The Cult of Mac (Paperback edition)
Written by: Leander Kahney
Editorial Reviews:
No product on the planet enjoys the devotion of a Macintosh computer. Famously dedicated to their machines, many Mac fans eat, sleep and breathe Macintosh. In The Cult of Mac, Wired News managing editor Leander Kahney takes an in-depth look at Mac users and their unique, creative, and often very funny culture. From people who get Mac tattoos and haircuts, to those who furnish their apartments out of empty Mac boxes, the book details Mac fandom in all of its forms. This paperback edition includes an all-new chapter about the iPod, updates throughout, and new photos that reflect current Apple technology.
If you like "The Cult of Mac (Paperback edition), you might also like ...
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A very optimistic book
Comment: I have read Leander Kahney's Cult of Mac and liked it a lot. Even though I am not a Mac user and never owned any Mac gadgets I thought that the book is very interesting. It is describing a unique phenomenon in our culture when lots of people go crazy for a computer.
Being a computer user is not always an enjoyable experience. The software is not intuitive, the hardware is not reliable and so on. In fact, it is quite possible to imagine a society that abandons computers in favor of handwritten book-keeping. After reading this book I got convinced that this would never happen.
Computers are surrounded with eternal love. They are taken care of throughout their life cycle. Their purchase or birth is marked with extensive parties often videotaped. Even their packaging is saved - furniture is built of it. As computers get older their guts are replaced with newer content. There are computers 30 years old and still working. Often, one family owns as much as a dozen Macs. If one of them is not used then it is converted into a Macquarium. People decorate their computers with pictures, place Apple graphics on their bodies and cars and advertise them in hundreds of different ways.
In general, people do not treat each other as carefully as they treat their Macs. A take-home point from this very optimistic book is that beautiful things are not created but rather developed. Everybody is welcome to the exciting world of computing technology!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Insight into the Apple Faithful
Comment: Do you think that you love Apple and are passionate about their products? This book is all about the passion and the ways in which people show their devotion. You might dye your hair one week a year, or have a logo cut into it, but those efforts quickly return to "normal." This book details arguably the largest subculture in computing: The Mac Faithful. Where an Apple logo tattoo is not unusual.
Contents:
Part 1: Macintosh Madness. Techno Fetishism, Macs and the Counterculture, Worshipping the Two Steves, Mac Tattoos and Haircuts, Macspotting, Mac Evangelism, The Mac Web.
Part 2: Gatherings of the Clan. Tales of MacWorld, Macs in Japan.
Part 3: Incessant Tinkerers. Macquariums, Fantasy Macs, Hardware Mods, Paper Macs.
Part 4: Hoarders and Recyclers. Mac Collectors and Collectibles, Antique Macs.
Part 5: New Frontier. iPod, What Makes Mac Fans So Loyal?
Index
The Cult of Mac, by Leander Kahney, is an amazing book on an interesting part of the computer world. While you may be put off by the use of the word "cult" in the title, make no mistake, Leander means this is in a loving way. His chapters focus on one aspect concerning "Macheads," from the simple Apple logo sticker, to tattoos, to collecting boxes, to the prevalence of the iPod, and beyond. Each chapter is well written and includes many colorful pictures of the subject matter. As you can tell from the contents, Kahney spends time on many topics, allowing the principals to share their story. Some of the subjects may be hard to rationalize (which is the point, I think), but Kahney allows them to their needed time which only adds to the colorful Mac culture.
I picked this book up specifically to see the extremes of the Mac faithful. Yes, it does deliver those examples but without any editorial comments. Kahney presents these people as they are, and allows the reader to make their own judgements. However, somewhere along the way, I was struck by what this book delivers to the casual Mac user as well as people outside of the Mac culture. Kahney shows how many of these Mac faithful give up their time to sell, without any compensation, Apple products in big box stores, like CompUSA (you can see that some of the information is a little dated). But think about that - would anyone do the same for a Windows machine? Or any other personal computer? The chapter on Hardware Mods is one of my favorite. Kahney presents people that turn their Macs into gorgeous works of art. Or creating a Mac product where none exists (like a Mac-based Web pad fashioned out of a touch screen iBook). I could continue to expound on this book, as there are many reasons that I like it. Suffice it to say that this is an excellent book.
If you have one of the Mac faithful in your midst, this would make an excellent gift. If you don't use a Mac or if you can't understand why people fuss over the Apple brand, this book will provide you with many of the answers. You will not get a history of Apple from this book, but you will get a fascinating look into the Apple faithful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mac Enthusiasts Unite!!
