Don't laugh when I ask you

I've seen the word many times and guaged the context, but I'm still not comfortable in assuming I know <i>exactly</i> what it means.

What exactly is a "fanboy"?

How does one differentiate between a fanboy and an [insert brand here] enthusiast or even a loyal customer? Are they the same thing? Is fanboy supposed to be derogatory?

Thanks everyone.


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<b><font color=red>Three great virtues of a programmer are: laziness, impatience, and hubris.</font color=red><b>

lets take amd fan boys for instance. they swear by amd and look at intel like they are the devil. absolutely anytime there is negative news about intel they feel it is their duty to tell every one they can. any time there is good news about amd they claim amd as the one and only god. they completely ignore all facts that show intel is better in some ways and amd is lacking in some ways. nothing can be done to reason with them. most fanboys will result to name calling when they are losing an arguement. a loyal amd customer will defend amd but usually wont deny any shortcomings of the amd chips, it comes down to a prefference for them. they just like amd for whatever reason, i like to call them cost efficient. i would say i am a loyal amd customer. mostly because thats the only system i have built in the last couple years. i dont know too much about the intel side of things.

<font color=red> black </font color=red> <font color=green> white </font color=green> <font color=blue> yellow </font color=blue> <font color=orange> purple </font color=orange> <font color=black> red </font color=black> <font color=yellow> green </font color=yellow> <font color=purple> blue </font color=purple>

That's cuz there are no PCs in Macs!

--
<A HREF="http://www.lochel.com/THGC/html/news.html" target="_new">Join the Tom's Hardware Guide Community forum album, send us your pics!</A>

Ford vs Chevy
AMD vs Intel
ATI vs Nvidia
Mac vs PC

If you understand a single one of these then you understand what a fanboy is.

<A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=389&s=1fee5dab901bebe29da7aa1c2658fc6f" target="_new"><font color=red>dhlucke's system</font color=red></A>

<font color=blue>GOD</font color=blue> <font color=red>BLESS</font color=red> <font color=blue>AMERICA</font color=blue>

conversation between ati and nv fanboy
AtiFB: Ati just released the R6944 and it can process pixels better than your momma can suck c0ck
NVFB: Nuh uh, the GeForce 69 woops that pos
AtiFB: Pff, just like yo momma woops your ass everynight- NOT! It's got the quad shishkebab zellman heat induced gender changing pipeline, what now biatch?! Ati r00lz uh huh.
NVFB: Go to hell b!tch, the GF69 clearly beats your pos by .000000001/9999^9999 frames in the 4th second of the second test of 3dmark711.
AtiFB: Nooo.....check out AtiFanboyBenched.com, there the Ati board clearly wins.
NVFB: STFU, that site is more bias than.....uh.....uh.....everyone here against me! yeah, stfu. The GF69's fan is used to power an F22, so it clearly wins.
AtiFB: Um no, see we like a silent pc, that's why the Ati board comes with its own freon containment unit. Plus, it's got better image quality.
NVFB: Better image quality my ass! Who the fvck cares that the fifth pixel on Dawn's third nipple is 1 green value more on the Ati, I like it redder anyway.
AtiFB: You're a twat, clearly the green shows better image quality. And look at the 256x aniso and 2^90 FSAA!!! Your GF69 only pulls 2^90-1 AA! So dissed!
NVFB: Screw you, no one uses that crap anyway and most normal people only go up to 16x mode at best.
AtiFB: Go suck a lemon, if the feature's there it's MEANT to be used. Hell, I have output for 15 different monitors and I use em all!
NVFB: Yeeeaaaahhhhh!!! Youre ePenis must be huge now. 1 monitor is good enough, as long as it's 70" or bigger.
AtiFB: Man, youre NV card can't even pull 500 FPS on Quake 2 at 12000x16000 resolution without NV cheating on their drivers.
NVFB: Ati cheats too, the fact that NV's card renders every other pixel only is nothing compared to Ati's not rendering every other object! Ooooo!! B!tched out son!
AtiFB: Yeah?? Well.........your dad's your mom. Yeah, das right!
NVFB: So, at least the family pet isn't my mother!
AtiFB: At least we can keep pets in the house without them being sucked by the huge cooler!
NVFB: Hey, it's a pest control system so shut it.
AtiFB: Yo momma!
NVFB: Nuh uh, yo momma!
AtiFB: Yo poppa! oooo!
NVFB: Yo poppa!
AtiFB: Yo sista!
NVFB: See if I said yo sista it'd be redundent cause yo momma, yo poppa, and yo sista are all the same! Ooooo! Yo brova!!
AtiFB: Nuh uh, yo brova!
NVFB: STFU n00b!
AtiFB: you STFU!

