As for Ipods

sad-mac.jpgThere are a few things I’ve sworn I’ll never do.

  • Join Myspace
  • Buy an Ipod (with this comes you know, being a Mac user)

As you may well know, I am now definitely an owner of a Myspace account. Not a very proud owner but it’s good for killing time and commenting on those frequenters where it’s seemingly the only way to keep in touch.

I have long ranted about Ipod ‘brand-name’ horrors, Apple’s ‘think different’ slogan doesn’t help, however I have come around and now admit that they have got a very nice interface and one would be very helpful to a) store music – a lot more than my little iRiver can hold, and b) act as an external hard-drive. That of course immediately means I’m after a video Ipod and that adds a few hundred dollars on the price.

(I want one)

And then being a multimedia turned design student there’s the harsh exposure to this foreign operating system for a girl extremely adept with Windows. A slow and painful but secretly exciting journey into discovering new shortcuts and extreme frustration over having only one mouse button.

And then friends get Macs and Geoff gets one from work and Bec see’s and drools. Stunning interfaces, remote controls, kind-eye graphics, stability and other niceities and in turn has to peform doctor to her ever decreasing hard-drive size, uninstalling programs reluctantly to conserve space, going with Windows Media Player over Itunes (the could-be compromise of at least one nicer looking program) but there’s no room for wma conversion to mp3. Sad. And she cries in her mind when someone says they still use Internet Explorer and so on and so forth.

(I want one)

I can probably get to a point of justifying it – it would be extremely helpful for uni and whenever I do go to buy a new computer it will be one.

How often do you update your whole computer? Do you know anywhere I can get a super-dooper cheap Mac, not just Apple Education prices – something like: not quite the latest and greatest and then have the miraculous happen a thrown in Adobe CS2 (Mac version).

Alas. I feel materialistic. I feel poor. The closest I come to owning anything Apple is an Ipod magnet.

15 Comments

  1. said:

    Don’t do it. It’s just not worth it.

    Creative Zen >>>>>>> iPod (I’m implying they’re *way* better than an iPod, if you didn’t get what I meant by all the ‘>’s :p)

    As for the Mac, PC’s are way cheaper. Buy a new one. It’ll set you back less than $1K if you don’t get everything. New hard drive, mobo/processor, more RAM, graphics card and you’ll be laughing. As for the “kind-eye graphics”, buy a copy of Windows Blinds. It’s not very expensive, and comes with Mac-lookalike skins to make Windows look not-so-windows’y.

    And the remote controls, well, if you ask a nerd nice enough, they’ll make you an IR port for your PC, and you can use any remote you like.

    =)

    February 22, 2007
    Reply
  2. jas said:

    Squid, squid, squid… Not everyone is a nerd like you. And if you’re doing design stuff, as opposed to geekery, Mac is the way to go.

    Bec, on the Mac front, I’ve got a G4 Powerbook (that I’m typing this on) and I’ve been thinking about upgrading it for one of the new Intel ones (so that I can *shock* run Windows on it too). So I might be able to organise something there… still gotta work out how much I can justify spending to upgrade though.

    If you’re going down the Mac path, iPod good. If you’re still using Windows for a bit, there’s plenty of (cheaper!) mp3 players that do all the same stuff. Apple release shiny new iPods all the time so you may as well wait until you do get a Mac so you get the latest and greatest with it (and only then because iPods play nice with Mac and some other players don’t….. I blame my old Creative one not working solely on Creative and their lame proprietary software though)

    February 22, 2007
    Reply
  3. jas said:

    Oh, and let’s not talk about the fact that I also have a MySpace account. Not that I actually use it 😛

    February 22, 2007
    Reply
  4. jas said:

    And completely off-topic, I only just noticed that changing-picture thing at the top of the page. That’s cool. I should visit the site more rather than just reading the RSS feed, huh?

    February 22, 2007
    Reply
  5. jas said:

    And just for the fun of it, another pointless comment.

    Okay I’m done now.

    February 22, 2007
    Reply
  6. said:

    PCs are teh suck. Ignore squid. He’s got a vested interest that comes from being a PC nerd. He sees no future for himself when the world finally comes to it senses and uses Macs exclusively. And we shall all dance on the grave of Bill Gates, ironically killed in a hailstorm of apples.

