Today my Mac is off somewhere being repaired and I am stuck surfing on the couch with my work-issued T42 Thinkpad. The Thinkpad is a nice machine and the corporate-issued desktop is functional, but it's just not a Mac. When asked to compare the Mac vs PC I say that working with a Mac is like working with a computer that was designed and through through to work as in instrument to further the experience of the user. Using a PC feels like sitting in a cave, bashing away on a clay tablet with the hopes that the tablet won't break and someone may someday decipher what you were trying to say.
So, Apple, I do hope you get that hard disk thing worked out. This really should have been handled by a recall instead of just hoping that the disks wouldn't fail in record numbers. In short, the whole "disk failure" syndrome could have been managed better but that said, I just want my Mac back. Please?
Friday, July 4, 2008
Frye? Frye? Frye?
Yesterday I took a trip to the apple store to drop off my head macbook. I shouldn't have been so harsh on Apple. True, they picked some faulty hardware as a component of their expensive laptops but I'm sure it's biting them on the rear end right now about.
One thing was absent from the store: the Macbook Air. There were, literally, none on display. And I looked, quite hard actually. Perhaps they are going to revision two of internal hardware? Maybe. Perhaps. Who knows. Let's hope they come up with a user-changeable battery (and I'd really like to see one more USB somewhere an 10/100/1000 dongleless Ethernet port - PLEASE!). To that thought why do we have to have the long, flat USB port on the side? Why can we have long/flat and one mini-B USB connector? I'm sure there's some kind of reason but what that reason is I do not know (though I would venture to guess the mini-B USB is low power, USB 1.0 only, or something along those lines).
One more thing: Apple dropped the price of the Macbook Air with the solid-state 64 gig drive by $500.00. At over $2500.00, and close to $3k with Apple Care, the laptop is still wildly expensive, but at the same time, very cool. Plus with a solid-state drive you remove the major vulnerability of the laptop lines: weak hard drives. Still, with a solid-state drive you can now have a laptop where the only moving parts are the hinged laptop lid and keys on the keyboard. That alone is a pretty compelling argument for ownership.
One thing was absent from the store: the Macbook Air. There were, literally, none on display. And I looked, quite hard actually. Perhaps they are going to revision two of internal hardware? Maybe. Perhaps. Who knows. Let's hope they come up with a user-changeable battery (and I'd really like to see one more USB somewhere an 10/100/1000 dongleless Ethernet port - PLEASE!). To that thought why do we have to have the long, flat USB port on the side? Why can we have long/flat and one mini-B USB connector? I'm sure there's some kind of reason but what that reason is I do not know (though I would venture to guess the mini-B USB is low power, USB 1.0 only, or something along those lines).
One more thing: Apple dropped the price of the Macbook Air with the solid-state 64 gig drive by $500.00. At over $2500.00, and close to $3k with Apple Care, the laptop is still wildly expensive, but at the same time, very cool. Plus with a solid-state drive you remove the major vulnerability of the laptop lines: weak hard drives. Still, with a solid-state drive you can now have a laptop where the only moving parts are the hinged laptop lid and keys on the keyboard. That alone is a pretty compelling argument for ownership.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Roku movie wated: Heavy Metal
Another classic from days of yore, 1981 to be exact. If you want to see firsthand how far animation in cinema has come over the years watch Heavy Metal. This movie is probably the last major motion picture that will be animated in this particular way, so it is a classic in that sense.
If you haven't seen the movie I don't want to ruin it for you but I will say that even though this is an animated movie it is NOT for children!! There is quite a lot of (animated) sex and nudity. My favorite story of the five presented was the B-17 sequence. Good stuff.
*** out of *****
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
One more thing
My wife has reminded me that we had another laptop which brings the total to five Apple laptops owned in our household. The "other" laptop was a G4 iBook and that laptop was never sent back to Apple for repair. That brings the hardware failure rate downt to 80% from 100%. 80% is still far from acceptable, just for the record.
Another One Bites the Dust
Today was the day my Macbook hard drive gave up the ghost. Now, let me do some calculations. Two Macbooks in the same house.. subtract 2.. carry the 1... divide by 10. Ok, that means that my Macbooks have had a 100% failure rate within the first three years. *NICE* Oh, and keep in mind our old G4 TiBook went back to the shop once and my G3 iBook went back twice.
Apple, I've owned many, many laptops and yours are the only ones that I've ever witnessed have a predictable <3 year hardware failure rate. This is simply unacceptable, has been unacceptable and remains so. Why am I paying a premium, and a fairly hefty one, to continue to have these kinds of problems? If you figure it out, please let me know.
While you're thinking about that keep in mind that I just dusted off a eight year old beast of a HP laptop out of mothball, installed Linux and made a file server for a local business that couldn't afford decent hardware. Guess what? IT WORKS! I still like OS X but with the advancements in Ubuntu I ask myself what would I really miss if I switched right back to where I switched from? Back when I got my G3 iBook OS X was a clear leader on non-Micro$oft desktops. Now, not so much. Some OS X only applications are nice, but really, let's face it, I could unlock my iPod all the same and use it under Linux. Or I could just toss the damn thing. Or resell my iPod Touch (e-mail if you're interested, I might make a sweet package deal on a Macbook with a fresh OS X install, new HD and a 16 gig iPod touch).
