An Open Letter to My Dad (and anyone else shopping for a new computer)

I recently wrote a response to my dad who emailed me for advice on buying a new computer. Like so many others, he has asked me for this kind of advice before. The Cliff's Notes version of my advice is always, "Buy a Mac." What kills me is that almost every time, they don't listen to me and buy a cheap...uh...inexpensive Windows box. Why do they even ask me? They don't listen.

Well, this is my third attempt to convince him to get a Mac. Think about it. I still have the iMac I bought in 1999 (it's running OS 10.3). FULL DISCLOSURE: I also have a 4 year old iMac G5 and a 3 year old PowerBook G4 (both running Leopard). I have three so that I, my wife, and the kids can each have our own machines. He's shopping for a third because the first two were devoured by viruses, spamware, malware, adware, etc. They no longer function.

I thought I would post the advice I offered him for anyone else on the fence to read. Read on and choose wisely:

Dad,

The laptop has an older processor (not the Core 2 Duo) and it doesn't say what speed. That usually means it's not fast. If it were, they would highlight it. The desktop is the current standard chip set (Core 2 Duo) but it still doesn't say the speed. $399 is a nice low price but you know what they say, "You tend to get what you pay for."

If you really just need a low end machine with a solid warranty, it would be a good fit. It would probably work for you but you know me... standard disclaimer: you'll be happier and more satisfied with an iMac. It's loaded, has a 20" built-in display, and comes with a free printer all for $1,199.

I would also recommend a 1 GB RAM upgrade ($75), iWork ($49 pre-installed), and Apple Care 3 Year Warranty ($169). Fully decked out with all the extras I recommend, it would be $1,492. That's a lot more than $399 but you know what they say, "You tend to get what you pay for."

Even if you just go for the 20" iMac with a free printer for $1,199, you're getting security (the days of worrying about viruses, spyware, malware, Norton/McAfee updates is over), bigger hard drive, superior user experience, and tons of bundled software that you can't get for Windows.

Final paragraph of propaganda: The Dell will work. But think about this; how many Windows users do you know that really love their computers? "Tolerate" probably comes closer to the sentiment they have for their unattractive boxes (I'm a Mac snob, I know it). Now think about this; how many Mac users do you know that don't sound like they've joined a religious cult? I'm guessing Zero. To use a Mac is to love your Mac. Why is that? If you get one, you'll know. That's all I'm saying. :-)

Love ya,
Geekbert

Better Late Than Never?

Steve, Steve, Steeeeeeve!!! You're making me crazy! Over the past few weeks, I spent hours upon hours putting together an incredibly mediocre video of my Mexico trip using the 600 some pictures and 73 video clips that were given to me by my Mexico Mission Teammates. I tried several techniques to get it all put together with music and voice-over narration.

I settled on the method of first, creating slideshows of pictures in iPhoto (because iMovie tends to degrade picture resolutions and is tedious to work with when using gobbs of photos). It still took a loooong time to organize the albums, convert to slideshows, work with transitions and timing (when there isn't even sound or narration yet). So then, I exported the slideshows as Quicktime movies. That alone took forever. Next, I imported the videos to iMovie (easy but slow). Now with everything in iMovie as video, I began putting the segments into sequence-video footage, slideshow video, slideshow video, video footage, etc. A few times, after getting the segments into sequence, I realized I made a mistake and had to redo a slideshow...export it, import it, re-place it into sequence. Finally, everything was in sequence. It wasn't perfect but it was done. Time to do narration. Long story short: loud CPU fan, record narration on separate device, import as mp3's, place in sequence. Okay! Add music? Nope. I'm outta time.

Fast forward to today. I watch Steve's Special Event and, about 45 minutes into it, he announces that iMovie has been completely dumped because one of the Apple engineers had the same experience as me. So the engineer wrote his own movie editing app and showed it to Steve-POOF! It's the new iMovie (watch the video). A completely new iMovie (don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy about this). WHERE WAS THIS TWO WEEKS AGO!!!

Okay. Now that I got that off my chest, I can begin the healing process.