On Apple Products
On Apple Products
I have been a PC user for years. I learned on CP/M & DOS, and evolved to the Windows environment. In the course of the evolution of the modern PC, I experimented with GEM and OS2/Warp, and several other systems. I learned linux in the early days of Yggdrasil and BSD, and early versions of Red Hat Linux (now Enterprise Linux). My endeavours into the world of Apple were the early stages of Power PC and Mac Classic, with their attendant faults and bits of brilliance. Apple is Unix with a special user interface accessing the technical aspects of the underlying system, and they are responsible for much of the modern hardware used in PCs today. (USB/WiFi/Bluetooth/Trackpads/Gestures/Multi-window apps/etc)
Was I ever happy with Windows? Not really, it was hardware hungry, and driven by the hardware industry to ensure upgrades (software and hardware) were a constant and necessary chore. There were a few excellent programs written for Windows that used the hardware and base software effectively, and were not so bloated that they were quick and efficient. Unfortunately, these products were few and far between, and most were either absorbed or copied by the big names to surpass the originals in form if not in function. The advent of the DVD made it easier and simpler to package bloatware for an already burgeoning system. Java, flash and several other interpreted languages made the situation worse. Layer upon layer of interpreters, translators and semi-compiled code emulators and we have a slow system that needs massive storage, massive memory, and massive processing power to provide what a well written and compiled program can do in a minimum of space and resources.
That was the PC end of it - the Audio side, the MP3 players and iPod was another thing entirely. Using iTunes on the PC (Windows 95 to start with) is/was a painful process. It is/was cumbersome, limiting, and difficult to use. It offered an intuitive interface, but the software base (windows) eliminated the simplicity to the point that it limited its functionality. I, therefore, opted to use Walkman (sony), Zune (Creative), Lyra (RCA) and a myriad of other mp3 players as an alternative to iTunes based Apple products. I would purchase the player, use it until it broke (often, as it turns out) and replace it with another, ad nauseum…
… that was until I had my first foray into the real iTunes experience. I got an older Mac Mini - not a very good one, and in poor condition overall. I needed another mp3 player and happened across a very good deal on an iPod Classic. I loaded up the mac mini, loaded up iTunes and copied my mp3s across. OK not very satisfying, but the system worked very well in spite of the remnants of windows limitations and annoyances. But, onward I trod. New cds were ripped into iTunes effortlessly, and eliminated the annoyances of the mp3 formats I was using. OK time to make a decision.
My music library consisted of about 300 albums, all in mp3 format and FLAC (not supported in Windows or OSx by the way) Stored on a portable hard drive only for that purpose.. The music was loaded onto my iPod, and copied onto my windows laptop and I ventured off on an extended trip (3 months) away from any support system. It worked (the iPod), and worked well. So well in fact that I never connected the iPod to the laptop - that is until I dropped the iPod onto a concrete platform, and messed up the charging system in it. I was away from home, in a foreign country, and learned about Apple support. Yes they could fix my iPod, Applecare (Canada) would replace it, but the product would come from Canada not the UK. No direct exchange, sorry. OK, three weeks without music - NOT. I bought an iPod Nano (6g). Used the apple store computer to reload my library, and WOW! The new OSx (10.7) was brilliant! Effortless, easy, intuitive, and spectacular results quickly and effectively. (Remember, this was in the UK, away from my library, and home. The support staff, product specialists, and engineers were amazing. Within an hour, I had a new iPod, loaded with music, and new respect for Apple staff.
Never looked back (ok, the nano has recently had a problem, but really, three years and I’m still using the SAME iPod. Unheard of in my experience where 8-10 months was the norm) And It’s repairable!
So about my Windows laptop; The hard drive had failed, and I took the opportunity to upgrade to SSD and max the memory. This gave windows a new life, in spite of the burgeoning software glut. But my requirements had also changed. I didn’t use the computer the same way, and really had little use for much of the software included with it (or bought for it). I was looking to upgrade my laptop (actually it worked fine now, but had opportunity to sell for a good price to finance my next hardware purchase.)
The mac mini was operating but had many problems, and was not a satisfying product at all. The hard drive took it out in a blaze of glory, and I gave up on it. In hindsight, it was not the product or software that was the problem, but rather a marginal hard drive, and a poor memory module, eventually repaired and solved. However, I bought a MacBook Air. Significantly lighter than the laptop I replaced, with the newest OSx and included the iWork suite (pages, numbers, etc) I wanted on it. It works extremely well, has an amazing battery life, does everything I ask of it, and once I loaded iTunes and my music library, I noted a minor glitch. The direct imports to iTunes, were great (audio and library functions were excellent). The mp3 imports from windows had audio glitches or quality issues, and the libraries would randomly lose artwork, or rearrange themselves sporadically.
Time to re-rip the library. Painfully slow process. Really painfully slow with an external drive. Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY. Recreated with ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) the library is glitch free, and all artwork, notations etc. stay with the songs now, and are transferred to the iPod without issue.
