The point of 2nd hand Smoke?

The point of the article is very clear.

He was basicly saying people who are extreme with hardware need to get a life. He is referring to those that live IN their computer. The people that insults someone and personally attacks them because they gave an opinion about how they like intel over amd and some AMD extremist, fanboy, chiptrooper whatever you wanna name it; just overwhelmingly insults the guy with extreme hate and personal attacks.

I see it in forums all the time. And if you step out of the box and look abroad you would see it IS mostly the AMD fanboy, chiptrooper, or extremist. However there are other people or groups that do it too through out the world (look at the terrorist for example). Also, someone saying they want an ati card and someone flames them and insults them and calls them names and tells them to buy nvidia because ati is an inferior product for example. That is a fascist approach because you terrorizing the guy to not buy something he wants. But the author was noting in the computerized industry (he was grouping it to just include the computer industry as there are other parts of the world that act this way also like the KKK) it's mostly AMD fanboy, chiptrooper (was referring to Hitler's SS storm troopers i think), or extremist/terrorist (Using terror/flaming as a way to make someone not have an opinion about some favorite brand as they may get flamed, insulted, or personally attacked), who personally attacks someone because they like Intel better.

Clearly this IS FASCISM. Someone/somegroup/some government's forcefulness against someones/some group/some government's opinion/belief/idea through force and terror. That is the definition of fascism.

And if you open your mind and step away from the box (the accepted thought and norm) you'll see that too.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

Funny how you request that the author not write any more articles like this in one breath, and then wave the banner for 'freedom of speach' in the next.

So which are you for? Is a person, author or not, justified to say whatever they want, no matter how stupid? Or not? You can't rally for both without looking like a hypocrite, so pick a side.

<A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/comic/171.htm" target="_new">The corpse you find may be your own.</A> - Black Mage

...what a load of old crap.......

Sex is great but it's no substitute for the real thing.....

"Plus, there is nothing wrong with buying from an underdog who makes good pruducts."

Absolutly. usually the lesser brand name which is cheaper
is just as good as the major brand name, which is expensive.
It's all about experience. I've had 3 AMD mainboards die on me. And the same 3 AMD mainboards with chipset compatibilty problems. I'm not saving any money by having to buy new stuff every year because the warranty ran out and the product died.

"I would have liked to see some of the "more reasonable" emails they recieved, not just the ones they posted to prove they could provoke flames from some high schoolers sitting around bored on their summer breaks. "

Good point! He could have been fair and balanced and showed both positive and negative point of views.

"Another thing to keep in mind, which I think you failed to address in your post, is that there are fanatics and flamers on every side. I have been mocked by Intel fans because I was running an AMD, laughed at by nVidia owners because of my ATi, scorned because I don't use and optical mouse, and threated because I have a Linux partition."

Absolutly! I tried to show that. It's just difficult as i don't know how to word it. I tried to point out the author grouped a section of a world wide problem. I thought the author was trying, but not on purpose, blame every hate remark on "AMD fanboys". Which isn't fair at all and i think he should apologize for that. Which i think he did, but your right it was very weak.

"As far as I remember, we have freedom of speech here, you shouldn't be so shocked when people use it. Granted, personal attacks like saying you are stupid for using an P4 aren't helpful or constructive, but we should be able to identify them as such and shurg them off, not popularize them and trying to use them as proof that a companies marketing plan is flawed. "

Ummm freedom of speech is limited i think. I don't believe terrorizing is freedom of speech. I don't think stalking someone and terrorizing them is freedom of speech. I think we have this falsination that freedom of speech means we can say whatever we want. Thats not so. You can't go up to someone and say you are a stupid person because he has a pentium 4 computer and keep harrasing the person about it. You would go to jail assuming you keep doing it even with a restraining order. The same applies to internet too or should be. Just because it's text doesn't mean it shouldn't be counted as real life. If someone post a message saying he's gonna kill you you better report that to the authorities.

It was a good opinionated article though. And if you are offensive then say you are. No need to flame someone and personally attack them. As they say, keep it pithy.

I do agree with him in some aspect but i disagree it's just the "AMD fanboy". It's a world wide hate problem.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

do we find ways to fight?

I think he was simply suggesting not to do such a thing. Not actually demanding it.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

"I am sorry to hear about your AMD chip woes. I have had a few problems with them myself, but then again have had simular problems with the few Intels I have owned. "

Yep it's all about experience. I haven't had any problems with Intel. My old pentium 200 got shocked my lightning and still worked!

"I'm not quite sure how you like flame emails to a terrorist act" ...

ahh thats because maybe you're focusing on the act. I'm looking at terrorizing in general. The terrorist terrorizes people for their cause. Just as some Intel extremist terrorizes AMD users; attacking them because they didn't buy what they wanted them to buy just as the terrorist terrorize because they want their land back or whatever reason they have.

"Calling someone an idiot is no crime."

ya but if you kept at it it's called harrasment. I've actually been harrassed on this forum. Yes a one time deal is no crime but the repetiveness is.

"Its hard to classify flames as harrasements, as most of the time its many messages comming from different sources with no one sending more then one."

Flames in itself which consist of personal attacks and hate messages in my point of view is harmful, especially to a kid. I think that has been proven in research and studies. I'd have to look it up though.

"Also, I am not trying to attack the author here, and I'm not really offended by the article, more like slightly annoyed and amused."

Thats fair. I am somewhat amused. annoyed? not really. I'm looking at it from above and seeing all points of view. I didn't take it seriously as it's just an opinion.

"But you're right too, there isn't enough love in the world. Rather then seeing emails like "You baught an P4? You stupid [-peep-]!" I would much rather see ones like "So you baught a P4? What persuaded you to get that rather then an Athlon XP with often has a better price/performance ratio?" Be civil, and offer evidence as to why you belive your choice was the right for you. I think that would be much better then things like "I got an Athlon cause Pentiums suck." "

It's ... well, ya it's partly because of love. I think there is a perversion of what love really is, but thats a different issue. What i think what mainly is the issue is no one knows how to talk to people. It's also stress. The lack of intelligence to understand that you are talking to a person that is part of your race. There is no need for such attacks. All in all it's this internet i think. Too much internet and no human interaction. So some of us have no concept of human feelings maybe? Maybe they feel they are the only ones in the world with a crappy life and broke so they buy amd chips because intel's are so expensive. Perhaps a sense of insecurity? but don't understand that every single person has the same problem. It's all about additude and confidence. As vince mcman said, it's ruthless aggression. And, maybe he's right. I perosnaly think the character is a moron. A far as the mess over in the east. Again they feel their lives are soo bad so they have been brainwashed to believe that if they kill jews they will go to heaven and have a better life with 72 virgins. *shrugs* I see this "AMD fanboy" article to be only a tiny fraction of the huge entire problem. And maybe that's lack of faith and confidence, self respect, dignity, and respect for mankind.

"By the way, thanks for your insightful commentary. Much more useful and interesting then the dude who replied with only "what a load of crap." "

An intelligent conversation is by far better then sex. Sex involves too much work where a conversation is just that. You just speak your mind and listen. You learn so much more that way. But ya it was fun! and, ya i have no idea what that guy was talking about.

cheers!

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

Thats the problem with text, isn't it? Very hard to convay sarcasim.

Never have I seen so many great minds bent on such small a task.