David Elcombe

DAvid Elcombe

^^^^^^^

This be spam-comment no. 20 or so for this post.

Vincent

I recommend that you purchase your Apple laptop in Colorado (cheaper since you needn’t convert USD into EUR in this case).

Moreover, laptops in France have different keyboards (AZERTY vs. QWERTY) so if your kid is to write papers in French, than purchasing the laptop in France is probably better (for the accents and everything).

The wireless thing, I have a 4 year old Powerbook and believe me that antenna is craptastic, but it plays great in a 3 story house when the wireless box is located upstairs rather than downstairs. Don’t know why waves travel better down hill but that is my experience!

And give yourself another year and you will understand the Apple love thing. It is a love born of thinking different. Adapting your Mac to a Windows world makes you a better computer user overall. Thank you Steve for opening my mind.

Thank you – I’m honored.

> And if your HP laptops sucked at that time, what can I do?

Nothing of course. The anecdote was aimed at making you understand how one can be/become a Mac user, no more.

By the way : I always have bad experiences with Windows machines, but my own desktop PC back in the early 90’s. Maybe I shall OWN a PC by myself ? Hum, okay, let me think about that… All right, got it ! I’ll buy a MacBook Pro

> why wouldn’t my blog be the right place for this discussion?

Such of debate Mac vs. Windows go for ever, that’s why !

> I believe it’s actually the best place in the world: I’m still a student so the academic purpose excuse is valid, I am to start working at Microsoft in a couple months and my personal computer is a Mac. So my blog becomes rather legitimate here, doesn’t it?

As you wish !

> I also had a Mac from 1983 (an Apple IIc). The problem is that I was born in 1983, so I started using it in 1987-8 or so

Ahahahaha, excellent Hey, I had a IIC too : a wonderful computer.

> Keynote vs. Powerpoint: what if I have to integrate presentations from different people in my team in one single presentation?

I see. Keynote handles multiple templates in one single presentation w/o problem – it’s even easier to manage than with PowerPoint, thanks to the Inspector.

> That’s why I stick to Powerpoint. Although I’m not happy at all with the current PPC-devised Mac version, it’s still better than Keynote (and I’m used to it).

You’re too young to be used to something so you can’t change

> Apple manufactures in China at Hon Hai/Foxconn factories led by Terry Gou.

Yes. But under its own specs. That’s the key difference against its rivals.

I recommend you read “Never Leave Well Enough Alone”, by Raymond Loewy. For those of your readers who don’t know him, Loewy is the father of Industrial Design. You’ll understand how Apple has reach such a high level of quality.

> But I still can’t believe your laptop survived a 400°C temperature.

Hard to believe, I know. I have pictures and videos, from which I’m creating a short video clip to be posted on YouTube : right after the fire, and now. Amazing. Apart the DVD drive, which was dead because of the smoke particules and all that uggly stuff on the laser, the only problem is the fan which is kind of noisy now : I suspect the plastic has melted somehow.

> Let’s say you relating perfection to Mac, iPod and Airport is your point of view. I don’t like iPod’s closed environment for instance. And I stated many reasons why I don’t find my laptop perfect in this very post.

I understand, from your perspective as a 20-yrs old geek. No problem with that.

> Let’s indeed go offline and have a drink some day and keep on the debate. We could also go a little further and discuss the strategies of Microsoft and Apple and all industry players. Since you’re quite an experienced IT professional, I’m sure you could bring a lot of new (for me) stuff on the table.

Let say I’m a seasoned High-Tech fellow, always looking at products and services from the end-user perspective.

> what’s HTH exactly? hand-to-hand? hope to help?

Ah, the good old days of Usenet ! “HTH” : Hope this helps !

BFN,

_marc

Bootcamp may also be your friend.

