I decided to move some discussion from this post up to the top level here. Specifically, Watoosh wrote: "Well, if violence is defined as initiation of force (which, of course, presupposes certain property rights), then I think Rockwell is correct..." Well, if we define cats as elephants, then many people keep elephants in their house. More seriously, firstly, violence is not usually defined that way. It's defined as, you know, violence, so that, say, someone may respond violently or non-violently to someone who aggresses against them. Otherwise, it would make no sense to say, for instance, "He punched me, but I did not stoop to violence in response." And, secondly, the libertarian usage of "initiation of force" is very offbeat. If I wander onto someone's meadow, most people would not say I had "initiated force" -- I mean, sure, I used "force" against the earth to push off walking, but that's not force directed against...
Wow. Just wow.
ReplyDeleteI'm always surprised when I look at Google Analytics and see there are still people using IE.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that's a real commercial. Ohhhh my...
ReplyDeleteWell, at least it's honest (to a degree - IE9 might still be worthless, but I wouldn't know), and it's kind of hard to hype a line of products that everyone knows is terrible.
ReplyDeleteStill, kind of pathetic. Microsoft is supposed to be a tech titan, and instead of being successful in the competitive marketplace, they were able to get away with this for over a decade. Apparently IP monopolies don't always promote quality and efficiency - golly gee, who knew?
Is this a real commercial? If so, kudos to Microsoft. WTH are you talking about Gene, "Is this the best they can do?" This is inconceivably self-deprecating for a major brand to do. I still don't believe this is a real commercial. But if it is, my hats off to Microsoft.
ReplyDelete(To be clear, I'm not congratulating IE, I'm congratulating their courage with this ad.)
The difficulty I'm having seeing your point is this: confessional courage is fine if they were at an AA meeting or with a minister. But is it really good marketing?
DeleteYes, Bob, it's real. And I don't know, but all of the other commenters seem to get my point.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, Internet Explorer was notable chiefly for being head and shoulders above Netscape. Then along came Firefox, and within a couple of years only demon-possessed illiterates were using it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't like about IE9 is that the Windows 7 taskbar treats each tab as if it were a separate window. Hence clicking on the IE icon does not bring up IE; you have to hold ALT or select a thumbnail.
I remember the year I decided I didn't need to have a Mac to save money, much to the chagrin of my militantly pro-Apple family (to give an idea of what I mean one of my parents had an original IPod), and was occasionally using I.E. 7. The horror stories I could tell you..
ReplyDelete"I didn't need to have a Mac to save money"
DeleteYes, it is possible to save money even without a Mac! :-)