And that is a fanboy conversation (I was bored).

All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by flamethrower205 on 07/07/03 01:59 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

"most fanboys will result to name calling when they are losing an arguement."

Hey shut up doo doo head!

AMD 4 LIFE!

A womans body is a temple built upon a sewer.

hehe I'd buy intel if the price was low enough. For now I'm going the amd route and overclocking

A womans body is a temple built upon a sewer.

So, I'm looking at the list there and, well, I'm sad to say, I'm a little more confused, yet closer to understanding definition of the word. So, I'll be talking it out.

Items that may contribute to the "fanboy" mentality:

There are people that adhere to a particular brand or name plate out of nothing more than force of habit. For instance, I/We vote Democrat because I/We have always voted Democrat. When that habit (and, consequently, their assumptions) is challenged, they may get defensive, but they are not necessarily fanboys. Hence, a new comparison comes to mind:

C++ vs. Java

There is also the underdog factor. All of those companies have played underdog to their respective rivals at one time or another. People like an underdog-- they tend to be more forgiving, especially whilst the underdog remains the underdog. Rooting for a company for the sake of competition does not necessarily make on a fanboy. Yet another comparison:

Microsoft vs. Linux

Therefore, a fanboy mentality is due to an initial, significant influence towards a particular product. Throw in some stubborness (an inablility to admit error, for example) a lack of maturity (people that watch animae all day, everyday), and a large does of idle time (maybe some wealthy parents? and/or large trust fund?): viola! A fanboy is born!

Sounds about right from what I've seen so far. Thanks guys!

Dave

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<b><font color=red>Three great virtues of a programmer are: laziness, impatience, and hubris.</font color=red><b>

Reminds me of a story:

Two years ago, I approached the assistant (now the head) dean about the prospect of upgrading our PIII 500 to something Athlon. He had intended on some P4 1.7GHz boxes (budget of $1500 for each, including monitor). He said no. I asked why? He said, "Intel is more reliable." Remember: this was back when AMD based platforms were KATN over P4. Armed with performance data from THG and Anand and ZDnet (Some Intel only types seem to have an affinity for Ziff-Davis) and price data from Newegg, ABS, Alienware. I went back to the office.

While performance was a factor in my cajoling and finagling, price was a dominant factor. I thought it would be a good thing to save the school some money. But I soon realized the first commandment of budget politics: <i>thou must spend every dime of thy budget, lest thine increase become a decrease upon next fiscal year.</i>

The real reason he was sticking with Intel in this instance was: they cost more. Then I got him thus, "AMD is very marketable right now. The prospective students (computer science, IS, Sysadmins) come in, see we also have the latest and greatest AMD boxes, they slobber their techno drool and will sign the dotted line forthwith."

Needless to say, a compromise was reached. We (I and two other students) got $5,000 to upgrade 10 PCs to whatever we wanted, and he bought 10 new P4 1.7 GHz.

We have another upgrade cycle coming around. . . One professor is pushing for dual Opteron. I think he's nuts. I was thinking more along the lines of a couple Sun Blade 2000 workstations (extra large, please). Talk about techno-drool. . . Moreover, we buy one and that's our entire upgrade budget! Therefore, we are sure to get more $$$ next year.


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<b><font color=red>Three great virtues of a programmer are: laziness, impatience, and hubris.</font color=red><b>

Republican vs Democrat works too. Microsoft vs Linux won't work though since everyone hates Microsoft and just use their products since there isn't much alternative in their eyes and/or think Linux won't work for them. It's not about habit. It's about a blinded dedication for one product and a hate for any of their competition or the alternatives. So I suppose you could have a Linux fanboy but I don't think I've ever seen a Microsoft fanboy.

<A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=389&s=1fee5dab901bebe29da7aa1c2658fc6f" target="_new"><font color=red>dhlucke's system</font color=red></A>

<font color=blue>GOD</font color=blue> <font color=red>BLESS</font color=red> <font color=blue>AMERICA</font color=blue>

Dave ... You got to see this <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=142006#142006" target="_new">thread</A>.
Now do you recognize the fanboy?

