[X-Newbies] Re: Why Mac Owners Don't Invest

[Charles Martin]

> Think about how well the "1-800 numbers"

Oh come on now. You're getting silly. The term "1-800 numbers" is  
QUITE CLEARLY shorthand for "toll-free," which is certainly NOT a US  
concept. Just because I don't know the exchange for toll-free numbers  
in every country on earth doesn't mean that the CONCEPT isn't easily  
understood by the less, um, literalist.

> , "mail order", "dirt cheap",

Are you attempting to suggest that these concepts are unknown outside  
the US?? Are you seriously suggesting that people in remote countries  
who are on this list have NO EXPERIENCE with mail order??

As for "dirt cheap," this obviously doesn't apply everywhere -- but I  
didn't use the term in any sort of way that implies that it does.  
There ARE dirt-cheap resources all over the world if you look.

> Even here, in
> Canada (NAFTA member), we sometimes have problems with 1-800 numbers
> (some work or are toll-free only in the US) and on-line dealers (some
> don't ship across the border).

Um ... don't know how to break this to you, but ... you HAVE Mac  
dealers in Canada. With toll-free numbers, even! Do you need help  
finding them?


> So, before offering a verdict of "NO
> EXCUSE", you might wish to exercise a little patience, and take into
> account local circumstances.

And you may wish to look into reading-comprehension classes. The term  
"no excuse" is again CLEARLY referring to people not having backups  
of their work. Or are you going to tell now tell us that people  
outside the US are exempt from having backups?

To refresh your (highly selective) memory, I said "there is no excuse  
for people who have been warned for 20 years to make backups of their  
work not to have backups." Somehow, you find fault with that  
statement. I believe this is referred to as "picking a fight."

> Congratulations. But -- your mail comes from a US address; you  
> place in
> your .sig ads about a US MUG, a US periodical, and American rather  
> than
> British politics.

My point was that I have lived outside the US, and thus did not speak  
from a position of no personal knowledge or experience. But then,  
you're not really interested in what I actually wrote, it would seem.

> I don't see how you can "participate in the process" if you're not
> American.

You've traveled the world, yet never heard of "dual citizenship." Or  
even of "ex-pats." Remarkable.


_Chas_

Claiming that the Macintosh is inferior to Windows because most  
people use Windows is like saying that all other restaurants are  
inferior to McDonald's.