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Sounds like somebody's long on Microsoft stock.

So it's known as the iCult with iPilgrims yet within the same article they're then called iCultists from then on and iPilgrims isn't mentioned again. Even if the gist of the article were true it doesn't stop the thing being bollocks.

MDN... Amen.

Shirm has nailed the impression among the great majority of people who care about technology that we are, indeed, cultists and mindless lemmings of the exalted Mr. Jobs.

"At first, the iCultists were seen as a harmless tech-heads who droned on about their Macs, but of late they have adopted a sinister, evangelical tone."

Sinister??? Wow...

Sounds like someone's long on Steve Ballmer's c#@k...

I would not consider them part of an iCult.

The proper view is the iPeople joining in iForce to get iFreedom!!!!


iThink I have said iNufff!

typical british envy....

once a great empire, now just pathetic wannabees

seen most clear through the press

While the rest of our countrymen are concerned about the war, amnesty, and Paris, we faithful have only two questions that govern our lives at the moment: 1. Can I get my hands on this thing by midnight tomorrow and 2. Will it work like it's suppose to?

That is, assuming the rest of our countrymen are concerned about anything at all.

"black polo neck"

Bucka-Wha?

I'm reminded of "The Architect's Sketch"...


"...I see. Well, of course, this is just the sort of blinkered philistine ignorance I've come to expect from you non-creative garbage. You sit there on your loathsome spotty behinds squeezing blackheads, not caring a tinker's cuss for the struggling artist. You excrement, you whining hypocritical toadies with your colour TV sets and your Tony Jacklin golf clubs and your bleeding masonic secret handshakes. You wouldn't let me join, would you, you blackballing bastards. Well I wouldn't become a Freemason if you went down on your stinking knees and begged me."

Olé "Bobbi" is probably moist around the privates about not picking the right horse in the race and having a bunch of useless worthless Windows Hardware cluttering up his flat.

I'll just smile and wave... 24 hours and 8 hours away in my timezone.

Hano

Those in the empire view the cultist, remember the empire has chosen the name for us, in the rebellion as sinister and evil because we may Think Different.

Will he also put that tag on iPod users...of which about 90% are Windows users?

No Kool-aid for me. I'm strictly a sweet tea drinker, but I'm all aboard for the rest.

well, "Like it or not",

"the great majority of people who care about technology" are coroporate drones haven't come up with a technology they really cared about in a long time. they are interested in doing what everyone else is doing, which IMHO means you will never be better than anyone else. That is the definition of MS Windows in a nutshell.

It seems to me that the only folks who *are* really caring about technology, have Macs, Linux or other non-beige/black box on their desk. The others are giving you the "thousand yard" stare or lovin' the life of monkeying with dll hell.

Even writers with nothing to write about realize that the iPhone frenzy is the one opportunity they have to get their name in the spotlight. So they write articles about the iPhone filled with nothing.

Now excuse me while I go and pray to Sri Sri Mahatranscendental Guruji The Holy Exalted One Mgr. Steven Jobs in my Temple of The Mac (No Forbidden Apples there, I tell you!) . . . . . .

Shrimsley sounds a lot like a Neo-Con to me.

I drank the Kool-Aid and am damn happy I did!

God I hate this "Mac users are a cult" thing.
If there is a cult of brainless sheep in the world it's Windows users.

They put up with all the instability problems, security issues, etc, etc., and _STILL_ refuse to even peek at anything that might be better. MSFT has them brainwashed and they don't even know it!

I thought it was hilarious.

Long, long ago, I wrote a liturgy for the Macintosh for a coworker who was a Mac fanatic. It included a declaration of faith ("...and Steve Jobs is its Profit") a few hymns, including Hymn 6502, and the Apple Creed. The prayer of confession asked for forgiveness for having used MS-DOS. The service ended with the officiant "making the sign of the Apple." He thought it was hysterical and even made it the Mac's wallpaper.

Lighten up and laugh a little.

While I do believe there are many Apple fans that overly fervent and believe Jobs can do no wrong, it is also a huge overstatement to say that all Apple loyalists are in a cult. I love Apple because they make well designed products that are easy to use. Unabashed Apple loyalist.

