Category Archives: Mac

Why hard copy rules

I mean, look at that Marvel app (just look at it). I was a comic-book kid, and I’m a comic-book grownup, and the thing that made comics for me was sharing them. If there was ever a medium that relied on kids swapping their purchases around to build an audience, it was comics. And the used market for comics! It was — and is — huge, and vital. I can’t even count how many times I’ve gone spelunking in the used comic-bins at a great and musty store to find back issues that I’d missed, or sample new titles on the cheap. (It’s part of a multigenerational tradition in my family — my mom’s father used to take her and her sibs down to Dragon Lady Comics on Queen Street in Toronto every weekend to swap their old comics for credit and get new ones).

via Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either) – Boing Boing.

There will never be an iPod for a book.  I do want a technology that allows me to read pdfs and other free stuff off the web while curled up on the couch.  But actually replacing books is out of the question.

Again, it worked with music because music always required a machine.  Books are not machines so the pros of using a machine are marginal.

And I never wanted an iPad either.  Honestly, these people make amazing desktops and laptops and need to find a way to brag about it every once in a while.  This flashy stuff seems distracting.

Small is stylish

Ever since coming back to Macs, I’ve started caring about what computers look like as well as what they can do (Those who know me will recognize this as my “Apple made me shallow” complaint).  I don’t think Mac are the only ones with this sort of appeal.  While posing it with the wine flute seems like overkill, this Sony Vaio is a thing of beauty.

Hopefully, as beauty becomes more and more a sought-after commodity, functionality will become a cheap baseline that more and more of us can afford.  I’ll be content to get my aesthetic fix from the Engadget galleries using anything that works well.

More lost video

So far, nothing has worked except to use Safari again.  And today that stopped working too.  I’ve re-installed Camino and I have taken flash out of my quicktime preferences and nothing works. The only browser that I can get to work consistently is Opera.

In other news, it seems my iMac needs a new logic board.  Less than a year ago I got it replaced as part of a recall.  But this one won’t be covered.

Anyone else lose video?

UPDATE COMMENT: OK, I downloaded and reinstalled quicktime and I still can view nothing, including flash games. I have no idea what to do.

My iBook downloaded an update of quicktime and now none of my browsers show video anymore. I get just a picture of a faded q icon and a question mark. Even Safari does this for me, which makes no sense at all.

Always happy to win a convert!

Hey Mark, thank you for your recommendation that I take the plunge into the Mac world. I have had my Mac for two months now and I continue to grow in my appreciation of it. I had been a PC man for 15 years and the idea of crossing over initially frightened me. But you were right when you told me that Macs runs themselves and it wouldn’t be long before I learned the ropes. It is the first time in 15 years that I have felt like my computer works for me instead of me having to work around my computer. Thanks again.

I love getting this kind of feedback. Believe it or not, I’m not really a machead. If you’re looking for a bargain for your desktop, you can consider pcs and still be rational.

But when someone tells me (as this PCA pastor did) they are looking for a laptop. I simply have not found anything that compares to an apple. In terms of size, weight, and battery life alone, they are amazing. (My iBook also has great sound but someone told me that they were surprised to find the macbook was not quit as good.)

If you are looking for a laptop, you should certainly consider making the switch. Now, with google docs ready to open Office docs for you, I’m not even sure you will need to buy Microsoft Office right away.