It's quitting time at the office, and as usual I'm more than ready to start booking toward home. And so it's time to turn off the laptop computer that's sitting in its wonderful docking station on my desk. A great invention. Since it's running on Windows XP, of course, to turn off the computer you click on "Start."
Well, gosh, the wonder that is Microsoft must have been working in the background, because rather than ask me if I want to "shut down," now it's offering "Install updates and shut down." Hmmmm. Is that installing one update for 10 seconds? Ten updates for an hour? No clue is offered. And what is the nature of these updates? Are they crucial, or can they wait? Again, not a hint. And why didn't they get installed over the two straight hours that the computer sat idle earlier in the evening? Life is mysterious.
Hesitantly, I click "OK" -- who wants an out-of-date version of Windows running? -- and up pops a stern warning not to turn off the computer until the updates are complete.
Only then comes the punchline: "Installing update 1 of 9."
Five minutes later, we're on "Installing update 5 of 9," and still the warning, don't you dare stop this in midstream. Another two minutes, and we're still on update 5 of 9. No clue as to how long no. 5 is going to take. Or nos. 6 through 9, either. No progress bar. No time estimate.
I cuss out Bill Gates, put on my coat, turn off the lights, and leave the stupid thing behind. Update this.
I've been married to the same man since I started using computers, "Mac." I've never know any other but Mac. Then my secretary quit and I had to learn the "Windows" billing program. What's this? "The program MUST shut down now." Not even an apology! Do you want to report it it asks? Yeah, like someone is REALLY going to take note and fix it! If that is not traumatic enough, it has the nerve to tell me it is installing updates. My MAC always asks me first. What a rude program. I am indignant. It just goes to show ya--the grass is never greener on the other side. Now that I have some relativity, I see how wonderful MAC is! No divorce for me!
It's this constant nagging that finally sent me over the wall three years ago -- I disassembled my HP desktop and took the parts to the recycler, and replaced it with a Mac Powerbook. A year later I upgraded to a Macbook Pro, that I've now had for almost two years. Is it perfect? No. But it is so much better than any Windows machine I have ever used (before or since) that specific comparisons are superfluous. You quickly get the impression that the Apple software designers are brilliant, and the ones up in Redmond are morons.
One thing I've always liked about my Macs is how the update screen pops up to ask if you'd like to install the updates, as soon as they're available. There's a list with the items, their size, and an option to selectively install one update, some, or all.
One thing I've always liked about my Macs is how the update screen pops up to ask if you'd like to install the updates, as soon as they're available. There's a list with the items, their size, and an option to selectively install one update, some, or all.
My Windows PC does that too...its all in the settings.
Last year I bought, a few months apart, a Windows PC and a MacBook. I wanted to connect them both to my home network, a wireless system that goes through a router from the phone company. I unpacked the Mac, plugged it in, turned it on, and had it on the network within 3 minutes of getting it out of the box. The PC took an hour to set up before I could get to the network and the connection failed three times in five days, each time sending me in search of the password.
Then try "terminal" mode in OS X. OS X is built on Unix, and a full version of Unix including its extensive manual is available through the "terminal" command, which allows command-line control of all aspects of the operating system for geeks and others who like it that way.
We do a lot of file manipulation on customers' systems via dial up modem connections. Takes forever to drag and drop folders and refresh the GUI interface after each action. I bail out to the command prompt, issue a few DOS commands and bam... all done.
Linux. It's free, and you can build it anyway you want to. I use both Windoze and Linux, and have found open-source to be at least as functional as M$ products.
What I'm using at any particular time simply depends upon which system I happen to be using on the network.
I bought my first Mac a year ago after having bought and been an expert user on every damn MS iteration since MS-DOS (circa 1984).
Finally wised up (Ok, I'm slow) and realized that the time spent (wasted) learning to defend myself and overcome MS stupidity all those years was simply a hidden charge that I had been conditioned not to recognize. My last night with a Windows box ended at 4 a.m. with STILL no internet connectivity via Qwest's DSL and MSNetwork.
