Think Different
...not only do not have character, they do not have a soul. Peroid. Steve was already in the process of dying when the switch happened, and the death of PowerPC was the death of the real Apple. Tim Cook's Apple is a pale iphone inspired ghost of the truly great company that one was. Before you call me a poser, I've been an Apple user since 82 and a Mac user since 87. I was there in the darkest days, evangelizing like a madman. I've used and sold more macs than I've had hot meals in the last twenty five years.
Just think of some of the macs made between 98 and 2006...
Wallstreets
Pismos
Titaniums
Bondi Blue and other G3 imacs
G4 imacs
Powermac G4's
Think of the OS'es
9 (yes, I like 9, still), Jaguar, Panther, Tiger. I am deliberately leaving out Cheetah and Puma which were beta releases.
Name anything post 2006 that is even in the same league design/function wise as the above. Don't say Macbook Air, cause those are unupgradable Chinese McGarbage. Those machines had...soul. Yes, I am deliberately leaving out the G5's, which pretty much sucked. Lion, Mountain Lion? Suck. Snow Leopard? Doesn't suck as much, mostly cause it still supports PowerPC apps through Rosetta, IMHO.
Truth is, I'd rather own a Dell or Lenovo than any new Intel Mac. I've only owned two Intel macs and they were both garbage. Just one former fanboys opinion.
When I have to switch to x86 it will be going to AMD. I will also be using linux. I do not want to use a mac that is just an overpriced PC. I loved macs when they were special, when they were different, when apple actually thought different. But now AAPL is more focused on iCrap (iPhone, iPad, iPod) than producing quality computers. Now AMD is the company to switch to after PowerPC macs become too slow for use. With AMD you get to be part of a new rebel CPU architecture. Even though AMD is just a small company, much smaller than intell or nVidia, they can still produce great quality products.
My thoughts exactly, I just retired my 1st gen MacBook unibody for a Pismo. Apple has no soul or innovation anymore. There is no joy in using their products. I switched to a Macintosh SE around the Windows 95/98 era and never looked back. I would trash pick a machine or get one from a thrift store or school basement until I could afford a more modern unit. When the iMac came out, I was using a PowerBook 180c with a c-clamp on the display to put pressure on the screen to make the bottom third work.
From the 180c, I moved to a Centris 610 and then I eventually got a PowerBook G3 Wallstreet.
From there it was an even deeper love. I got an old Blue and White G3 and followed up with a Gigabit Ethernet G4. Eventually rebuilding a Pismo with eBay parts. I used that dear Pismo until it died in a Jeep accident where she came crashing down onto the floorboard and met her death.
I replaced my Pismo with a 12" PowerBook G4 which was somewhat fun to use. That machine had some issues so I eventually bit the bullet and purchased a unibody MacBook. From day one, I hated the keyboard and two-tone paint scheme. Sure the display was crystal clear and the multi-touch trackpad was cool but it wasnt a Mac. It had a wintel processor. Several months ago, the trackpad became erratic and for the past year the battery has been needing replaced. That is a relatively short life for a Macintosh considering my SE and Classic still run flawlessly floppy disk drives and all.
So what did I replace my MacBook with? A 400Mhz Pismo. I love it, I should have done it sooner. I love the keyboard, I love the sexy black curves and I love the upside-down illuminated Apple on the lid. I love the dual battery option but most of all, I love the not wintel processor. I embrace the Think Different mentality, I dont care about Windows compatibility issues, if I wanted compatibility, I would have been a PC user way back in the SE years.
I want a machine with soul, with character, with beauty. Apple left that behind years ago.
I have since upgraded to an Other World Computing 120GB SSD, have an 802.11n USB adapter on its way as well as a USB 2.0/Bluetooth PCMCIA card. I also plan to get some replacement parts for stock to keep her alive as the prices are rising and they are becoming more and more scarce.
She runs at 400Mhz with 512MB of RAM (I have a 500Mhz daughtercard on the way) and the original battery has at least a two hour life.
She boots in 41 seconds with OS X 10.4.11, yes, 41 seconds!
As for everyday use against the MacBook, I have not looked back.
I remember when using a Macintosh was not only thinking differently, it was also about standing up to Redmond and living differently.
Here's to the Crazy Ones!
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas & see a work of art?
Or, sit in silence & hear a song that's never been written?
Or, gaze at a red planet & see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
"Because the people who are crazy enough to think they
can change the world, are the ones who do."
