I keep plugging in a trackball into my powerbook because the shitty trackpad there only has one button.
This is my biggest criticism (apart from the battery debacle) about an otherwise fine laptop.
Can't Apple just see this, that people who buy their laptops aren't just 'Mac Fanatics' who hold Jobs in the esteem of some prophet and lap up everything he says....
LOTS of us want 2 button (or more) trackpads...
I have to say I was bigotted. The wife wanted a mac, so I eventually caved in a bought her one.
She's your typical end-user. Just wants to get things done. Her windoze PC's has had trouble with spyware and virii and the 'personal-firewalls' I've attempted to install she cannot fathom.
That said, I bought her an ibook and to tell you the truth I was impressed.
Firstly the bad,
1) it came with not enough ram (had to bump it to 512)
2) new UI to windoze which I unfortunately have to use on a daily basis (I've learnt to say different, not worse)
3) The thing that kills me most, one stupid button on the laptop instead of 2 or 3 which I am more used to. And a lot of the software it would appear does not implement r-clicking the way I am used to see (2).
BUT (and this is where it REALLY shines)
1. Build quality is bloody excellent.
2. Doesn't burn your balls off.
3. Batterytime is great.
4. Ultimately does everything I *NEED* in a laptop with the plusses above which my acer laptop doesn't quite cut.
5. An ibook is really quite affordable, if you don't count sheer-number-crunching ability, which is what you would want to do on a desktop ideally anyway.
Okay, it doesn't do everything I *WANT* like have an x86 chip in which I am architecturally a little more familiar with but hey learning to program a G4 may be fun, besides there's always C and objective-C which I am really growing to like.
BTW, I have always thought C++ was crap.
Objective-C is elegant in a way C++ isn't. Okay you can get it on x86's too, but on a mac it's all there... with lots of extras too.
There's also a semi-decent forth/assembler solution www.powermops.org.
And lastly you aren't stuck with crappy NT/2000/XP...
One could argue, why not get an x86 and dump a unix/linux clone on it. Yes you could.
But Apple's already bundled everything you need, it's just bloody convenient.
PLUS, let's face it, some of us need to use Office to do our daily work (or photoshop or whatever).
Sure there are other solutions out there, but hey, with a mac, you don't have to think too much, you just do.
So yes, buying a mac has been an eye-opening experience for an x86 bigot like me. It would seem for now,
I do all my gaming on my PS2 and PC
My internet surfing on my wife's compromised PC desktop (there's nothing of value on it)
My x86 stuff on my (hopefully) secure x86 laptop.
My actual work - reports etc (some of us do work on things other than computers!) on my wife's mac - where things just work.
My 2 cents anyways, being an ex-bigot I don't expect anyone to share my sentiments, but I would say if you're looking for a new laptop you might want to consider a mac, for all the above reasons.
Slashdot Mirror
I keep plugging in a trackball into my powerbook because the shitty trackpad there only has one button. This is my biggest criticism (apart from the battery debacle) about an otherwise fine laptop. Can't Apple just see this, that people who buy their laptops aren't just 'Mac Fanatics' who hold Jobs in the esteem of some prophet and lap up everything he says.... LOTS of us want 2 button (or more) trackpads...
I have to say I was bigotted. The wife wanted a mac, so I eventually caved in a bought her one. She's your typical end-user. Just wants to get things done. Her windoze PC's has had trouble with spyware and virii and the 'personal-firewalls' I've attempted to install she cannot fathom. That said, I bought her an ibook and to tell you the truth I was impressed. Firstly the bad, 1) it came with not enough ram (had to bump it to 512) 2) new UI to windoze which I unfortunately have to use on a daily basis (I've learnt to say different, not worse) 3) The thing that kills me most, one stupid button on the laptop instead of 2 or 3 which I am more used to. And a lot of the software it would appear does not implement r-clicking the way I am used to see (2). BUT (and this is where it REALLY shines) 1. Build quality is bloody excellent. 2. Doesn't burn your balls off. 3. Batterytime is great. 4. Ultimately does everything I *NEED* in a laptop with the plusses above which my acer laptop doesn't quite cut. 5. An ibook is really quite affordable, if you don't count sheer-number-crunching ability, which is what you would want to do on a desktop ideally anyway. Okay, it doesn't do everything I *WANT* like have an x86 chip in which I am architecturally a little more familiar with but hey learning to program a G4 may be fun, besides there's always C and objective-C which I am really growing to like. BTW, I have always thought C++ was crap. Objective-C is elegant in a way C++ isn't. Okay you can get it on x86's too, but on a mac it's all there... with lots of extras too. There's also a semi-decent forth/assembler solution www.powermops.org. And lastly you aren't stuck with crappy NT/2000/XP... One could argue, why not get an x86 and dump a unix/linux clone on it. Yes you could. But Apple's already bundled everything you need, it's just bloody convenient. PLUS, let's face it, some of us need to use Office to do our daily work (or photoshop or whatever). Sure there are other solutions out there, but hey, with a mac, you don't have to think too much, you just do. So yes, buying a mac has been an eye-opening experience for an x86 bigot like me. It would seem for now, I do all my gaming on my PS2 and PC My internet surfing on my wife's compromised PC desktop (there's nothing of value on it) My x86 stuff on my (hopefully) secure x86 laptop. My actual work - reports etc (some of us do work on things other than computers!) on my wife's mac - where things just work. My 2 cents anyways, being an ex-bigot I don't expect anyone to share my sentiments, but I would say if you're looking for a new laptop you might want to consider a mac, for all the above reasons.