As the story about Mac so often goes, I got the thing in the mail, put it on my desk, plugged in the network cable and have never looked back and have never had a moment's trouble.
I wouldn't take a new MS box as a gift -- except to the return counter so I could apply the cost to the higher upfront cost of a Mac.
Just the setup time and screwing around trying to fix all the idiocies of Windoze equalizes the difference in out-of-pocket cost. A friend at work has one of the new hyperthin Macs -- awesome.
The funny thing is that, although there are cheaper PC boxes, if you compare hardware features, performance and included software, the Mac prices really aren't higher.
"...if you compare hardware features, performance and included software, the Mac prices really aren't higher."
---
Yeah, right. And if you divide the total price by the number of hours in a year, it appears to be very cheap indeed.
The future is open source, ala linux. Did you know Linus was living in Portland for a while? Portland is a haven for FOSS (Free & Open Source SW).
You don't have to build a kernal to enjoy open source sw. But you get to be free from the M$ tax, or the Apple tax. FOSS has been driving down expensive app sw for a while now, and it will only accelerate.
The saying used to be that Macs cost more but you get more than what you pay for. But you're right, Allan; these days the difference in quality remains while the difference in price has shrunk to nominal.
Beyond the more obvious Mac selling points—trouble-free set-up, ease of use, aesthetics, the relative absence of viruses, worms and trojan horses, etc., etc.,—there is this more ephemeral character to the Mac: it feels graceful to use. It's a very difficult property to describe, but it essentially accomplishes the ideal of industrial design: it is unnecessarily gratifying. And this reads as luxury to most people. Excessive. Gratuitous and egotistical waste. Pointless showboating where mere honest utility will suffice.
But it's not. It's merely the cumulative result of intergenerational care and investment, exceptionally good design with a broad, developed infrastructure; something that everybody can reasonably envision as being a part of their lives. You know, like the iPod. Or health care.
MacBook Pro, all the way. Before that it was a Powerbook, which lasted for 5 years before I decided it was too slow and it was time for an upgrade.
Before that, Linux. Too much work for me, but some people are into that, and I respect that.
Friend of mine who prefers Microsoft for some weird reason finally got XP Pro working great, right where he likes it, after a lot of work. Then he decided on a new Windoze laptop, and had to spend hours upon hours upon hours getting rid of every trace of Vista, which he has nothing but unprintable words for.
One thing that did annoy me with the changeover to the Intel-based MacBooks from the PPC ones was that a lot of my old software is incompatible with the new hardware, stuff like Photoshop and these free VST musical instruments I'd found over the years. But, people are porting more and more universal binary freebies all the time as more folks change over, so it's all good. That, and Macs generally come with a killer software package, anyway.
Like others have said, it's been a mostly plug-in and go experience for me.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (29)
Turn off automatic updates ;)
Posted by Joey Link | February 15, 2008 12:35 AM
Get a Mac.
Posted by telecom | February 15, 2008 1:47 AM
I've been married to the same man since I started using computers, "Mac." I've never know any other but Mac. Then my secretary quit and I had to learn the "Windows" billing program. What's this? "The program MUST shut down now." Not even an apology! Do you want to report it it asks? Yeah, like someone is REALLY going to take note and fix it! If that is not traumatic enough, it has the nerve to tell me it is installing updates. My MAC always asks me first. What a rude program. I am indignant. It just goes to show ya--the grass is never greener on the other side. Now that I have some relativity, I see how wonderful MAC is! No divorce for me!
Posted by Roxanne Mossman | February 15, 2008 6:35 AM
It's this constant nagging that finally sent me over the wall three years ago -- I disassembled my HP desktop and took the parts to the recycler, and replaced it with a Mac Powerbook. A year later I upgraded to a Macbook Pro, that I've now had for almost two years. Is it perfect? No. But it is so much better than any Windows machine I have ever used (before or since) that specific comparisons are superfluous. You quickly get the impression that the Apple software designers are brilliant, and the ones up in Redmond are morons.