And the latest beta of VMWare supports 3D accelaration, along with DirectX…

So:

- Marc, Microsoft software has evolved a lot since the 1990s. I acknowledge Win95 was a shame, Win98 was a joke, Win Millenium still was a little crappy. But come on: Win XP rocks and Vista is very promising. The actual value of Windows Vista can only increase with time as, Vista being a platform, more and more independent software vendors will come up with software devised taking into account Vista’s 3D and functional potential! Microsoft has made a big shift towards quality, design and security since Windows XP. And if your HP laptops sucked at that time, what can I do? I have a rather old HP laptop (2003) and never had any problem with it.

- why wouldn’t my blog be the right place for this discussion? I believe it’s actually the best place in the world: I’m still a student so the academic purpose excuse is valid, I am to start working at Microsoft in a couple months and my personal computer is a Mac. So my blog becomes rather legitimate here, doesn’t it?

- I also had a Mac from 1983 (an Apple IIc). The problem is that I was born in 1983, so I started using it in 1987-8 or so

- Keynote vs. Powerpoint: what if I have to integrate presentations from different people in my team in one single presentation? That’s why I stick to Powerpoint. Although I’m not happy at all with the current PPC-devised Mac version, it’s still better than Keynote (and I’m used to it).

- Apple manufactures in China at Hon Hai/Foxconn factories led by Terry Gou. But I still can’t believe your laptop survived a 400°C temperature. I hope there was no human casualty or wounds in this painful moment.

- Let’s say you relating perfection to Mac, iPod and Airport is your point of view. I don’t like iPod’s closed environment for instance. And I stated many reasons why I don’t find my laptop perfect in this very post.

- I agree with you when you point out the beautiful design of most Apple products. I would’ve stuck to PCs had there been beautiful PC laptops somewhere (I’m not found of Sony Vaio).

Let’s indeed go offline and have a drink some day and keep on the debate. We could also go a little further and discuss the strategies of Microsoft and Apple and all industry players. Since you’re quite an experienced IT professional, I’m sure you could bring a lot of new (for me) stuff on the table.

Take care,

Jeremy

PS: what’s HTH exactly? hand-to-hand? hope to help?

Or “ruled” to be more accurate.

> Why would Apple challenges be so special right here in France rather than elsewhere? France, on the contrary, has always been the second homeland of Apple after the US. Do you know the company from the inside? Why that assertion?

Nope, I don’t know the company from the inside (although I was used to, in the early 90’s.). Maybe we should continue this discussion offline, or switch to a dedicated Usenet newsgroup

> About Keynote: most presentations I do are group presentations. Since I’m one of the only ones with a Mac, I prefer to use Powerpoint so that I can share with my mates (and it’s already painful).

Still, i don’t understand the “painful” stuff. Exporting from Keynote to PowerPoint is a matter of two mouse clicks (select menu, select PPT file format, done). Please drop me an email with a typical case, maybe I’ll be able to help you fix your pain.

> General remark: I understand your addiction to Apple, and I too believe the MacBook Pro is an efficient, effective and good-looking tool. However, you’re so bullish about everything that says ‘Apple’ that although your advice is overall excellent, it loses some objectivity – at least as far as I’m concerned.

I understand. However “Addiction” isn’t the appropriate term here. “Love” should be better Just kidding.

Now, my purpose is not to discuss Mac vs. Wintel PC, because it’s a sterile one. Let the market decide. And more, your blog is not the right place for such a discussion !

Nevertheless, here are a couple of facts, for you to better understand why one can be/become a real Mac Addict : I’ve been using computers since 25+ years, every single OS since the early 80’s, including the fancy ones like Be. I’ve been one of the very first Mac users in France back in mid’84. Since that time, always had a Mac, either at home or at work. Since 1983, been using DOS/Windows PCs at work. Including 6 years, during the Bubble, at HP. During that time, been using HP laptops. Countless system crashes, 4 HD crashes, twice complete loss of data (thanks to IT Support , etc. More recently, been using a brand new Toshiba laptop (gorgious display, fantastic stereo) : after 1 hour of use the first day, got a system panic, and… crash. I have tons of anecdotes like those.

