Apple

I’m probably the last Mac blogger to mention this, but I just couldn’t let it pass by. There are special circles of Hell reserved for people who do this…

[Update: Turns out that it’s a hoax. The page on Overclockers.com has been updated with an e-mail from the person behind this explaining that they got an empty G5 shell and decided to have some fun. Whew! Nice troll. ;)]{.underline}

I got a shiny new Apple G5 for Christmas. I loved the case, but I’m no Mac user. So I….

• Get a brand new dual processor G5, then
• Rip out everything,
• Cut out the back of the case so I can use a PC motherboard, and
• Install an Athlon motherboard.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure G5 is a great computer, but I wanted a Dell for Christmas. I don’t have any programs for Apple and didn’t feel like waiting for them. I thought about selling it, but my parents would be upset with me. After all, this was a very expensive gift and it meant a lot to them to give to me.

It’s a good thing my parents don’t know anything about computers, because I’m sure they would be really angry if they knew what I did. I have to say that I’m happy – I can keep on using XP.

![The monstrosity]

[The monstrosity]: https://michaelhans.com/eclecticism/2004/01/graphics/G5_wreck_1.jpg {width=”363″ height=”143″}

(via lots of people, but the picture was shamelessly ganked from Lane)

iTunes: “Let Your Body Die (Television Overdose Overdosed)” by Cyber-Tec from the album Cyber-Tec (1995, 6:29).

Well…in 1984, that is. The Mercury News has re-printed an article from 1984 heralding the release of Apple’s then-unknown new Macintosh computer.

After two years of secrecy, brainstorming and sometimes zany company maneuvering, Apple Computer Inc. will unveil a new personal computer Jan. 24 that is the size of a stack of paper and, for about the same price, contains more power than the basic IBM PC.

Known as the Macintosh and considered by analysts to be critical the the future of the company, the machine already is winning rave reviews from the dealers, software developers and industry analysts for its compactness and ease of use.

The machine, which sources way will sell for \$2,495, is designed to catch the fancy of the college students, small businessmen and the American consumer who wants to have ``fun” with a computer. It is priced between the less expensive Apple IIe and the more expensive Lisa.

(via MacRumors)

It’s so nice to live in a time when every news article about Apple doesn’t involve some form of doom and gloom predictions. Not only have the “Apple is doomed” proclamations died down, things just keep getting better — even in markets historically far outside of Apple’s domain.

What’s stunning isn’t that Apple Computer Inc.’s engineers can, say, design a server with two 2-GHz G5 processors, 1GB of memory, storage capacity of 80 to 750GB and loads of other goodies all in a slim 1U package (a mere 1.75-in. thick). No, what’s stunning is that Apple’s marketers will price the Xserve system at \$3,999. That makes the long-reputed price-gouging Macintosh maker the price leader for dual-CPU servers by a couple of bucks. But when you add in Windows per-client pricing, the savings become huge. Apple sells its systemswith no per-client fees for Mac OS X. In contrast, a 25-user enterprise license for Windows adds \$2,495 to the price of a dual-processor PowerEdge 1750 server from Dell Inc.

(via MacSlash)

iTunes: “God Part II” by U2 from the album Rattle and Hum (1988, 3:15).

When Steve Jobs made the announcement of the iPod mini during the Macworld SF keynote, I wasn’t overly impressed.

…the biggest news on the iPod mini will be the price — no matter how happy people are about having the smaller player available, and no matter how cool it is, too many people were hoping for the \$100 price point. At this point, the 15Gb full-size iPod is only \$50 more than the 4Gb iPod mini…is this really going to go over well? Only time will tell, I suppose, but I have to say that I’m fairly skeptical. It’ll be a bit sketchy as to whether the smaller form factor and colors will be enough of a draw to offset the reduced capacity.

After thinking it over for a few days, though, I think I need to revise that.

See, I currently have a 2nd generation 10Gb iPod, which I bought for \$399 (it was the midrange model at the time I bought it). I also have an unusually large music collection: upwards of 1200 CDs, which will take up somewhere upwards of 80Gb of space once it’s all ripped onto my computer. Even if I had the money to spring for the top-of-the-line iPod, at 40Gb it would still hold less than half of my entire music library, so I’m not in a position of being able to carry around my entire music collection with me at all times.

Because of that, I’ve been looking at how I do use my iPod — and, quite simply, I really don’t use much more than a quarter of the 10Gb that I have available to me. I’ve gone into my listening habits in more detail in the past, but essentially, I carry around one 1Gb playlist, and occasionally toss one or two other specialized playlists on when I’m in a mood to, and that’s it. Right now, I’m currently using a whopping 2.12Gb of my 10Gb iPod for music, leaving around 7Gb free.

Now, say my iPod dies (heaven forbid). The more I think about it, if I do end up in a position where I need to get a new iPod, the iPod mini is perfect for my usage habits. Sure, it’s “only” 4Gb — but when I’m more than content with using just over half that space right now, why should that bother me in the least? I could spend \$50 more than the iPod mini, get the bottom rung iPod, and have 15Gb available…but chances are, I’d still only use around 2Gb of it for music, essentially wasting the other 13Gb. On the other hand, I could spend only \$250 (a full \$150 less than the 10Gb iPod I have now, incidentally), still have about twice the drive space than I’m likely to use, and have a smaller, lighter iPod that does everything that I use mine for now.

Sounds like a damn good deal to me.

So, contrary to my initial opinion, count me fully in the camp of the iPod mini supporters. If my current iPod ever dies — which hopefully won’t happen for quite a while yet — the iPod mini will do quite well for me.