Throwing Apples Through Windows
Posted in Geek Stuff, Newspaper Stuff by Danny Woot
Charlie Brooker, one of IWOOT’s favourite writers, has highlighted a particularly thorny issue in his latest piece for The Guardian – that of the seemingly eternal dichotomy between Apple and Windows operating systems. Eloquently and with not a little vitriol, Brooker lambastes both sides. Apple users, he argues, are smug, while Windows users are doomed to a life spent waiting for applications to open.
For me, this is an issue that is governed by something else. No matter the incredible ease of the Mac OS, I can’t afford one. Not by choice, but by force I have to side with Windows and their terrifyingly slow Vista OS. My last laptop cost me £249 and, though I thoroughly hate the thing, I would be lost without it. All my work, my photos, my iTunes library (my one Apple luxury) and near-enough anything that’s important is on there – it just takes me a couple of hours to access it. No joke – I was sitting in a North London café on Saturday afternoon (sipping a particularly rich Americano, if you’re interested) and making use of their free wi-fi, and my wretched little box took 11 whole minutes to get used to its surroundings, get comfy, pull itself together and be ready to connect. The poor waitress with the network key was forced to be very patient. I suspect she wanted to pour my particularly rich Americano all over its stupid keys.
I agree with Brooker when he says that these Apple acolytes are so very obsessed with spreading the good word, and I know that I can’t join them unless I seriously save up for it. I too feel a little pang of incandescent rage when I see someone using a Mac Book or an iPhone – not because I detest the way in which their owners seem to luxuriate in the glow of being correct (maybe a little…), but because I want to be one of them.
JimboWoot even let me touch his iPhone the other day. It was pretty magical. It’s not that I needed converting, but I know I can’t spend my life resisting the urge to despatch strong coffee all over my Vista screen in the same way you would a cuckolding partner. Might be time to open a savings account…
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I know that mac OSX is very good but its still not a patch on Win 7 for speed of opening programmes. The only problems I have opening on my Dell Inspiron 1545 is Windows Media Player because of my days of music it has to trawl through. I advise putting more RAM in your laptop and updating to 7 when it comes out soon. OSX on “Power Mac” or “Mac G5″ or whatever they’re calling them now isn’t as fast as 7, even with more RAM.
I had an Iphone , It was taken from me by a man. He used Real Hustle esq skills to relieve me of it. Worst day of my life.
No body wants to steal a windows laptop. they want you to keep it so they can hack you and steal your info rather than wait for it to load.
Had both Mac’s and PC’s… a few hardware issues with my macs but would go with OSX any time over any Windows. Had 2 iPhones (sold the first on when i got 3Gs) several macs and pcs, desktops as well as laptops… and Macs come out on top everytime!
Save up… Join the Club
Hmm, it’s certainly tempting.
When my laptop was stolen a couple of years ago I remember feeling (aside from the usual post-burglary stuff) a little guilty that some hard-nosed criminal was going to open my laptop, turn it on and subsequently go and commit more crimes to fill the time it took to start up.
Maybe I should vow that the next computer I buy will be a Mac, for the sake of anyone who might burgle me.
I am an unashamed evangelist. I make no apologies for it either. It is the only thing that DinoWoot and I can actually agree on.
I heart macs. I found it very telling that Mr Brooker had a Macbook pro on his coffee table in last nights GamesWipe. He’s a self hating Mac user.
That Brooker, I bet they gave him that Macbook for free.
Really need to re-think my Christmas present budget (i.e. neglect all family and friends and buy some Apple products).
Ask Jimbo Woot for help – he has a keen nose for apple related deals on a certain auction website.
[...] the triumph of technology’s inexorable rise beyond the fax machine. As I said in a blog entry last week, it’s not a matter of Microsoft proving their worth, it’s a matter of affordability and [...]
Danny, how about getting sponsored? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuRS6isOS_k
Your post carries a hidden washed away, I just know it
Always thought that your blog is one of the best in my bookmarks, and once again saw this
[...] As you may have previously read, my battle with my laptop running Windows Vista is a bloody and long one, and has led to several embarrassing situations (the less said about the times I told friends I’d be at their house in two minutes, clicked ‘Shut Down’ and been half an hour late, the better). I can really feel it culminating, and the urge to splurge and get myself a technology-related early Christmas present is almost impossible to ignore. My plan to save up for a Mac may have beaten into second place, though… [...]
I’d be hung up on to ascertain that too!
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