- your Rich Mogulls, your Ryan Naraines -- and tap someone like that. Sure, journalists still dress funny, but they fare slightly better on the olfactory and fruit salad scales.

See, the easiest thing in the world to do is to get someone who will take these people golfing and tell them "Dude, we are totally going to do that. Next release. I swear."

"Now watch this drive."

The company could defuse a large part of this without changing a line of code because it's less about the relative merits of the various platforms -- which are valid concerns -- than it is about emotion (see: salad, fruit).

And, really, this is exactly the kind of game that Apple has gotten wrong for 30 years. Shmoozing is not exactly the company's forté (just ask any Apple developer how the lunches are at WWDC).

The Macalope certainly wants to see Apple come up with a comprehensive strategy for implementing sound security in its software, he's just saying that there's more than one aspect to this issue. One requires coding, the other requires grease.