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2008 6:50 AM
One thing I've always liked about my Macs is how the update screen pops up to ask if you'd like to install the updates, as soon as they're available. There's a list with the items, their size, and an option to selectively install one update, some, or all.
Posted by jud | February 15, 2008 7:22 AM
One thing I've always liked about my Macs is how the update screen pops up to ask if you'd like to install the updates, as soon as they're available. There's a list with the items, their size, and an option to selectively install one update, some, or all.
My Windows PC does that too...its all in the settings.
Posted by Jon | February 15, 2008 7:41 AM
i've used a Mac and Windows ever since there was a Mac and Windows. Apple designers generally get it. Microsoft designers don't.
join us, Jack?
Posted by ecohuman | February 15, 2008 7:44 AM
My Windows PC does that too...its all in the settings.
My Mac does it without asking, and without me having to tell it to do so. that is the essential, critical difference between the two systems.
Posted by ecohuman | February 15, 2008 7:46 AM
"My Mac does it without asking, and without me having to tell it to do so. that is the essential, critical difference between the two systems."
Yeah. Mac runs you and you have no control. Micro$loth can be controlled if you take the time to learn how.
Posted by Nonny Mouse | February 15, 2008 7:54 AM
Mac runs you and you have no control.
Trust me. On this, you haven't a clue.
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2008 9:03 AM
The last decent operating system was MS DOS 6.22.
Give me a command prompt anyday.
Posted by Dave Lister | February 15, 2008 9:21 AM
Last year I bought, a few months apart, a Windows PC and a MacBook. I wanted to connect them both to my home network, a wireless system that goes through a router from the phone company. I unpacked the Mac, plugged it in, turned it on, and had it on the network within 3 minutes of getting it out of the box. The PC took an hour to set up before I could get to the network and the connection failed three times in five days, each time sending me in search of the password.
Posted by Isaac Laquedem | February 15, 2008 9:24 AM
Give me a command prompt anyday.
Then try "terminal" mode in OS X. OS X is built on Unix, and a full version of Unix including its extensive manual is available through the "terminal" command, which allows command-line control of all aspects of the operating system for geeks and others who like it that way.
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2008 9:50 AM
Actually OS X is based on the NeXTstep OS which was based on the BSD variant of Unix.
Posted by Michael | February 15, 2008 10:50 AM
We do a lot of file manipulation on customers' systems via dial up modem connections. Takes forever to drag and drop folders and refresh the GUI interface after each action. I bail out to the command prompt, issue a few DOS commands and bam... all done.
And yes, I am a dinosaur.
Posted by Dave Lister | February 15, 2008 11:24 AM
Actually OS X is based on the NeXTstep OS which was based on the BSD variant of Unix.
in other words, as Allan said, Unix.
Posted by ecohuman | February 15, 2008 11:45 AM
This Mac user seems to be having problems bad enough to ask Steve Jobs for help.
Posted by Jon | February 15, 2008 12:23 PM
Linux. It's free, and you can build it anyway you want to. I use both Windoze and Linux, and have found open-source to be at least as functional as M$ products.
What I'm using at any particular time simply depends upon which system I happen to be using on the network.
Posted by max | February 15, 2008 1:00 PM
Linux.
Done.
Don't be stupid on purpose; it gives the tragic condition a bad image.
Posted by Tenskwatawa | February 15, 2008 3:55 PM
Linux. It's free, and you can build it anyway you want to.
Who the hell wants to build it? I just want to use it.
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2008 4:19 PM
Who the hell wants to build it? I just want to use it.
Stupid is as stupid does. Me, I enjoy building stuff. You may run to Best Buy; I build my own systems. And I get a lot more bang for the buck.
Posted by max | February 15, 2008 4:53 PM
I bought my first Mac a year ago after having bought and been an expert user on every damn MS iteration since MS-DOS (circa 1984).