    Owning a Mac will change your life, it seriously will. I’m currently at a (substantial) crossroads for jobs, and the first thing that one of my options will get me, is a brand new 17″ MacBookPro. Yummy.

    That said, if you get a Mac before I, and I can get you Adobe CS2(mac), can I have your windows version? *batts eyelids* Pretty please?

    February 22, 2007
    Reply
  7. jas said:

    Actually, no I’m not. I remembered something real I wanted to add. Why isn’t there an edit button on my posts? (yeah, I know, I know…)

    Single-button is The Single Most Annoying Thing about the Mac. Fortunately, they support more buttons, even if they insist on coming with a single-button mouse (although Apple have finally clued on recently and started to release 2-button ones).

    I used to smuggle a normal USB mouse into uni when we were in the Mac labs so I didn’t have to do the stupid control-click thing. Got a few glares from the techs there, but oh well. It made those units more bearable. Just one of those uni tips 😉

    February 22, 2007
    Reply
  8. Paul said:

    Macs are pretty good these days, much more in common with Windows apps which helps switching.

    You can get a Mac mini pretty cheap. Then you can make use of your existing monitor.

    Yep Mac mice (the mighty mouse) are much better now, they have a cool scrol ball and make two buttons (and maybe more) out of one just by being clever.

    iMacs are very neat but obviously you are paying for a new screen too.

    Macs keep their value pretty well, especially laptops.

    jas, you only just got your powerbook. A new one already? I recommend the glossy screen – a guy at work has one and it looks really good.

    February 23, 2007
    Reply
  9. said:

    Since switching to mac… my life has miraculously changed 🙂

    Try doing what I did!

    My laptop died… and I needed a new one… I casually ( I was barely even asking!) telling God how I would love a Mac.

    The next day, someone approached me saying they felt God wanted them to give me their Powerbook.

    How good is God?

    February 23, 2007
    Reply
  10. said:

    A SUPER CHEAP MAC? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Keep up the funny posts Bec. Seriously, don’t buy a Mac. But I can understand if you have to and find it usefull for multimedia stuff, this is afterall the only thing they are good for.

    BUT DON’T GET AN iPOD FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!!!! Do some price comparisions, iPODs are quite expensive & you have to use iTunes, so more fun converting files.

    February 23, 2007
    Reply
  11. jas said:

    Paul, the reason I’d be wanting to get a new one is because they’re Intel based and can run Windows as well as OS X.

    *hides*

    And Jonny, iTunes isn’t that bad. And it plays nice with MP3 so you don’t have to convert files. If you’ve been using WMA…. then, well, that’s your own stupid fault. 😛

    I agree though, if you’re on Windows, don’t bother with the iPod, you can do heaps better for cheaper.

    February 23, 2007
    Reply
  12. said:

    Woah comment overload. Macs are pretty important for design stuff (despite various of you up there trying to say otherwise) if only for me getting experience in using them. Windows is a no-brainer. But people don’t employ people with only Windows skills.

    Other Paul (that being Paul D) can you please use a defining something on your name so I don’t get you and Paul T mixed up. Paul T gets “Paul” because he was here first.

    As for ‘using pre-existing monitor’. I only own a laptop. That’s all I use. So I would need one regardless.

    Burkie if you want my Adobe CS2 Windows, start considering upgrading your SLR 😛 Here’s me admiring it from a distance – we might be able to cut a deal – although probably not for a while!

    February 23, 2007
    Reply
  13. emily said:

    mac’s are pretty

    February 23, 2007
    Reply
  14. said:

    and the geeks come out and comment.

    i found way too many “i wants” in the above post…

    February 26, 2007
    Reply
  15. Tris said:

    If you get the Mini, it’s a good idea to go the RAM upgrade to 1G, especially if you’re doing a lot of CS2 work.

    Why is everyone going on about the automatic transfer from iPod to iTunes? There are plenty of high-quality substitutes. SharePod for instance, http://www.sturm.net.nz/website.php?Section=iPod+Programs&Page=SharePod, is a free stand-alone executable that is so efficient it runs itself on the actual iPod drive. All you have to do is open it in the iPod’s explorer and lets you move mp3’s around. Pretty sure it can also do the .wma to .mp3 conversion automatically like iTunes – for whatever reason you have .wmas…

    March 6, 2007
    Reply

Leave a Reply to jas

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *