Anthony: Fanboys

What is it about the human condition that drives people to take sides to blindly?
In every topic imaginable, in every single goddamn area it's spread, you are almost certainly going to get people who swing to one end of the spectrum and stay there, stubbornly resisting any attempt to lure them back to the land of reason, or worse, over to the other side of the spectrum, because that's just what either side needs, another slavering fanboy.

What is wrong with you people? Does listening to facts after the first five seconds make you uncomfortable? Is your capacity for information on any given topic so small you have to resort to a 'first come, first serve' policy? Are you TRYING to be as much of a dick as you possibly can? Well congrat-u-fucking-lations, people, you made it. To be precise, you made it over the finish line, twenty miles into the distance and show no signs of stopping.

I've mentioned before how people can form an opinion on anything, and said opinion will inevitably be nonsensical in at least three ways.
What I have NOT mentioned is the rather explosive reaciton you get when you place two polar opposite viewpoints, or two opposing parties, in any sort of communication, be it direct, indirect or even by hear-say or one another.

It is somewhat stupendous.

To give a classic example, lets head over to the console-wars. This is a time-honoured tradition and goes as thus: Every generation pretty much gets a new set of consoles. Dedicated gamers are required to pick a console/platform and defend its worthiness to the DEATH. No excuses, and no getting thrown off by measly things like facts or rational thinking, oh no.

To take a recent example, InfinityWard had a product-shot of a certain battlefieild simulator posted on their intawebs. They chose to take the shot with a 360 box, probably purely for aesthetic reasons. The response? Fully grown MEN whinging about how the PS3 version was being underplayed. And of course in the resulting conflagration noone gave a shit about the PC version, because it just sits at the back with its superior functionality and occasionally has shit chucked at it for being able to do things other than play games.

Actually, that point is null and void now for PC fanboys (rare though they are) because every console has at least seven amazing bits'n'bobs that the PC had years ago. Hell, even the DSa is trying to be multi-purpouse, and its a fucking handeld little PIXIE of a gaming machine. It can barely run games ffs, just leave it to die in a corner already and move on!

But we're going off track here, back to the hate.

Fanboys, fucking stupid. Learn to think, and use a form of decision-making that does not involve spotting the besterests comppanies logo from halfway across a room and venturing over, offending everyone who DARES even think that your chosen brand might not be destined to rule the earth.

But if you're a Google fanboy, (and I know you exist) then you can go ahead and say that, because its probably true. Those fuckers are ambitions. First a search engine, then advertising, then videos, then more advertising, then every option you could possibly shake your drooling, idolizing fanboy head at, then MORE advertising, and then a Google Operating System? Fu....
I'll refrain from making the obvious joke about it having built in advertising and get back to the original topic again.

What fanboys don't seem to realize is that in the end, whoever has the 'best' item is the one who can utilize it to the best end result and preferably for the least cost.

For example, you in the Red Corner, have your shiny, $300+ PS3 Lite.
You in the Yellow Corner have your wonderful *handheld gaget* that cost *many*.
Over in the Red Corner, we have the obligatory 360-humping twelve-year old who blew all his pocketmoney EVER on this sleek gaming machine that will be obsolete in the next year.
And all the way in the Green Corner I have a trusty stick, which cost me no more than the effort it takes to bend down and grab something heavy enough to bludgeon with.

Who wins here?
Maybe if you all just put the consoles down and go home we might get out of this without anything major being broken, eh?