Firefox Is a Religion

Found a quote on Suicidegirls that’s been living in my head since I read it: If you’re on a PC, your life will be happier if you give up Internet Explorer and start using Firefox instead. If you’re using a Mac, your life is already happy. Carry on.

This was, at the time, nearly theological in its conviction—and also almost entirely correct. Firefox 1.0 had launched the year before and downloading it felt like a small act of rebellion. Internet Explorer was the browser you used because it was already there, pre-installed, inevitable, the beige office furniture of the internet. Firefox was the one you chose. It didn’t crash when you opened twelve tabs. It had extensions. It blocked pop-ups. The bar was not high, and it cleared it easily.

The Mac half of the equation had a different energy. Mac users in 2005 carried a specific smugness—earned, but still—that came from years of being told they were wrong about everything. The iPod had only recently started converting people. OS X was genuinely good. The machines cost twice as much and the software library was a fraction the size, and yet. There was something about using a Mac that actually did make daily life feel slightly more considered, the way a good notebook makes you want to write in it. The Suicidegirls quote captured that exactly: not superiority, just calm. Your life is already happy. Carry on.

I was on a Mac. I was already on Firefox. I felt very confirmed in my choices by a paragraph from an alt-porn site.