Rui CarmoIt had to happen sometime; I was finally termed a "Mac evangelist" (thanks for praising the new design, it's not quite finished yet...). It actually makes a nice change from being called "the Linux guy" (even though I stick to XP on my corporate boxes and only use it on servers).
By one of those insane coincidences that make life interesting, this happens when I'm actually in the midst of a half-baked flame war in my alumni mailing-list with:
- An actual, bona-fide Mac evangelist (not me)
- A couple of pro-PC, pro-Linux types
- A silent horde of people who couldn't care less about the actual argument (it was initially sparked off by the G5, I think).
Before beginning to shift my allegiance to the silent horde, I managed to summarize my reasons for using a Mac as such:
- I don't use it in the office (I could, but I see little point in it) - I use it at home, by choice. I wanted to, because:
- It just works, and never goes bing when I'm doing anything
- I don't want to waste my precious time at home CTDing everything
- The iMac replaced an unsightly (and noisy) mess of cabling, PCs and monitors on my desk - now there's only the pristine (silent) iMac on sight and an odd buzzing cupboard at the back of the house
- It lets me keep using my PCs remotely for those things I still can't do on the Mac itself (I can use RDP, SSH, X, VNC, SMB, or any other acronym you care to name to reach them and use them - which I still do)
- It is a far better investment (a "power user" PC becomes obsolete in 6 months - or less - while a Mac remains usable for years)
- It is UNIX and runs Office just fine
- It lets me play Quake. Let's not ever underestimate that :)
It has shortcomings. It is not perfect. But it's definetly the one computer (and operating system) where I got my money's worth.
Nevertheless, I think it goes with the territory. I've always been platform-agnostic and been put on by those who weren't. After all, I was known as "the Windows guy" by these guys back when I worked at my first ISP. Hi guys, I hope you're doing OK.
I Sold My Soul At 40% Off...
...and bought an Xbox at a Blockbuster clearance sale. Apparently Blockbuster in Portugal is reverting to a "pure" video and DVD rental business, and are selling off their console games and hardware stock at 15% to 40% off. Go out and get an Xbox or a PlayStation 2 while you can (rage did).
I'm still not sure that I'll play anything other than Halo on it, but fragging aliens with 5+1 surround sound from the comfort of my sofa is a damn fine entertaining way to annoy my neighbours. If only the bloody thing supported USB mice like the PlayStation 2...
Wi-Fi Speed Spray
And now, for our moment of Zen...