The Geekorium

A teacher is after a new laptop, and asked if they should “just buy a Mac”.

A few years ago the answer would have been “absolutely”. Not because I was a Mac fan-boy (I was) but because compared to XP or even Vista, the Apple operating system and overall computer experience was just much better. Nowadays my answer is not so clear cut. I told him that of course “it depends”. What’s changed?

Microsoft released Windows 7, and slowly pushed itself back to it’s feet to fight another round with Apple.

1. Win 7 is faster, easier to use and lighter on resources than XP/Vista and is just a joy to use.
2. A standard Dell Vostro¹ with an i5 processor, 4Gb memory, 500 Gb space and a 15“ screen will cost you $1500 (plus $250 for a three year warranty if you want). An equivalent Mac will cost $2570 (add $580 for a three year warranty). That’s an enormous difference.

Once upon a time, a Mac was harder to compare - they used completely different technology and the operating systems were chalk and cheese. Microsoft had effectively stalled for 10 years on the desktop, and Apple was releasing new features and innovations every couple of years. Now it’s different. I’m just as happy (happier?) on my PC than I was on my Mac - largely owing to the fact that I could get more power under my keyboard for the same money.

There are of course still a lot of arguments for the Mac operating system. Used in conjunction with an iPhone/iPod/AppleTV/Airport it can seem like magic. The idea that “Macs just work” is still very pervasive². At the end of the day it’s about what works for you.

1. Do you already have a Mac? Maybe get another - the things they can do together are sometimes pretty neat.
2. Do you like top notch industrial design? Macs cannot be flawed for how well they’re designed and built.
3. There is speciality software on the Mac that just have no competitors on the PC in the same price bracket - software like Delicious Library, Transmit, Coda, Rapidweaver. They’re all wonderfully crafted tools for doing their jobs in simple and intuitive ways. I’m yet to find anything that can match any of them in style on the PC. Of course, I’ve found functional alternatives (often free) that do the job just as well, but it’s personal preference.

For me the choice was a lot more simple with the introduction of Win 7 - I get all the pretty glossy stuff that appeals to the part of me that likes shiny new things, and the day-to-day management of my computer is now just as easy as it was on my Mac.

This “newbie friendly” post is the first in a new category of [Tech for Newbies]({{< ref “/categories/tech/” >}}). Got anything to add? Leave a comment below!

Such a missed opportunity. Instead they announced some sort of e-reader thing.

The iPhone is awesome. Lets just get that out there. You can deny it, or call me a fanboy, but let’s be honest - Apple has made a very good (and attractive) product that has stomped on the competition. It’s easy to use, powerful and extensible. And it’s done something the competition hasn’t been able to - captured the imagination of content providers like nothing else. The Windows Mobile platform has been around for years with a handfull of tools for it, but it took only six months for half the web (I’m exaggerating[^probably]) to make iPhone compatible websites and tools. I’ve got to believe that’s due to having a decent platform, rather than rampant fanboyism.

But the iPhone isn’t perfect[^duh]. What follows is a list of a few things I would like to see for and on my iPhone. Before I start, can I just clarify so I don’t get interrupted in my flow: Anything I ask for I’d like as a native iPhone app, through the App Store - not some Jailbroken app that’s going to require me to tinker.

• Cool new apps. I’m waiting on a native Remember the Milk app. It’s imminent. There are alternatives, but I’d love one that’s off-line and fully integrated. I love the idea that missing iPhone features are just a clever app away. Over time, my iPhone will just get more and more useful. They’re coming, and I can’t wait.

  Update 2008-09-16 I caved and bought Todo by Appigo. RTM was taking to long, and would give no indication of timeframe, and I wasn’t using my iPhone properly without it! IceTV, Tumble, Showtimes, Passgen, LinkedIn, Instapaper, ReaddleDocs, Evernote, VoiceRecord and Zenbe are all fantastic apps that fill a bunch of holes for me too.

• A way to switch off battery hogs quickly and painlessly. Currently there’s an easy “Airplane Mode” that switches off the phone, but I’d like a switch for 3G and Wifi too. Then if I’m struggling for juice I don’t have to crawl through three sub menus to switch them off. Maybe a third party can make this.

• Better battery life. I’m not complaining with this one. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the thing[^battery]. But by the time my battery dies, and I have to take it into the store to have it replaced, Apple better have a stronger, longer lasting battery to replace it with.

  Update 2008-09-16 This is slightly improved with the 2.1 update.

• Give me iTunes on Linux. I know Apple make their money on sales of OSX. But I also know they bowed to the awesome market of Windows users who needed iTunes on their Windows boxes - so it’s not impossible. I hear Steve Jobs now: “Call me when Ubuntu is as popular as Windows… Heck, call me if it’s ever as popular as OSX, we’ll do lunch.”

• Let me synchronise my Google Calendar directly with the source, not through my desktop but wirelessly. And proper push email direct from my Gmail account. Seriously. Yahoo did it, how hard could it be? And while we’re wishing, direct contact synchronising. You get the idea - I hate having to sit down at my Mac desktop more than once a month this should all just happen without my involvement.

  Update: 2009-07-14 Done and done. No push gmail yet though.

• A way to connect to my work’s WiFi network. This isn’t really a problem with the iPhone, but an issue with my network. It’s all locked down and difficult to connect to at the best of times. Trying to connect my iPhone involved downloading the enterprise deployment tool and installing that on my workstation, then configuring it all as best I could and emailing the configuration to my iPhone. When it didn’t work: lather, rinse, repeat. I downloaded about ten different configurations, and I still don’t have it working. Again, this is not apple’s fault but this is my wishlist though, so I wish for an easier way to do this.

  Update 2008-08-19 OK, got it connected. Turns out I was trying to connect with WPA, when I should have used WEP[^wep]. But my point still stands - this process could be made simpler. Further, every time my iPhone locks, it drops my connection and tells me I have entered an “incorrect wi-fi password”, even though it was just connected, and can connect again from the settings screen without trouble. This ModMyiFone forum thread suggests others are having the same trouble. Why?

• A media centre app to rival the Apple TV, iTunes, iPhone Remote app combo. This sort of setup sounds pretty sweet. But I’m using Linux, and I’m not paying $500 (Australian) to buy a device who’s content is a handful of TV shows I can’t get for less than three dollars a pop. What would be nice is a polished app that runs twin tuners, a DVD player, plays my music, fetches my email and has a nifty iPhone application to do my bidding from the comfort of my couch. And runs on Linux. Of course there’s MythTV and Freevo, or even MediaPortal on Windows, but so far I don’t think there’s iPhone integration.

• A Wordpress application that is as flexible and useful as the web-based admin panel. To create the magic of nunnone.com, I use a lot of useful plugins like Flickr Photo Gallery to pull in my Flickr photos and Zemanta for quick relevant photos, links and tags. I like to use the “code” view when I write to better wrangle my custom classes. The Wordpress app is terrific, but in translating to the iPhone, it’s small and light and almost useless to me. About all I can do with it is start a post and finish it off later when I’m at a proper computer. Since the app is open source it might eventually get some of this stuff, but so many webmasters use so many different plugins and tools, this would be very tricky to do. Still want it though.

• Location-based reminders. I’m driving along, and I’m passing the library, and my phone says, “you have a library book to return”. Or I’m passing a shopping centre and I’m reminded that I need to pick up laundry detergent. This is not so impossible, but still some way off yet as the iPhone isn’t permanently pinging it’s location. Perhaps in future iterations, when battery life is better and people are less concerned about the privacy implications of having a device capable of sending data aware of your location at all times… Maybe this is something I don’t need.

• My iPhone will make me more sexually attractive to the ladies. By now you’ve realised that I’m wishing beyond my iPhone’s reach here. So far, nothing I’ve asked for is beyond the realms of possibility, but some are so unlikely, and so like magic, that I might as well wish for the one thing that I really bought the iPhone for in the first place - sex appeal. Let’s face it, if a developer can make an app that can remind me to get milk as I pass the store or manage my entertainment centre from my couch, then why not magically make me even more awesome? An app that makes M&Ms and coke would be nice too.

  Update 2008-08-26 Extra peeve: leave my apps where they are when I update them!

  Update 2008-09-16 I hear this is fixed in the 2.1 software update.

Bonus list - a few things my iPhone doesn’t need:

• Cut and paste. I might eventually want this, but I haven’t needed it yet.
• Flash. As above. I really haven’t noticed its absence.
• Background apps. I love the idea of a computer in my pocket, but I’m happy to accept that the iPhone isn’t quite it. I can’t afford to sacrifice more battery power just to be in constant contact with my twitter friends. And the coming push service sounds like an acceptable compromise to me.
• Turn by turn navigation. What? Who cares!?

What do you think? What are features you’re missing from your iPhone?

[^wep]:I know [^battery]:Although you don’t truly get it until that first time the 20% battery alarm sounds

This post was my response to a question asked by Ronnie Swafford on Newsvine: Why was he, a Windows Programmer with no obvious need for a Mac so drawn to get an Apple computer?

I answered (and am yet to see if he responds), but noticed what a huge comment I’d written and thought it could be a blog entry in itself. So here is why you want a Mac.

You want a Mac because Apple seems to have a philosophy that says, “do what must be done to make this a positive, well rounded experience”.

It’s an interesting idea, and it got people (myself included) to realise that PC’s are holding advances in tech back. Consider this, Apple ditched numerous PC staples that people relied on, and are only now realising they don’t need:

1. Out dated peripheral ports (parallel, serial, ps2) choosing USB and Firewire alone to connect peripherals - and how much simpler is that?

2. Ditched floppies too. I would rather tech support a Mac than a PC for this reason alone…

3. Said goodbye to System 9. They supported it for a reasonable time, but made it clear all along that their system would not be bogged down trying to make everyone happy

4. Have sort of shown that they will use stable, or new and emerging technologies (with their own spin on it) instead of insisting that people keep using ‘updated’ (feature-tacked-on) versions of their old proprietary technology. Again - System 9 was ditched in favour of a nix backbone. They include apache and php with the OS. Compare Microsoft who keep loading pile after pile of re-worked re-hashed proprietary stuff on the public, locking more and more people into ‘their’ system.

Sure these things annoyed some people, but it’s clear that Mac’s are ‘moving forward’ while PC’s are stuck catering to people stuck in the past.

All in all, I feel like I’m taking charge when I buy a Mac - no one will tell me what to I have to use. Of course this isn’t always true and I prefer Firefox because Apple decided I couldn’t use the latest version of Safari without purchasing Tiger. But more often than not, if I see it coming to a PC in the future, Apple is already doing it.

If Apple pioneers something new (this is hypothetical) I can imagine that they will use existing standards to make it work securely and easily, and start to phase out whatever it replaces. If Microsoft or Dell were to make this hypothetical Doohicky™ it would use their own proprietary software/hardware combo, communicate in a completely new and patentable way, be full of bugs, and contain a bunch of bits and bobs that make it (theoretically) usable with technology I hated ten years ago when it was in it’s prime, and now isn’t used by anyone but my Gran.

You want a Mac because it speaks to you of future world that doesn’t need endless configuration, doesn’t rely on and adhere to old tech, and will move and change easily with the advances of our field.

To my 3 loyal readers, sorry I haven’t written in a while. To be honest, I keep up with you regularly anyway, and you know all my news. And frankly, anything I think I’d like to share with the world gets covered in other blogs very quickly by a lot of people before I can anyway.

So on to my update:

• I have a new job working in a school. I already worked in a school, but this time I get to make the big decisions.

• I have a new Mac - my dad’s mini, which is very cool, but in vital need of a stick of RAM.

• I’m at my parent’s-in-law’s place - a very nice house between two little towns outside Adelaide, where Mil and I have been trying to recharge. While my Internet credit has suffered (my father-in-law doesn’t use it as much as I), we are appreciating the chance to stretch out in a house three or for times the size of our flat (and we aren’t even using a third of the house!)

• I purchased the 1949 movie serial ‘Batman and Robin’ and have finished watching all 15 episodes. It’s really fun, and I’m gonna take the time to write something on it soon. Until then, here is a little taste of how marvellous it is.

• I’ve got a few extra plans for my site (or my ‘NunnOne Network’ as I’ve facetiously called it). One is to create a wiki, where (in a genius moment of sheer egotism) Josh Nunn’s (and only Josh Nunn’s) from all over the web can write about themselves. Hehe.
  Edit: It’s done… kinda… When I’m ready to tell other Josh’s I’ll make an official post, but check it at Josh Nunn Wiki

• One amazing discovery I’ve made is that setting a text editor to default to Unicode line breaks and then forgetting can make a whole bunch of web-site files stop working when you upload them. I’ve set it to Unix line endings - now my .htaccess files might work properly…

• I’ve got my bookmarks to follow me around now, so no matter where I am, I can find that site quickly. You can check out my setup at http://bm.nunnone.com(site no longer active) - but you’ll only see my public bookmarks.

• By the way, does anyone want to give me money? I’ll take it… I’ve been eyeing off the new Intel Macs you see…

• Nothing else. There is no third thing… (my text based ‘Spanish Inquisition’ impression needs work I know)

I must have the best and latest of everything. This holds true for me as long as my budget holds up. In fact, its less ‘latest and greatest’ and more ‘what people are willing to give me’ most of the time. Not that I’m cheep, just that I’m poor.

Not that it would make much difference I suppose, who wants to pay for stuff you can probably get for free. Take software for example. I’ve found free versions of almost every app I’ve wanted to use. When I first got my computer I spent hours searching online for free software to make the tiniest of jobs simpler or quicker. Because I could.

For about a year I used Safari on my Mac. It was free, it came with Apple’s design and endorsement, and could therefore be trusted to integrate itself into the operating system without hassle. I started subscribing to rss feeds at about the same time that Apple released Tiger, and with it the new improved Safari 2.0. Safari 2.0 had lots of cool stuff I was sure I needed, but couldn’t afford the upgrade to Tiger. Then Safari started crashing. A lot. I tried to fix it but to no avail. I had already tired of Internet Explorer at my all PC workplace and switched to Firefox. I thought, why not do the same at home?

I haven’t looked back (except maybe the once I’ve started Safari by accident using Quicksilver, and I felt a wave of nostalgia for its beautiful brushed metal). Firefox gives me a clean consistant experience between work and home, and allows me to do amazing things like keep my bookmarks in sync (now even easier with Foxmarks). But it got me thinking… How many things can I keep in sync between work and home?

Then I ‘discovered’ Web 2.0… what a find! I can create documents, keep a calendar, write to-do lists, even write screenplays, all from my browser, allowing me to access these things from anywhere. I’ve gone-a-hunting for as many useful sites as I can find. My next post I’ll be listing the best ones I’ve found so far, and the ways I’m using them.