A requiem for Apple

[DeadlyBreakfast]

Ok. So this is not really going to be a requiem but I've been trying to work that word in somewhere.

Anyway. Here goes....


I want a Mac. I have been a Microsoftee for many years. I have always held fast to the way of Windows. Before that DOS . I had a few years of Amiga and I was Commodore geek in my early teens.Timex Sinclair and TI99-4A somewhere in there also. Even back then I was swayed towards Apple now and then. Bolo was a game I rememeber playing back in 81 or 82.

I am a programmer by trade. Manufacturing software and test systems for electronics mostly. A few co-workers are Apple fans. They don't flaunt it but will happily answer any question I have. During one of my trips to Comp-USA I saw it. The iMac. It was a sight to behold. Then I actually took the time to look around the Apple section and what I saw was a feast for the eyes. Bright colors and beautiful form factors everywhere. X was it. The way the desktop was layed out , the controls, the new list of shortcuts to rememeber. I wanted to . For some reason I feel I have to. The iBook has got to be the best looking laptop I have ever seen. The size is actually something I could use in my lap. Again, the screen is amazing. I'm not sure what it is about it. I've seen bigger, I own bigger. Flat out my laptop is ugly. Every white box PC we have is ugly. To make a PC something you want to show off it takes neon lights and fancy paint. Apples have beauty out of the box. Enduring beauty. Like a Mercedes. It doesn't need to be modifed.

I remember a speech Jobs gave a while ago. I'm sure the words have been spoken many times. He wanted "to make me want to create something great". There really IS something about an Apple that makes me want to create. Suddenly I don't want to listen to mp3s on my PC at home. I have this wierd feeling that they would sound better on an Apple. I know its silly but I cannot escape it. I want to make movies. I want to get Photoshop and create. Heck , I want to get an iBook just to write a book.

I have had this feeling for a while now, but today I saw the beam of light come down from my office light. (I did call our facility manager to confirm it wasen't a power surge, just in case.) I was working on a Win98 laptop. I changed the effect setting so that the window would show the contents while dragging. A simple little tweak. Nothing earth shattering. Now, when I reboot, my icons which were neatly arranged on my desktop,are scattered like confetti on new years eve. Why?? Who the hell knows. Is it something easy to fix. Change the setting back maybe? Naw.....Is it something easy to fix...I have to say it sure as hell is not as easy as it should be. I realized that this is rediculous. The moving icons. The licensing agreements. All the little problems just keep adding up.

I realize that all software has bugs, but some things should just work all the time. Birds should fly. The sun should rise. The Earth should turn...and my freakin icons should stay where they are without having to jump through hoops to get them to,(pause) dammit!!!

I want change. I want flair. I want a machine that has had some thought put into it , not just trendy here and now get it off the shelf design. Its simple.....I want a Mac.

Thanks for reading my rant...

 

[sparkleytone]

lol, that is a nice little anecdote.

i remember around this time one year ago i began to feel that way about my computer. i was running windowsXP golden master, i had been beta testing it before then, and all of the sudden i wasnt all that enthusiastic about my computer anymore. this was my baby. i built it, earned all the money for it one summer, overclocked it, tweaked it, etc. linux, win2k, winxp, etc etc etc...but i knew why it was suddenly just a piece of metal.

i had been working at compusa for 4 months then, and in the second month...i was formally introduced to the world of apple by the Apple employee there. From then on, OS X haunted me. I loved it...and for the first time, I began to seriously consider a laptop. I had never been able to understand why anyone would want a laptop. You got so much less than a desktop for so much more. Then it really didnt matter anymore. The iBook seemed to be a great price, and I didnt think that you really lost anything for what you paid. I mean hey, I get OS X right??

I bought one in late October, and I am now selling my old pc to a friend that needs a stopgap computer to hold him over until he goes all out on his first mac. I am the annoying machead who evangelizes to the unsaved sinners of the PC world. Hell, I just offered a sales pitch on apple to the girl sitting next to me

I hope to see a post of yours in a month or so that states how happy you are to have switched.