Rodney O. Lain - 1999.07.06
This article was originally published on The
iMac.com, a site which no longer exists. It is copyright 1999 by
RAC Enterprises, which also seems to no longer exist. It is thus
reprinted here without permission (which we would gladly obtain if
possible). Links have been retained when possible, but many go to
the Internet Wayback
Machine.
The matrix has you.
- A message mysteriously being typed onto Neo's computer screen
I can't tell you what the matrix is; you must be
shown.
- Morpheus, The Matrix
Nothing is real.
- John Lennon
Windows everywhere.
- Judge Penfield, this is Microsoft's number-one business
strategy
If I never have need of my university education again, I will
still be grateful for having gone to college - if for nothing else
but the fact that it was in graduate school that I learned how to
read.
By reading, I don't mean the mere act of mouthing the words that
appear on a page in front of me. Rather, I mean the ability to read
a piece of writing and to interact with that writing, to interpret
the intended meaning of that writing, and even to extrapolate that
interpretation to other, unrelated trains of thought.
This is nothing new, nor do I purport to be an expert on the
topic; I just feel familiar with the experience, having done it for
several years (whether or not my resulting interpretations are
valid remains ever open to debate). Anyone who takes the time to
stop and do this can also think deeply about whatever topic that
they set their minds upon.
Nevertheless, I was in such an interpretative state of mind last
night when I decided to go and see my muse for this column, the
movie
The Matrix. A sucker for good story telling, I saw
the movie for the third time. Another carryover from college is my
habit of reading (or in this case, viewing) something more than
once, even if I understood the plot/story/meaning the very first
time. This habit has actually helped me to appreciate the nuances
and various shades of meaning present in any good piece of writing
(or, in this case, a good piece of cinematography). It has
conditioned me to be more prone to view not only literature and
movies, but also life itself, from a far more mature perspective
than I would have otherwise.
Extrapolating this feeling of maturity to other spheres is new
to me, especially in terms of the Macintosh/PC debate (I say
"feeling of maturity," because I remember all too well the
observation made by Margaret Thatcher about grandiose
self-assessments: "Being [mature] is like being a lady; if you have
to tell people you are, then you are not"). In other words, like
some Mac users, I often defended the Mac with my heart instead of
my head. Therefore, the point I want to argue today is this: I
believe that a call for more maturity is needed among us Mac users,
in light of the fact that Apple is once again becoming a reckoned
force in the PC industry.
Now, I know some may have thought that I was going to draw the
obvious, hackneyed analogy between the movie's characters and the
Wintel/Mac dichotomy (a dual-sided problem), like, say good versus
evil or "1984," revisited. I don't intend anything as pedestrian as
that. It's actually a bit more introspective. I don't want to
"preach." Rather, I want to think out loud about my journey from
being a Mac bigot to being a kinder, gentler Mac user. Forgive me
if I write a little wordier than I usually do, for I want to
address this topic that has been on my mind for some time now, and
the way I have been thinking borders more on the philosophical than
the tangible - hence the language. Instead of calling Mac users to
storm the gates (or is that "Gates"?), I want to plead for a
kinder, gentler Mac defense of things Macintosh, a defense that not
only Thinks Different, but Acts Different in terms of how we deal
with Wintel users. Our actions should be based on understanding the
state in which the average computer user interacts with their OS of
choice.
Excuse me as I wax philosophically.
What is The Matrix?
If you haven't already, go and see "The Matrix." It's a movie
that contains something that's rare in this summer's movies, IMHO:
good action coupled with a good story. The only drawback I had to
overcome about the movie was the fact that every time I saw Keanu
Reeves, I immediately thought of "Ted," as in "Bill and Ted's
Excellent Adventure." Other than that, I found the movie to be a
cut above the Adam Sandler's that we've had as recent viewing
choices (okay, I admit that I actually liked the gross-out humor of
"Waterboy" and "Happy Gilmore." Sue me :-).
"The Matrix" can be summed up thusly: Keanu Reeves plays a
mild-mannered computer programmer who leads a not-so-mild-mannered
double life. On the Internet, he is infamously known by the hacker
name "Neo." His cyber dealings lead him to figure out the truth
about the existence of the human race: nothing is real. He
discovers that every person on Earth is living in a virtual reality
overseen by a master race of Artificially Intelligent machines.
Each person thinks she works, sleeps, and plays in the real world,
but in reality functions as literal batteries that fuel the master
race (it was upon my third viewing of the movie that I noticed
"Switch" actually calling Neo "coppertop"). People are jailed in a
goo-filled pod that keeps them unconscious and in a dream
state/living fantasy. Neo is eventually recruited by the Resistance
(led by Lawrence Fishburne), subsequently being disillusioned by
the truth that he's been a slave all his life; he then goes on to
save the world.
The Truth
While watching this movie, I was often reminded of parallels
here in the real world. For example, in order for people to escape
the matrix, the movie's characters had to think different, to look
at the world and see it for what it is. I thought of how many
people hate and fear to think different, as well as hating and
fearing those who do. Given the choice, many choose to live with a
comfortable lie than to face the unpleasant truth. Lawrence
Fishburne emphasizes this point: "most of these people," he
counsels Neo, "aren't ready to be unplugged [from the matrix]."