Comment: 'The Cult Of Mac' is a Mac fans ultimate guide to learn about the legions of people around the world who not only enjoy their Mac but LOVE their Mac. Packed with 260+ pages of full-color shots, this shows all the praise that people have in the form of tattoos, artwork, detailing, etc etc etc!
The first word that came to mind when skimming through this is the word FUN. Every page turn, every picture it's just a whole lot of fun and anyone that either likes or is a macaddict, this is a very entertaining book.
MACTABULOUS!!!
***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent insider book
Comment: This was a great book about the people that make up the Mac cultsa round the world.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A book for everyone!
Comment: The Cult of Mac
By Leander Kahney
Publisher: No Starch Press
Price: 39.95 US
ISBN: 1886411832
I was delighted when I was given a copy of this book to read and review. Not only is it about something I LOVE..... it is written so that even my parents would understand my passion. A lovely coffee-table book, this 260+ page book is a visual treat, with many pictures of our beloved machines, and the fans who buy them. You won't find a detailed look into Apple, Inc. This is about us, the users. The chapters are focused on specific traits, or habits of the Macintosh community. And while we all KNOW why we love our Macs, this book will help others learn, and perhaps make the switch.
There are also many little known factoids, and a full chapter devoted to the Japanese obsession for Macintosh computers. Many will remember, and perhaps still have, the holiday ornament that looks like an all-in-one classic. Fans have made replicas out of cardboard and paper for decades. Some even use the packing boxes as furniture.
One of the things about this book that readers may like, is that the chapters can be read in any sequence. The topics are as individual as our users, and no strict order is required. Read about what interests you. There are references enough to follow on your own, so if you are interested in digging deeper, you can.
While some of the material is obviously dated already, this is not about the latest and greatest, but about the phenomenon of the Apple user. One word that stands out in many of the chapters is "community". The author stresses many times how incredibly loyal Macintosh fans are, in spite of the wide range of users. From tattooed bikers, to captains of industry, no barrier is too high, or wide, or deep to make any appreciable separation between Macheads.
Not to sound trite, but this is a "must have" kind of book. And it looks great with any décor.........
Dewey Decimal Number: 004.165
EAN: 9781593271220
Format: Illustrated
ISBN: 1593271220
Label: No Starch Press
Manufacturer: No Starch Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 280
Publication Date: 2006-11-18
Publisher: No Starch Press
Studio: No Starch Press
 | Format: Paperback List Price: $24.95 Our Price: $16.47 Your Save: $ 8.48 ( 34% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Customer Rating:  |
Editorial Reviews:
No product on the planet enjoys the devotion of a Macintosh computer. Famously dedicated to their machines, many Mac fans eat, sleep and breathe Macintosh. In The Cult of Mac, Wired News managing editor Leander Kahney takes an in-depth look at Mac users and their unique, creative, and often very funny culture. From people who get Mac tattoos and haircuts, to those who furnish their apartments out of empty Mac boxes, the book details Mac fandom in all of its forms. This paperback edition includes an all-new chapter about the iPod, updates throughout, and new photos that reflect current Apple technology.
If you like "The Cult of Mac (Paperback edition), you might also like ...
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A very optimistic book
Comment: I have read Leander Kahney's Cult of Mac and liked it a lot. Even though I am not a Mac user and never owned any Mac gadgets I thought that the book is very interesting. It is describing a unique phenomenon in our culture when lots of people go crazy for a computer.
Being a computer user is not always an enjoyable experience. The software is not intuitive, the hardware is not reliable and so on. In fact, it is quite possible to imagine a society that abandons computers in favor of handwritten book-keeping. After reading this book I got convinced that this would never happen.
Computers are surrounded with eternal love. They are taken care of throughout their life cycle. Their purchase or birth is marked with extensive parties often videotaped. Even their packaging is saved - furniture is built of it. As computers get older their guts are replaced with newer content. There are computers 30 years old and still working. Often, one family owns as much as a dozen Macs. If one of them is not used then it is converted into a Macquarium. People decorate their computers with pictures, place Apple graphics on their bodies and cars and advertise them in hundreds of different ways.
In general, people do not treat each other as carefully as they treat their Macs. A take-home point from this very optimistic book is that beautiful things are not created but rather developed. Everybody is welcome to the exciting world of computing technology!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Insight into the Apple Faithful
Comment: Do you think that you love Apple and are passionate about their products? This book is all about the passion and the ways in which people show their devotion. You might dye your hair one week a year, or have a logo cut into it, but those efforts quickly return to "normal." This book details arguably the largest subculture in computing: The Mac Faithful. Where an Apple logo tattoo is not unusual.
