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Apple targets middle-aged women with its latest OS
Here’s some oddball tech news for you. Apple apparently is going after a whole new demographic: Middle-aged women with its new Mountain Lion OS X. Apple is no longer just targeting young hipsters, granola munchers, sandal wearers, ponytail sporters or Prius drivers, they’re putting on an extra layer of makeup on OS X, donning their best black mini-dress, slipping on a pair of hot Prada pumps and hitting the town prowling for something a little exotic: MILFs (Moms I’d Like to Facebook). |
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Comments (28)
8 earlier comments in the full thread.
I don't read them either, only the summaries. I refuse to contribute to his earnings by clicking on his links, so if he wants me to read them he'll have to post them elsewhere where he doesn't get ad revenue.
;-) it is a humor piece. Come on, it's funny. Even funnier, the people at Apple think its funny.
It's not THAT funny Ken. Mildly amusing yes. But anyone who thinks it's in bad taste really does need to take a humour pill.
I didn't think it was bad taste, I just didn't understand the humour. It just seemed really bizarre to be honest.
Is it an American thing?
As far as bad taste goes, the usual test is to substitute some other social group and see how it feels. How about "Mountain Lion appeals to black people?" or "Mountain Lion appeals to Roman Catholics". I'm sorry, it doesn't really make much sense to me. In what way is Mountain Lion supposed to appeal to middle-aged women? Was it just the American "cougar" reference? You do understand that most people outside of the US wouldn't get that, right?
Is it an American thing?
As far as bad taste goes, the usual test is to substitute some other social group and see how it feels. How about "Mountain Lion appeals to black people?" or "Mountain Lion appeals to Roman Catholics". I'm sorry, it doesn't really make much sense to me. In what way is Mountain Lion supposed to appeal to middle-aged women? Was it just the American "cougar" reference? You do understand that most people outside of the US wouldn't get that, right?
> Was it just the American "cougar" reference?
Pretty much, yes.
> You do understand that most people outside of the US wouldn't get that, right?
Well, TA seemed to get it, and she's in Australia.
And as with most of Ken's articles, I'll leave it at that.
Pretty much, yes.
> You do understand that most people outside of the US wouldn't get that, right?
Well, TA seemed to get it, and she's in Australia.
And as with most of Ken's articles, I'll leave it at that.
Yes I did understand the cougar reference. We, like most other countries are saturated with American TV, so the reference is quite understandable, as is most American slang.
@skelband
That's just plain silly, you are reaching for insult, it simply doesn't work. BTW I think I qualify as cougar.
No bad taste is what my friend's new manager did when she met him for the first time.... Talked about his ethnicity, and attempted to prove to him she's not racist by mentioning at every opportunity something about the fact that he's Aboriginie, and trying to demostrate a commonality with him, by pointing out that her ancesters were convicts and NOT the invaders etc etc. and that her son had worked with Nunga people (South Australian Aboriginies). As he said to me, "it was the most uncomfortable conversation I've had with anyone, it was highly inappropriate, and irrrelevent to the work we do."
@skelband
Quoting:As far as bad taste goes, the usual test is to substitute some other social group and see how it feels.
That's just plain silly, you are reaching for insult, it simply doesn't work. BTW I think I qualify as cougar.
No bad taste is what my friend's new manager did when she met him for the first time.... Talked about his ethnicity, and attempted to prove to him she's not racist by mentioning at every opportunity something about the fact that he's Aboriginie, and trying to demostrate a commonality with him, by pointing out that her ancesters were convicts and NOT the invaders etc etc. and that her son had worked with Nunga people (South Australian Aboriginies). As he said to me, "it was the most uncomfortable conversation I've had with anyone, it was highly inappropriate, and irrrelevent to the work we do."
@TA: "That's just plain silly, you are reaching for insult, it simply doesn't work."
In order to determine if something is in bad taste, you have to discard your own pre-conceptions about what you think is and isn't acceptable. If something is insulting to one group, it is likewise insulting to another and in the same amount.
The big problem as outlined by my reference is that that judgement is sensitive to the prevailing PC fashions. To be entirely honest about what is and isn't acceptable should really have no bearing on the target of the statement, just the statement itself.
