Stop Bringing Brand Wars into the Office

We see it all the time online. Android vs Apple, Vim vs Sublime, Ubuntu vs Arch. Brand wars are a constant topic among tech workers and non-tech workers alike. It’s very easy to defend the product or the brand you use/ prefer because most people don’t like being wrong. It’s an easy topic to bring up because we’re surrounded by it everyday. However what you may not realize is that when you speak vehemently about your brand in the office, you are isolating yourself. Sure you’re going to make friends with the people that are patting themselves on the back for liking the same thing as you, but that’s easy. What’s hard is making friends and being respectful of colleagues around you who don’t offer the same strong brand preferences or opinions as yourself.

I saw this a lot before I got into the tech world as well. Snap-on vs Mac vs Matco Tools, car manufacturer $X vs $Y, front wheel drive vs RWD vs AWD, Garrett vs Precision Turbos, etc. Some of these are worth talking about because the have objectionable advantages and disadvantages over the other. However arguing about most of those, such as tools brands, are worthless discussions like Android vs Apple. I could go on about how much better the handles are on Mac ratchets but Snap-on ratchets have better internals. The chrome has better adhesion on Mac sockets than Snap-on, and I mean let’s be serious, real mechanics don’t buy Matco tools, those are just garbage.

From what I can gather, most tech workers don’t give a shit about hand tools or fast cars. Nothing I mentioned in the above paragraph makes much sense and honestly, you really don’t care about which ratchet has a better handle. What you may not realize, is that this is exactly what you sound like to most people when you go off on tangents at the office about how much Android sucks, or that Arch Linux is a superior OS to OSX. You’ll get a few supporters and a few people that will chirp in and give an opposing opinion, but more than anything, you’re ostracizing yourself from people that just don’t care. The people that use their phone or computer as a utility, nothing more.

I own an iPhone 5. The mere sight of it in the office causes some people to be fill with enough rage/ dislike/ whatever you’d like to classify it as, that it causes them to argue with me about why I don’t switch to the ‘better’ platform. What they cannot accept is that some people just don’t care, and aren’t as passionate about the same things, and aren’t interested. The fact that I still have a smart phone and haven’t dropped down to a basic phone rest solely on the fact that I just moved to a new city and the GPS and search is nice to have occasionally.

When you picks fights/ arguments with your coworkers about things as nonsensical as phone brands or carriers you need to remember, you have to see these people everyday, unlike online where you can just navigate to a different site or thread, you are impacting a real relationship with your coworkers. Over time this can harm your career at your company. Are people going to be as likely to approach you with questions after seeing you argue over something as simple as a text editor?

I think the biggest takeaway I can give is that just in general, unsolicited advice is often not received with the same intentions you had. When you tell me I’m using an inferior phone and list off some reasons; you need to realize it isn’t going to be received as a kind gesture of gratitude. It is received as obnoxious. Just as it would be if I walked around a repair shop going bay to bay telling the mechanics they have a toolbox full of junk tools because they’re overpriced or break easy. Those people aren’t going to be enlightened by my advice, they will only be annoyed.

Wrapping things up, I do want to clarify one thing I wasn’t able to get across well. I’m not saying you should avoid all conversations about which text editor to use, or which build tools you prefer. However, be reasonable about your arguments and don’t seek out conflicts where there are none.