rms@AI.MIT.EDU (06/16/89)
If you guys really want people not to buy Mac's, you have to provide a
simple, non-political reason: that you have to have something better
to offer.
What you are saying, in effect, is that everyone is apolitical and
considers only their short-term self interest.
This is not completely correct. Some people do consider long-term
public interest in making their decisions. Reaching these people is
better than reaching no one.
For most Americans, most of the time, you may be right. However, I
think that is a situation to be regretted. Even people who rarely
consider these questions might be able to do so occasionally. By raising
these questions, we can encourage more long-term thinking.
As for making technically better alternatives, I'm doing the best I can.
If someone would like to improve idraw, that would be a good contribution
to GNU.captkidd@athena.mit.edu (Ivan Cavero Belaunde) (06/16/89)
In article <8906151800.AA00328@sugar-bombs.ai.mit.edu> rms@AI.MIT.EDU writes: > If you guys really want people not to buy Mac's, you have to provide a > simple, non-political reason: that you have to have something better > to offer. >What you are saying, in effect, is that everyone is apolitical and >considers only their short-term self interest. Not really, though. He is recognizing that people consider their short-term self interest when making this decision (after all, that's probably the reason they're buying a computer in the first place). A lot of people do take other matters into consideration; however, they must weigh their own self-interest against the other matters. Most of the time self-interest wins. >This is not completely correct. Some people do consider long-term >public interest in making their decisions. Reaching these people is >better than reaching no one. > >For most Americans, most of the time, you may be right. I think you are mistaken. Just because someone made a decision to buy an Apple machine doesn't mean they didn't consider the long-term public interest. I'd think most Americans do take into consideration other criteria than their own self-interest when making decisions, it just happens that self-interest wins out most of the time (God am I repeating myself or what?). The person who bought an Apple machine without taking into consideration the public interest you either haven't reached with your message or he/she simply believes you are wrong. That doesn't make him/her wrong (opinions are opinions, after all). >As for making technically better alternatives, I'm doing the best I can. >If someone would like to improve idraw, that would be a good contribution >to GNU. I'd like to work in something like that (for the technical challenge, mostly), but I (and probably a lot of other people, too) have reservations about supporting goals that I don't necessarily agree with. -Ivan Cavero Belaunde Internet: captkidd@athena.mit.edu Disclaimer: MIT didn't say it, I said it all. It's aaaall mine.