In Defense of Landline Phones
From Al:
Good Sir,
I appreciated your fine article, In Defense of 'Obsolete'
Technologies. I agree with many of your points.
I just wanted to add a good reason to keep landline phones. Cell
phone carriers do not maintain the same level of ruggedness as
landlines.
Your point about DSL is of course a more appropriate and practical
reason.
In general, I thought Mr. Elgan meant to be
teasing and cute, but it came off as impertinent. As you pointed out
repeatedly, the lack of thought that went into each comment was so
vividly obvious.
Al
Hi Al,
Indeed, it's difficult to gauge accurately whether Mr.
Elgan was completely serious or just yanking our chain.
;-)
As for landline vs. wireless reliability, please see
my Tuesday, January 12
column on LEM.
Charles
Upgradable Computers Remain Useful Longer
From Dean:
Hi Charles,
I found your recent comments about the value of upgradable computers
interesting. Particularly because I just looked at Apple's latest
vintage and obsolete list. It seems that every computer I have is now
obsolete or vintage, except for the two new MacBooks I bought for my
daughter for school and for my wife.
The interesting thing is I'm writing this on a 2002 Quicksilver that has
been upgraded over the years when I had parts. It currently has 1.5
gigabytes of memory, two 4-port USB 2.0 PCI cards, a serial [SATA] hard
drive controller card, two 80 gigabyte ATA hard drives on the original
ATA bus, two 500 gigabyte serial hard drives controlled by the card, a
Pioneer dual-layer DVD burner, a Zip drive (yes, a Zip drive - I have
lots of Zip disks I find useful), a Radeon 9800 Pro video card, and a
Sonnet dual 1.8 GHz G4 processor upgrade card, running OS X
10.5.8. Granted, it won't run Snow Leopard, but no PowerPC Mac can.
That aside, this is still a very capable unit that can handle almost
everything thrown at it including you tube, and it is almost 8 years
old. It is because of this fact I had to buy my daughter a new MacBook.
The computers at her high school (two years old) pale in comparison to
this old "vintage" Mac, and she had to bring most of her work home to
get it done. She constantly annoyed one of her teachers by telling her
that. When you think about it, that is pretty amazing.
Anyway just some thoughts an the value of upgradeable computers.
Dean
Hi Dean,
My only Mac that's not on Apple's Vintage or Obsolete
list is my eight-month-old MacBook. I could be running Snow Leopard,
but I have not made the jump yet, partly due to lack of time to get
around to ordering and then installing it. However, Leopard is still
doing a great job, and I'm not feeling any compulsion to rush it.
That old Quicksilver sounds like a formidable brute,
sort of like my Umax SuperMac S900
was going on a decade ago. I still have it, but it's been something
like two years since I booted it up. My daughter also still has an S900
- hers with a 500 MHz G3 processor in it.
I also have a Zip drive expansion bay module for my
Pismos (I don't think it's supported by OS X, but of course the
Pismos can still boot OS 9, and indeed an old SCSI Zip Drive that
will work with the S900 and my old PowerBook 1400.
The Pismos are awesome. I constantly have to remind
myself that I'm using a computer that's closer to ten years old than
nine. I don't imagine many brand new PC netbooks can hold a candle to
it for performance and versatility!
Charles
Processor Upgrade or Video Card Upgrade?
From James:
Charles,
I have a Power Mac G4
Quicksilver (2001) with a 733 MHz processor, a stock video card
(AGP 4x Nvidia GeForce 2 MX 32 MB), and 1.25 GB of memory. My question
is which upgrade - processor or video card - will make it run better
with movies and online for You Tube and Hulu, etc. I want to upgrade as
cheaply as possible, as the computer is not worth much yet still has
usable life. I would also like specific suggestions of either upgrade
that you think will help.
Thanks for your time,
James
Hi James,
If better video performance is your priority, I would
lean toward a GPU upgrade rather than a processor upgrade if it must be
either/or. However, I'm anything but expert on the relative virtues of
various video cards. Probably your available budget would be somewhat
of a determinant, and I expect most any compatible recent ATI or Nvidia
card would do the job for you.
I would also suggest considering putting the upgrade
cash toward buying a more recent system pre-equipped with a faster
processor and more powerful GPU as standard equipment.
Perhaps some of our LEM readers will have some more
specific advice to offer.
Charles
Better YouTube Options for G4 Macs
From Michael:
Hello LEM readers,
Playing YouTube videos can be easy also using Perian for Mac. If you have QuickTime Pro, you
can also export the videos you save to other formats you prefer.
Also, QuickTime Pro can
still be registered for Mac OS X 10.3.9 at the time of me writing
this, so you may want to grab it quick if you want it for 10.3.9 while
it's still available.
Michael
Thanks, Michael.
Charles
Delete Key vs. Backspace Key
Mac vs. Windows Delete keys.
