The cult of Mac

[imomus]

My 14" iBook fried and died on Thursday. I recognized the symptoms immediately: a freezing screen which freezes again a couple of minutes after each successive startup (a tiny bit later if it's left for a while). This same thing happened in February when I was in Hokkaido and Apple Japan replaced the motherboard under the guarantee. The computer was then only nine months old. That new motherboard lasted a mere six months. This time it's out of guarantee, and so is the replacement motherboard (Apple guarantees replacement parts for only three months). I don't have Apple Care, and although Apple extended its guarantee on the G3 models when they started having logicboard and screen problems, it hasn't done the same for its G4 range. A new motherboard, AppleCentre Gravis tell me here in Berlin, will cost me 700 euros.

There's no point. That's almost the cost of a new computer. I will simply have to buy a new iBook. I didn't lose any data (you can still access the hard disk from another computer over Firewire), but it's pretty dis-spiriting. I'm an Apple loyalist, there's really no way I'm going to switch to PCs or anything. But I've had so much trouble with these white iBooks, trouble I never had with the clamshell model that preceded them (so sturdily built!), and they're still really the only game in town if you want an Apple notebook. (The brushed silver PowerBooks feel nasty to me, they give me static shocks, they're too expensive, their WiFi capability isn't as good as the plastic models because they're metal, they're heavier...) I can't even get excited about having the opportunity to buy a new machine. How do I know the same thing won't happen again? Why aren't there better choices? (At least I know to pay for an extended warranty this time.)

The irony is that it looks like I'm about to start writing a weekly column for a California-based tech and culture magazine. My editor there is a "high priest of Macintosh" who's published a book called "Cult of the Mac". I've spent the week writing three test columns... on Hisae's iBook. Can I still claim to be an initiate in "the cult of Mac"? Well, yes. I set up Quick User Switching on Hisae's little machine, and every time I see the whole desktop swishing round, a rotating cube, from my environment to hers, from English-language to Japanese, I get a little rush of joy. Apple, you bastards, you walk all over me, you hurt me, you rob me blind. But I still love you. I guess it really is a cult. You can never leave.

Comments

[henryperri.livejournal.com]

I finally came around to buying an imac this summer and although I love the appearance of the computer I just can't stand the OS. There are some thoughtful things included, but also alot of stuff that you can't do which just boggles the mind. The Apple apologists turn a blind eye to all of these things, claiming you never needed them in the first place. Or they say "big deal". Well, it all adds up to a big deal. I'm probably gonna 'switch' back in a few months.

[ohnancydrew.livejournal.com]

what are you trying to do that you can't accomplish? i'm thinking of switching over to a mac, so what you have to say might be useful info.!

[henryperri.livejournal.com]

you know how you're able to delete files while adding songs to a winamp playlist? This isn't possible in any program in OS X. You have to go into Finder (basically, their version of My Computer) and delete it there.

When I plug a Flash memory stick into the USB port it adds a couple of empty junk files and a folder called 'trashes' to the flash's memory. And it wants you to officially 'eject' the flash stick; if you take it out otherwise it will give you a pop up warning saying that data might've been lost -- which has never happened, ever.

You know how you're able to make your windows, scrollbar and buttons whatever color you choose? With OS X, you're stuck with blue or silver scroll bars and brushed metal backgrounds. You have to download third party skins if you want it to look different (and these put a serious damper on the speed of your computer).

Let's say you're editing a line of text on a LiveJournal entry and you want to get back to the first word in the line. In windows you would hit 'home' to do this. With OS X, it scrolls to the top of the entry but leaves your cursor where it was. Totally nonsensical.

And then there's the one-button mouse...

[henryperri.livejournal.com]

oh, and the Mac versions of Soulseek are wretched.

[(Anonymous)]

that's totally untrue. both nicotine.app and soulseeX are good options, they work well and have the same features you find in soulseek. nicotine runs under X11, so maybe you should avoid it in order to save cpu and ram, but ssX works great.
FfFF

[encyclops.livejournal.com]

Most of those things seem a little obscure, all right. Windows wants me to officially "eject" Flash sticks too. The customization options for OS X are a little scant, but I found that I could never quite customize Windows enough to make it not crushingly depressing to look at. XP is a little better in that respect, but gives me only _three_ options.

The one-button mouse was good usability once upon a time; if it wasn't a Jef Raskinism it certainly follows his teachings. But once you're not a beginner anymore the second button becomes indispensable, which is why you just get off your high horse and buy a third-party two-button mouse already.

I've been a Mac loyalist for nearly two decades, but I've used Windows machines at work for the entirety of my professional life. There isn't anything (that I do) that I've found them to be superior at, except maybe getting market share and thus getting all the attention from developers. I did nearly take the plunge to try Linux right before OS X came out and answered my prayers by giving me a popular GUI with a CLI underneath.

Most of my gripes about the Mac are really gripes about Apple, who seem not to be handling their customer service demand very well, and whose hardware seems to be getting flakier, and whose prices seem to be getting more and more outrageous. It feels like Republicans vs. Democrats; voting Republican is out of the question but voting Democratic feels less and less satisfying year after year, and you really wish for a viable third contender and feel more and more doomed to never getting one.

Anyway, I love my Powerbook. I think it's actually a little lighter than the iBook, unless it's just slightly smaller, I forget which. Certainly it feels a lot more durable, though maybe that's deceptive.

Ahhh, arguing about operating systems on the internet. It doesn't get much more pointless than this.

Good luck replacing your laptop, Momus!