101 Applications for the Mac - Open Source? More like Open Sauce

On the PC you can find literally hundreds of freeware or open source apps. On the Mac, you too can find hundreds of freeware / demo apps.

The problem is, that the hundred becomes stale and every month you check for a new program on a Mac and it's the same old, same old. Where as on the PC there are new updated versions or better alternatives with new bells and whistles.

The Mac may be based on an open source system but let me tell you this, the open source programs are always better on the PC. Takes Open Office for a start, absolutely outstanding news for the Mac, but riddled with graphical bugs, just try the database and you'll see. It will get better, and when it does, it's going to be awesome.

However, try other open source programs and you'll find that on the Mac you'll have to go through complicated ways of downloading the various necessary programs in order to compile the program, then waiting a few hours to compile the program and then waiting a few weeks before someone comes up with the reason why your program doesn't run on your particularly Mac. On a PC, it's press that setup icon together and go through that annoying 'yes, it's safe' box.

Yes, there are lots of users who are new to computers that buy Macs, but one wonders if there are truly Mac Switchers. You know, the one where they actually get rid of their PC completely, not using bootcamps etc, and use only made for Mac software.

Accounting Software for Mac - Beta

Yes, switching to a mac is one of the best things since slice bread. It does everything different from the PC and one wonders why the reason people switched to the Mac is because it does things differently.

Everybody is so used to Windows that people are just crying out for change. In fact the real reason that Vista is in it's current predicament is the fact that it's so similar to XP but with enhancements, or no depending on your point of view. I bet if they completely revolutionized the interface, ie make it ridiculously different yet still compatible with the old versions, people would flock to it.

Not the business sector, no, but one wonders if the the Mac has made any headway in the business Sector, ie the number crunching macro heavy spreadsheets to the daily droll of word processors with pc specific shortcuts. You know in terms of graphic apps, the Mac may very well be King in that area, and it does try it's best with the business apps but to be honest, if Mac's were that serious in making inroads, where is a decent accounting software? Not the personal ones, the one's for business. Accountants would prefer to use accounting software for companies and hope the personal users buy the personal version.

When done in a Mac way, you can perform gorgeous documents, and make pretty spreadsheets. One can only wonder how awesome it would be to crunch those accounts and figures into a proper mac accounting program.

I don't heart the mouse.

The mouse is one of the best inventions....when it comes to browsing the internet and graphics use. But for all others, it's a terrible invention. I prefer accessing my database with a few keystrokes or less and have things instantly performed with a key press. It's hard to describe it. Why can't I just press a button to load my apps. Why do I have to select something, double click it and then select another set of buttons. I just want to press and go. Does anyone really like to use the computer based calculator application with a mouse? Painful or what?

Yes, I appreciate that when it comes to graphics and similar applications it can be a godsend, but for all others, it's horrendous. Can I not select files using the space bar and press a key to cut and paste it somewhere else? Do, I have to select some files while pressing a certain required button and then attempt to drag it to a particular folder, only to have to check to see if it's moved to the designated folder and not the one below or above it?

When I check my email, do I have to find the app by scrolling with the mouse, double click, and then double click on the check mail icon from the mountains of other icons and then click to the inbox and then take my hand off the mouse and place it on the keyboard to type? Certainly a few key strokes would do, right? Or performing account setups for each different email boxes, can I not just press the tab key or enter key to advance to the next field? Do I have to take my hand off the keyboard and use the mouse to advance to the next field? Yes, you can use the mouse to correct fields you feel you need to change, but can't they use those redundant cursor keys? Especially the ones labeled up and down?

It's no wonder that movies hardly ever show the mouse. Everything should be controlled by the keyboard.

Laptops are Useless in a Blackout.

One of the things or an advantage a Laptop has over a desktop is the fact that it runs on batteries, so if there is an electrical blackout it can switch to it and continue to run independent from the mains.

It just puts one over the desktops, where you have to buy a USP, this of course doesn't apply to servers etc. .

But what gets me is the fact that the media is getting more and more focused on cloud applications. What happens in a blackout is that yes, you can use your laptop but your modems and wi-fi and what not will be completely unavailable. To be honest, in general the laptop and the internet go together. Lose one or the other and black out or not, your going to stop what your doing and go to sleep or watch TV.

Let's talk about the battery life. If your laptop is your desktop replacement or is your only computer, it's a safe bet that you bought the machine with that in mind and so you bought the one with the biggest screen and the nice keyboard and didn't care less about the battery life. So, in the event of a blackout, your battery is not going to last you very long, not long enough to do any games, or movies or those bloated work applications.

I know what your thinking, I'll just take it to the local coffee shop and connect from there. If there is blackout in the neighborhood, then there is a chance your coffee shop is also experiencing the same thing.

Let's face it. People buy laptop because it's easy to put away. That is, put away to sell on ebay, put away in a corner when you upgrade to another great laptop, put away to the designated recycling centre.

Atari Portfolio - Terminator 2

This was a great machine. They even used it in the movie Terminator 2. Of course you can't do what that kid did in the movie but it had other great features. It was really hard not to love.

It had a great clear display that although wasn't backlit, it was incredibly readable. It was also very retro since it was a dot matrix screen with low 40x25 character resolution.

It had great apps from a simple word processor, database and spreadsheet. On today's high capacity AA batteries it could run for a good few hours. If you bought the media card you can put your mind to rest that your data won't be lost when you changed the batteries.

It was just so usable. The only thing is, it's not particiaurly practical today. It's too big to fit in a pocket and too small to type easily with the keyboard. But I would definitely keep one just to use it as an address book, perform small calcuations, all in a very sparse and clean user interface. It was refreshing that it had none of the obtrusive and colorful graphical user interface which get bogged down with menus or interfaces that look like windows 3.0. Yes, you can install a widget or a utilty on the desktop/notebook but I really don't like the whole mouse and keyboard interface.

