Look, I know when it comes to computer stuff there are a lot of acronyms. Company names, technology names, specs, product lines, software titles, peripherals… there are tons of acronyms. You can’t get away from 'em.
But fer gosh sakes, if Apple Computer made it, it’s called a Mac. It’s short for Macintosh. Note the lowercase a and c.
It’s not a MAC. So far as I can tell, the only thing in this world called MAC is a cosmetics company, and they don’t have much to do with computers.
It’s called a Mac. Not MAC. It’s not an acronym. Its name, therefore, should not be capitalized.
I’ve had most of my Macintosh zealotry sucked out of me, but this remains a big pet peeve of mine.
Mmmmmm MAC. They have a fabulous range of lipsticks (my favourites are “O” and “Huetopia”) and their eyeshadows are more pigmented than most other brands. And if you want high shine on your lips, I heartily recommend their clear Lip Glass.
Okay, I’m sorry. I just wanted to talk about make-up a little.
If you feel this strongly about spelling and capitalization, don’t become an editor/copy-editor at a paper. Especially the opinions editor of a small-circulation paper. You’d have a breakdown.
When I was doing that I discovered university students could misspell “a” and “I.”
MAC stands for Media Access Control, and every ethernet device in the world (including the network cards installed in Macs) has a unique one which cannot be changed.
They look like this:
00:06:5B:BD:43:C6
They’re used for, among other things, data routing on ethernet networks.
My “Mac Guru” (the guy who is custom-building a beige G4 upgrade for me) calls them “MACS” sometimes. I don’t know why. He’s the biggest Mac enthusiast around, so you’d think he’d know the preferred spelling. I think he just likes capitalizing things. Anyway, I’ve never bothered to correct him on it.
I tried to ‘make the switch’. Then my eMac died just over 48 hours after I got it. One day, they will implement the fabled power of QC. Until then, I’m going back to the Ultra 30.
Well, whatever. It’s besides the point. If it’s made by Apple, and it’s referring to the operating system, it’s Mac. Noncapitalized.
I think the reason this bugs me is because I see it as evidence of cluelessness on part of non-Mac users. Whatever remains of my inner Mac zealot almost completely unravels at the sight of ‘MAC’. It’s silly, I admit, because Mac users occasionally make the mistake (as yosemitebabe’s friend does), and the habit to capitalize or assumption it’s an acronym is understandable when it comes to computer stuff. Still, it bugs me.
Hamish, I’ve already been a newspaper editor. Fortunately, I was under too much stress to afford to be driven insane by illiterate student submissions. Brutus, didja see the part where I said I didn’t want a platform war? Jeezus. I’ve seen you bitch about Apple and Macs enough to know you’re not just recently bitter about your computer. I don’t give a damn if your eMac died on you. It doesn’t excuse you.
Besides, it’s not too hard to figure out what’s wrong with your computer-- it sensed your dicketry and decided suicide was its best option.
That was a thing of beauty. I can just see the little eMac taking one look at him, and thinking, “This is it. I’m outta here.”
If we are going to malign an entire company because of the occasional lemon, then I doubt Apple Computers would be at the top of the list of most maligned companies. I think Microsoft, Compaq and a few others would get top billing. At least in my mind they would. (Since I have purchased products by these companies that have been quite worthless. But do I assume the whole company is worthless because of my bad experience? No.)
MAC is also an acronym for Military Armaments Corporation, the company originally led by Gordon Ingram–famous for the Uzi-style MAC-10 and MAC-11 sub-machineguns you see a lot in films and hear a lot about in some rap tracks.