However, douchebags like Shrimsley and Dvorak now want to paint everyone that owns an iPod with the same brush. However, I know many iPod owners that are still vocal Windows advocates. Sure, iPod owners are getting a taste of Apple hardware and software, but that does not mean they are rabidly pro-Apple.

The iPhone is in the same category. People are drawn to it because it is a cool tech toy. Like the iPod, they are free to view it outside the prism of OSX marketshare that clouds they minds of many people in regard to Macs.

When the author referred to the iPhone as "the holy handset," did anyone else picture the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail with the holy hand grenade?

@G Spank,

Dang, I thought Shrimsley sounded a lot like a "progressive"! (Read that "knee-jerk liberal.")

Hmmm.

FT = Forbes in many ways. The represent big business, they support big business, small and medium businesses are good only for fodder to be taken over by big business.

What they would like most is to beat Apple's share price down then it be bought by some private equity group. They would have a plan something like sell iPhone to Moto, iPod to Sandisk, OSX to Dell and the Apple brand to Packard Bell.

That would generate lots of commissions, so what if it harmed the consumer.

MDN: Start publishing the authors email address below the article link. That way we can decide whether to give them hits that they desire, or something that pays a little less - lots of corrective email.

Well if liking Apple's products is a cult, then liking Microsoft's products is a mental illness.

Every windozzz user out there needs their head examined by a shrink.

Let's look at the symptoms of your average windozz nut-case;

- Feels the urge to always punish themselves
- Obsessed with wiping their pc harddrive on a weekly basis
- Always searching for that 'utopian' anti-virus tool that will clear up and protect their harddrives from the 100,000+ windows malware
- Has never had a girlfriend
- Even though they are 40+ years old they still live their parents
- Work in a deadend grey job (e.g. the government or civil service)
- Hate everything about Apple
- Have nude posters of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer on their walls.

There you go - your average Financial Times Reporter Profile!

If I didn't want an iPhone already, I would buy one just because of that jackass. . His Dell probably crashed so no one handed self serve over his favorite porn sites. That lack of anger management could make him cranky. What a nasty little guy.

His opinion is irrevelvant.

I have the strange urge to say…"Resistance is futile."

Sounds like someone can't afford an iPhone.

..writes Robert Shrimsley as he carries own his own personal relationship with Vista, virus, malware, vaporware, spyware, antivirus programs, firewalls, reboots, zuneware, windows mobileware and bad hair ...sounds like you've got some indoctrinations, yourself, Robert.

Sounds like someone can't afford an iPhone.

---

...Or he is still waiting for his paycheck from Microsoft!

I hope it is grape Kool-aid that's my favorite!

"Don't hate ignorant lemmings like Shrimsley who viciously and blindly lash out at things and people that threaten the comfort of their limited world view; pity them."

Ironic but that's exactly how MDN and many of posters here treat everyone else. Visciously lashing out at everyone who Thinks Differently than you do.

It's true what they say....what goes around comes around and this article is right on.

I wonder will it still be a cult when the market share gets around 80% and Shrillsley is writing columns for macWorld?

"Drool" is this guys middle name...it's too bad his peer pressure still has priority over his
life and real desires to be a part of the cool Apple technologies.
He is really fighting himself and truly knows his interpretation of what 3rd party technology investments he thought was best is in the death spiral with all the rest. To sum it up...this guy is in denial.

toonie,

Your bullshit thesis fails miserably in the face of the overall general consensus by independent reviewers that Apple products from Mac OS X to iLife to iMac to MacBooks to iPod to iPhone are superior to the those of competitors like Microsoft, Dell, Creative, etc.

MDN is right.

yea Financial Times is 'Liberal' media, funny. I respect real conservatives, not Neo Cons, who aren't conservative and don't give a s#%* about anyone else but their power and money.

"with a sleek, new piece of kit..."

On the internet, no one can hear you scream...

But everyone knows you're British.

