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| Man. The tool user. |
See, we've been using our current iMac for 10 years, and bit by bit (no cyberpun intended) various chunks of it have stopped working. Even worse, because we've been using an old (as in very old) operating system, it's gotten to the point that we've been unable to upgrade software for the past several years...and now (the final straw, as it were) the outdated web browsers on the computer just won't talk to a lot of important sites anymore. Like our bank, for instance.
So we've taken a reluctant leap into the future by purchasing a refurbished 2015 iMac, thereby saving ourselves about a thousand bucks over a 2017 model. And that's important if there's any chance whatsoever that we might, in the process of setting up the computer, hurl it to the ground and jump on it.
Currently it's sitting by our elbow on our L-shaped desk, sneering haughtily at the decaying old computer we're using at the moment. Our first job will be to transfer the "Abby Normal" brain of our current computer into the new one, but that can only happen after the new arrival has warmed to room temperature (it was 20 degrees out when it was delivered). And we'll also need an electric storm into which to fly our kites.
We've been very reluctant to take this step because we're at the "old dogs, new tricks" stage of life in which, if we actually were a dog, we'd no longer remember how to lick ourselves. And even though Macs are relatively straightforward compared to Windows machines, each new iteration of operating system takes them a little farther from anything like a baby boomer's idea of reality.
Not to mention that many of our favorite programs won't even work on the new machine, which means more learning curves on more pieces of software we'll need to buy. Sigh...
But on the positive side, this will also be the start of some great new things for us. For instance, we just opened a good bottle of scotch to take into battle.
BONUS: SOB CORY
As noted political scholar Bugs Bunny used to say, "What a maroon!"
I feel for you. My PC died a couple of weeks ago, and nothing behaves the same on the new one, and finding the settings function to get things back where I want it are either non-existent or hidden so well they are impossible to find. Microsoft seems to want to force a person to do it their way, not my way, which was simpler, easier, and quicker, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteDrink the Scotch first.
ReplyDelete"May the odds be ever in your favor..." -Katness Everdeen-
ReplyDeleteFear not, Stilt. Sounds like you did your homework, especially regarding the SSD HD. The new
ReplyDeleteiMacs are a joy to use and a wonder to look at with that Retina screen. Just be careful not to
poison its pristine arteries whilst transferring all of your ancient files. Just as you had to purge
for the home remodeling, now is the time to do the same with useless digital programs and files.
Sounds to me like a job for daughter Jarlsberg!
ReplyDeleteGood luck. Been there, done that, got the headaches. After a couple of days, I was wore out chunking and throwing things and using my entire repertoire of expletives. Somehow, you will muddle thru, look back and say, "That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be." Buy more Scotch.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Stilt. Apple seems to have taken a page (more like stolen the entire playbook) from Microsloth some years ago, which mainly says, "Make regular changes in the operating system, which will make older (perfectly useful) programs obsolete, requiring the users to SPEND MONEY replacing them (mainly Microsloth Orfice). Wash, rinse, repeat ad infinium... Nowadays I seem to spend more time updating and tweaking my 3 PCs than I do *using* them. Let's hope you don't fall into that trap! (But DO enjoy the killer hi-rez display!)
ReplyDeleteOld PC was XP. Got a new desktop about a year ago, a new laptop last year, both Win 10 pro 64 bit.
ReplyDeleteI've found it's amazing what programs and tweaks I can do without.
just go out and find a 10 year old kid to do all the work.. It will be over in a wink.
ReplyDeletejust remember KEEP ON KEEPING ON.
while I'm using an old machine, each little tweak is difficult at best as spouse has dementia and any change is a REAL HUGE challenge for her.
Upgrading computer systems will always be a nightmare as long as manufacturers wish to sell you new "compatible" software.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the same will apply to upgrading your sex robot while attempting to retain your favorite position data. It will be like the new robot is an inexperienced virgin.
Your bank won't like it but you can correspond by US postal system.
ReplyDeleteBeen there-done that. Still getting used to my iPad after 20+ years of Microsoft. Don’t bogart the scotch.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, do dogs really forget how to lick themselves? Good luck with the computer, that conversion is never any fun.
ReplyDeleteI have a 2010 FrankenMac Mini with two hard drives (I gotta reboot into an older OS weekly to use a graphics program no longer supported by newer OSes), so I feel your pain.