From Thomas:
Dear Charles,
As a newly converted user of Macs, I read with amusement JJ's puerile
list of complaints and your excellently-worded rebuttal.
You mentioned that his "Delete button comment mystifies [you]", but as
a relatively new user, this rang with a tiny nugget of truth to me.
For someone used to PCs and Linux systems with two buttons for
removing text - one Backspace and one Delete - the Mac's single Delete
button is confusing, because you somewhat expect it to delete the
character after the cursor, not the character before the
cursor (which is the job Backspace does on PCs). I've gotten used to
it, but it did throw me at first.
Thomas
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for the explanation, which sounds like it's the
issue JJ was getting at with the comment.
I like having a "Forward Delete" (Mac terminology)
key, and most of my freestanding keyboards do. You can also get the
Forward Delete function on Mac laptop keyboards by using the standard
Back Delete button with the Fn modifier key, which after all
these years is second-nature for me.
Welcome to the Mac community!
Charles
Editor's note: We covered this issue several years ago
in 30 Top Mac User Mistakes: How Many
Are Apple's Fault?, a response to an article pointing out how
differently Windows users expect things to work when they come to the
Mac. I wrote:
"Windows users expect everything to work the Windows
way - and Mac users expect their Macs to work the Macintosh way.
Although there is significant overlap between these two operating
systems, there are also important differences."
We looked at the difference between Delete and
Backspace in point 27, noting that the Delete key on a Mac keyboard is
in the same position as the Backspace key on a PC keyboard and
functions exactly the same way. Likewise, the "Del" (forward delete)
key on the Mac in in the same location and has the same function as the
Delete key on PC keyboards. We suggested that
"Apple should adopt backspace as the name for the
"delete left" key and include an arrow indicating the direction in
which it will delete characters. The rest of the world should adopt
"fwd del" or "del fwd" as the name of the forward delete key - and
include an arrow showing the direction of deletion, as Apple already
does."
The article covers a host of other adjustments Windows
users need to make when using Macs. dk
Charles W. Moore wrote:
"I like having a 'Forward Delete' (Mac terminology)
key, and most of my freestanding keyboards do. You can also get the
Forward Delete function on Mac laptop keyboards by using the standard
Back Delete button with the fn modifier key, which after all these
years is second-nature for me."
Wow, I hadn't realised that! Thanks for the info.
Thomas
Delighted to be of service.
Charles
10 Reasons to Hate Macs
From Tim:
Charles,
Looks like many of us feel the way you do about that ridiculous
article. The website is down ! It's sad to consider that such
uninformed trash was deemed to be of publishing quality.
Tim
10 Reasons Macs Suck
From Dan:
You're right, that wasn't worth dignifying with a rebuttal.
Regards,
Dan
Antiglare MacBook Pro on Order
From Andrew:
Charles,
Thought you would be interested. I just sold my ThinkPad on
Craigslist and ordered a refurbished 15"
MacBook Pro with the antiglare (matte) screen. I've never ordered
an Apple refurb before, but after hearing your praise for more than one
of them, I thought I'd give it a go.
My budget was $2,000, which would get me the regular midlevel 15"
(256 MB 9600GT graphics, 320 GB hard drive, glossy screen) new, but for
$10 less I got the 512 MB 9600 GT, 500 GB hard drive, and the new matte
screen.
Glossy-only was what made me choose the ThinkPad over the MBP last
year, and now that the 7 hour battery has been out for a while with no
apparent issues, I took the plunge.
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Congratulations. I'll be looking forward to hearing
about your impressions of the new MacBook Pro.
My experience with Apple Certified Refurbished (ACR)
products has been excellent. Both ACR Mac laptops I've purchased have
been completely trouble-free, although at just eight months with the
Unibody MacBook I
still consider it early days). Of course, a log way to go to match my
brace of nearly ten-year-old Pismos. Two ACR
laptops purchased have proved similarly reliable. I'm an ACR fan.
Charles
I'll find out Friday, which is when the UPS website says it will
arrive.
The antiglare screen is what interests me most. Glossy isn't bad at
all on the MacBook Air,
but on the Unibody (my daughter has the same machine you do, and I had
one of the first unibody 15s) it's completely unusable in my office
unless I close the window or rearrange my furniture. Yes, I sit
directly in front of a big open window with the computer in front of
me.
From what I've read of the antiglare, it is the same high-quality
LCD as the glossy models, but without the glass front and with a very
fine-grain matte surface that most say is better than the
PowerBook/non-unibody MBP days. We shall see. Other than the screen, I
loved my last MBP and regretted having to return it for the
ThinkPad.
Also, I am a closet gamer (don't tell my wife), and I just can't
wait to play the upcoming (two weeks) Mass Effect 2 on that 512 MB
Nvidia card.
Glad to hear the broadband is working out for you and that your
Pismo was able to join the party.
Cheers,
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Working in the light of that big window would do it.
