Are you starting?!?

So on my new found Mac/PC rant I want to air another complaint. When ever I turn on my PC I immediately switch to work mode, this is something I have never debated as it makes perfect sense, the computer is after all simply a tool for me to do my work.

Then Henry (a developer friend) showed me his laptop - a mac - and it seemed different somehow. Now, I have owned many macs in my past, more macs than PC's in fact. But it was only when I saw Henry's laptop that I suddenly realised that I was looking at a desktop that did not ask anything of me. In fact this was a desktop that imbued calm. Apart from a couple of files, a photo of a Scottish mountain surrounded in mist was all that you could see on the screen. Whilst the photo was nice, it was not the photo that did it for me.

It was the fact that it was plain, the view was simple, no complications, no to do list. When you turn on your PC the first thing that you notice is the start bar....



start!
Get to it, Work, work harder, lash, lash


When you switch on a PC you are unwittingly activating a conspiracy theory. One designed to sublimely get you to carry out Bills bidding.

Alright, its not that bad. There's no need to start wearing tin foil on your head. But I do think that we should be able to turn on a computer without the work protocol kicking in. I would like to check in on my latest eBay item and not feel guilty about avoiding my Outlook inbox.

For this reason, I was imediately surprised by Henry's laptop. I now know you can turn on a computer and it not enlist a work ethic in you. I also know that you can now bury windows away in the dark recesses of your hardrive only to be used when you need to boot a PC only application.

Proof of life outside of my HP, XP on a mac......:










Oh dear, I am posting a mac positive post - again....

To Mac or not to Mac

Of late I have found myself staring at the 'resuming windows' bar across my laptop whilst my coffee goes cold and wondering if there is more to life than waiting for windows to kick in. This subject has now been elevated in my conscious due to sporadic power failures as my laptop just turns off when forced to deal with Photoshop and Dreamweaver etc.

True I have a lot of music stuffed in my small hard drive and I do use it almost 24/7 - but then again it is a tool, something I use everyday. So my question is, should you have to endure such outages in your work life, or is there another way.

According to Apple there is. MacBook Pro. Made from spaceships, their laptops can survive extreme temperatures and were made for the memory hungery, 'arty' applications that I favour. But at a price! - Their basic laptop weights in at over a grand, that's twice what this one cost. Makes you think, long and hard.

OK, so you can do more on a shinny new Apple, it has wireless, bluetooth and even a camera built in as standard. It comes with 2gb memory and has the almighty (reason for buying) Intel Core 2 Duo There is even bootcamp, a place to keep windows (on the mac) should you need to test a website cross platform.....

All very tempting yes, but who on earth spends over a thousand pounds on a laptop??

By rights I should own one. I am a designer, I drive a scooter to work and have a tendency to wear surfing T-Shirts under a suit Jacket. But I am also a project manager, keeping my projects on time AND in budget. And then there is the fact that I am a responsible parent with a wife who gives me that look when ever she sees me looking at the porn that is the Apple web site.

Zach, my partner in crime recons that his productivity increased by 25% when he switched. For me that can be the only reason for such an expenditure as time is much harder to put a price on.

I genuinely have no idea...

Answers on a postcard please.