Contents:
Part 1: Macintosh Madness. Techno Fetishism, Macs and the Counterculture, Worshipping the Two Steves, Mac Tattoos and Haircuts, Macspotting, Mac Evangelism, The Mac Web.
Part 2: Gatherings of the Clan. Tales of MacWorld, Macs in Japan.
Part 3: Incessant Tinkerers. Macquariums, Fantasy Macs, Hardware Mods, Paper Macs.
Part 4: Hoarders and Recyclers. Mac Collectors and Collectibles, Antique Macs.
Part 5: New Frontier. iPod, What Makes Mac Fans So Loyal?
Index
The Cult of Mac, by Leander Kahney, is an amazing book on an interesting part of the computer world. While you may be put off by the use of the word "cult" in the title, make no mistake, Leander means this is in a loving way. His chapters focus on one aspect concerning "Macheads," from the simple Apple logo sticker, to tattoos, to collecting boxes, to the prevalence of the iPod, and beyond. Each chapter is well written and includes many colorful pictures of the subject matter. As you can tell from the contents, Kahney spends time on many topics, allowing the principals to share their story. Some of the subjects may be hard to rationalize (which is the point, I think), but Kahney allows them to their needed time which only adds to the colorful Mac culture.
I picked this book up specifically to see the extremes of the Mac faithful. Yes, it does deliver those examples but without any editorial comments. Kahney presents these people as they are, and allows the reader to make their own judgements. However, somewhere along the way, I was struck by what this book delivers to the casual Mac user as well as people outside of the Mac culture. Kahney shows how many of these Mac faithful give up their time to sell, without any compensation, Apple products in big box stores, like CompUSA (you can see that some of the information is a little dated). But think about that - would anyone do the same for a Windows machine? Or any other personal computer? The chapter on Hardware Mods is one of my favorite. Kahney presents people that turn their Macs into gorgeous works of art. Or creating a Mac product where none exists (like a Mac-based Web pad fashioned out of a touch screen iBook). I could continue to expound on this book, as there are many reasons that I like it. Suffice it to say that this is an excellent book.
If you have one of the Mac faithful in your midst, this would make an excellent gift. If you don't use a Mac or if you can't understand why people fuss over the Apple brand, this book will provide you with many of the answers. You will not get a history of Apple from this book, but you will get a fascinating look into the Apple faithful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mac Enthusiasts Unite!!
Comment: 'The Cult Of Mac' is a Mac fans ultimate guide to learn about the legions of people around the world who not only enjoy their Mac but LOVE their Mac. Packed with 260+ pages of full-color shots, this shows all the praise that people have in the form of tattoos, artwork, detailing, etc etc etc!
The first word that came to mind when skimming through this is the word FUN. Every page turn, every picture it's just a whole lot of fun and anyone that either likes or is a macaddict, this is a very entertaining book.
MACTABULOUS!!!
***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent insider book
Comment: This was a great book about the people that make up the Mac cultsa round the world.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A book for everyone!
Comment: The Cult of Mac
By Leander Kahney
Publisher: No Starch Press
Price: 39.95 US
ISBN: 1886411832
I was delighted when I was given a copy of this book to read and review. Not only is it about something I LOVE..... it is written so that even my parents would understand my passion. A lovely coffee-table book, this 260+ page book is a visual treat, with many pictures of our beloved machines, and the fans who buy them. You won't find a detailed look into Apple, Inc. This is about us, the users. The chapters are focused on specific traits, or habits of the Macintosh community. And while we all KNOW why we love our Macs, this book will help others learn, and perhaps make the switch.
There are also many little known factoids, and a full chapter devoted to the Japanese obsession for Macintosh computers. Many will remember, and perhaps still have, the holiday ornament that looks like an all-in-one classic. Fans have made replicas out of cardboard and paper for decades. Some even use the packing boxes as furniture.
One of the things about this book that readers may like, is that the chapters can be read in any sequence. The topics are as individual as our users, and no strict order is required. Read about what interests you. There are references enough to follow on your own, so if you are interested in digging deeper, you can.
While some of the material is obviously dated already, this is not about the latest and greatest, but about the phenomenon of the Apple user. One word that stands out in many of the chapters is "community". The author stresses many times how incredibly loyal Macintosh fans are, in spite of the wide range of users. From tattooed bikers, to captains of industry, no barrier is too high, or wide, or deep to make any appreciable separation between Macheads.
Not to sound trite, but this is a "must have" kind of book. And it looks great with any décor.........
Technical Details
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 004.165
EAN: 9781593271220
Format: Illustrated
ISBN: 1593271220
Label: No Starch Press
Manufacturer: No Starch Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 280
Publication Date: 2006-11-18
Publisher: No Starch Press
Studio: No Starch Press
