subtlety
by John at 9/30/2005 09:06:00 AM
Hola, amigos. How does it hang? I know it's been a while since I last rapped at ya, but I've been busier than a cop in a donut shop, fixing up my old lady's laptop after Windows XP decided to crap out and flying out to some dumb town in upstate New York 'cause the The Man said so.
All that trouble got me thinking, and I've started to look for a new computer to replace my trusty, custom-painted, nearly four-year-old Athlon Thunderbird linux box.
Sad but true.
I want something small and cool, and most important, quiet. I've been considering a ShuttlePC (so I could keep running linux) but I am also seriously thinking of a Mac Mini (although, I think I will regret using OSX - have you heard that upgrades to OSX aren't free?).
Anyway, to the point of this post. While looking for reviews of the Mac Mini, I found this subtle satire.
If you like, read the whole thing.
All that trouble got me thinking, and I've started to look for a new computer to replace my trusty, custom-painted, nearly four-year-old Athlon Thunderbird linux box.
Sad but true.
I want something small and cool, and most important, quiet. I've been considering a ShuttlePC (so I could keep running linux) but I am also seriously thinking of a Mac Mini (although, I think I will regret using OSX - have you heard that upgrades to OSX aren't free?).
Anyway, to the point of this post. While looking for reviews of the Mac Mini, I found this subtle satire.
The Mini has got some built-in software for basic computer functions, but it can’t do many common things as well as its grown-up brothers in the Windows world can. The little things can add up to big frustration for someone who might accidentally buy a Mini expecting it to be just like Windows. For example, there is no Outlook Express for email, but Apple includes a program called Mail, which is like a stripped-down email client that can’t execute scripts or open attachments without user intervention. Personally I find it annoying, but if someone doesn’t depend on emailing their coworkers vbscripts like I do, they might be able to get by with it. Secondly and possibly even more glaringly, there is no antivirus program shipped with the Mac. In today’s climate of non-stop worms, trojans and viruses, releasing a computer with no virus removal software is irresponsible on the part of Apple. The OS X comes with some system maintenance utilities, but essentials such as a defragmenter or a registry cleaner are notably absent. I would expect a Mini to get really slow and unstable within a couple months if you can’t perform any routine maintenance tasks on it.
If you like, read the whole thing.