So, as I said, to truly judge whether or not something is in bad taste, you have to separate the sentiment from the target by substituting others and challenging yourself to feel comfortable with whatever you substitute.
In order to determine if something is in bad taste, you have to discard your own pre-conceptions about what you think is and isn't acceptable. If something is insulting to one group, it is likewise insulting to another and in the same amount.
The big problem as outlined by my reference is that that judgement is sensitive to the prevailing PC fashions. To be entirely honest about what is and isn't acceptable should really have no bearing on the target of the statement, just the statement itself.
So, as I said, to truly judge whether or not something is in bad taste, you have to separate the sentiment from the target by substituting others and challenging yourself to feel comfortable with whatever you substitute.
Quoting:If something is insulting to one group, it is likewise insulting to another and in the same amount.
Total PC rubbish, if I called my friend a cougar he might be insulted, but because he would be aware that cougar is slang for a middled aged woman, not for any other reason. You are reaching for an insult, where there is none, and incidently, where none was intended, plain and simple. You making a mountain out of a molehill. And.... I suspect if that reference had been posted by almost any one other than Ken Hess, you would have let it pass.
Call him on the general level of the cr@p he posts, by all means, but the general tenor of most anti Ken Hess article posts seem to me to be very personal attacks, always trying to find fault in him rather than the cr@ppy articles he posts, by and large. I doubt that anyone here knows him well enough to discuss his personal failings.
This compaint about bad taste is yet another of what appears to me to be a personal attack.
"Honi soit qui mal y pense"
@tracyanne: His personal failings are irrelevant, all we have to judge him by is his cr@ppy articles. If someone who generally wrote good articles (like Michael Larabee of Phoronix) made some kind of "cougar" comment or whatever that was a little marginal, we'd give him a pass because most of his stuff is generally very good. But when someone who has a long history of writing rubbish writes something that's marginal, we go the other way. There's nothing wrong with this: people shouldn't be judged based on any one action they do (unless we're in a court of law and they're on trial for vehicular manslaughter or something; we're just talking about online reputations here, not crimes); instead, they should be judged by the totality of their contributions. For a book author, for instance, people don't say someone's a decent author if he writes a bunch of dreck, and then manages to write one decent (but not great) book; they say he's a cr@ppy author, though if they're being charitable they might mention that he managed to make one exception to the cr@ppiness. Someone who writes lots of great books but puts out one bad book gets a reputation as a great author, though someone might mention "though he did write that one stinker; maybe he was going through a bad time in his life then, or maybe he had to fulfill a contractual obligation with the publisher".
The sad fact is that Ken's reputation isn't too hot, not because of this one article, but because of all of them. People are more willing to hang you when you've established a poor reputation.
The sad fact is that Ken's reputation isn't too hot, not because of this one article, but because of all of them. People are more willing to hang you when you've established a poor reputation.
@TA:
You're really trying to misunderstand me and reading something that isn't there.
I didn't think it was in particularly bad taste to be honest. I just didn't think it particularly funny. My point is that an insult is an insult regardless of who the insult is directed at. I was actually trying to deal with ColonelPanik's original comment in a neutral way.
The only mildly irritating aspect of the article is that he seemed to be claiming that <insert social group> was well suited by Mountain Lion because of <silly joke surrounding the name>. It was rather lame regardless of the fact that it was a Ken Hess article.
You're really trying to misunderstand me and reading something that isn't there.
I didn't think it was in particularly bad taste to be honest. I just didn't think it particularly funny. My point is that an insult is an insult regardless of who the insult is directed at. I was actually trying to deal with ColonelPanik's original comment in a neutral way.
The only mildly irritating aspect of the article is that he seemed to be claiming that <insert social group> was well suited by Mountain Lion because of <silly joke surrounding the name>. It was rather lame regardless of the fact that it was a Ken Hess article.
Yes it was a rather lame joke. Insulting no, it's actually rather a compliment to be considered sexy, which is what Cougar implies. Misapplying the term to other groups is simply silly.
No I don't misunderstand you. You are merely applying Political Correctness to the whole thing, and frankly I find what you are doing rather insulting, in much the same way as my friend, he doesn't need or want other people ingratiating themselves to him because of his ethnicity, and I don't because of my age. I will jolly well be insulted or not on my own behalf.
