CardBus WiFi and the Shiira Browser
From Ben, following up on WPA
Support for Original AirPort Card:
Charles,
It's unfortunate that the limitation exists for the AirPort slot
internally, but that's how it is! However, I think the firmware update
will work for 50% of my WPA needs; for the other 50% I'm going to just
break down and throw in a CardBus card, I believe. Oh well, I'm sure
I'll survive! :)
Isn't it neat to see how many old Macs are still in regular service?
I know that my work PC laptops last 3-4 years, and then basically fall
apart - my 6-year-old Dell is now the "kids' laptop", and I feel bad
for them. I can't remember the last time I've seen a 9-year-old PC
laptop in regular service. :) And the kids, well, the kids
keep mentioning how much better the school computers are (eMacs and
iMac G's) - I don't blame 'em!
Again, much appreciated, including the article on Shiira - it's
definitely been a breath of fresh air for my old Mac. Sites that were
absolutely unbearable before are working great now.
Thanks again,
Ben
Hi Ben,
Yes, for anyone with the LEM philosophy, the more old
Macs in service the merrier.
It simply blows me away every day how good my old
Pismos are. My MacBook gets more use than they do, but not by a whole
lot. I usually log 3-5 hours a day on Pismos.
For another glowing testimonial to the excellence of
older PowerBooks, see Apple
Computers vs. PC Computers in Heather Kant's Design Blog.
Delighted to hear that you're finding Shiira helpful.
Notwithstanding the frustrating no access to preference settings bug
and occasional crashiness, I'm using it more and more for the raw
speed.
Charles
Macs vs. PCs: Yawn
From Blaine:
I find it just blindingly funny, the absolute holy war that's still,
25 years on, still being fought between PCs and Macs. Very strange.
I've been a lifelong PC user, simply because (where I live) that
was what was available. There were no Mac stores, no one carried
Macs, you didn't see Mac software. Granted, I'd seen Apple IIs growing
up, but they were few and far between. The Commodore 64 was king with
all the little proto-hackers I went to school with.
I made it through high school and the beginning of college typing my
papers on an electric typewriter. My folks finally took pity on me,
scraped together the money, and bought me an XT-compat for my senior
year. I saw Macintoshes, but only from a distance. My college had a
very few of them, but they were restricted to only certain duties. (My
advisor wrote the final draft of his doctoral dissertation on a
Mac Plus that the college
loaned him.) I remember finding a copy of a Macintosh software catalog
and being amazed at the cool stuff therein.
I didn't get to fool with a Mac until I was in grad school in the
90s. A couple friends had them. One had a Color Classic, the other
ended up buying a Performa. I remember helping set the Performa up to
access the Internet by dialing in through our university's IBM 3090
mainframe. Scary.
It's strange, but I never really saw the Mac as a "different"
computer based on personality. I saw them as different based on price.
It was a sort of "elite" machine. I didn't really see it as better or
worse, but as something you had to have money to buy. I was doing the
same things my friend with the Performa was doing, but I had to do it
on an old Panasonic CF-150 laptop with DOS 3.3 in ROM. He had the money
to get a Mac; I didn't. Even when I was out, had a job, and could
afford it, I still bought PCs, because they were cheap and available.
And all my stuff was in DOS (and later Windows) formats.
Only recently have I made my way into the Mac world, and that's only
because of the access the Internet gives to various online dealers. I
bought a used 15"
AlBook G4 to use as my "other" computer. In my work life, I use a
high-end 17" Toshiba Satellite "superlaptop" to do document processing,
spreadsheeting, and GIS mapping.
When I said I was going to buy a Mac (let alone a used Mac), my
friends looked at me like I had lost my mind. But I did, and I fell in
love with my "little silver computer" - so much so that I have a
somewhat souped up Pismo on the way to me. But I
also still have my Toshiba, as well as an Acer desktop running Vista,
and an Acer netbook, and I have no intention of getting rid of any of
them any time soon.
To be honest, I can't say one computer is superior to the other. I
slip back and forth between Win7 and OS X quite easily. Both do
what I want them to do. I certainly don't put myself in either camp.
Personality-wise, I'm about as middle of the road as it gets.
Politically, I'm a solid moderate. I drink office coffee just as well
as Starbucks. I drive an '06 Murano and can give you a solid, practical
reason for owning that type of vehicle. I don't see myself in any camp
- on anything.
I think people just like to fight about stuff. No matter what that
"stuff" is. it's human nature. Guess the world would be a pretty boring
place without it....
And, after all that long-winded bit, let me add that I only recently
landed on Low End Mac, and I'm glad I did. You and your fellow
columnists do a marvelous job of providing straightfoward, commonsense
material that's enjoyable to read. I really wish more sites out there
on the 'net would take that cue. Keep up the good work.
Best,
Blaine
Hi Blaine,
Thanks for the kind words about LEM, and you're right.
Different strokes. Some of our contributors (e.g.: Andrew Fishkin,
Simon Royal) are platform ambidextrous like you.
Actually, I live in PC country myself. There might be
one Mac in this county for every 100 PCs, and I own a disproportionate
number of the Macs. The nearest Mac reseller until quite recently was
150 miles away, although since a university 50 miles distant switched
from PCs to Macs a few years ago, a small shop catering to students and
staff now sells them there.
The Murano was somewhat ahead of its time, being sort
of the first crossover.
Hive fun with that Pismo!
Charles
Charles,
Thanks for your reply to my ramblings. And thanks again for your
writing at LEM. I've been learning so much from you and your fellow
columnists there.
And I'm having a little too much fun with both the Pismo and the
AlBook. Reminds me too much of being back in college, when all this
"computer stuff" was (to steal from Douglas Adams) still a "really neat
thing!"
Thanks again, and best wishes!
Blaine
Hi Blaine,
Pismos (and AlBooks - my wife is loving the 17-incher
I handed off to her) will do that to you. I was past 40 when I got my
first Mac, but the GUI was indeed "a really neat thing" for me after
cutting my computing teeth as it were on text-based interfaces.
Charles
Ridding the Internet of Flash
From Scott:
Hey Charles,
I was just reading the story about Virgin
Atlantic dumping Flash because Apple doesn't support it on the
iPhone. While I completely agree with Apple and everyone else who can't
stand Flash, I must point out that Flash is a major reason people
upgrade consumer computers that are mainly used just for Internet
surfing. I mean, why buy an expensive new computer if your old PowerPC
Mac still does everything you need on the Internet? I do hope Apple
succeeds in ridding the Internet of Flash. That would be really
wonderful, and I completely support them, although it does give me one
less reason to upgrade my old computers.
Scott
Hi Scott,
I'm no particular fan of Flash, but I do think rumors
of its death are greatly exaggerated.
Charles
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