I'm not a mindless lemming and I doubt that most who use Macs, iPods, or any Apple product are. We know a good product when we see one. We know Windows is a pain in the ass to work with. We know OSX DOES NOT GET VIRUSES AND SPYWARE. We know that OSX has never been hacked successfully without cheating. We know the iPod is the easiest MP3/video player and that iTunes is the best online store for media. We know this guy in the article is SO JEALOUS! We know anyone who calls us mindless lemmings can't stand the fact that Apple has broken through and is showing the world or most of it that they have the best products. The iPhone is just one more of those products that will break through and people like this guy and Rob Underware just can't stand it!

Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert...

The word "cult" starts the word "culture", so we're actually more like iCult(ur)ists. Refer to the millions of iPod users, the iMac, menus at the top of the screen, and the ever-so-popular mouse.

And the symbolic apple logo.

You hear us a little but don't care to listen, so you must be a normal PC user. It's natural for people to be ignorant, but when that reaches the "stubborn" level (you listen to us but won't move at all), you're a fanboy.

@ the MacDailyNews Take
... Don't hate ignorant lemmings like Shrimsley who viciously and blindly lash out at things and people that threaten the comfort of their limited world view; pity them. ...

Lemmings are gullible, but Shrimsley is just ignorant. Yes, we should still pity him, but the ignorant/lemming/stubborn/fanboy stuff is pretty tough to understand.

@ the MacDailyNews Note
Fellow cultists, the annual cult of Apple indoctrination will be held at Apple and AT&T company-owned retail stores tomorrow, June 29, at 6pm local time. Don't miss your chance at enlightenment! Following the event, we'll all hop into the vans and go door to door selling iTunes Gift Cards, watching iPhone ads on our iPhones, and soliciting Windows to Mac switchers. As usual, the Kool-aid reception is planned for midnight - all are welcome. Do not forget your robes!

(Uhh,) I'll be (um, er,) busy tomorrow night. Sorry, guys!

MW: she – and girls, too

Awwww, someone needs an iHug.

It's true that you can often see me in public showing off my macBook becasue 90% of the work I do is on it and I like to get out of the house once in a while (unlike the average PC user) but that "crowd" he refers to is the inevitable series of people who on thier own free will and volition approach me to talk about my mac.
So I guess if Shrillsleys definition of sinister evangelicalism is "appearing in public and talking", then I am one of these iCultists.
But to be honest, it sounds more like sour grapes and jealousy on his part. Maybe that's just the smugness kicking in.

Were the early, pioneering Mac users known as Cultus Erectus?

Dear FactChecker

Thanks for proving my point. I wasn't even referring to the relative merits of Apple vs. Windows. You have no idea what I think of Apple products but clearly I am not permitted to "Think Differently" in your "Limited World View."

G-Man in B'ham:
"No Kool-aid for me. I'm strictly a sweet tea drinker, but I'm all aboard for the rest."

Not so fast there G-Man! Kool-Aid offers several tea flavors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool-Aid#Flavors

That is one of the very most disgusting things I have ever read.

If you feel as insulted by this article as I did, you can write the Financial Times at:

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

With all due respect to the good people at MDN, posting here is not enough. It is up to us to hold drive-by hacks like that schmendrick Shrimsley (now there's a name for you) accountable for their ill conceived drivel.

I only ask that you be polite, articulate and slightly condescending. A patronizing tone of indigence would do nicely. Let's have at this sniveling twit.

wall street guy,

that's childish and narrow-minded.

When I read Enderle and the likes I don't think for a moment that they're typically 'American'.

There are fools-a-plenty in every land.

Grow up!

So this is what, a veiled attempt to be clever and humor the FT audience? I don't think he said anything of value nor made a single comment on Apple's innovation or improvements of processess; in fact, I missed where he pointed out how all of the other companies have fallen short in their offerings. Does anyone recall where in his column he compared the facts (and reviews) of a 1st generation offering to current 7th generation offerings. What a Putz.

"but of late they have adopted a sinister, evangelical tone."
Mac users had evangelical tone from day one (Apple did call their marketting people envangelists). Difference is there are more and more people listening to them. Or if you flip a coin, more and more people are waking up to the truth and going through de-programming from brain wash done by MS, who inherited the IT cult members from IBM.

Here's another way to voice your opinion to the FT:

http://specials.ft.com/cgi-bin/Specials/Common/nph-SubmitForm.cgi?Form=ContactUs