Is Apple Cool?
Recently, I asked if Microsoft was cool -- and in particular, if Microsoft was cool enough to sell a
line of T-shirts. Your
reactions were mixed, but plenty of you think that Redmond, in fact, is pretty cool.
Now it's time to turn it around and ask if Apple is cool. Think about it: The Mac is an entirely closed proprietary system. The iPod is an entirely closed proprietary system. The iPhone is an entirely closed proprietary system. And Apple has been known to sue bloggers just for writing about its unreleased products, something I've never seen Microsoft do.
Nor have I seen Apple try to cure malaria, cancer and AIDS, all of which Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are working on -- free of charge. To learn more about how Microsoft is trying to save the world, check this out.
Now satire site The Onion is wondering if Apple is cool or just another cog in the computer establishment. It ran a piece called "Apple Employee Fired for Thinking Different." Here, fake Apple employee Brent Barlow got pink-slipped for listening to Bob Dylan and walking around barefoot.
Is there a ring of truth to this parody? Who's cooler: Apple or Microsoft? And how cool or uncool is your workplace? Vote at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on January 16, 2009