It's OK To Not Like Things

(This blog post also exists in an audio version. I recommend reading the article along with the audio. This audio was recorded with my shitty Surface mic. The chance of me making another audio version of a blog post is 0%)

It’s OK but don’t be a dick about it.

It all starts with The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. Take a normal person who is probably a pretty nice person usually. Now give them a platform where they can share their ideas to many people without revealing who they are. This will turn that ordinary person into a fuckwad. An extension of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory is Wheaton’s Law which can be plainly stated as:

Don’t be a dick.

Another great reference is this Meta-Wiki Wikimedia article along with the accompanied audio. When in a discussion it is fairly easy to devolve from rational human being who makes clear points to dick. Where this is seen most often is in discussions about rival products. The slight modification of don’t be a dick was linked as a video above but I will also state it here.

It’s OK to not like things but don’t be a dick about it.

What does this mean? Say you like a thing. We will call this thing, Thing A. You have acquired Thing A either by purchasing it or receiving it as a gift. You enjoy using Thing A on a daily basis. You recommend Thing A to your friends because you think they would also enjoy using Thing A. Now let’s introduce Thing B. Thing B is similar to Thing A. Thing B is similar enough to Thing A that you could use Thing B instead of Thing A and your daily routine would mainly stay the same. People rave about Thing B causing you to try using Thing B and you like it. Next time you are in the market for purchasing things you buy Thing B instead of Thing A and you keep enjoying your life.

Wait that’s dumb why would you ever have rational feelings and ideas about Thing B when you currently use Thing A. Thing A is clearly WAY better AND THING B SHOULD NEVER BE USED BY ANYBODY EVER.

And this is where we are currently. Instead of trying out the other products in the market people cling to whatever they are using at the moment. Maybe the company who created Thing A was a dick in the past or maybe the company who created Thing B copied some ideas from Thing A. Holding an opinion about a thing is OK. You purchased a product because you feel like it would best suit your needs and it does and you are happy. This however does not mean it fits other peoples needs. Because the product you love is not loved by somebody else does not diminish the product’s worth to you at all. You still love the product so it’s worth to you has stayed the same. This means that if somebody likes and uses Thing B and you like and use Thing A you can converse about the merits of Thing A and Thing B and both be right. This however usually does not happen and people are dicks to each other.

I was reading comments on the internet (yeah I know, never read comments on the internet) and I wanted to share some with you (yeah I know, I am now making you read comments on the internet).

Says you. Reviews disagree with you. It has an aluminum build just like Thing B.3 and the prices are either comparable and lower. It’s okay, I understand, nothing is better than Thing B.3. Like I said, Thing E.3 is waaaay up, it’s using carbon fiber for god’s sake. – Link

This device IS better than a Thing B.3.2. It does run Thing F.4.1, and it runs it VERY well. I switched from a Thing B.3.1 (higher end than an Thing B.3.2) to a Thing C.3.1, now a Thing C.3.3, and I’ll tell you unequivocally: it runs Thing F.4.1 BETTER than my Thing B.3.1 did. It also replaces an additional device: the Thing B.3.3. I no longer carry around 2 devices. Creator of Thing C is right, and these ads are dead on. Your denial will not change anything. Creator of Thing B’s insistence on trying to sell you two devices where one will do is a mistake. – Link

What if I need to change the sound effects on my Thing C.3? Can I do that with touch? Oh noes, the UI is the same Creator of Thing C has been using since Thing C.1.5.1!!! … that’s sad ! – Link

Yes, and what happened then? Creator of Thing A changed the way Feature P was implemented in Thing A.2 to make it like the one in Thing B.2. Creator of Thing B never changed the way it worked, it still works exactly the same. They got it right the first time. That’s the truth. – Link

I also found this hilarious.

Touchscreens are a joke – you can’t see what you’re doing, because your hand is blocking the screen. – Link

In conclusion whether you like Thing A or have reasons to not like Thing A remember…