ReplyDeletePass the bottle , bro.
Love my 2-year-old 20" iMac, but the "Magic" keyboard sucks. It would work better if my wrists were somehow demobilized by having them clamped to the desk, so I'm looking for a keyboard that is not perfectly flat and doesn't restrict me from moving my hands more than a millimeter when typing.
ReplyDeleteI also frequently smack the "caps lock" key instead of the letter "A." Surgical removal of my left pinky finger is not an option. I'll stop whining, but if anyone can suggest a better keyboard....
good luck. i have one computer blocked so that it won't take any updates and the other i will eventually be forced into a new update, but i am delaying as long as possible.
ReplyDeletewhen i was in college in the dark ages, we had a saying. "To Error is Human. To Really F*ck Things Up Takes a Computer"
might i suggest a nice Irish Whiskey as a change of pace?
Alfonso Bedoya: Go to pckeyboard.com and check them out. They offer a clone of the old IBM Selectric typewriter keyboard that beats the stuffing out of every other one I've tried. Good Luck.
ReplyDelete@Alfonso Bedoya, Every time I set up a new PC (Linux or Windows) I configure the system to switch the CapsLock key to be another "ctrl" key instead. Linux has the ability baked in, and I use ctrl2cap SysInternals app from Microsoft for Windows. Maybe there's something similar for the Mac (BSD Unix, iirc) if you can live without the CapsLock key entirely?
ReplyDeleteIn 6 weeks or less, you’ll be using the new iMac with no problems and when someone asks you how you did something on the old machine, you’ll have no recollection of how you did it. The nature of change...it’s just the the transition that sucks.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Acting Award for the Best Political Grandstanding goes to..."
ReplyDeleteGood luck on that steep learning curve, Stilt. The Scotch will most likely help.
As for me and mine, nuttin' like a good Linux box. (Of course, I've been playing around with computers since 1968, so there ya go.)
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ReplyDeleteStilton, my husband and I are old-school, he more than myself. While I struggle with new programs and updates, he refuses to allow them. One day, his machine will just get up and walk out, disgusted with it all. On another note, I have recently been using my laptop on my laptop due to foot surgery. I have this cozy little corner in the living room set up so I can work on the computer while my foot is elevated. Well, during one of its moves from the end table to my lap, my pooter slid to the carpet, landing on its back edge (about 15") and I quickly picked it up and set it on my lap. I was worried and rightly so. The computer screen is now black. I had a geek look at it, and he wouldn't attempt taking it apart because he didn't want to screw up the hard drive. So now, I am using my television screen as a computer screen; I have a wireless keyboard and mouse, so I am all set up. I refuse to switch to Mac as I dearly love my Windows 7 operating system. I know the day will come, as I am an editor and work from home. My inner sloth has taken over any urge to switch. Good luck with your new Big Mac. Just don't spill your super-sized Glenlivet on the keyboard. Nothing worse than a drunk computer and the waste good scotch. Hmmm... I wonder if the Geek Squad can fix my screen. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be most obliged.
ReplyDeleteAhhhhhhhh, I remember when I upgraded from my Radio Shack TRS 80. Had two (count 'em, two) external floppies with 180 kilobytes of storage on EACH ONE! Now I have a one terabyte hard drive and a bunch of other crapola that I don't understand (but my great grand kids do), a printer that requires no wires or cables (magic), and something called cloud storage in case a bear eats my computer. When I went to college in the '60s I had use of the computer lab. The computer had vacuum tubes, transistors, and a reel to reel tape that was two inches wide. Oh, and it could store five (5) megabytes. Whew! But at least I make my own 'shine.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I hate "upgrading". (And I work in tech!) I spend years getting everything I have working just the way I like, so I don't give that up easily, especially for speculative benefits. And I really resent it when the industry tries to make the decision to upgrade for me. Sure, newer, faster hardware is really cheap. Not so much the thousands of dollars of software that also has to be upgraded just to work on my new "cheap" hardware.
ReplyDeleteOne of my solutions is keeping the old hardware alive while I do most work on the newer. I just fire it up when I need that $1000 software package that I might be using once or twice a month.
