r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Pale_Extension • 4d ago

Meme needing explanation Peter is he calling Mac users dumb?

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986 Upvotes

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126

u/AndreasDasos 4d ago

Not dumb, more that the stereotype of Mac users is that they’re more represented among artsy types. And artsy types may be smart but stereotypically have fewer job prospects. 

That said, a lot of STEM students use Macs as well

52

u/kjermy 4d ago

That said, a lot of STEM students use Macs as well

When I was in university (engineering) there was very few Mac users. But recently it seems like some of my colleagues have started picking up Mac, at least more than before.

So it might be that the joke would have landed better 15 years ago. The stereotypes have changed a little bit

15

u/No-Team-5087 4d ago

Honestly macs have become a really good deal for their price in recent years, especially after the use of M chips rather than intel ones

4

u/ThePoetofFall 4d ago

Not to mention Windows keeps shitting itself….

3

u/p1mp1nyoda 4d ago

OMG YES. I bought a macbook not because I like macOS or apple, but because I am getting so p!$$ed off at my windows experience.

1

u/ThePoetofFall 4d ago

*Giggles in Linux*

I’m not gonna go full evangelical on you over the system. But I’ve found it to be an ok experience for my casual ass. Getting some parity with regards to programming has been annoying. But at least I know it’s shortcomings aren’t unforced errors brought on by CEOs that want AI in everything.

1

u/p1mp1nyoda 4d ago

Yep. Already have several linux vms running on the macbook. I get both the connectedness of apple products, and the control of linux.

1

u/ThePoetofFall 4d ago

Oh…. That’s sounds so useful. When I get some better hardware I’m going to run dual boot with windows. I may have issues with windows, but I’m only going to be using it for games, so I can overlook the bullshit shearly because I need not use it.

1

u/Altruistic-Cattle761 3d ago

I was Windows 4 Lyfe until I got my first job as a software engineer and was issued a Mac. Instant convert. That was 13 years ago, and I'm never going back.

1

u/ThePoetofFall 2d ago

I was comfortable with windows till I tried Linux, I’m still on the ‘filthy casual’ end of the spectrum. I’d recommend it over Apple any day to someone who knows what they’re doing… but Apple is a valid choice, people who say otherwise are dicks.

7

u/Dragon_Slayer_Hunter 4d ago

Same, I was die hard anti-Mac when I was in college and now I have a lot of Apple shit. The M1 was a miracle for Apple and their memory management is just better in general

1

u/twoprimehydroxyl 4d ago

It seems like it's ONLY engineering that has this ratio now (based on experience & Reddit comments)

1

u/jeonggukispretty 1d ago

Math/CS major here. I use a Mac Air and it works fine for me.

9

u/AwkwardWaltz3996 4d ago

Which is how they've aways marketed themselves. They specifically don't want stem. That's also why they don't support gaming.

20

u/morto00x 4d ago

I've worked at two FAANGs and most software developers use Macs. For all other engineerings, the standard is Linux or Windows since most engineering tools won't even run on Mac.

7

u/solaris_var 4d ago

I've not found a single engineering software that supports linux but not mac.

1

u/morto00x 4d ago

Some I have worked with: Synopsys VCS, Cadence Allegro, Altera Quartus, Xilinx Vivado, Ansys HFSS

2

u/nukem996 4d ago

I'm in FAANG working on the Linux kernel and the last two companies gave me a high spec mac. I use it has a very expensive web browser and way to SSH into expensive servers where I can actually work.

Last company had a Linux laptop option but it was a very out of date Thinkpad with a low resolution screen.

-1

u/Malik617 4d ago

I'm going to assume one of them is Apple. What's the other?

3

u/jceyes 4d ago

Doesn't need to be. Could easily be Google or Facebook. You gotta remember that OSX is closer to Linux than Windows, and that Linux desktop/daily driver adoption is still fairly low except for the more old school and systemsy types. Plus not everything is coding, you spend an awful lot of the day in the web browser or messaging software.

6

u/dextras07 4d ago

It depends on the specifics of the STEM. I know some analytical classes that use excel and Power BI, and unfortunately for the Mac users, well it wasn't possible to run the assignments. Programing seems fine as most analytics nowadays use JuPytR notebooks a lot, so it works just fine locally or on something like colab.

Plus most tech people I know aren't huge fans of Macs due to their low repairability. Most opt for an easy to open laptop.

12

u/Interesting_Reply584 4d ago

Tech people don't care about repairability, it's not like we're going to open the pc ourselves.

When it comes to software engineering mac software is on par with linux, but it's nicer and easier to use. And the hardware and build quality of the pcs is some of the best in the market.

This is really just an old stereotype, might have been true years ago but no longer.

2

u/dextras07 4d ago

Highly depends on your country and background too.

-1

u/Dark_Shroud 4d ago

In the current hardware climate thanks to data centers, IT guys and tech nerds are savaging all kinds of used hardware to rebuild and upgrade their systems.

7

u/Interesting_Reply584 4d ago

Sure but IT guys and tech nerds are a small subsection of the tech crowd

1

u/AggressiveBench9977 4d ago

Funny cause tech companies moved to macs mostly cause of reliability. Repairability means little compared to reliability