The Path to OS X
Part Five: Steve Jobs/Spurrier

New!The Path to OS X Finale: OS X Spreads Its Wings
(MacOS/hype)-D. Browell

Part12: This Might Hurt A Little...
Part 11: The App Game
Part 10: Novice Shoes
Part 9: It's the Hardware, Baby!
Part 8: X Equals Ten
Part 7: Good Karma
Part 6: A New Breed Of Apple
Part 5: Steve Jobs/Spurrier
Part 4: Sideshow Skirmishes
Part 3: Command Who?
Part 2: Glances...
Part 1: From the Ashes

"(insert rival team or company here) didn't win it, we lost it."

Who does this sound like? C'mon...give it a guess. If you're a Florida Gator fan, your answer starts with a visor tossed to the ground, and if you're a Mac fan your answer wears black. And as I wait for both OS X and the Sugar Bowl, I notice how the attitudes and clever spunk of both masterminds coincide.

Tricky business... The mass-Mac heart attack (the giant screen projection of Bill Gate's head announcing Microsoft's new relationship with Apple) a while back was akin to a close loss to the Seminoles by Florida. Sure, you must have played great, but it sure feels like you still lost. On again off again successes and failures drive fans mad with hope or disappointment depending on the day. Like the Gator's appetite for penalties and mouthing-off before a loss, hearing of fellow Mac user's troubles with Cube switches or reading overblown articles on Customer Service gaffs (*ahem* Salon *ahem*) can frustrate even the most ardent supporter. Our only comfort is looking over the fence at our enemy and seeing what we feel are even more glaring issues that we don't have to deal with (a hopelessly unstable Windows, FSU run-ins with the law..etc...). But within our separate microcosms of computer tech and college football, we do seem to peddle a lot faster and harder than our enemies, and our worth is based loosely on style more than coherent output. A quarterback coached to the hilt by Spurrier just feels more hand-woven than one at FSU. Something about the guts, flair and uniqueness that is directly passed from designer/mentor to student (even in other positions like receiver, running back and a constantly under-appreciated defense)...not unlike the pride in the iMac's design, or even the Cube and subsequent peripherals of keyboard, speakers and mouse.

The "enemy" seems a lot more impersonal and haughty in both the University of Florida and Apple case. (Read: a ballooned evil with seemingly no conscience.) Bill Gates may no longer be primary decision-maker (in theory) but as acting overlord he takes full credit, often to the total blackout of those really responsible for a product's design, development or influence. When the well looks dry he just buys water to fill it. Satellites under his control seem to run everything (clones) while he sits back and chews scenery and attention. Did I just introduce the Bowden empire? Bobby Bowden no longer calls plays. Weinke isn't a product of his design, but rather his excellent coaching staff that we never really hear about. He does interviews during games. Behind his Oakley sunglasses (part of a deal that has him wearing them even on cloudy days--and looking like a fat-Elvis future glimpse of Bono) Bowden rules with a...um... an iron...no... well we're not sure how he rules. He sure does chew a lot of gum. He gives great placating sound bites before games when his staff should be talking. And presumably he makes decisions like letting big players get away with crimes while smaller ones who commit the same crime get cut from the team altogether. Bill Gates wears glasses from 1984, complains about instant messaging monopolies while nurturing browser ones, and seems to have skipped all faith in Windows for his elusive .Net strategy. You do the math.

Enemy comparisons aside (which must be driving pro Mac/anti Gator people crazy, I apologize) things gel well when we look at the healthy relationships between the "teams" and their enemies. No matter how either of the schools are doing in-season, the UF/FSU game is always at least a little up for grabs. It's one of the best rivalries left in college football, and it makes the state of Florida look good (and recently it needs all the help it can get) . Mac enthusiasts can be happy that Office 2001 is better than any version on Windows (even PC users are amazed, check the recent Time article) and that at least their rivalry is still the biggest in the biz (meaning Mac hasn't tanked). 

Sure, Steve (Spurrier) has the Southern accent, and Steve (Jobs) has his beard moments...but the charisma is there, and the gee-whiz factor is high. Stay tuned to the debut of OS X, and the Sugar Bowl...the next "season" for both these men are crucial and looking bright...



by Dean Browell
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"The Path to OS X" is a series of articles examining the casual user's view of OS X. Take with a grain of salt and dash of incense for full effect.


The "Mac 1, Windows 0" Link:
Time Digital article on Office 2001

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