And I continue to be less and less impressed with the evolution of operating system design. IMHO, it's getting less efficient, not more. They might be making systems easier for morons who've mastered their iPhones to use, but it's more work for the rest of us, especially life-long "touch typists" who knew all the shortcuts so that our hands never had to leave the keyboard. I resent being made to slow down just to accommodate people too dumb or lazy to learn.
In case you haven't noticed, the business world has rejected Windoze 10, for good reason.
My 2-bits on an unrelated nooz item: Anyone else catch that press conference with the doctor reporting the state of the President's health? It seems that Trump is perfectly healthy. The press was positively upset, and responded with asinine questions that they'd never ask about anyone else.
These were the people who were never upset about (and certainly helped to cover up for) Obama's cigarette habit, or had an amazing lack of curiosity about Hillary having to be dragged unconscious. Could you imagine these people daring to ask about a President Oprah's Body Mass Index?
Dear media, want more Trump? Because this is how you get more Trump.
“What a maroon.” Seems to me Bugs said “What a morackus, What a maroon. Anyone else recall that?
ReplyDeleteBobo, I think I have every Loony Tune cartoon ever made and backed up on a 100 GB thumb drive. And I still watch them. Sadly, my great grand kids don't understand the humor.
ReplyDeleteNope...in spite of my having a lifelong addiction to Bugs Bunny and a large collection of animation from WB, all I remember in the Maroon category, and I even looked it up in case, is these 2...
ReplyDeleteWhat an imbesile, what an utlra maroon. (For the uninitiated, it's pronounced "im-bi-seal")
What a maroon, what an ignoranimous. ("ig-nore-an-i-muss")
As a complete 16 year computer noob, I missed 98, then REALLY missed XP, then I seem to have become aware of only having Win7 and it's all hazy before now.
I know this...Win10 ANNOYS me, it may be the new sliced bread, but what's wrong with using a horse and buggy? I mean, Win7 Pro?
I currently have 8 Terrabytes of WD external HDD, 16 gigs of RAM, a SSD of 236 gigs and a wireless mouse...I prefer (when at home) using my flat screen TV for my monitor from the couch with my wireless keyboard and mouse, and I have 16 0r so Terrabytes of internal HDDs in docking stations loaded with DVD files run through a powered USB hub...that means I have 3000+ movies I can watch without internet dependence and it all fits in a small box...and I can sit on the couch surfing, bill paying, and movie watching.
Sometimes I go outside to make sure the Sun is still there! (j/k)
Sandy Link...why can't the screen be completely replaced? If it's the screen that died...
I would suggest having a pro do the transfer from your old computer. Was it running OS 9?
ReplyDeleteI used to have a Mac with two hard drives, one configured for 9.x and the other for 10.4. That was no longer possible after Mac went to the Pentium processor. The learning curve wasn't particularly steep; the biggest annoyance was having to update my software. However, once I did, the enhanced capabilities more than made up for the inconvenience.
BTW, I'm 71 and a half.
Fred Ciampi...
ReplyDeleteThe scene where Bugs comes out dressed in a Marine Corp Dress Blue uniform and says""This looks like the job for a real superman!" would truly be a "Huh?" moment for most kids; remember the plane the Gremlin tried to crash (Gremlins were a result of Disney cartoonists working on blueprints in defense plants) stopping a few feet from the ground because, as Bugs pointed out...it only had an "A" Coupon. No gas.
WWII rationing was a headache for motorists then...
LOL. Even big kids wouldn't have a clue!
Gee M, I think that's part of the reason I joined the Corps right out of high school in 1960......
ReplyDeleteUnlike the sweet, sweet tears of unfathomable sadness, Tears of Rage (TM) are bitter, acidic and weaponized, as with the lizards that squirt blood from their eyes.
ReplyDelete@Gee M, I was told that I would have to take it to an expert who understands the workings of the laptop PC so it can be taken apart carefully, with super-special, magical tools, (what about a screwdriver?) and not harm the hard drive in the process. I am getting used to using the television as the screen now. I have Windows 7 Office Professional, and I love it. I will not buy a new computer unless I can have it made for me with the programs that I want, not Windows 10 or 2018, which will be a new (and improved?) version of Windows 10. My first computer was a Gateway desktop, and I loved it! Remember the cow boxes they came in? They built it to my specs, and for $1,200 in 1995, it was money well-invested. So, alas, I sit here with my PC, and, in blissful ignorance, continue along my merry way. Oh, BTW, I am really old school... no Smartphone... just a dumbass flip phone.