Finally wised up (Ok, I'm slow) and realized that the time spent (wasted) learning to defend myself and overcome MS stupidity all those years was simply a hidden charge that I had been conditioned not to recognize. My last night with a Windows box ended at 4 a.m. with STILL no internet connectivity via Qwest's DSL and MSNetwork.
As the story about Mac so often goes, I got the thing in the mail, put it on my desk, plugged in the network cable and have never looked back and have never had a moment's trouble.
I wouldn't take a new MS box as a gift -- except to the return counter so I could apply the cost to the higher upfront cost of a Mac.
Just the setup time and screwing around trying to fix all the idiocies of Windoze equalizes the difference in out-of-pocket cost. A friend at work has one of the new hyperthin Macs -- awesome.
Posted by George Seldes | February 15, 2008 6:16 PM
The funny thing is that, although there are cheaper PC boxes, if you compare hardware features, performance and included software, the Mac prices really aren't higher.
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2008 7:20 PM
"...if you compare hardware features, performance and included software, the Mac prices really aren't higher."
---
Yeah, right. And if you divide the total price by the number of hours in a year, it appears to be very cheap indeed.
The future is open source, ala linux. Did you know Linus was living in Portland for a while? Portland is a haven for FOSS (Free & Open Source SW).
You don't have to build a kernal to enjoy open source sw. But you get to be free from the M$ tax, or the Apple tax. FOSS has been driving down expensive app sw for a while now, and it will only accelerate.
Thank you Linus.
Posted by Harry | February 15, 2008 8:30 PM
The saying used to be that Macs cost more but you get more than what you pay for. But you're right, Allan; these days the difference in quality remains while the difference in price has shrunk to nominal.
Beyond the more obvious Mac selling points—trouble-free set-up, ease of use, aesthetics, the relative absence of viruses, worms and trojan horses, etc., etc.,—there is this more ephemeral character to the Mac: it feels graceful to use. It's a very difficult property to describe, but it essentially accomplishes the ideal of industrial design: it is unnecessarily gratifying. And this reads as luxury to most people. Excessive. Gratuitous and egotistical waste. Pointless showboating where mere honest utility will suffice.
But it's not. It's merely the cumulative result of intergenerational care and investment, exceptionally good design with a broad, developed infrastructure; something that everybody can reasonably envision as being a part of their lives. You know, like the iPod. Or health care.
Posted by telecom | February 15, 2008 9:09 PM
Did you know Linus was living in Portland for a while?
Wow, that changes everything. And all this time I thought Torvalds had been in Beaverton. If I'd only known . . . .
Posted by Allan L. | February 15, 2008 9:09 PM
MacBook Pro, all the way. Before that it was a Powerbook, which lasted for 5 years before I decided it was too slow and it was time for an upgrade.
Before that, Linux. Too much work for me, but some people are into that, and I respect that.
Friend of mine who prefers Microsoft for some weird reason finally got XP Pro working great, right where he likes it, after a lot of work. Then he decided on a new Windoze laptop, and had to spend hours upon hours upon hours getting rid of every trace of Vista, which he has nothing but unprintable words for.
One thing that did annoy me with the changeover to the Intel-based MacBooks from the PPC ones was that a lot of my old software is incompatible with the new hardware, stuff like Photoshop and these free VST musical instruments I'd found over the years. But, people are porting more and more universal binary freebies all the time as more folks change over, so it's all good. That, and Macs generally come with a killer software package, anyway.
Like others have said, it's been a mostly plug-in and go experience for me.
Posted by Cabbie | February 16, 2008 6:32 AM
Jack, Jack, Jack.......
Don't you know better than to start religious debates like this?
;)
I'm a PC guy 'cause I have no clue how to use one of those MAC things.....to me, MACK is a truck......
Posted by thaddeus | February 16, 2008 11:06 AM
OLPC. The next world.
The last word: Children.
Verb: Educate.
---
Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?, By PATRICIA COHEN, NYTimes, February 14, 2008.
Posted by Tenskwatawa | February 16, 2008 7:47 PM