Macs : I’m typing this comment on my 3-yrs old PowerBook. Which survived a fire in my house 2 years ago. 400°C temperature. Every single electronic equipment dead, but the Apple branded. The only thing I had to change on the PB : the DVD drive. Do you think a Chinese PC would have survived ? That is Apple. Attention to details.

> Hence my question: in your opinion what are the pitfalls of Apple? Do Apple products have flaws? And please don’t answer ‘No they’re just perfect’.

Of course they’re not perfect ! Perfection does not exist, even in a Stevejobsian world

Frankly speaking, there are a few things irritating with Apple, but it’s like with cars : you do accept little flaws on a Peugeot which you won’t on a BMW. Same with computers : you do accept things with a standard PC that you don’t accept on a Mac.

On the hardware side : Macs, iPods, Airports, there is almost nothing to say. Near perfection in every aspects – think of it as masterpiece of industrial design (not only design, right ?). Maybe the battery lifetime on laptops and the first iPods. That’s pretty much it.

There is more to say on the software side : for instance memory usage, new software releases sometimes buggy (e.g. iTunes 7.0). Those are the things that we don’t accept from Apple, but are used to in the Windows world.

HTH,

_Marc

Marc> Why would Apple challenges be so special right here in France rather than elsewhere? France, on the contrary, has always been the second homeland of Apple after the US. Do you know the company from the inside? Why that assertion?

About Keynote: most presentations I do are group presentations. Since I’m one of the only ones with a Mac, I prefer to use Powerpoint so that I can share with my mates (and it’s already painful).

General remark: I understand your addiction to Apple, and I too believe the MacBook Pro is an efficient, effective and good-looking tool. However, you’re so bullish about everything that says ‘Apple’ that although your advice is overall excellent, it loses some objectivity – at least as far as I’m concerned.

Hence my question: in your opinion what are the pitfalls of Apple? Do Apple products have flaws? And please don’t answer ‘No they’re just perfect’.

> I’m sure though that Apple is a great company to work for, especially in Cupertino, CA.

There are exciting challenges also in Europe, and especially in France, for Apple.

> I wasn’t actually reviewing Mac OS X but my laptop instead.

I know. However, some of your comments were kind of ambiguous, that’s why !

> I bought it precisely because it could run Windows so why wouldn’t I take advantage of this possibility?

Sure. That’s is one of the key reasons why Apple switched to Intel, by the way… When you think seriously at it, the Mac is the only computer in the World able to run the 3 major OSes natively.

> Thanks for Flip4Mac!

You’re welcome.

> I wouldn’t even install Open Office on my dog’s computer. MS Office is what Microsoft does best – and I’m willing to pay for quality products exactly like I paid for my MacBook Pro.

Depends on what you call “quality”. If it’s reliability, stability, etc, I could kind of agree. If it’s more on the feature set aspect, then I disagree : MS Office is even more complex than a oil refinery plant !

> I already use Keynote, but I feel SO lonely not being able to share files that I regret my purchase.

Why that ? Please drop me an email with more explanations, I’ll help you change your mind.

> Plug a PC keyboard on my Mac? No way. It’s a laptop, which means I’m using it everywhere. Why would I carry a keyboard???

When you’re at the office or at home, simply. It’s a given you don’t want to carry an external keyboard when travelling

> I don’t want to carry any SD adapter. I’m sure I’d lose it in a wink. It was standard integrated in my good old HP nx7000.

Then you might want to get some training on ” how to avoid Alzheimer syndrom when being still a student ” !

> My wireless antenna not being powerful isn’t connected I guess to my router as I use my laptop on many different locations. I just noticed it was less powerful than the one my HP nx7000 had (purchased in 2003). It’s a fact I do verify on an everyday basis.

