September 12, 2003

12'' of Pure Sex Appeal

In case I haven't mentioned it yet (and I probably have not, given how this week is coming along), I purchased a new Apple PowerBook 12'', 10 GB iPod and a HP printer I didn't even need. The total came out to be $2009.12. Yeah, I know I have a problem and I need to stop spending so much money. But, I don't think you guys understand how much I like my new computer!

Now, to be fair, I do like computers more than a normal guy might and I definitely have a lot of them, but this was my first Mac and I'm definitely impressed by what I have noticed so far. I never realized how much of a difference plain old aesthetics can really make. There is only one real word to describe this computer and that is sexy. I don't mean that in a way to imply that I want to have sex with my laptop. This is simply not the case. Furthermore, I don't mean to imply that I look for a slightly aluminum tinge and a glowing apple on potential girlfriends. This is simply not the case either. But there is definitely something about this computer that makes it sexy. I can't really describe it. Look up the word sexy in Merriam-Webster if you really doubt me. Or you could just accept it. Some things just are the way they are and this is one of those cases.

First of all, let me describe my decision to purchase a Mac in the first place. I was definitely not a fan of the Macintosh platform in high school and realistically, I still don't like OS 9. Things began to change for me with the introduction of the OS X platform a couple years ago, because it was finally at a point where I saw it as a better alternative to Windows. I considered the purchase of a Mac back in 2001 when I was seeking out a laptop, but then got heavily involved with open source alternatives such as FreeBSD and Gnome, and moreover, a Dell was just much cheaper. Last year, I finally got sick of the bulkiness of my Dell, and decided to pass it on to my sister, intending to buy the 15'' PowerBook in May. Pending rumors of a possible update, however, I waited and waited and waited until school started. On a trip to the Apple Store in Emeryville, I played around with the 12'' and realized that this was the perfect computer for me. I wasn't planning on making this computer replace my desktop. Instead, I just needed a computer that was lightweight and portable, so I could type up papers in the library and use AIM when I went home. Granted, this was a rather expensive solution to my problem, but the other thing was that I had wanted an iPod since January of 2003 and I knew trying to get it to work with my FreeBSD desktop would be a big pain in the ass. Finally and probably most importantly, I wanted to own a Mac so I could learn about some of the more complicated features it had to offer.

This week has been fairly hectic for me, so I haven't really had much of an opportunity to use the computer much, but I would like to point out some of the things I have noticed right off the bat. First of all, the size is not "too small" as many people have suggested. The fact that such a powerful computer is so small clearly just means that this is a phenomenally engineered machine. The 12'' screen doesn't bother me too much and the keyboard is fine in terms of size, even for my big ass hands. Secondly, it's so great to have a computer again that just works. I just plugged in my AirPort card in and it found my wireless access point and I was online. That's one thing I do sort of miss about Windows—the fact that a lot of hardware just works with it, whereas with *nix, you have to work and work and work, sometimes realizing that a certain piece of hardware won't work, period. Another awesome feature is Safari, Apple's default browser. I had planned to just download Mozilla immediately, but I gave Safari a shot and am amazed at how cleanly it renders websites. I must be a fan of anti-aliased fonts or something, because I've never seen a browser render websites this cleanly. It looks awesome!

One of the things that I have noticed that is kind of annoying about this computer is the lack of a second mouse button. It just makes sense to me for a mouse to have two (or more) buttons, and since this mousepad only has one, I'm constantly hitting the right side trying to right click. Furthermore, I'm not aware of how to configure some of the more advanced settings, so stupid annoying things keep happening; for instance, all PDF files will open in Preview, which I consider a shitty half-ass way of looking at PDF files, and I can't figure out how the hell to make Safari open PDFs in Acrobat. I looked through all the settings but there was just no way to do it. If and when I do have the time, I will most likely Google it because that little problem is getting super annoying. Finally, I'm not a fan of the X button not actually closing the program. I think it's stupid that it just closes the window and not the program, because many times I don't want that program running, but I hit close and it continues to bounce around in the Dock. I need to figure out if there is a setting that will allow the X button to just kill the program. This may all seem like beginner crap, and it IS! It's almost like I'm using a computer for the first time, but what's worse is that I'm coming from an environment where I could configure almost every minute detail about my setup, so when that is not possible on a proprietary computer, I'm starting to get pissed.

I definitely plan to play around more with my laptop this weekend and get a better feel for it, and also to unpack my iPod, which I have stayed away from so far. The reason being that I knew if I unpacked it, I would want to play with it, and I didn't have time this week to waste. Now that's will power, don't you think?