If all of those studies are to be believed, there are plenty of benefits to being a Mac user instead a PC user: increased productivity, quicker return on investment, higher sense of satisfaction, all that stuff. Of course, Mac users don't need fancy studies to tell us that computing with a Mac is just plain fun, as well. But in recent months it's looked like we Mac users might be in danger of losing one of the most important benefits of all-- that whole techno-rebel image. C'mon, admit it-- there's a certain pride in choosing a platform that only one person in fifteen or twenty is actually using, especially when the press kept saying that Apple would be out of business in no time flat. It may not qualify you for a role in the upcoming sequel to "Easy Rider," but hey, it's a modern rebellion nonetheless. We gotta take what we can get, right? So that's why, even though we've all been happy about Apple's comeback, we at AtAT are just a little nervous that as the Mac becomes a more and more "acceptable" computer choice, it might lose its counterculture panache. After all, we're used to being the runner throwing the hammer through that screen that all the clones are watching.

But apparently there's no reason to worry anytime soon; recent indications show that the Mac still isn't considered a "real" computer in many circles. Certainly Macs have a long road to travel before they're welcomed in most large enterprise environments. And while the best-selling iMac has made great strides in increasing Apple's acceptibility in the home, there are still signs that there's a long way to go yet. For instance, what about PC World Magazine's recent article listing their picks for the "Top 10 Home PCs"? The article was written after the holiday buying quarter, during which the iMac was the number one selling computer in both retail stores and via mail order-- over 800,000 were sold from the middle of August through the end of the year. And yet PC World apparently felt that the iMac wasn't even worth including in the 33 systems they reviewed in their article-- or even mentioning-- let alone placing in their top ten list.

Whew! Relieved? As long as close-minded and behind-the-times publications like PC World are around, we won't have to worry about the Mac becoming too accepted or losing its rebellious je ne sais quois. It's like a great weight has been lifted from our shoulders. So fire up Steppenwolf, cut off your sleeves to reveal your "Born to Mac" tattoo, and rev up that Finder-- you're a rebel, and you'll never ever be any good...

Speaking of arbitrary and unfair discrimination against Macs, how many of you have been considering getting a super-fast ADSL Internet connection from Bell Atlantic? ADSL, or Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line, can yield download speeds orders of magnitude higher than you can get with a standard 56 kbps modem. It can be kind of expensive, but for people who need a lot of bandwidth in areas where cable modems are not available, it can be a great alternative-- at least, unless the ADSL provider in your area happens to be Bell Atlantic, and you happen to have a Macintosh. Bell Atlantic supports Pentium systems and iMacs-- but only iMacs. Even if you've got a brand new blue and white Power Mac G3, Bell Atlantic will refuse to hook you up because it's neither a Pentium nor an iMac. Strange but true.

For more on this bizarre policy, we urge you to read through Steve Godun's saga of bureaucratic horror. Steve attempted to get Bell Atlantic to sell him ADSL service for his PowerTower Pro, which, as we know from personal experience, has the only real ADSL requirement-- an Ethernet port-- built right in. Steve was given an incredible runaround that we would previously have assumed could spring forth only from the mind of Franz Kafka, and was consistently denied service due to "policy." When he investigated the reasons behind the anti-Mac policy, he dug up several; unfortunately, all of them are false. Many Macs don't have the processing power or memory necessary to support ADSL? ADSL interfaces to a network device-- it's completely unrelated to any processor or memory in that device. You can't get the Ethernet address from a Mac? Apparently they just haven't tried. Eventually tech support admitted that they couldn't see any technical reason why non-iMac Macs weren't supported, but that didn't change the policy one bit. Steve is still trying to get a hold of somebody who instituted this policy to find out what's up.

What we find particularly bizarre about the whole thing is that Bell Atlantic is throwing away free money by not taking on Mac subscribers. They're already supporting iMacs, so their support costs wouldn't increase, so what's the problem? Accepting iMacs while rejecting other Ethernet-enabled Macs is, as Steve himself puts it, "rather like saying a certain highway is available only for a Ford Escort, and since you have a Ford Explorer your vehicle won't work on that road." We wish Steve the best of luck in getting to the bottom of this whole mess.

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more reasons to use a Mac, Intel goes and throws another one on the pile. Perhaps you've heard about the Pentium III? It's yet another instance of Intel's brilliant engineers managing to strap more rocket engines onto a roller skate; the fundamental technology at the heart of the Pentium line goes all the way back to the '70's, and it's a real testament to Intel that they've managed to squeeze six gallons of juice out of a single orange. Since the next-generation Merced chip is still in development, the Pentium III will be Intel's big gun until the Merced finally sees the light of day sometime next century. That's all well and good-- heck, we don't have to use it-- except that a recently announced "feature" of the Pentium III has some people concerned about their online privacy.

See, according to the Chicago Tribune, every Pentium III will include an "embedded electronic serial number" ostensibly to be used in Internet commerce scenarios. The idea here is that the new embedded ID number will allow remote sites to verify the identity of the computer connecting to them. Since the ID number isn't changeable, it'll be a simple matter for net sites to be sure that a returning visitor is in fact connecting from the exact same Pentium III computer. Doesn't that sound great? Unless, of course, you're concerned that any site you visit on the internet can know that you've been there, and could even share that data with other sites. When you connect from your Pentium III system, you're no longer anonymous.

Oh, sure, users will be able to turn off the ID mechanism-- but they'll have to turn it off every single time they boot their system. Oh, sure, a lot of "average users" are going to do that. And, Intel warns, since they've got a crushing grip on the industry and everything, they expect plenty of e-commerce-oriented web sites to embrace the the new ID technology, so people who turn it off are likely to be rejected at those sites. The message is clear, here: submit to electronic tagging, or accept the consequences. Oh, joy-- buy a Pentium III and get a steaming helping of Orwell on the side.