I reiterate, if it had not been Ken Hess, the whole thing would have been ignored, or understood as the rather poor joke it is, and forgotten.
No I don't misunderstand you. You are merely applying Political Correctness to the whole thing, and frankly I find what you are doing rather insulting, in much the same way as my friend, he doesn't need or want other people ingratiating themselves to him because of his ethnicity, and I don't because of my age. I will jolly well be insulted or not on my own behalf.
I reiterate, if it had not been Ken Hess, the whole thing would have been ignored, or understood as the rather poor joke it is, and forgotten.
To clarify a salient point: "Cougar," as a slang term, refers to an older woman looking ("on the prowl") for a younger guy.
tracyanne wrote:if it had not been Ken Hess, the whole thing would have been ignored, or understood as the rather poor joke it is, and forgotten.Well, if it had not been Ken Hess, it never would have landed on LXer most likely.
Quoting:"Cougar," as a slang term, refers to an older woman looking ("on the prowl") for a younger guy.
yep, I know a few that not only do that but can still pull a younger guy.
EDIT:: I posted the correct quote.
@ta: "You are merely applying Political Correctness to the whole thing, and frankly I find what you are doing rather insulting, in much the same way as my friend,"
I really don't understand your point here. What exactly do you think that I am doing that you find rather insulting? Do you think that the perspective on insult is absolute? In that case, who do you think is correct? The muslim that condemns a derogatory comment made about Mohammed, or a non-muslim that doesn't care either way? Those are two very different perspectives.
As to the cougar reference, here in Canada, the common inference is that a "cougar" is a rather sorry and desperate individual. That may or may not be true elsewhere. I can only speak of what I see and hear here. I have no personal opinion on the issue, since it is an un-useful generalisation, esp. since my wife is a lot older than me. I won't be more specific for fear of reprisals. :D
Outside of Canada (in the UK where I was brought up), the reference meant nothing to me so I took it to be an Americanism inevitably spread by media.
I really don't understand your point here. What exactly do you think that I am doing that you find rather insulting? Do you think that the perspective on insult is absolute? In that case, who do you think is correct? The muslim that condemns a derogatory comment made about Mohammed, or a non-muslim that doesn't care either way? Those are two very different perspectives.
As to the cougar reference, here in Canada, the common inference is that a "cougar" is a rather sorry and desperate individual. That may or may not be true elsewhere. I can only speak of what I see and hear here. I have no personal opinion on the issue, since it is an un-useful generalisation, esp. since my wife is a lot older than me. I won't be more specific for fear of reprisals. :D
Outside of Canada (in the UK where I was brought up), the reference meant nothing to me so I took it to be an Americanism inevitably spread by media.
Quoting:In that case, who do you think is correct? The muslim that condemns a derogatory comment made about Mohammed, or a non-muslim that doesn't care either way?
Definately the non Muslim.
Sorry I brought it up.
Mr. Hess used a sexually oriented euphemism in a poor attempt at humour. Bad taste on his part.
This site is or can be viewed by younger viewers, why are we seeing this?
Ken Starks and I have talked, we use language that Ken will not allow on his site. Time and place for this stuff, this is not the place.
Mr. Hess used a sexually oriented euphemism in a poor attempt at humour. Bad taste on his part.
This site is or can be viewed by younger viewers, why are we seeing this?
Ken Starks and I have talked, we use language that Ken will not allow on his site. Time and place for this stuff, this is not the place.
@CP I've seen more explicit sexual euphamisms on blog of helios than cougar. Don't you think you are being just a little more twee than usual.
If the "kids" understand the euphemism, they don't need the protection.
If they don't understand it, no harm done -- that's the whole point of using a euphemism in the first place.
PS: "Cougar" seems to be one of those "rehabilitated" or "reclaimed" terms, that once was often, but not necessarily, seen as derogatory, but today is seen as usually, but not necessarily, complementary.
PS: "Cougar" seems to be one of those "rehabilitated" or "reclaimed" terms, that once was often, but not necessarily, seen as derogatory, but today is seen as usually, but not necessarily, complementary.
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And anyway, how do you make the leap of faith from "trans-generational" to "middle-aged women"?
In what way is the Mountain Lion release appealing to middle-aged women?
The obvious "cougar" reference was just pretty lame....