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02/08/2005: "Internet Elitism"
It has come to my attention over the last few months that there are several types of elitism floating around the Internet. They fall into four different categories:
1. Firefox Elitism: People who use Firefox seem to have a big head about it. It involves saying things such as, "Ha ha, you lowly peons, I use teh Firefox and you use teh IE" (until about a month ago, I did not realize that people purposely misspell "the"). Arguments for Firefox seem to include saying that IE is a magnet for spyware and popups, but I've never had a spyware problem (and the new Norton seems to include spyware in its virus scans now) and my Yahoo toolbar has a very nice popup blocker.
2. Scary Movie Elitism: The "cool" reaction to scary movies seems to be, "I was bored. That sucked. I laughed at teh movie." No one who wants to be cool will ever admit that maybe, just maybe, something was a teeny bit scary. Personally, I can't understand how anyone could sit through The Grudge without becoming deathly terrified of Japanese kids suddenly appearing and yowling at them.
3. Music Elitism: I can play the piano. I can't sing worth a damn. That does not make me any cooler than someone who can sing but can't play the piano (not cooler, but probably more damaging to the ear drums). Also, simply because the music you listen to is moody and dramatic does not make you cooler than someone who prefers uplifting, melodic vocal trance -- I like music that makes me happy.
4. Non-iPod MP3 Player Elitism: I've seen people online wage wars against the iPod simply because it's the iPod. I'm not sure if something being "mainstream" makes people think they'd be totally uncool if they didn't shun it, but most mp3 players are pretty similar. Some have bells and whistles such as radios and color displays, but it's all a matter of the consumer evaluating what they want and need out of an mp3 player. But oh no, should anyone inquire on a message board about what type of mp3 player to buy, you can always count on a bunch of idiots saying, "Not teh iPod! Teh iPod is evil!"
I hereby promise to never, ever use the word (if it can be called that) "teh" ever again. It just seems to be synonymous with elitist Internet rants.
Replies: 3 Comments
firefox is actually pretty good, I recommend itillumineltico, Tuesday, February 8th
I also recommend firefox. Can't knock it until you have tried it. Also for spyware, try using Adaware, it's a Lavasoft product. It's free and it'smade specially for picking up spyware. IE does give a lot of people spyware problems.faerie, Wednesday, February 9th
Why would anyone shun the iPod? It is clearly the most well-designed mp3 player out there. As with other attempts to knock off Apple, the PC-players just don't get it when it comes to esthetics.panthergirl, Monday, February 14th