During the course of re-ripping the library, I dragged out the mini and with the help of youtube videos, the internet and various research approaches, I discovered that I could take the mini apart. Time for surgery…. My Mini is an early intel core2duo machine, running 2 GHz and offered a sparse 1G memory. The hard drive had failed spectacularly with noise, smells and i think smoke, but that may be imagination. Dissecting the little guy was not a lot of fun, but I managed. Once the casing is off, the parts are small, must be removed in a specific order, and have various clips, bumpers, springs, etc that need to be kept track of effectively. Install new Intel SSD drive - check. Install new 4G memory modules - check. Clean and repair wifi and bluetooth modules - check. Clean and repair fan - check. Put it all back together, and start to reinstall OSx - Ummmmm, not so check. Argh - my media was faulty… Clean the CD with plastic polish - hurray OSx v 10.6.0. Load iTunes - Check. Upgrades. Upgrades. Upgrades. Upgrades. Oh Wow, 10.7.5 is available- great. Suffice it to say that 7 years of upgrades (Yeah, my mini is 7 years old), downloaded and installed via the internet on a wifi system took a long - Looong - Looooooooooooong time. But the system works, and works well. 10.7.5 (The highest I can run on it) is not absolutely compatible with 10.9 (mavericks the newest OS on the MacBook Air) and there are a few bits of software that I can’t run in the newest versions, but it is quick, efficient, transfers everything except the new iWork suite docs effectively and seamlessly. iTunes works with my iPod(s) (both since I got the Classic fixed after I got home) and does everything I need it to do.
So when my Samsung Tab 7.0 plus started having issues, I went in search of a replacement. Samsung make excellent products, but their customer support leaves a bit to be desired, especially on products they have replaced (which they do constantly) and after purchase support even on their premium products is slow and spotty (I still cannot watch certain videos on a top-of-the-line smart TV!) So I replaced it with an iPad Air.
The iPad Air is brilliant - the iPad line is an amazing product overall, but the Air especially. I don’t know how they managed to turbocharge the wifi access, but they did…. Fast, intuitive, efficient, and all day battery. Can’t say that of the Samsung Tab. It connects to the MacBook Air easily, prints to my wireless network printer perfectly, accesses my MacMini data and uses it’s cd seamlessly, and has audio capabilities of the iPod, all in a light and efficient package. The smart cover weighs more than the Air! That would be my only complaint - haven’t found a cover that is as brilliant in design as the product yet, though I do have a few.
I used to think of Apple as a company who overcharged for nominal products and support, and cared about profits more than the products they sell. I have changed my mind, completely. Apple provides after purchase support which exceeds my expectations. They provide good quality hardware that is well integrated with the software they provide.
Is their product the best on the market - perhaps not.
Is their product the solution for everyone - likely not.
Is their product going to last - barring manufacturing errors or damage, probably
Do their products work well together - Absolutely without question
Do their products work with other brands - some, so its best to check.
Are their products worth the prices they charge - depends on your requirements
Are their products effective to non-techo-geeks? - without question
Would I buy more of their products - yes
Are there any alternatives to apple - sure with other issues and problems.
Am I an Apple Fan now - Can’t you guess?
And of course the biggie question -
Would I buy another Windows Computer? - Not a chance, unless I had a specific requirement that made the Mac an unviable alternative.
There is some software that I would like to use, that is not available for the Mac. Not much and most of it is highly specialized and user specific. A great deal of the software available is from third parties, but for the most part it is excellent in quality and works well - it has to or can’t be offered on the app store through apple.
There is little need for additional anti-spam, anti-malware and virus protection because the underlying unix system is mostly immune to them, (not completely, but for the most part.) Most of the software on the Mac is written and compiled using Cocoa, a specific C type compiled language that is Native to the Mac (uses the direct links within the operating system to provide access to hardware controls and functions) This native requirement, and the fact that it is compiled make the software run quickly even thought the hardware may not be the fastest, and allows quick and efficient routines using libraries which are already a part of the operating system. The libraries ensure that the software is consistent and operates the way it should.
Drawing on the Mac, or image manipulation is surprising - It is so much faster than any windows system I have used. Likely due to the direct hardware interface available to the programs. The other part of the Mac system is memory management; It maps memory in the Unix environment, allowing almost unlimited access to memory for programs that need it. Almost all of the memory is available to any program, at any time, and it preemptively allocates virtual memory as it is needed, just like any unix or linux system. The result, being able to almost instantly adjust high resolution images or process video images. Makes what I do easy and quick.
Nuff for now, looking to upgrade my aged but now quite functional Mac Mini in the future, but it works so well that I’m not in a massive hurry. And with the MacBook Air, and iPad Air, not a significant necessity - though the 23” high res screen I use is pretty amazing for a desktop computer.
Have a great day,
and take a bite!