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I will be in Seattle in September, and back in Waterloo next January.

Computer Sacrilege

October 24th, 2004

I want a Mac.

Seriously, I thought this day would never come. Jokes abound online and elsewhere about the technical skill level required to operate a Mac, and once upon a time, I was a participant in such humour.

But several months ago I discovered a good friend who’d purchased a Mac for his new home computer.

Since then, I’ve really re-evaluated what I even use the computer for. I realised that I don’t play games. I’ve never been a serious gamer. The last game I played was like grade 10, and that was Max Payne. Yes, it’s an awesome shooter with brilliant plot and gorgeous graphics. And it’s full of style. But the main thing is that it was second year of high school and I just wasn’t that busy, so there was time.

I don’t have time like that now. The time I’m using to type this up could be used to catch up on sleep before I head to a Calculus Review Session at four o’clock.

So what do I use the computer for? Well, primarily for word processing, web development, instant messaging, and multimedia. What of that functionality is not available for Mac? In fact, most of the software I use, like FileZilla, is open-source, and available for any platform.

The most attractive thing about the Mac, though, surpassing anything else, is iLife. For like $50, you get iPhoto, which completely owns Picasa or anything else available for PC, iTunes, a similar product for organizing MP3s, iMovie2, which destroys Windows Movie Maker in every way, iDVD, which lets you author and burn movies to disc, plus GarageBand, which is basically a clone of SonicFoundry’s ACID, a loop-music program that is very dear to me.

It’s not that I can’t handle a PC. I enjoy the fight. But between the iLife package, the chic appearance, the promise of no hardware trouble, you can’t really beat it. Except, of course, for the price. Like I have $2000 to throw at a PowerBook.

I do enjoy being financially independent though. The other day the ink head on my printer died. This is like an $80 thing to replace, and I’ve done twice before on the $120 unit. So I surfed to my trusty forums and asked the boys what to go for in terms of entry-level laser printers. Turns out that the Samsung ML 1740 is an excellent model, and with the right coupon codes, the price can be knocked down $90, plus a $30 rebate… and shipping is free. Well, Oreo_The_Cookie from Rage3d recommended it, corroborated by several review sites, so I’m having it delivered Tuesday. No printing until then.

Mike

← Earlier Later → Posted at 5:59 pm to Uncategorized.

Discussion

  1. I’m astonished.

    But, as I recover from my initial speechlessness, I’d say that it’s great to be willing to change one’s mind about something, and it makes the rest of us sit up and reconsider our own views (and prejudices?) . Good luck with your laser printer, Michael, and if you get a Mac, I’ll look forward to giving it a test drive !

    Posted at 4:01 pm on December 31st by Papa.

  2. Noo, you are being converted to the darkside! You have always hated gimmicks, and isn’t Mac OS all gimmicks. ITunes is garbage, even WMP beats it left and center. Nothing is functional in Mac it’s all for show, like their stupid taskbar, there is still only one button, the dumb apple key, and the inability to find anything. Then there’s the price, and the fact that people at McGill with macs are more often than not, screwed when it comes to doing online assignment and listening to lectures online. You can’t upgrade them for beans and you’re stuck with buying Apple products for the rest of the life cycle of the Mac. Ohh and have i mentioned one mouse button? Stick to PC’s and Windows the right way to have a computer run!

    Posted at 4:01 pm on December 31st by Xaero.

  3. Heh… don’t think there’s any real concern in the short term. If I ever DID own a mac, I think the first thing I’d do is plug in my handy-dandy USB Microsoft Mouse. The ‘universal’ universal serial bus is a double-edged sword. : )

    Posted at 4:01 pm on December 31st by Mike.

  4. I have a question for Xaero: ever used a Mac? I’m not a real fan of eye-candy myself, but having had some exposure to a OS X, I’ve found that it really doesn’t hurt. OS X is by far one of the nicest, best thought out interfaces on the the planet. Stuff like expose sounds pretty silly, but they make it work well.

    Your argument in favour of functionality over gimmicks is completely negated by the fact that you go on to recommend Windows.

    In terms of compatibility, OS X is BSD based, POSIX compliant, and comes with gcc. Therefore it is compatible just about any worthwhile application. (You can even run Portage!)

    Anyway, no need for an all out religious war, but most of the people I know who are interested in doing anything usefull with their computers would be very happy with a G5. (Not that they would necessarily be able to take the price tag)

    Posted at 4:01 pm on December 31st by Daniel.

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