There's Hope for the Middle East or How I Converted to Mac
We have two distinct religions at work: Mac and PC. It's like other religious wars - it's always been that way and no one switches sides.
I was a staunch PCer. I liked the "business" use of the PC and didn't see much need for the "artsy" side of the Mac. I also didn't like the price tags. I know, the equivalent power in a laptop would cost just as much as a MacBook but you can sacrifice some power and still get a reasonable laptop at a livable price.
My first experience really working on a Mac was editing a movie for a work Employee of the Year presentation. I used iMovie on Sugar Daddy's machine and I hated it. The dang thing froze up on me countless times which is not good when you're still editing at 3 AM for a 7 AM showing.
My last movie was done on a MacBook Pro and it was a much nicer experience. It was a machine we ordered for one of the company directors and he let me use it right out of the box. No freezing up at all and it was pretty good with the graphics and sounds. It also had VMWare on it so there was an actual "Windows" side on the machine where I could still do my business stuff.
That director left soon after he got his MacBook and we didn't replace him so I put dibs on the machine. However, I got outranked by our VP who just wanted to "borrow" it for a little while to see if he wanted to get one for himself. That was, hmmmmm, well over a year ago.
Every once in a while, I'd ask him how "my" Mac was doing and he would feel guilty for bogarting it but not guilty enough to give it up. At one point, he told me I should order a new one and I told him he should order a new one and give me his/mine. Since both of us are really cheap with the company money, that didn't happen.
When I started working with our Managers' group, there were monthly presentations where a laptop was needed. I started bringing in my Dell from home. It's quite pretty so someone would remark on it and I would suggest they go ask the VP where my work machine was. Again, that didn't appear to make him feel bad enough to give it up.
However, I got really tired of lugging my machine in so I throttled up the noise factor a little bit. Nothing happened so I just let it go until one day my boss popped in my doorway and said, "Go ahead and order yourself the Mac."
Yay!
I consulted with Sugar Daddy and our Mac Administrator at work and they both steered me to the 13 inch MacBook Pro. The 15 inch is what everyone else has been getting and the 17 inch is ridiculously large. The 13 inch is much cuter and I was planning on hooking it up to a monitor on my desk anyway. Just to make sure that was what I wanted, SD and I went to the Apple store to check them out.
Isn't It Pretty!?!?
Matching!
I was a staunch PCer. I liked the "business" use of the PC and didn't see much need for the "artsy" side of the Mac. I also didn't like the price tags. I know, the equivalent power in a laptop would cost just as much as a MacBook but you can sacrifice some power and still get a reasonable laptop at a livable price.
My first experience really working on a Mac was editing a movie for a work Employee of the Year presentation. I used iMovie on Sugar Daddy's machine and I hated it. The dang thing froze up on me countless times which is not good when you're still editing at 3 AM for a 7 AM showing.
My last movie was done on a MacBook Pro and it was a much nicer experience. It was a machine we ordered for one of the company directors and he let me use it right out of the box. No freezing up at all and it was pretty good with the graphics and sounds. It also had VMWare on it so there was an actual "Windows" side on the machine where I could still do my business stuff.
That director left soon after he got his MacBook and we didn't replace him so I put dibs on the machine. However, I got outranked by our VP who just wanted to "borrow" it for a little while to see if he wanted to get one for himself. That was, hmmmmm, well over a year ago.
Every once in a while, I'd ask him how "my" Mac was doing and he would feel guilty for bogarting it but not guilty enough to give it up. At one point, he told me I should order a new one and I told him he should order a new one and give me his/mine. Since both of us are really cheap with the company money, that didn't happen.
When I started working with our Managers' group, there were monthly presentations where a laptop was needed. I started bringing in my Dell from home. It's quite pretty so someone would remark on it and I would suggest they go ask the VP where my work machine was. Again, that didn't appear to make him feel bad enough to give it up.
However, I got really tired of lugging my machine in so I throttled up the noise factor a little bit. Nothing happened so I just let it go until one day my boss popped in my doorway and said, "Go ahead and order yourself the Mac."
Yay!
I consulted with Sugar Daddy and our Mac Administrator at work and they both steered me to the 13 inch MacBook Pro. The 15 inch is what everyone else has been getting and the 17 inch is ridiculously large. The 13 inch is much cuter and I was planning on hooking it up to a monitor on my desk anyway. Just to make sure that was what I wanted, SD and I went to the Apple store to check them out.
Isn't It Pretty!?!?
To be honest, I think I spent more time picking out my carrying case than I did picking out the machine. Once I tested out the keyboards and found they were the same on both the 13 and 15 that decision was made. But, oh the cases! There were three neoprenes for the 13 in black, orange or pink. There were some sweet looking cases for both the 13 and 15. One had polka dots and the other had a 60s looking pattern on it. If only the polka dots came in the 13 inch only size!
Matching!
I ended up with the smaller bag in pink. Not only because it matched my phone skin but also because it was more compact. If I'm going to have the smallest, cutest machine in the company, I need to emphasize it!
My Mac guy did most of the setup for me and I transferred all of my files over so I had most of what I needed. There are still a few applications that I need to reinstall but I'm pretty much good to go when it comes to getting work done.
The hardest thing to get used to is the command key on the Mac is the equivalent to the Ctrl key on the PC. I've probably misused it 50 times in only a day and a half but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
My old desktop PC has already been scavenged by one of our system admins so he can use it for testing something. He says he preserved the hard drive but I'm just hoping I don't need anything from it.
In general, I'm liking the new machine. The touchpad is awesome with some cool tricks to modify the size or rotation of an image and scrolling. I think my favorite feature is the keyboard. The keys are backlit so I can sit in a pretty dark room and still see them. It worked out great last night as I was kicking back on the couch while my friend watched TV with the lights out.
I'm telling you, if I can become a Mac person after all these years there's hope for world peace.
My Mac guy did most of the setup for me and I transferred all of my files over so I had most of what I needed. There are still a few applications that I need to reinstall but I'm pretty much good to go when it comes to getting work done.
The hardest thing to get used to is the command key on the Mac is the equivalent to the Ctrl key on the PC. I've probably misused it 50 times in only a day and a half but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
My old desktop PC has already been scavenged by one of our system admins so he can use it for testing something. He says he preserved the hard drive but I'm just hoping I don't need anything from it.
In general, I'm liking the new machine. The touchpad is awesome with some cool tricks to modify the size or rotation of an image and scrolling. I think my favorite feature is the keyboard. The keys are backlit so I can sit in a pretty dark room and still see them. It worked out great last night as I was kicking back on the couch while my friend watched TV with the lights out.
I'm telling you, if I can become a Mac person after all these years there's hope for world peace.
