SirGeorge53's Profile

I only read these Apple Matters articles now and then. Mainly when I'm bored. I disagree with the entire idea that a PC is for men and Macs are for women. I'm a man and am bored. I'm reading and typing this with my iMac while my wife is watching the super bowl. What kind of sexist generalizations can you write about that one? Actually, I think you just wrote this as it's a strange sexist article aimed at getting more clicks and I'll be danged if I didn't click it to read. arrrrghhhhhh

PortaMac is way too funny, but I wouldn't want to pee in one! Might get a iFireBall.

b/c I'm no marketing expert, I'll agree with dotmike. iLife is a good reason for people to buy an Apple computer. But the thing that sticks in the back of my mind is I find Window users cheap. They look for the cheapest way to get an app, program or what ever. They don't look for quality and in the end, becomes the best buy. Of course, this is a huge generality, but through the years, this has been my observation. "It's cheaper to get this window app..." etc.

Forgive my lack of vocab as I may be confusing browser with a start up page. However, Excite has a search engine, just as Netscape and Yahoo do. I remember the old days of using one of those 3 as a "start up" page to the net. One would get their news and then go surfing. Remember when a person would start a word search and you'd get a page of optional search engines? I'll add something that may seem trite, but in the 90's there was an explosion in public schools for the need of computers, computer education, computer teachers, computer repair personal, and rethinking how schools were made to accomodate all the new wires, servers and the lot. Sections of some schools were set aside not for typing classes and other business type classrooms, but were now being used for computer education and computer lab work. Without a combination of business and education getting together to actually put computers in the schools, I'm not sure if we'd be having this conversation. I was a middle school principal for 3 years in the last part of the 90s. I was brought on board as a principal to get the staff behind using computers. I must have been one of the few that actually had any experience with e-mail that applied for the job then. I didn't know much. I was more curious then anything which was more then what the others had that applied for the job. One of the rules we set up prior to doing job interviews for new teachers... they had to have computer experience and must have some experience using Apple. It didn't take long that that was also a precursor for principals too. The first shock I got the 1st day as a principal in '96, was there wasn't a computer in the middle school office. None of the secretaries had used one and the previous principal didn't see the need or use for computers. Getting the school wired was a problem too. Not just wired for the net, but getting enough electricity in the rooms so we could also have light and drink our coffee too. So another milestone with this technology had to be getting more Electricity into the schools. Something we take for granted now. Our state was more then helpful in purchasing 'puters for schools to put 'puters in the classrooms, but many school systems didn't have the capability to run them. So many schools had computers just sitting in rooms not connected to anything b/c there wasn't enough electricity to run them. Just couldn't plug in 40 of those in a room and call it a computer lab! So we had to rethink how we'd get elec. to all these rooms. This was all a major shift in the system.

Ben Hall, thanks for the link to data on difference of write and read speed between USB 2.0 and FW 400 & 800.

I'm a Mac user. What is a virus?

Anytime is a good time to buy a computer. Computers are in constant change... morphing as we type. A person can sit until they rot waiting for the perfect 'puter to roll on to their desk. Look at the early 90s 'puter ads for all the "ultimate" 'puters available then. If we hadn't purchased the first commadore 'puters, we wouldn't be having this type of conversation. So buy your 'puters now and eat, drink and be merry for Christmas and the New Year Eve's party! As one of us will surely write an article Dec. '06 asking, "Should we buy a computer now?" *g*

This article has taken on such an interesting view. So I thought I'd take a look at how the argument on the importance of a disk drive is coming along. However, this is more a documentation of how people will react at first. I see it when my 80 + year old friends cuss me out when talking about no photo albums and no cassette players when I tell them my photos and music is all computerized. Anger is displayed over the thought of no DVDs, CD in this forum. You people must be so young as to have forgotten the record, cassette player and the forever honored 8 track player. I remember in the 60s when there was talk of putting music on something other then a record or reel to reel tape. That's when Cassettes and 8 track players came out. Tons of people invested a lot of money in record collections and lots of people invested in tons of storable sounds on reel to reel tapes just to see that go by the way side with 8 track and cassette decks. Probably b/c you couldn't play a record or a reel to reel conviently in a car or truck. And certainly b/c astronauts couldn't play records in zero gravity. The thing is, people couldn't see the end of records and reel to reel recorders, much less the end of cassettes. There are many people that still have tons of sounds recorded onto those mini reel to reel devices. No one blinked an eye b/c we had a lot invested in records, 8 track players or cassette decks. Progress continued to progress whether people wanted progress or not. Thus, the CD player and DVD burners became important. Not only could you put photos, music, movies and games on these devices, the amount of information you could put on a CD or DVD was far more than a cassette or record. Now we have Blue Tooth or satellite technology to push CDs and DVDs out of the picture. Some of you are angry about having to use telephone wires instead of cable wires for your communication that you don't realize both of these systems are replacable and are being as we write. We not only do not need CDs or DVDs, we do not need wires. It's just a matter of time and Blue Tooth will be the standard as people sell their DVDs and CDs in garage sales across the universe just as people buy the 8 track players today. B/c once you get the idea of talking about tetras instead of giga, you'll understand. Progress doesn't stop for anyone or anything. It's a continuum.