Should my Macbook die again (my Applecare expires around June/09) the laptop picture above, or one like it, could well be my next personal use laptop.
Apple, I've been a good ambassador for you and your products. I've personally helped switch people. But a 100% failure rate over the life of FOUR laptops is, as I have stated, simply unacceptable. Get your hardware in order!!! Really, Mr. Jobs? How are you allowing this to continue? Where is your eye for detail? Does it stop at the desktop and a pretty case these days? It should not. I had my sights set on upgrading to a Macbook Pro next round of bonuses. Now, I'm not so sure. This is getting more than a little annoying.
Apple, I've owned many, many laptops and yours are the only ones that I've ever witnessed have a predictable <3 year hardware failure rate. This is simply unacceptable, has been unacceptable and remains so. Why am I paying a premium, and a fairly hefty one, to continue to have these kinds of problems? If you figure it out, please let me know.
While you're thinking about that keep in mind that I just dusted off a eight year old beast of a HP laptop out of mothball, installed Linux and made a file server for a local business that couldn't afford decent hardware. Guess what? IT WORKS! I still like OS X but with the advancements in Ubuntu I ask myself what would I really miss if I switched right back to where I switched from? Back when I got my G3 iBook OS X was a clear leader on non-Micro$oft desktops. Now, not so much. Some OS X only applications are nice, but really, let's face it, I could unlock my iPod all the same and use it under Linux. Or I could just toss the damn thing. Or resell my iPod Touch (e-mail if you're interested, I might make a sweet package deal on a Macbook with a fresh OS X install, new HD and a 16 gig iPod touch).
Should my Macbook die again (my Applecare expires around June/09) the laptop picture above, or one like it, could well be my next personal use laptop.
Apple, I've been a good ambassador for you and your products. I've personally helped switch people. But a 100% failure rate over the life of FOUR laptops is, as I have stated, simply unacceptable. Get your hardware in order!!! Really, Mr. Jobs? How are you allowing this to continue? Where is your eye for detail? Does it stop at the desktop and a pretty case these days? It should not. I had my sights set on upgrading to a Macbook Pro next round of bonuses. Now, I'm not so sure. This is getting more than a little annoying.
Movie Watched via Roku: Beer Drinkers in Space
The Roku delivers another gem. This time around it was Beer Drinkers in Space. Created in 1983 by a group of friends who worked for Disney this movie showcases what early home movie-making was all about: VHS on SLP (super long play, you youngins') manually "cut" using a playback VCR and a record VCR. Lighting is horrible, acting is little better (these aren't professionals, just a few guys who wanted to make a movie) and, oh lord, the puppets.
What is the movie about? It's about Captain Slosh and his merry men who need to delivery beer to "Nebulae 7-11". Along the way they meet aliens and run into all kinds of disasters. "Keep drinking men!" "Code RED!"
It would be easy to dismiss this movie but I won't. In fact, I loved it. Why? This movie shows what a small group of regular people can do when properly motivated. These guys wrote their own script, built their own sets, filmed, edited and released their own movie. And this was all well before anything like digital cameras and Final Cut Pro were on the scene. In fact, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say exactly ZERO computers were used during the filming of this movie (as safe bet for a movie filmed in 1983).
I take my hat off to Frank Delle. Frank, you had a vision and rather then do nothing you assembled a cast and crew of friends and brought your vision to fruition. I hope your movie lives on as inspiration to future filmmakers now and forever in the future. Oh, and Frank, I just added your follow-up documentary, "Keep Drinking Men! The Making of Beer Drinkers in Space", to my Roku list and I intend to watch that film this weekend.
Do you want to make a movie? You have nearly limitless tools at your finger trips these fine men could only have dreamed of back in 1983. Dust off that camera and start filming!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
What do I do this weekend?
For the first time in a long while I am both a) not on-call for work and b) not going to the beach. Odd sounding, isn't it? Why not go to the beach on a "free" three-day weekend? In short, it will be far too crowded. Too many people end up going down there on Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day. It's a small island and when it's invaded to that degree with prefer to stay away.
So, what do we do? The garden needs some work. I have to install an new muffler on the riding mower and the yard needs to be mowed. Past that.. I don't know. I'll probably give the Roku player a serious workout. I might even watch some movies that will bore Kelly to tears, that is if she's doing something else and I can play a few things that interest me but have no interest to her. We'll see. (In my defense I don't recall being asked anything along the lines of "do you like documentaries that most people would find less interesting than watching grass grow?" That said, I should have offered that information without being asked but honestly, who could have envisioned back in 1995 that we would have something like a Roku player? Or high-speed Internet to the home?)
So that's it for me. It will be a celebratory weekend of NOT spending $100 at the pump. Sounds good to me.
So, what do we do? The garden needs some work. I have to install an new muffler on the riding mower and the yard needs to be mowed. Past that.. I don't know. I'll probably give the Roku player a serious workout. I might even watch some movies that will bore Kelly to tears, that is if she's doing something else and I can play a few things that interest me but have no interest to her. We'll see. (In my defense I don't recall being asked anything along the lines of "do you like documentaries that most people would find less interesting than watching grass grow?" That said, I should have offered that information without being asked but honestly, who could have envisioned back in 1995 that we would have something like a Roku player? Or high-speed Internet to the home?)
So that's it for me. It will be a celebratory weekend of NOT spending $100 at the pump. Sounds good to me.
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