Mac vs Dos - the theological debate - by Umberto Eco

[intertext]

This will probably sweep the internets now that Stephen Fry has posted about it on his blog, but never mind. It deserves to sweep. And my link is to a fuller version of Eco's essay than the one referenced by Stephen Fry.
Here's a taste:

The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist and has been influenced by the ratio studiorum of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory; it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach -- if not the kingdom of Heaven -- the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: The essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation.

Comments

[lidocafe.livejournal.com]

Thanks for drawing my attention to this. And did you read Calvino's essay on Casablanca? Brilliant.

[brinian.livejournal.com]

I like the metaphor! It speaks to the church historian in me :-)

[marri.livejournal.com]

That is win.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Just marvelous. My Catholic, Mac-apostle husband is going to love it (in spite of the fact that Eco hastens to say that the use of either Mac or PC has no bearing on the faith of the user).

I like some of the initial questions as well: ...whether Rousseau was responsible for the atomic bomb; whether Homer approved of investments in Treasury stocks; whether the Sacred Heart is monarchist or republican.

[pure-obscurity.livejournal.com]

I lol'd.