ReplyDeleteWhen you spoke of Mac, I was thinking about the "presstitutes" and their feeding frenzy over the report on Trump's health. Now we have Dr. Sanjay Gupta doing his imitation of a cardiologist. To top it off, we have Trump eating Big Macs. The horror. The horror!
ReplyDeleteI believe the proper term for Booker is 'moulinione' like from "Enemy of the State". Maroonis just an idiot but that too.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem with MAC's is they never seem to die. I have seven of them now. Five old ones and two somewhat current models that I use. I keep the old ones around to access old files that will not run on my new smart ones. I will say they do keep getting better.
ReplyDeleteI have also had some even older models. When I finally decide to get rid of them since they still work I put a couple bullets through the hard drives and send them off to the rag and bone man.
Works better than bleach bit or a hammer.
Old Lou
That must be hard on your old dog, seeing how you do your old Macs...!
ReplyDeletelol.
When I first heard this rant on the radio, I thought his name was 'Corky Booger'.
ReplyDeleteThen I saw him on TV and discovered I was right.
I've been using Macs since they first came out. Have never had any particular issue with any of them, other than the built-in junk programs like Garage Band or various games I don't play. But I can ignore them fairly easily.
ReplyDeleteWe have one desktop Mac connected to our TV. I'd happily use it more often, but one has to sit very close to read the text. Not cool, when the whole point was to sit across the room with the wireless keyboard and mouse. So we just use it to store and play movies.
@Velveeta Processed Cheese Food- I don't think there's much question that my current machine is on its last legs. Heck, it's practically a zombie. So I'm going to have to learn new ways of doing things, but I'm not happy about it.
ReplyDelete@Diogenes Sarcastica™- That's the plan!
@Regnad Kcin- "Don't take any wooden nickels" - Paul Bunyan
@Section147- Yeah, culling out the old crap that I don't need anymore is going to be one of the big jobs in making this switch. At this point, I have so many hard drives backing up so much of the same material that I'm frankly baffled about what belongs where.
@James Downey- I can't press daughter J into service because I've got to learn to do these things myself. Plus, I don't want to share my Scotch.
@James Daily- I've faced down similar situations in the past and always emerged the victor. Granted, I might be dripping sweat and blood...but for now, at least, I refuse to take crap off a machine.
@Jim Lane- See, I understand why SOME changes are necessary so that things can improve. But then there's crap like Intuit raising the system requirements for Turbotax every year (one of the reasons I bought the new machine). There's NOTHING in that program (basically text and math) that requires a high performing computer or the newest of new operating systems. Likewise, why should browsers that have worked well for several years suddenly become inoperative. It's a conspiracy, I tell you!
@Dan- I tried to use a Windows computer for a very short while, but just couldn't get the hang of it. I suppose I'd been a Mac addict too long (not that I'm complaining - I love Macs).
@Unknown- It's not so much configuring the computer that's the problem (although it matters) but learning all of the other new or updated programs that I find daunting. And genuinely sorry to hear about your spouse's challenges; computers are confusing and unfriendly devices under the best of circumstances.
@Geoff King- I can't really make a cogent comment because I'm still considering the ramifications (no pun intended) of "upgrading your sex robot."
@Barks- Actually, there are some functions that are only available online, like creating "virtual credit card" numbers to use for online purchasing without putting your real credit card numbers at risk. I really like doing that, and missed that functionality when I lost it a couple of months ago.
@Bobo the Hobo- I've got an iPad that I like, but it's still largely a toy for me. Some people are apparently able to live their whole lives on such tablets and do productive work. Not me...though the dream is still there.
@RDB- I'm not SURE that dogs forget how to lick themselves. It's possible that they may simply develop more sophisticated palettes.
ReplyDelete@M. Mitchell Marmel - I toyed with the idea of a Mac mini but decided just to get the whole shebang in one package. I'm worried about what programs won't work anymore, but I'm pretty sure the ones I use for this site will successfully make the leap.