Even Neo barely makes it through his "unplugging," vomiting in
disgust and screaming in denial after being shown the true reality,
a reality in which man is not the in-control, free moral agent that
he thinks he is, but is an unknowing participant in the matrix's
Machiavellian enslavement of humanity.
For me, the strongest lesson for Mac users that can be
extrapolated from this understanding of human motivation
(preferring the comfortable over the uncomfortable) is repeated at
the movie's ending, where we find Keanu Reeves assuming his role of
"The (Chosen) One." We see that the world is still enslaved to the
matrix, but there is a core group of people thinking different,
strong enough to take the road less traveled in order to make the
world a better place for all.
Many Windows users don't want to be unplugged from Microsoft's
OS and applications; in many ways, they don't have to unplug, for
the OS war is over in their minds. Just like the denizens of the
matrix, they don't realize that the enemy has them pacified. It's
sad.
I know people who try to get a rise out of me by making
disparaging comments about the Mac. They don't realize that I've
grown beyond arguing for or against computing choice - in light of
my knowing they're all still plugged into the Redmond matrix.
Besides, I prefer to quietly observe their situation. I watch
others deal with Windows NT in the workplace. It's amazing how much
crap people put up with (it reminds me of the person who has a
lover who beats them continually, but still stays will the jerk,
confusing abuse for love). Restarting your computer several times a
day is not even considered unusual. No one even blanches when their
applications crash unexpectedly. People discuss weird error
messages, Windows inconsistencies, and Microsoft's sloppy
programming with the banality you'd expect when someone checks off
a grocery list. I marvel at the level of difficulty that is part
and parcel of Windows (it's not a bug; it's a feature), especially
when these same people make fun of my audacity to bring a PowerBook
into an all-PC environment. In the past, I would normally counter
by pointing out the hell they have to deal with to get their PC to
behave, but nowadays I'm less inclined to do so. All I do is
remember the PC users who will bash "Microsoft's Folly" far more
eloquently that I - Stewart Alsop for example, tell us (again and
again!) how much he hates Windows, and
why he has reason to be hateful.
I deal with Windows during the day and then come home to a far
better computing experience. I'm always relieved to come home to
consistent interface standards. I remember how at work I have to
remember separate sets of keystroke shortcuts for every application
("Select All Text" is "Shift + A" in the Windows program PaintShop
Pro it's "Control + Shift + L" in the program Visual Source Safe,
yet it's "Control + A" in most other programs. On the Mac, it's
always the same keystroke. Why the inconsistency? How much time is
wasted with such insanity?).
But, alas and alack, I trust that a better world is a'coming
. . . I hope that the people at Apple realize that they
are one of the world's only hopes. They can't give up on their
mission to make the world a better place. More is at stake than
foolish pride and bragging rights. Consider the alternatives. There
has to be a better computer out there than the Windows PC.
People are trapped, and they don't know it. They think the world
revolves around Control-Alt-Delete. They think a system crash is a
normal thing. And they think Bill Gates is The Chosen One. But deep
inside, they, like Neo, are looking for a better world. One in
which choice and freedom are the order of the day.
Stewart Alsop says it best:
You know what? I really wish there were a computer
out there that could give me basic PC applications that work
fluidly with the World Wide Web and networking. I really wish that
the computer industry wouldn't give up right now and leave us
holding the Windows bag, just when we've got this new Internet
economy opening up for us. I'm dreaming again about being freed
from the [Windows] experts.
- from the on-line Fortune magazine column, "Have I told you that I
hate Windows?"
But we can't rush this better day to fruition. Several things
must be accomplished before the matrix can fall. Apple has to do a
lot of the vanguard stuff, but the rest of the industry will
follow. Open Source must become a reality. The computer
manufacturers must get their marketing away from obsession with
things like megahertz and year designations behind the names of
products (Windows 2000, Quicken, 98) that force people to feel they
have to upgrade. Computers must be wrested from the hands of the
MIS staff and into the hands of the lay people. In others words,
software developers must learn to program for the proletariat.
This is a call for everyone to think different. The computer
industry and computer users everywhere. Apple Computer and Mac
users can't be the only ones who do this. In the 21st century, it
will take more than a few to excel the human race forward. It's
time to change things. If we don't, then the world truly is doomed
to exist in a mire of Microsoft mediocrity.
God, that's a depressing thought. It's a fate worse than death.
With "Windows everywhere," life would become a nightmare from which
no one would be able to awake.
Rodney O. Lain, a former university English and
journalism instructor, works full-time as a software developer and
works part-time at a local CompUSA Apple Store Within A Store. A
card-carrying member of the local Macintosh User Group Mini'app'les, Rodney writes this
column exclusively for theimac.com. His greatest desire is to
become an African-American Guy Kawasaki. A self-professed
"workaholic writer," he waxes prolifically about race, religion,
and the "right OS" at
"Free Your Mind & Your Behind Will Follow", his unabashedly
pro-Mac website. When he's not cranking out his column, he collects
John Byrne comic books, jogs, and attempts to complete his first
novel. He lives in Eagan, Minnesota, a southern suburb of St.
Paul.
