Steve Jobs did his annual song and dance to announce new Apple products today. I’m not a zealous PC user since I don’t believe you have to have a near-religious devotion to any particular brand of computer or OS, so I was interested in the new products, while emotionally distanced enough not to get weak in the knees with consumerist longing.
I happen to prefer Windows for the simple reason that the machines are affordable and most games and software will work on them. I also like the fact that I can replace bad hardware easily. Macs are nice-looking, and simple to learn. That seems to be the essence of their appeal. I have no quarrel with that. Computers should not vex and frustrate the user, and clearly Macs are well-designed. Some people may like Macs in order to belong to a somewhat exclusive community, and I have no quarrel with that either. Jobs has made it clear in past interviews that he wants to position Apple as the BMW of personal computing, and who wouldn’t want to drive a BMW?
There was minute to minute coverage of the Jobs keynote speech on several websites I frequent, so I will weigh in briefly with my opinion since everyone else has.
- iPod Shuffle = Meh. I’d still rather have a real iPod with real hard-drive capacity.
- Mac mini = Good. Macs need to be cheaper. There’s really no reason why they should be so expensive. I’d like to know how difficult it is to get pirated stuff on a Mac. Does anyone have a lot of experience with this? I’ve wanted a Mac to toy with as a secondary computer for a long time and the Mac mini is the price range I would operate in.
I started this post because I saw a humorous exchange over at Gizmodo where a Mac-hater and a Mac-fanatic posted competing spoof advertisements. Here’s the anti-Mac ad and here’s the rebuttal.
There is Mac software that you can find on bit torrent and IRC. The Mac people I know trade through word of mouth (because they work together at Apple). Keep in mind that you won’t have to install a lot of software because it comes on the operating system (ichat, safari, ical, itunes). The software is out there though, just not in as high demand as PC software.
Do you have a mac? If so, do you like it? Whyat do you like about it?
Yo, it's easy to find mac warez. BrokenStones.cn and usenet…. you just gotta know where to look. :)
Also why are they so expensive? Because they are quality and they retain value… and last forever. I still have the Mac IIvx I bought over 10 years ago… maybe even got it 15 years ago. Still runs fine and sometimes it still gets used for writing papers and such. I bought this MacBook Pro for 3 grand and I'm sure it will still be fast enough for most applications I need years from now. Also I got a G5 about 5 years ago.. still powerful as hell. 8gb ram/1tb hard drive and it still screams on most apps.
I'm sure it will never die. When you buy a mac you are buying a quality product that you can still resell for most of its initial value and if you want can last you forever. They never die.
The things I like most about my mac:
1. OS X.
I love having a pretty Mac OS but a POSIX UNIX certified OS under the hood. Being able to poke around in terminal is awesome and the flexibility between mainstream applications and BSD ports is sexy as hell.
2. They just work.
Never freezes. No spyware. Drag and drop. Fun. iTunes 8.
I don't know.. I guess apple turned me into a fan boy. So be it. Owning a good mac is like owning a good car… You enjoy and look forward to using it instead of dreading having to operate it.
Btw, the mac mini is not bad at all! But now you can get a macbook for less than a grand…. on macsales.com / macmall.com I think you can get one for about $850. That's the best deal right now IMO. Mac Mini wins though if you don't need a laptop!!
Yo, it's easy to find mac warez. BrokenStones.cn and usenet…. you just gotta know where to look. :)
Also why are they so expensive? Because they are quality and they retain value… and last forever. I still have the Mac IIvx I bought over 10 years ago… maybe even got it 15 years ago. Still runs fine and sometimes it still gets used for writing papers and such. I bought this MacBook Pro for 3 grand and I'm sure it will still be fast enough for most applications I need years from now. Also I got a G5 about 5 years ago.. still powerful as hell. 8gb ram/1tb hard drive and it still screams on most apps.
I'm sure it will never die. When you buy a mac you are buying a quality product that you can still resell for most of its initial value and if you want can last you forever. They never die.
The things I like most about my mac:
1. OS X.
I love having a pretty Mac OS but a POSIX UNIX certified OS under the hood. Being able to poke around in terminal is awesome and the flexibility between mainstream applications and BSD ports is sexy as hell.
2. They just work.
Never freezes. No spyware. Drag and drop. Fun. iTunes 8.
I don't know.. I guess apple turned me into a fan boy. So be it. Owning a good mac is like owning a good car… You enjoy and look forward to using it instead of dreading having to operate it.
Btw, the mac mini is not bad at all! But now you can get a macbook for less than a grand…. on macsales.com / macmall.com I think you can get one for about $850. That's the best deal right now IMO. Mac Mini wins though if you don't need a laptop!!