Well, I hope
everyone had a good weekend, and thanks goes to all the readers
who pointed me toward the blatant piece of pure fiction
that Mr. Manzione over at Macnet v2 managed to hurl in my direction.
Rest assured, I'll take care of him later. But while
that puts him at the top of the stench meter, debunking
his nonsense is not atop my list of priorities. I've got other
fish to fry (including some salmon), but the biggest Mac-related
fish involves doing something that I have yet to do this century:
I've got to buy a new Mac.
Yeah, that's
right, you read correctly. Shocking as it sounds, I haven't
bought myself a computer since 1999. Actually, it was September
of that year when I purchased a first-generation blueberry
iBook to complement the first-gen bondi blue iMac I'd bought
myself the previous year. Both machines served me remarkably
well. But a year and a half after buying the iBook, I was issued
a much more powerful Indigo iBook from my employer, which began
to more and more frequently become my home machine of choice
on the evenings and weekends. Soon I realized that I didn't
need to own a Mac of my own at all, so I passed the (by then)
aging bondi iMac along to a family member and kept ye olde
iBook around merely as a backup.
Although
I could have had the public elementary school I was working
for offer me just about any extravagant laptop I wanted, I
kept it modest, sticking with an Indigo iBook up until my final
year in which I finally accepted a snow white G3 iBook in its
place (an ergonomically inferior design, for sure, but the
giant speed boost made up for it, barely). But when I finally
retired from the job last fall, I realized that suddenly,
I no longer had access to a computer that was less than four
years old. Not good. And while my years-old blueberry iBook
ran Panther surprisingly well and performed light duties quite
admirably, it wasn't the answer as far as what I wanted to
do with my growing family of websites. I needed to find something,
and fast.
So I made
arrangements to put a 500 Mhz slot-loading iMac in front of
me (even though technically, it's not mine), and considering
that it's now three years old itself, it's come a lot closer
to meeting my needs than I thought it would. In fact, it's
a testament to just how many years Macs can stay relevant,
even with nothing more than the usual RAM and OS upgrades.
But for reasons that are likely of no interest to anyone but
me, I've now got about a six week window in which to put a
new Mac in front of me. And while I've given quite a bit of
advice on the subject to a whole lot of people who've asked
for it over the years (and a few who haven't), it's been awhile
since I've had to advise myself on the subject. No problem,
as it's a truly wonderful time to be buying a new Mac. But
clearly I've got some decisions to make.
So I'm going
to turn the tables here. Over the next week or two, I'm
going to air out my thoughts on various models and features,
in the hopes that I can figure out just what it is that I really
want and need. And I'll be looking for input from readers as
I go along. Now I'll warn you that this isn't an episode of
American Idol; I'm not going to simply ask for advice and then
buy whatever gets the most votes (besides, some of those rabid
G4 Cube users are likely to vote more than once). Everyone's
situation is different, and the hardest part for me just might
lie in figuring out just what my situation is.
I know that
I need a Mac, but the certainties pretty much end there. Knowing
what I want is easy enough: a dual 2 Ghz PowerMac
G5 with a 23 inch Cinema Display, with a G5 PowerBook laptop
thrown in to boot. The problem, of course, is that the first
machine costs about five grand, and the second doesn't even
exist yet. As with so many choices in life, this isn't about
what I want; it's about what I need. Or more accurately, balancing
various needs against each other and seeing which priorities
make the cut vs. which ones I find I can live without after
all.
There's also
a matter of unique timing here. While it usually happens only
once or perhaps twice a year, I have little doubt that we'll
see new eMacs if not iMacs before my six week window expires.
No, I don't have any inside information, I don't know anything
that you don't. I'm just working under the assumption that
Apple can't literally go
forever without updating its consumer line, and recent signs
would appear to be pointing that we'll see the new stuff sooner
than later. So does this complicate things? Sure. But it's
a good complication, because assuming I can hold out until
we see the new models, I'll have the choice of getting a new
machine at current prices, or scavenging for an outgoing machine
at a discount. It's a good problem to have.
I welcome
the challenge in front of me, and despite the number of unknowns,
and the sort of do-or-die nature of the situation, I can't
help but think that I'll come out on top no matter what. Every
consumer Mac is a good deal; I've just got the find the one
that best suits my needs. I've long said that the eMac more
than meets the needs of ninety percent of consumers, and I
really do believe that, but I do want to take a look at what
the landscape might look like if I were to betray my own advice.
Hey, it can't hurt, as everything is still hypothetical for
at least a bit longer on my part. All the upside would appear
to lie with waiting until the last possible moment, or until
the situation with the new models becomes clear, whichever
comes first. So in the mean time, I'll be taking a look at
this from as many angles as I can, and hopefully we'll all
figure out a bit more about what we really need out of our
next Mac in the process.
Look for
"Bill buys a new Mac, volume two" soon. Oh, and Mr. Manzione, I'd
advise you to write keep writing your fiction as quickly
as you can, buddy, 'cause I'll be dealing with you soon enough.
No
Panther user should be without:
