garyi, you're slipping

Oh yes, I am having an affair with it

Ludders,

Fair point - what was I thinking? I've started to Miele vs. Bosch vs. Asko thread.

cheers,

Dan

quote:

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Originally posted by garyi:
Oh yes, I am having an affair with it

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Ludwig,

Don't even begin to think Gary's joking. This is the country that advertises mobile phones by showing two ladies *enjoying* themselves by sitting on top of washing machines on the spin cycle...BTW did anyone other than me think this was an odd advert to show before the evening watershed?

nick.lees at btinternet.com

Can't be as bad as the ironbru advert where the unborn baby is tempted out with a can.

That sounds like a Virgin Mobile ad.

PS- Do any of you Migo?

quote:

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You Apple folks are sensitive.

I was focusing on the consumer owned iMacs, re: my upgradability comment. To have the components at the mercy of Moore's Law tied physically to the part that's a decent investment with some longevity (LCD) is bad design IMO. So is not allowing all kinds of expansion cards and drives. An iMac is just a laptop on steroids.

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Heh, sometimes we get 'sensitive' for good reason.

Years ago, back in the mid to late eighties, being a 'gadget' person, always interested in technology, I started going to computer shows, oggling the latest and greatest of this new fangled device. DOS was to me, a layman, quite impenetrable, whereas the litle Mac with it's GUI was the opposite.

But I had no need for a computer in my life, and the idea of having to take on a great deal of learning at my own expense and time, was not appealing, so they stayed an non manifested interest.

Fast forward to the mid nineties, when I did a full time 6 week 'short' course in Win 3.11, to develop my work skills. Crashes, freezes etc, were all part of the experience, despite the fun, usually it only being the techs who could rectify matters, the instructors just throwing their hands in the air, and putting one on another machine on the LAN.

So I had some rudimentary skills for the workplace, which some time shortly thereafter changed, and hence my newfound skills languished, as I now quite stubbornly refused to have a Windoze box in my home, due to the ongoing problems/high maintainence of that particular OS - 'state of the art' at the time.

Then along came the internet, and now my interest in computing for the home really began to grow. I discussed it with numerous friends, all of whom I supposed more knowledgeable/experienced than myself, and found that whenever I expressed an interest in getting a mac, my views were vociferously howled down.

Of course, as the uncertain computer owner to be, one always listens to ones peers, and just on two years ago, my first computer entered the home, a second hand Pentium 11 machine running 98SE. I still had strong reservations about PC's, but the combination of the right price, and convincing arguments from well meaning friends was hard to ignore.

I did a brief 'refresher' course at a local adult learning center, which covered such interesting topics as how to hold the mouse, and copying and pasting, , a friend loaded the OS and set it all up for me re the internet and all, and away I went.

I quickly 'took' to it, and pushed the boundaries at every turn, particulary as regards learning the OS, and wound up after 18mnths or so, of pretty much being able to troubleshoot, edit the registry etc.

Soon I felt the need for a new machine. Partly the 'need for speed' but partly because I also realised that a large percentage of my time was being taken up with maintaining the machine, dealing with the constant and nagging intrusiveness of the interface, and the innate seemingly needless complexity.

I considered both a new Windoze box with XP, or a Mac. Well, as to the 'we apple types are sensitive' the howls of derision I experienced from both friends and acquaintances was quite extreme. A number for people went right out of their way to try and dissuade me from buying a Mac.

I have no idea why this is. Perhaps it's that for those who have acquired a large degree of skill through trial and error, the thought of something that works is challenging in a way that is uncomfortable. Perhaps it is for those like so called 'audiophiles' for whom the medium is more interesting than the music, where the tinkering with the PC is more meaningful than actually doing much that is productive with it.

I agonised, but eventually trusted my own instincts, and did a very great deal of research, before buying, not without some trepidation I might add - mainly due to the dissenting voices in the background from well meaning friends etc.

So I have both. A PC and a Mac. Within the first week, I fitted an ethernet card to the PC, installed the drivers, and networked the two. I had never networked anything before. It took quite a few hours working out the TCP/IP addresses on the PC, and about all of ten minutes on the Mac. In fact from that end, dead easy.

Anyway, heheh, I don't want to be doing a big Mac/switcher 'rave' here, however, on the issue of sensitivity, yes, I do 'bite' sometimes, as I encountered so much derision before my purchase, and at times still also after it.

However, I've also learned that in point of fact, I've come to know more than quite a few of my computer friends, as where they've stuck with heresay, I've gone out there, done the research, and made a choice.

On the issue of upgradability, one could criticise the all-in-one approach of an iMac. However, IMHO, such critcism is more theoretical than literal. Yes, with a modular tower system, one can keep it 'up to date' for longer, by upgrading etc, however all computers have a finite usable life, and one has to look at the benefits cost wise v's simply putting the sale price of the machine + the upgrade funds towards a new box.

Very few of my PC friends, who touted the un-upgradability argument against an imac, actually upgrade/add on at all, unless they have a very specific/specialist use for doing so. Usually by the time one aspect of the system needs upgrading, so does everything else, and they simply buy a completely new machine.

Still, I did agonise re all in one, or tower, but settled on an iMac, and am still in love with the thing. It is without doubt one of the very best purchases I've ever made, given the amount of use I put it to, and the freedom from frustration that it offers, and the joy and fun of using it.

Anyway, pls excuse the long rant but now at least you know some of my little computing tale/journey, and why some of us Mac/bi computer users get, er, sensitive.

Warmest Regards

John...

Populist thinking exalts the simplistic and the ordinary