Thursday 26 October 2006

Oh, and about Macs

Inner geek is speaking again. I have friends who swear by the PC and some by the Mac. I guess we all know about Windows problems but I have had friends who swore that Macs are nuclear proof. Sad news is that Macs are also prone to software, hardware and other types of failure. Here are some links of the latest MacBooks. Engadget.com also has all the stories but the site seems to be having loading problems.

White MacBooks showing premature discoloration

MacBooks becoming crackbooks

Apple acknowledges random shutdown problem (aka blue-screen-of-death?)

People are complaining coz Macs are not computers. In the owner's heart and mind, they are Ferraris. And if you get a Ferrari, you wouldn't want your Ferrari to have a casing crack or expect the car to stop working, because you paid a Ferrari price.

I love both Macs and PCs. I also had the experience of dealing with the Apple Service Centre in Singapore. I had a 17incher that came with a airport card failure on arrival. In fact, the Powerbook was giving me electric shocks when AC powered. I had to ask Jo's dad for help coz he was really good at negotiating with stonewallers in Apple Yio Chu Kang. I ended up with an exchanged AC adaptor. :-)

So why were Macs worshipped from the 80s? I played Rescue Raiders on my buddy's Pineapple and wanted to buy an original Apple IIe. I saw a Mac in '83 in a display store (Sime Darby I think) in Centrepoint and I fell in love with it. When I went to Jo's company in 99, I saw an original Mac with B&W screen still chugging along doing wordprocessing. I was sold. Macs were invincible.

I got a G3 Powerbook in '99 and it died in '02 after days and days of overnight RAW processing. Back then, I read that Macs weren't produced in Singapore and Ireland (and the US?) anymore, the production had shifted to Taiwan. So how now? If you are on Final Cut Pro (like Jo) or Mac specific software, then get a Mac. Be prepared, pray and hope you get a good set.

That said, I like the iLife software that comes bundled with the new Macs. Really excellent, does about everything for media for most folks.

Wes

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Wesley,

How have you been? Do you remember us? :p

Well, I switched to using a Mac only in March last year and have been loving every minute of it. Haven't regretted the move even though I had to send it in for repairs recently. Thankfully, Mac users can now send it into the Applecentre at Wheelock Place instead of bringing it down to Apple at Yio Chu Kang. I guessed I prayed hard enough when I got the Powerbook last year.

Am trying to get Wendy into the Mac world by asking her to think about getting a MacBook.

But I'm still using Windows in office and I'm not the worse for wear as long as the PC doesn't crash. :p


Isaak and Wendy

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Yes we do, saw your baby birthday pix. Congrats! LOL, yes must pray before getting a Mac. It's a touch and go. MacBook is nice, I love the new texture of the iBook G4 and MacBook. Just rem to back up data, both for Mac and PCs and that'll do ya? Thanks for writing. ;-)

Abigael said...

You are not the only one getting those electric shocks, dude. The only way I could use it on my lap ... was to place a pillow, fold my blanket into quarters and place it on top of it.

I thought it was just my karma because I was so anti-macs!

Anonymous said...

man, my white macbooks gonna turn yellow like a a photograph haha :)

actually, i do find myself having to reboot my macbook once in a while. maybe it's just the way i drive it like a pc ;)

Anonymous said...

abigael > so funny. yes, it's the only laptop that's an iZap. apple repair blamed the house wiring and that only got my father-in-law incensed.

yuhsin > i usually put it on sleep, battery conservation lasts a lot longer than winxp machines. but yeah, rebooting once in a long while does clear things up somewhat.

that said, i might try out hacking os x to work on an amdx2 pc soon. seehowseehow ;)

wes

Liquidfuel said...

I'll remember to send my father and father-in-law to the PC shop in SimLim next time my PC gives me shi.. er, problems.

Anyway, I swear by the PC though deep inside I know I prefer Mac. One day, the MacMan may just pop out.

Cheers dude. Christmas is coming.

sheldon said...

forget about the differences between macs and pcs... just reformat yours every 6 months and you'll as happy as a lark having a lark...

thats reality... reformat reformat reformat... till you don't even think about it...

Anonymous said...

actually, macbooks are now all made in taiwan. Asustek makes the macbooks and Quanta makes the macbook pro :p

hellos wes and jo, yes i do read your blog now. when are you ever going to come visit me in the cotswolds? i have a spare room waiting for you!

Wes & Jo said...

yeah! reformat is teh best. i loves reformat, need to call winxp centre for new code everytime.

terence > great to hear from you man. thanks for the offer. will definitely pick it up once things are stablized. cherio!

Anonymous said...

hmm...i must be quite blessed then. I got a good set. Have been using my 12" PB for 3 years already. Hasn't failed me yet...only when i dropped it on my own and i kinda damaged the harddisk.=p so apart from replacing my hard disk and a few scratches,it's still working fine.=p

->terrence! nice to hear from you here! marvin here, from cheryl and jasper's wedding.=)

Wes & Jo said...

marvin > yeah. once it's gone past 1st month, it should be fine. just need to keep the baby cool. :-)