Hint: "im sticking with AMD until they die, i hate intel, i love amd, its as simple as that"

But Officer, I wasn't speeding - I was qualifying ...

Nissans are designed in Japan. As an out-of-work American mechanical designer with an automotive specialty, every purchase of a japanese car hurts my chances of becoming employed. Thank you for telling me to [-peep-] off.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

LOL, I was preparing for the future!

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

It's been very hot and humid where we live. Maybe he is suffering from sunstroke.

<font color=red><i>Doctor Hooter</i></font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.page3.com/" target="_new"><b>(·Y·)</b></A>

Have you spent much time in Alabama? I reckon you should before you stake such a claim.

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<font color=blue>War</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Eagle</font color=orange>

I would die if I had to live in Alabama.
I would sweat to death.

<font color=red><i>Doctor Hooter</i></font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.page3.com/" target="_new"><b>(·Y·)</b></A>

Just make sure you spend a summer down here before you go lobbying for an official title of Humidity Champ for Canada.

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<font color=blue>War</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Eagle</font color=orange>

I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I've traveled extensively. The only two places consistently more unpleasant then here - temp and humidity-wise - is New Orleans and Houston.

But Officer, I wasn't speeding - I was qualifying ...

Think of an argument like a chess game. If you can think three moves ahead, you can prevent their next move. Ideally, you can prevent the aguement from insuing, if you see one comming and know how it will turn out.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

I know what you mean and I do that myself, but I think you were getting a bad picture of the future in this case. I don't see how anything in his messages could be construed as getting ready to tell you to F off. Like I already said, he basically said that he'd drive anything that would get him from A to B. I fail to see how that could be seen as leading up to telling an out of work auto worker to F off.

Wishing that certain brands offered him more things he liked and telling an out of work auto worker that's having a hard time or two to F off are different things. That's like apples and oranges. Or checkers and chess, if you prefer that.

But hey, WTF do I care.....

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<font color=blue>War</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Eagle</font color=orange>

Sounds like Check to me.

But Officer, I wasn't speeding - I was qualifying ...

Oh yeah!. Its called "super saturation"

(Hello, my name is Dave. And, I'll be your meteorological guide for the rest of the evening)

Mississippi (Jackson, Early August, 1991) had the worst humidity I've ever experienced (that includes Alabama). I grew up in central Florida-- ridge district.

Hey! I have another "fanboy" question: (as I aspire to be THG's resident Sun fanboy). Is being fluent in l337 a prerequisite for being a fanboy?


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<b><font color=red>Three great virtues of a programmer are: laziness, impatience, and hubris.</font color=red><b>

...*applause*...

<font color=blue>"When you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose: it's how drunk you get." - Homer Simpson.</font color=blue>

is that 'hardcore l337' or 'lite'? cos if they all used hardcore at least no-one would be able to understand what the hell they were saying...

see?

chocolate e-biscuit for the first person to translate that....

n.b. I don't 'speak' l337 myself, just found a page explaining the alphabet for 'Hardcore' l337, and used that.....

To answer your question, you don't have to be fluent to be a fanboy, but it seems popular among them...

---
$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.

So, fanboys that also use l337 are dolts squared? Something like:

<pre><font color=blue>/</font color=blue><font color=purple>**Assertains the relative doltness of fanboys and returns the result as a [tt]String[/tt].</font color=purple><font color=blue> A fanboy is a dolt. An l337 user is a dolt.
*/</font color=blue>

<b>public static</b> String doltness(<b>boolean</b> fanboy, <b>boolean</b> l337)
{
<b>if</b> (fanboy)
<b>return</b> <font color=red>"dolt"</font color=red>;
<b>else if</b> (l337)
<b>return</b> <font color=red>"dolt"</font color=red>;
<b>else if</b> (fanboy || l337)
<b>return</b><font color=red>"A bigger dolt has not yet lived."</font color=red>;
<b>else</b>
<font color=blue>//Must be a user of Sun Microsystems' products</font color=blue>
<b>return</b> <font color=red>"This person is not a fanboy or is exempt from doltness."</font color=red>;
}
</pre><p>__________________________________________________
<b><font color=red>Three great virtues of a programmer are: laziness, impatience, and hubris.</font color=red><b>