There's no universal, definitive "best" in this matter. I could be
quite happy using a matte display again. I like both.
I'll be fascinated to hear your evaluation once you've
used it.
It's a cliché to say that a mod has given one's
computer "a new lease on life," but my latest RAM and AirPort Card
updates really do make the old Pismo feel like it's advanced two or
three generation increments, and that the lack of compromise in using
it for the sort of stuff I mostly do is remarkable for a machine in its
10th year of service.
Charles
Cell Phone Radiation May Protect Against
Alzheimer's
From Stephen:
Dear Mr. Moore,
Mobile phone radiation 'protects' against Alzheimer's. After all the
concern over possible damage to health from using mobile phones,
scientists have
found a potential benefit from radiation. Their work has been
carried out on mice, but it suggests mobiles might protect against
Alzheimer's.
Florida scientists found that phone radiation actually protected the
memories of mice programmed to get Alzheimer's disease.
Regards,
Stephen
Hi Stephen,
Fascinating article and concept. I remain somewhat
skeptical, but will keep an open mind.
Thanks for forwarding the link.
Charles
Best Buy Warranties
From Dan:
I personally would never buy one from Best Buy on the experience my
wife has had using hers.
Her HP laptop had hardware issues several times, and all Best Buy
ever seemed to do was mail it off to the manufacturer, sit on their
hands for 2+ weeks, and then call you to hand it back. Useless and
slow.
I thought it was a raw deal until her Cadillac coverage covered her
4th breakdown as a "lemon policy," meaning that the machine was
considered a lemon after three hardware issues. The thing really was on
its last legs.
The end game was since she paid around $2,000 for a laptop 3 or 4
years ago, she got to pick out a new one for the same price. You never
really notice how much prices have dropped until an issue like this
comes up and your slightly lower-end laptop of 3 years ago buys you the
most expensive laptop in the store plus the Microsoft Word suite and
gives you some change.
I'm not saying Best Buy took this hit - they most likely had a deal
with the manufacturer - but if only my aging, 5+ year-old PowerBook G4
had that kind of coverage, I'd be sitting pretty with a new,
highest-end 17" MacBook Pro myself.
Color me jealous
Hi Dan,
Your wife really landed on her feet with that issue.
I've heard anecdotally of Apple occasionally replacing defective
computers with higher-end new models, but it's not something one can
count on.
Charles
Which iMac for iPhone Development?
Hi.
I'm gonna' be buying a new Mac. I need your help on which Mac for
developing games with 3D (and 2D and not other apps) for the iPhone (or
even the upcoming tablet, if that's like a huge iPod touch) using 3D
software, the iPhone development software itself, digital painting,
some photo editing, and maybe some illustration (it'll maybe be a mix
of software from different vendors, open source or commercial).
Which of the four new iMacs
with Magic Mouse will be just right without overspending. I plan to use
this for just a year (and hopefully buy another upgrade from Apple from
the earnings): the one with 4850 GPU or 9400M GPU, 21" or 27", C2D or
i5 or i7, 4 GB or 6 GB or 8 GB?
Should I wait for that multitouch tablet, which everyone is sure
that it'll be announced this month?
Other Macs, other peripherals/additions, and other recommendations
are welcome.
By the way, does anyone know if the 21.5" iMacs are also LED lit, or
is it just the 27" C2D and i5/i7 that are LED lit? And will OpenCL help
at all boost C2D enough that will make Quads not really that
significant?
Thank you for your time. Have a great week.
Gbu,
Alvin
P.S. What's your take on the upcoming tablet? Will that need a Mac
for you to program for, or is it a Mac in itself? What's not a
definitions of the Mac for you anyway :) (is the iPhone a Mac?
If yes, the screen size would define what a Mac is?) Will it have the
full OS X, or will it be a skimped OS X like in the
iPhone?
Hi Alvin,
A lot of ground to cover here.
My 2 cents on the best Mac choice for your needs - I
expect any of the new iMacs will do a very satisfactory job for you.
Buy the one you can comfortably afford and load it up with lots of
RAM.
Both the 21.5" and 27" iMacs have LED-backlit glossy
widescreen TFT active-matrix liquid crystal displays with IPS
technology.
It's difficult to make more than the most general call
on the new tablet, since it's specifications remain an Apple secret,
including what OS it will run, and I don't want to speculate. I hope it
turns out to be a Mac that can run the standard Mac OS. However, I'm
exceedingly doubtful that it will make a very good developer's platform
or be well-suited to any sort of serious workaday production tasks.
My ignorance of OpenCL's relative performance
potential is vast.
A Mac is defined as a computer built by Apple that
runs the Mac OS. The iPhone and iPod touch run the iPhone OS, so they
are not Macs. The same goes for the mid-90s Newton devices, including
the Newton eMate laptop (really a proto-netbook), which ran the Newton
OS.
Charles
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