I discovered a really cool site that describes the behind-the-scenes history and development of the Apple Macintosh in the early 1980s - Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories. It is written from the perspective of Andy Hertzfeld, who was one of the primary developers of the Macintosh Operating System.Some of the technical articles around how the team managed to squeeze so much groundbreaking user interface functionalities into 128KB of memory are fascinating.
But the really enjoyable aspects, IMO, are the non-technical entries that focus on the interplay between the various developers on the Mac team and the schedule pressures they were under. If you develop software within a team, you will especially enjoy the various entries related to personality clashes, ego, and intra-company politics and rivalry. Highly recommended.
The Macintosh was probably one of the earliest computer products to inspire such over-the-top devotion and unwavering loyalty from its supporters. Thus the fanboy was hatched.
BTW, I don't consider myself an Apple Fanboy or hater. Like most companies, Apple makes some fine products, some average products, and some dogs. The individual products should be judged on their own merits and not blindly accepted or rejected because of the cult of personality surrounding their leader.
The I am a Mac and You are a PC marketing campaigns are silly beyond belief and quite annoying. What kind of a loser would define themselves based on the hardware architecture and OS software of a computer?
Unfortunately, we see the phenomena of the fanboy in all sorts of avenues of life today. People become so emotionally invested in a cause, product, programming language, company, movement, political party, or religion, that they become totally incapable of having a reasonable discussion with someone with an opposing view. They consume only information that supports their view filtered through information sources that support their view.
Many of these people apparently have an internal need to have their world view affirmed daily and the opposing view demonized and mis-characterized daily. So, very lucrative business models have emerged to feed this insatiable desire for people to be told that they are on the right side (via cable news channels, radio, or the internet).
This kind of devotion is simply annoying and harmless when it is applied to gaming platforms (XBox vs PS3) or high definition multimedia formats (HD DVD vs BlueRay Disc) or OO programming languages (C++ vs Java).
When it is applied to important things and exploited by shameless political propagandists on both sides, we end up with a very damaging and poisonous climate in which none of our problems ever get addressed. Compromise is evil. Nuance is ridiculed. And above all else, never admit that your side might be wrong.
In 2010 and 2012, after the current "demons" are expelled, we will get a chance to start the whole cycle over again. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
