The iMac Has Landed

Núverandi 2007 Intel iMac. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For years I’ve wanted to use a Mac instead of a PC for my writing. I decided I would treat myself on my retirement from employment and, last Monday, I made the purchase.

As is invariably the case with technology, the process of getting up and running wasn’t straightforward. It never ceases to amaze me that the systems purported to make our lives easier, in fact, make them more difficult. The Mac is a wonderfully intuitive machine but, like all technological items, it has its shortcomings. One aspect that is singularly noticeable is that ‘intuitive’ is clearly a selective quality. The machine itself comes with no written instructions of any real use. And the DVD Drive, which is a superb piece of engineering and design, comes with even less.

One of the aspects I, as customer and user, like to experience is some level of confidence that what I’m doing and what the machines I’ve invested in are doing is actually what I intended. The information around this fairly basic need is poor or non-existent.

I discovered, almost by accident, a process intended to transfer my old files from the PC to the Mac. On the face of it, this looked fairly simple. After following the instructions and first suffering a failure of the software (on my PC) I wasted 8 hours, waiting for the transfer to complete. I gave up and went to bed. The next day, I stripped all the old programs from the PC and rationalised some of the files. Now, I’m a writer and a photographer, so I have a good deal of stuff on file. It worked out, after some re-organisation and some deletion, that I had 10,309 text files and 10,176 photo files. The size of the transferable batch of information was around 62 GB. I assumed the transfer from PC to Mac would take some time and set the program off again. It was still running some 7 hours later, with no indication of when or even if it would ever complete. I went to bed again.

The next day, I transferred music and photos manually, using a 4GB USB memory stick. It was time-consuming, but slowly the files built up on the Mac and I felt I was getting somewhere at last. Once transferred, I deleted the files from the old PC, leaving only the text files and personal information to be transferred by Apple’s ‘File Migration’ software. I gave it one last chance, but it still was searching for information after 5 hours and I gave it up as a bad job, transferred the text files manually and decided I’d simply have to re-set all the personal info stuff as I used the Mac.

I’m up and running again now. I do love the Mac and I enjoy the way it works. But I continue to wonder at the failure of an entire industry to make its products straightforward and user-friendly for its customers. Clearly, the designers of software and hardware have no concept of the level of knowledge held by the average user. So, I make a public plea, which I expect to be ignored, for those in the IT industry to always ask a panel of normal members of the public to test and evaluate all their products before releasing them. That way we might all be much happier and more able to get on with our lives.

Moan over. iMac in use. I might now be able to get some writing done, at last!

I had hoped to include a picture of myself at the iMac, but I haven't yet figured out how to do that!

Macs for Dummies, by Edward C. Baig, Reviewed.

Macs for Dummies, by Edward C. Baig, consists of more than four hundred pages of erudition delivered with humour and easy style. In what could so easily have been a dry and dull presentation, we have here a text book which is readable and enjoyable.

I was gifted the book as part of my retirement present from work colleagues, who knew I was considering the idea of swapping my PC for a Mac, once I’d left employment and could devote more time to writing. So, it was a welcome volume. I read it well out of order in my ‘to read’ list, as I was considering making the change on or around my 65^th birthday, which comes up next month.

Reading a computer manual without benefit of the machine may seem a little odd. But, as Baig makes clear in his introduction, the book is designed as much for that eventuality as for those who have already committed to the Mac. The ready humour and light presentation make the book a delight to read. Packed with information, tips, technical bits (that you can skip if you wish), warnings and short asides into the more esoteric aspects of the Mac world, this is definitely the book to read if you’re either about to make the momentous decision I face or have taken the first step and purchased your first Mac.

I learned, with growing wonder, the huge variety of programs and applications provided with this amazing machine. I learned about the ease and user-friendliness of the operating system, which makes Windows look decidedly clunky (though you can run Windows in parallel, should you so desire). The author explains the similarities and the differences, he describes the hows and whys of various aspects of using the machine and its operating system. Inevitably, there are technical terms, but where these need explanation, he provides it in terms that are easily understood.

The book was published in 2011 and is in its 11^th edition. Of course, it was written before this date, so certain things have changed since then. The operating system he describes is the Snow Leopard, but there have been 2 upgrades since then and, as I understand it, we are now on safari with the Mountain Lion OS. So, there are some aspects that are no longer current. But, Baig makes this clear and gives the URLs of several websites to help the reader update, including the specific Mac site that will keep all prospective and current users up to date. It is, of course, inevitable that a book about the fast moving world of computing will be out of date as soon as its writing is complete. But this one makes a serious attempt to compensate for that by both flagging likely changes and providing the means to address them.

So, the questions arise; have I made the decision and did the book in any way influence me?

To the first, the answer is YES, I have and, I’m impatient to buy my first Mac. I will, however, wait until my birthday, as I’m currently learning to touch-type (my 2 fingers and thumb technique restricts me to a maximum speed of 45 wpm, and I need to be able to type at a speed at least close to my thoughts) and I think one new skill is enough for a man of my decrepitude. But I look forward to that change with real enthusiasm.

To the second, the answer is, once again, YES. I had conversed with users and heard their enthusiasm and universal praise, so I was ready to be convinced. But I had not, until I read this book, fully appreciated the sheer wonder of the Mac, its hardware and software and the marriage made in heaven between those two elements. The sheer variety and relevance of the vast array of applications makes the difference in price between the Mac and the PC more or less irrelevant and renders the happy coupling of hard and software a bonus. I look forward to using the new Mac to produce my masterpieces in the very near future.

If you’re unsure whether you should make the change and you consider yourself a serious author, graphic artist or photographer, I seriously suggest you spend the few pounds this book costs and then decide for yourself, armed with the facts.

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Writing: 1500 Words Today

An early start and going well when the keyboard, a wireless affair, decided it needed new batteries. Power restored and the words flow again. Then the keyboard packs up again. It's been playing silly devils for a while now and it's clearly suffering some sort of short. I managed to get 1500 words done, so Ch25 is complete and Ch 26 is begun. But the power problem became too much to permit me to continue to create.
After breakfast, a quick trip into town and a new keyboard bought; working fine. Just can't be doing with technology that doesn't work, can you?
I've managed to prepare and schedule my Daily Word Spot for the next 2 weeks, prepare and schedule an author interview and answer a few outstanding emails, so not a bad day.
Moved a few plants in preparation for a major project in the garden.
Now I shall go and read, whilst Kate is out filming some of her school mates for their media studies project and Valerie is out on the coast, bowling in what started as a bright warm evening. Hope it stays fine until they finish.

Printer peculiarities

Image via WikipediaAm I alone in wondering at the manufacturers of printers? They seem to delight in providing as many different ink cartridges as they can design, usually only half-filling them and pricing them so high that they frequently cost more than the printer they serve. And why is it that when I'm printing a completely black document, with no hint of colour, that the colour cartridges empty along with the black one? The printer gets all uppity when I dare to replace the overpriced manufacturer's cartridges with cheaper, fuller generic cartridges and warns me that my warranty will be invalid. I don't care, of course, because the warranty ran out ages ago. But the printer then makes it as difficult as it can for me to do a straightforward task, putting on a juvenile sulk because I've rejected the offerings of its parent company and used more productive offspring instead.
There was a time when the customer's wants and needs were important to the manufacturer and retailer of goods. With the coming of the computer age, we seem to have fallen into a strange land where the seller holds all the aces and wants to rule the habits and choices of the customer. Perhaps it's time for all of us to let each other know when we come across a computer product or peripheral that actually gives the user free choice. We can then all buy these and increase their sales at the expense of those arrogant suppliers who want to dictate to us. What do you think?