Tag Archives: Mac

Apple/Mac, Computers/Technology

Writing About Things You Don’t Understand

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Yesterday, thanks to the ever interesting Unofficial Apple Weblog, I came across this gem of an article published in a US student newspaper. In their posting, TUAW post it alongside a link to this apparently spoof review of the Mac Mini.

However, the new article is a review of Boot Camp by someone who doesn’t appear to have seen it or tried it, and patently doesn’t understand the technology. I won’t go over everything that is wrong with what is said as I passed it on to Howard who thoroughly dissected it point by point.

Having said that, although the student article is an extreme example, it is a pretty common problem. I can highlight examples of mainstream media that often produce this kind of ill informed article – take the RFID article from the BBC that I grumbled about last week.

Computers/Technology

Google Earth for Mac Leaks Out

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For a good while, we’ve had a copy of Google Earth sitting on our PC’s, and even introduced Beth’s Dad to the application when we were over in the summer. However the application has been resolutely PC only, with only a pretty terse message about a possible Mac version.

Various Mac sites have discussed the lack of a version and to some extent I didn’t really believe that a version would ever appear.

Officially, a version hasn’t appeared, but today I came across a posting on the Unofficial Apple Weblog saying that a copy of the Mac version had been leaked. The poster was somewhat nervous about downloading it, however a look down the comments found a stack of people who had, and no reports of any major problems.

Anyway, I grabbed a copy of the archive, and installed it, and it works, and very well too – at first glance it even seems to be more responsive than the PC version, even compared to a fast laptop like mine. I even discovered that they have updated the data set with decent views of Arborfield too!

Computers/Technology

Stephen Fry – Mac Fan

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Reading through the December issue of Mac Format that turned up in the post this week, I was interested to read an interview with Stephen Fry (who describes his occupation as a writer, actor and flower arranger to the stars in the article) about his Apple Mac addiction.

According to the article he got his first Mac twenty-one years ago, and now owns loads of Macs with at least eight being specifically mentioned. However the most interesting, and very “Stephen Fry” type answer is reserved for the question of why he has a Mac instead of a PC:

You may as well ask someone who has the choice why they live in a Georgian house and not a 1960s towerblock. It drives me mad that people who spend their working lives in front of a screen do so in a Windows environment, the equivalent of a “sick building syndrome” office, with strip lighting, ugly furniture and no freshness, sexiness or imagination in design. People are dragging out their lives in the computer equivalent of a sink estate and no one questions it. God rot Windows and all its ugly, clunky, badly-designed horror.

Mmm, I think maybe he doesn’t much like windows then… From my point of view, whilst I prefer the environment of MacOS X I don’t think I’d describe Windows XP in quite such damning terms as Fry does here. Having said that it still an amusing interview, and worth picking up.

Computers/Technology

Chance to Compare

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So after a week with both, how does the startup with a new PC to a new Mac compare?

In actual fact it’s a slightly unfair comparison, as I’m effectively starting from scratch with the PC, as I’ve chosen to install XP 64 onto it, rather than the XP Home setup that it was delivered with. This brings with it a whole load of added complications as many manufacturers are operating a wait and see tactic with 64 bit, and effectively won’t properly support 64-bit processors until Windows Vista is finally realeased. Having said that, I have only come across one bit of hardware that I totally couldn’t get to install, and that was the serial to USB cable I use to hook up the GPS. Officially, the graphics card doesn’t work, however I found a technique online that allows you to load a more suitable driver, as ATi do support 64 bit, just not the mobility versions just yet. (Curiously, they do have mobility drivers for the new Windows Vista beta…)

Anyway, the most annoying problem at the moment with the new PC is nothing to do with the software at all, it seems there may be a loose connection somewhere. Last night I could consistently get the screen to blank out by lifting the front of the machine. This developed into there being no screen backlight at all. At this point I got the screwdrivers out ready to open the bottom of the machine, however the screws being rather tight I couldn’t shift them, put the battery back in and flipped it back over, booted up, and no more problem – very strange.

As to the new Mac, that was up and running within hours, and is absolutely fine. To some extent it shows you what an advantage Apple have by controlling their hardware, out of the box you’re getting a machine that takes advantage of it’s 64-bit processor, and no problems with any applications. Compare this with the XP-64 experience where you’re struggling to find drivers and software that works.

A friend at work half-jokingly said when I got the PC “so I see you’re getting a proper computer now”. If getting a proper computer means endless fiddling with drivers, maybe I have. However for a reliable day-to-day machine the Mac is definitely out in front. Microsoft are miles behind in terms of operating system. When Vista finally appears it is only going to be matching Tiger for features, and by that time Tiger’s successor will be out, and on Intel as well.