@Alfonso Bedoya- My "new" 2-year old Mac (2015 but refurbished by Apple) came with the magic keyboard and the magic mouse and I say "to hell with both of 'em." I'm a big guy and can't use some tiny tappity-tap keyboard. I actually use a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard that splits down the middle and has the keys angled for easier typing. I simply couldn't function using anything smaller.
@jlw- Speaking of college and computers, when I was a student at IU there was ONE computer for students to use, and it involved feeding in a large stack of punch cards. Also, if I recall correctly, it burned coal.
@John D. Egbert- Ooh, I may have to look into that keyboard. At a tender age, I dropped $1000 on an IBM Selectric (at the time, I was living in a home that cost me $5000, so this was a major investment). I loved that heavy metal typewriter, though prefer the ease of digital composition these days. One good feature about that typewriter is that I learned to "write in my head" since it was so hard to revise what was on the page.
@txGreg- I'm sure that what you're saying is useful, even if I don't quite get it. I know there are programs which would let me reassign some keys on my keyboard, which would be useful since I'm using a Microsoft keyboard that has symbols and functions that have nothing to do with the Mac world.
@ruralbob- I hope you're right! I think I'll make the transition successfully, but at this point I've got backups for about 30 years worth of computers, and it's all a tangled mess. Much like my brain (grin).
@Igor- Can you BELIEVE that idiocy from Cory Booker?! How I wish that the Homeland Defense Secretary had simply looked him in the eye and said "Do you actually want me to answer your questions, or do you need to change your tampon first?"
@Sandy Link- I have a brother who also uses a big screen TV as a computer monitor, although by choice rather than necessity. I think there are a lot of things which could be wrong with your laptop's screen, but it should be something that could be fixed (albeit not necessarily inexpensively).
@Fred Ciampi- Are we the first generation to experience cyber-nostalgia for old computers? Seems likely. I got started with a Kaypro computer with two floppy drives (one for your program, one for your data), and a screen which was more or less a green oscilloscope. It ran on the CP/M operating system because MSDOS hadn't even been invented yet. And if I'm recalling correctly, my first external hard drive cost me $400 and offered 105 megabytes of storage. By that metric, I've got about $10 million worth of hard drives on my desk at this very moment.
@John the Econ- Amen to the complaint about new operating systems. Mac is very deliberately trying to make the experience of using their desktop computers more like using an iPad, which is INSANE to me. It's like basing your whole strategy around crippleware (don't be offended, folks, it's a computer term). Perhaps this all works great for 20-somethings who mostly want to do social media, but it's not so hot for folks like me who just want to get some work done.
ReplyDeleteAnd wow - can you BELIEVE that press conference about Trump's health?! Where were the questions about Barry's cocaine use back in the day? Or his incessant chewing of nicotine gum? Or whether his cognitive abilities should be questioned when he declared that our nation has 57 states? Sheesh.
@Bobo- I don't specifically remember the "morackus" quip, but I'll happily watch some old Looney Tunes to refresh my memory!
@Fred Ciampi- Your great grandkids don't understand Looney Tunes? Stop the world...I want to get off.
@Gee M- Ah, sweet memories of Bugs berating his enemies. And seeing them turn (literally) into suckers after running over the edge of a cliff.
And wow, sounds like you've got the computer thing by the tail! I've got a reasonably convoluted setup which includes the ability to stream movies to my TV. However, if I'm ever hit by a speeding pie wagon, none of my survivors will be able to figure out how to watch a damn thing.
@Old Cannonballs- I've made the basic transfer successfully (I think/hope). I was jumping from OS 10.6.8 to OS 10.12. Although I DO still have a laptop that will run OS 9 if there's a real need (there's ONE wonderful program that won't run on anything else). And good to hear that at 71 (and a half!) it's still possible to compute. I'm behind you by 6 years but was starting to worry (grin).
@Gee M- Great memories! I was raised on those cartoons, and you're right that kids today would have no idea what's going on with Daffy Duck running from the little man from the draft board, or jokes about ration tickets or meatless tuesdays, or Bugs Bunny giving grenades disguised as ice cream bars to bucktoothed Japanese soldiers. Geez, I love those cartoons...
@Fred Ciampi- Makes sense to me!
@Stinking Bishop- I think I may like "Tears of Rage™" even better than "liberal tears," because it's got an extra tang of self-righteousness.
