May 28th, 2006 by Matt
I wrote previously about how I had reached my limit - my tipping point - with my PC. Despite the greatness of having a Tablet PC, the overall experience with Windows has finally beaten me down. So, I declared that I was switching to a Mac … just as soon as I could.
The day has finally come, now, when I can, and so I have. My new white 2.0 GHz MacBook just arrived, and I’m so excited. I’m going to document and share at least parts of my initial “out of box experience” to convey my excitement. Here are a few pictures and a few of my first impressions.
opening the box:
Even the Apple packing styrofoam is cool:
Out of the box:
Open:
Of course the design is impressive - the laptop is smooth to the touch, solid to the feel, clean to the eye. Holding it feels like holding some amazing piece of sculpture - chiseled to perfect dimensions, smoothed to create appealing lines. Strange to talk about a computer like this? Yes, but this is as much of a work of art as it is a computing device.
The keyboard is firm but responsive, with a bit of space between each key that makes it fit perfectly into the form factor and to help larger hands like mine spread out more comfortably.
The trackpad is large, sensitive, and controlled smartly enough not to pick up stray or incidental touches. One feature I absolutely love is the two-finger scrolling: when you move on the trackpad with two fingers, you scroll the window either vertically or horizontally, depending on your motion. What an incredibly useful and artful innovation! I understand that this two-finger scrolling feature is not new with the MacBooks or MacBook Pros, but it’s the first that I’ve encountered it.
And the somewhat controversial glossy screen: I’ve heard some people get very excited about it’s brightness and higher contrast, while others have expressed their apprehension about the increased susceptibility to glare and reflection. My first impressions? I like it a lot. It is very bright, though it will indeed pick up and reflect any bright light sources that are shining directly on it. But, the depth of color is quite nice - blacks are so deep, blues are very rich, and reds sparkle with life. At this point I really enjoy it, and will see how it works out over time as I use it more for photo editing.
As you can tell by now, I’m very excited and can’t wait to explore more of how this works. I will write more about my experiences in the coming days - what I learn, questions I have, comparing experiences and apps between the PC and the Mac.
I’m writing this post from my MacBook using a trial version of the MarsEdit blog editor. I’m going to try out Ecto as well and see how they compare to what I’ve been using on the PC - BlogJet.
More to come…
Technorati Tags:
mac+switcher, mac+switchers, mac, macbook, apple, out+of+box+experience
May 15th, 2006 by Matt
I previously posted about a list that Christian Mayaud had posted of web 2.0 apps – those new-ish websites, web apps, web services that use nice colors, social and collaborative content, AJAX, rounded corners, and innovative ideas that are mostly still in beta.
Christian’s list was taken from Bob Stumpel, an entrepreneur listed in the OpenBC networking site, who has started and is continuing to maintain a list of “Everything 2.0”. What began as a simple list has now grown into a group of lists, separated into alphabetical groups by category (e.g. Audio, Email, Marketing, Search, etc.):
What, exactly, qualifies as Web 2.0 for Bob’s list? To quote from the Everything 2.0 Forum:
Let’s not be dogmatic. Any sign of:
- collective intelligence
- collaboration/sharing
- community/social software
is good enough.
And anything Ajaxian is just an extra endorsement.
In addition, you can hear Bob interviewed on a recent OpenBC podcast by Daniela Waschow.
This is definitely an engaging list and a wonderful way for web 2.0 fans to spend their free time (and once you start perusing through the list, you’ll definitely spend some time!).
I also want to get in a plug for an incredibly useful tool for tracking your on-line identities as you surf and register with all these web 2.0 sites. I’ve written about it before, but Roboform is the best Windows-based identity and password management system I have seen. It’s a completely separate application from your browser, but it cleanly integrates as a toolbar into your browser. And, you can copy all your secure login data to a portable USB drive via the Pass2Go app, and then plug it into any Windows computer and instantly have all your logins and passwords available. Roboform has a free version that supports up to 10 logins, and a full paid version with an unlimited number of logins. I wouldn’t go on-line without it!
Technorati Tags: web2.0, list, bobstumpel, danielawaschow, openbc, roboform
May 3rd, 2006 by Matt
As I recently expressed, I’ve reached the tipping point in my experience with my PC and am now a Mac user in spirit – until I can afford to actually purchase a Mac. This week, Apple began a brilliant ad campaign aimed at potential switchers from PCs to Macs, and one of the ads completely describes my experience and current frustrations with my PC, which seem to grow by the day.
This morning, for example, I turned on my laptop and then had to read a chapter in a book (as in a real paper book, something not in electronic form) to wait until my machine was responsive enough to use. Good thing I had a book handy.
Go to the GetAMac ad page on Apple.com and then view the ad titled “Restarting”. That’s my PC life.
(I thought about embedding the video directly into this post, but honestly I’m afraid of crossing some copyright gray line of using Apple’s content, so I’m simply linking to the main Apple page.)
Technorati Tags: mac, pc, waiting, windows, mac+switchers