Rodney O. Lain - 1999.10.21
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.
Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their
purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is
from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only
find yourselves fighting against God.
- Acts 5: 38-39
Q. What is the hardest thing you, as an
evangelist, ever had to do?
A. Admit to myself that despite all the evangelism that I did,
Microsoft Windows was going to control the world.
- Guy Kawasaki
"Dear 'Guy' (I just realized that I don't even know your name -
not the aforementioned Guy Kawasaki),
"I don't like to offend people intentionally, but it seems I
offended you anyway.
"You're a pretty likable by all accounts, and you don't really
cause trouble in the store - that I know of. I'm sure that you read
the Mac 'nets, so I want to be sure to say everything that I want
to say this time, since I was too busy to talk with you at length
this weekend.
"You probably were surprised that I blew up at you the other
day. It wasn't planned, and honestly, I don't regret it.
"I didn't know any better way to say it; God, I don't even know
if you heard everything that I said, because therein was my biggest
frustration expressed.
"Try to understand my position. I used to do the same things you
do: I used to visit computer stores and defend the Mac. I would
literally sell computers to customers. I maintained the same siege
mentality that you seem to be upholding. Today, however, a siege
mentality is an anachronism for us Mac users - it's no longer
necessary. Like I did, you need to do some self-evaluation. Like I
did, you need to see yourself as customers see you now: a person
with misplaced zeal; a person who appears to have some Apple-lyptic
mission to convert people by sheer force of will.
"This is how you are coming across.
"I wasn't going to say anything, but it became necessary.
Nowadays, Apple Computer is a mainstream company that in many ways
no longer needs us 'evangelists' to support the products and 'get
the word out.' In the old days (which were not too long ago), Apple
needed all the help it could get, since its management was
ostensibly clueless.
"But, I hope you can see now that you don't need to devote as
much time as you do now to hawking Mac wares in our store.
- Please don't spend all day arguing with the Intel rep (that's
my job :-). No, seriously, it just isn't professional, and I'd like
to think that Apple would prefer if we Mac supporters would present
a more mainstream image.
- We do not need any sales help in the store. I do appreciate
your zeal (sometimes I come across as a zealot in this column
myself, so I can relate). On several occasions, I asked you if
you'd like to apply for a job. I also asked you if you'd like to
apply for a Demo Days' position. You declined both times. Yet, you
remain in the stores all day. Doesn't this seem a tad odd from a
more objective standpoint?
- You asked me if I meant everything that I said when I told you
that I was tired of you being in the store. I said yes. I feel bad
that I said it, but any other response would be a lie.
"These are painful things that need to be said. Many of them may
be things that needed to be said to me in my most zealous
moments.
"They need to be said, because Apple, Inc., and its Macintosh is
entering a period of newfound celebrity. Customer satisfaction is
high; public relations are a breeze. More and more people are
switching to the Mac platform, in spite of the people who wish
Apple would dry up and die (yes, believe it or not, there are
people who will never use a Mac, due to bad past experiences or due
to strong pro-Wintel preference). As for those who do buy Macs,
though, they will need outgoing Mac users like you to help them
make the transition.
"But what we need is a little more maturity than in times past.
In the past it was excusable, because we were a persecuted
minority. Every warm body was needed. Today, the Mac is a viable
option; a mainstream choice.
"It's time we start acting like it."
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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.