@Sandy Link- For starters, taking a laptop apart (unless Windows computers are REALLY messed up) shouldn't affect the hard drive at all. They're fully enclosed in a metal shell. And if your laptop is sending graphics to the TV, it's probably ONLY the laptop's screen that is messed up.
And I, too, have a flip phone that isn't "smart" in any sense. Although it can (and I don't mean to brag) let you play Tetris.
@Fritz Brohn- I saw that Sanjay Gupta (which would be a good name for a hemorrhagic illness) has declared that Trump will have a heart attack in 3 to 5 years based on his calcium levels. Not only is Gupta full of crap, but the American Dairy Association should kick his ass.
@Ed G. Mann- That's a new term for me, but as long as it's insulting it applies to Booker.
@Old Lou- You're right about Macs never dying - I have them stacked in closets and the attic, most able to run as well as the day they were new (including a laptop which displays an impressive 16 different tones of gray on the screen!). And I've never shot a hard drive for security's sake, but I've run a drill through a few.
ReplyDelete@Gee M- Despite a sometimes combative relationship with my computers, my record of getting along with old dogs is unsullied.
@NVRick- In future hearings, everyone should call him "Corky," just to watch him fume!
@MAJ Arkay- My relationship with Macs has been abundantly positive. And I trust in this case, after a suitable period of whining and moaning, it will be again.
Stone tablets never need updating ........just occasional corrections ........
ReplyDeleteStilt! You had a Kaypro? 2? 4? 10? 2000?
ReplyDeleteI used to be the only one in Spokane that would fix them on a component level, and I was (as an independent repair guy) the only one that could align the floppy disks. Osborne's too...
Never had to do repairs on the old mainframes, when you bought one you also bought the services of a Field Engineer, but I did do a disk upgrade on an IBM exactly once. PDPs, same story. It wasn't until PCs came out that I got going in repair and programming. Ah the good old days...
And I still think CP/M and MP/M could've had a shot if IBM and Microsquish hadn't teamed up to lock Digital Research out of the PC market. Long story. Crappy Mess-DOS!
@Stilton, totally agree. As someone who works in the industry, this has been one of my greatest complaints about the the direction they are taking for years now; the constant push to get everyone to use a single interface regardless of the type of device they are using. The attitude seems to be that people are too dumb to learn more than one interface, and it would be much easier and profitable for software developers if they only had to program for 1 platform instead of the half-dozen they have to address today.
ReplyDeleteMicrosoft fired the first shot in the previous decade when they tried to shoehorn the Windows interface into a phone in order to compete in the pre-smartphone PDA era. First off, Windows was simply too bloated and inefficient for the hardware of the time. But the bigger problem was that it was difficult and inefficient to use on a small-screen device, and died a quick death. I was using a Palm device at the time, and never would have swapped the Palm's simple, efficient interface for a Windows interface, even though Windoze was what I used elsewhere.
Then Apple re-defined the smartphone and made it brilliantly dirt-simple to use. So then Microsoft decided to make the opposite mistake, and make their next desktop OS (Windoze 8) work more like a smartphone. Also a difficult and inefficient to use disaster. (Just like with Windoze Visduh, I refused to have anything to do with 8)
The reality is that people want access to their same data everywhere, but they don't need or want the same interface to do it. Trying to make a single interface that is perfect for both a 4-inch phone screen and a 27" desktop screen is silly and isn't even possible. They are two very different devices in very different environments with very different user needs.
In an average day, I use at least 4 or 5 different devices. I wake up to my 10-inch Android pad where I read the news and my mail. (I love my pad!) I then move to my office where I use my old-school desktop for my real work. (Unless the reply is really short, I'll reply to the mail I read on the pad at my desktop) When I go out, I've got my smartphone, which is probably the least-used of my devices. When I'm visiting client sites, I take traditional laptop. I recently added a $180 "netbook" to the arsenal, which has the appeal of light weight but still has a hard keyboard. If I expect to have to do any serious typing/coding, I'll take the laptop. But if I just need something on hand to access a network or make light notes, it's the netbook. Back at the office, at my desktop I'll cue up web sites I wish to read during the day, and then lay back on my couch to read them on my pad. If I have to reply to something, it's back to the desktop.