To be honest, I still don't know why today's colorful interfaces triunmph over text interfaces. Do you really put pictures of people in your phone address book? I know accessing the internet on a pda is a great and cool idea, but then again, it's a terrible experience in my opinion.

CD and Digital Music - The End?

Music in the old days were fun. You buy the CD with great cover art / inlays / photos of your favorite artist and get a rack to store your collection, buy your favorite cool looking stereo player. It was great to save money to collect them. Now, it's all available on a click of a button from your preferred music store. You download it, play on your computer, which tends to sound not that great, even if you have great speakers, it always seems to be missing a component. Much like when vinyls disappeared and it's successor the CD emerged.

Anyway, It's also a hassle to listen to music on the computer with the long ish boot up or resumes. Yes, there are mp3 portable music players, but I want something that doesn't require me to sync or download to and from the computer, especially with those DRM or playback restrictions , or ones that require extra hardware or perpehrials just to listen to music.

I also dislike registering services, it's not the registration itself, it's the passwords that I have to make and store. I just want to put my CD and play. Yes, you can burn the music on to CD's, but then unless your really hardware savvy, most users end up burning on their average laptop or desktop and it's a slow process. Not everyone likes to have their computers on 24-7. Some just want to wake up to music and go to sleep with music.

I guess I should just be a drone and just admit that it's cheaper to buy music in digital format from an online store and that transfering it to an mp3 player is a cool way to listen to music. I'm going to miss the CD, just like the vinyl, just like the tape.

Mac > PC but Mac + Antivirus = PC

Apple products and myself have always had a love-hate non relationship. Every time I want to purchase that fabulous ipod, another comes along which is newer. I then try to convince myself that the new one is much better than the old model and then when I am about to purchase one, it's out of stock or not currently available in my preferred color. So I wait and spend time looking for alternatives while using my old mp3 player.

It's the same with their notebooks. I have wanted a macbook for a long time and every time I wanted to buy one, there is always something that stops me. Whether it's the lack of of a dvd burner on the entry model or the new revised models which price themselves out of my initial 'switch to a mac' budget.

I finally decided that I wanted a computer without those firewalls, security suites, antivirus suites, constant updates and bloated upgrade versions. That had to be a Mac. But then, if a Mac does get viruses, I have a funny feeling I will have to buy a big bloated security app with payed subscription services. Which is exactly what you get with a PC.
Even worse, they might force me to buy that applecare which probably will include the essential security suite.

Currently, I am thinking hard about the white macbook which is at the entry level point that I am comfortable with. Unfortunately, it's the new aluminium macbook which just looks so gorgeous and makes the white ones just look severely dated.

Netbooks and it's unwarranted overhype.

I enjoy hearing stories from users of netbooks, saying how cheap, small and conveninent they are. Which is one of the reasons why they are so popular. That and the fact that it runs on the grilled and drilled windows XP.

I'm not knocking Vista, in fact I quite like those fanciful eye candy and for those who are used the start button, the ability to search for programs is a blessing. I'm not talking about those people who have tons of applications and need the ability to search for it, I'm talking about using other peopele's computers with windows vista installed.

Sometimes, you want to run excel, a specialist app or just a particular browser and the last thing you want, is to see if they have installed it by looking at the desktop, program listing or even the control panel. Just typing the name of the required program in the start button so you can quickly check if they have that particular application installed is just great.

Anyway, I am digressing. What tickles my pickle is the fact that people buy a 17 inch laptop and then start comparing it to 8.9 inch netbook and then comment on how tiny the netbook is and how it's an amazing piece of technology.

For goodness sake, if you compared it to a 14 inch, 15 inch is pushing it, notebook computer and then comentated on how small the netbooks are , then fine because most would be travelling and typing on these notebooks. But to compare it to a 17 inch whopping notebook, is just ridiculous. Who on earth takes a 17 inch notebook to coffeeshop, airports etc!!

The worst culprits tend to be mac users with their pro versions. I'm not knocking apple products. I quite like to have one. It's those hooo ya mac preachers that spend an insane amount on their macs and don't know apples from oranges that give me the hilly billies.

Absolutely Tiny! - USB only.

When the USB interface and peripherals first came out, I was buying so many accessories for it. A lamp, a fan, a charger, wireless keyboards and key sticks. Now they come in different kind of shapes.. But nothing prepared me for this.

I tend to use USB keys as backups and then pull them out and store them away because the I don't like the fact that it protudes out of the side of the computer / laptop. But the new Micro USB thumb drive from Buffalo is just absolutely tiny.

Look at it. It's going to be permanent on my netbook and my laptop. However, my netbook's usb slot is a bit tight. If only I can find a way to take it out without damaging it.

This is definatey on my Christmas shopping list.

Goodbye USB - Hello Floppy

USB media has now become so powerful, you can run programs, boot from them and modify them. The other day on TV, governments were considering banning USB media where sensitive media were concerned. What are they going to use? CDs? Nay! It's the floppy that should be making it's come back.

But the Floppy doesn't have the capacity to hold such information some say. It's because of this inconvenience that limits it's security risk, by not being able to perform lovely things like program execution and hidden hardware modified features.

I personally detest the 3.5 inch one. I like the double sided 3". It had a nice shiny outer casing. I especially adore the 5.25 inch floppy, it's so thin and comes with a nice sleeve, like old vinyl albums. Now, I only use the 5.25 inch as a bookmark.

Just look at these lovely floppies.