The point is that each of these activities are all very different and each of these devices and their operating systems accommodate tasks very differently. The pad and phone interfaces are wonderful for consuming content, but as @Stilton points out, are just awful for creating it. All my serious writing happens at the desk or on the full-sized laptop. "Creating" on the pad or phone is simply agonizing to me.
It astounds me that even Apple, a company that used to be all about the "creative community" has in recent years appeared to be abandoning those users in favor of the "consumer" community. (I guess it makes sense for them, as there are far more consumers these days than actual serious "creators") In fact, many people I know in the creative community are now considering moving from the Mac to the Windows world, because there really doesn't seem to be a serious new generation of Macs on the horizon, and most of the software tools they rely upon have long since been available on Windows, and Windows hardware is so much cheaper for the power you get.
It is truly great to read all the computer comments here. My wife and I have been faithful PC users all the way back to our first 386, but Windows 10 is the final damn straw. Our next computer will be a Mac.
ReplyDeleteCorey Booker really is a maroon. His mere existence is a huge contradiction to the survival of the fittest theory. A few days ago, I heard a recording on our local talk radio station of an excerpt of O'liar's book. It seemed that dang near every other word was bleeped out. And Trump has a dirty mouth?
Liberals are so focused on the language, that they are missing the point. Way too many "immigrants" from shithole countries are hell bent on turning the USA into a shithole country. You wanna escape the shithole to make a better life for you and your family and live the American dream? Come on in! You wanna come here to rape, steal, and murder? Sorry, stay where you are.
I recall a joke, very simple but pretty on point...
ReplyDeleteTwo recently arrived Jihadis are sitting in an airport snack bar, and Ahmed says, in English,"we made it! Allah wills it we will be successful in our mission!"
Said immediately admonishes him..."Shhhh! We must remember to be inconspicuous here! This is America...speak Spanish!"
Best of luck. I'm of an age where I'm too young not to understand computers but too old to have really grown up with them. The PC I'm on probably only has a year (or less) left in it and I dread the day I have to get a new one.
ReplyDeleteMy brother had mentioned that Macs won't update after a certain point. That's... odd, but maybe not surprising from a company that just had to admit it slows down its older phones.
Amazing how great minds think alike. I've had it with my PC and want to jump back on the Mac bandwagon after being away for oh-so-many years. May I ask who you sold you your refurb iMac?
ReplyDeleteI am a Mac user, have been since they first appeared in 1984. However, I am staying with Mac OS X.6 (Snow Leopard). Every Mac OS since then is a "deal breaker." Apple took away scroll bars in X.7. Geez, I really hate that. I also REFUSE to use the Apple AppStore or have to have a broken Apple ID. I used to do IT work, and supporting the newer Macs was a nightmare. Not to mention that Apple made it just about impossible to open up their devices so now you can't repair them yourself. As an old electronics tech, I won't buy anything that I can't take apart and fix by myself. (This also means I won't buy an iphone, ipad, or ipod, as Apple won't even let you change the battery when it goes bad.) This is ironic, because my first home computer was an Apple II. I was about to buy a Radio Shack TRS-80, but Radio Shack wanted to charge me $20 just to plug in extra memory chips. They told me if I added memory myself, that I would void the warranty! I told them I worked with electronics and chips every day (back then), and told them I was NEVER going to pay them to plug in some chips for me! So, I went and bought an Apple II, because I could pop off the lid and add my own circuit cards.
ReplyDeleteBut Apple doesn't care about me any more, as they're making plenty of money. They won't gete as much as a penny from me any more.
And, since I run an older Mac OS, it requires older Mac hardware, as Snow Leopard will not boot natively on newer Mac hardware. (Yeah, I could run a virtual machine on a newer Mac, but then I'd still have to have an Apple ID and all of the other modern Apple junk, so that's not a good option. Plus then I'd have to have a Mac that was unrepairable.) And, since I need older Mac hardware, I have stockpiled a number of older Macs, so if one fails, I can just grab another one off the shelf and continue working. I keep all of my data on external hard drives, and have separate hard drives for backups.
Rusty
@Rusty- We are clearly of similar minds. I, too, hate the "impossible to repair" designs we see now. And I've been quite happy with my old iMac running 10.6. But sadly, there are things I want to be able to do (creative endeavors, mostly) which simply require more horsepower and newer software. So I've got the new machine, but the old one won't be far from my elbow at any time.
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