Strange. I had the same HP laptop for a while back in 2005, and WiFi was a real pain, with low signal and lots of disruptions, whilst the reception level on my Mac was at 100%.

> Maybe Apple wants us to buy Apple Airport! (I need a wifi power extender for my router: do you recommend Airport Express?)

Airport Express is just great.

For home networking : have you look at PLC powerline technology ? Way better than WiFi (even if Apple branded in harsh environments.

HTH,

_Marc

> More compatibility with .ppt would have been warmly welcomed !

What do you mean by ” more ” ? It’s time for you Folks to realize one simple fact : Microsoft DO NOT comply to standards. Due to its large marketshare (“large” is not enough when we talk about a 90+% marketshare , MS has the chance to impose its own “standards ” as DE FACTO standards.

> Keynote’s presentations look “different” but maybe this is because we are accustomed to Powerpoint’s.

You’re right : you are all accustomed to PPT style, because we live in a MS world. That is as simple. It shouldn’t mean that we have to follow the PPT style. Which is kind of crap, when you look at it with an aesthetic perspective.

> despite a bunch of templates (KeynotePro’s are remarkable) it still feels like all Keynote’s presentations re similar.

You’re wrong (sorry !). Keynote offers a tremendous bunch of features which allow you to create outstanding (i.e. standing out of the crowd/average) presentations. For instance, Keynote is fully integrated with the iLife apps, enabling you to insert all type of media into your slides.

More important than the fancy capabilities of modern presentation software, you might want to think again about one simple thing : what is a presentation all about ?

To get an answer (I’m not saying it’s * the * answer, right ?), go to Garr Reynolds’s blog ‘ Presentation Zen ‘. To start with, read those two posts :

- http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/09/whats_good_powe.html

- http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/11/the_zen_estheti.html

I hope you will start to… think different

> nobody uses Keynote in the professional world, at least in France.

You kidding me, right ? Hey, Keynote even won an Oscar last Sunday : “An Inconvenient Truth”.

In the US, many professionals (not only Designers) do use Keynote instead of PowerPoint today, for its easier to use, faster, and 100% compatible with PPT – as long as you keep your design simple and use Windows fonts.

> do you really feel like sending your client a presentation he could not even read ?

Several options here :

a) if your presentation is aimed at being a simple document such as those exec summaries or brief reports which we see everywhere in the corporate environment : it doesn’t need to be a PPT file. PDF is enough, and it’s universal.

b) if your presentation pretends to be a more sophisticated document, for instance with animations, videos, sounds, etc., then why not exporting it into a QuickTime file. Again, universal.

c) if your presentation is what it should normally be : a presentation, than you don’t need PowerPoint at all. Keep in mind : slides are JUST a support material for the message you want to carry to an audience. The key is the message, not the slides. Content vs. container debate, to some extent.

To understand what i mean, read this post from Guy Kawasaki : http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html

Last : there are a only a few cases when you really have to allow someone distant – colleague, partner, or client – to get access to the content and design of your slides. For instance, when you have to build a presentation for a kick-off meeting with a bunch of colleagues who are dispatched all over the planet. For such a purpose, there are great online apps out there, thanks to the Web 2.0. Also, shall you be a graphic design, you may have to create corporate templates for your clients : in this case, use Keynote for the design and creation, and then export to PowerPoint to create the template file. So simple.

HTH,

_Marc

That’s a cool comment! There you go with my reply:

“maybe someone at Apple France will call you” –> I’d stick to Microsoft anyways; I’m sure though that Apple is a great company to work for, especially in Cupertino, CA.

Of course I know I run 3 operating systems (not dual OS, I also have Kubuntu installed), but I wasn’t actually reviewing Mac OS X but my laptop instead. And I bought it precisely because it could run Windows so why wouldn’t I take advantage of this possibility?

Thanks for Flip4Mac!

I wouldn’t even install Open Office on my dog’s computer. MS Office is what Microsoft does best – and I’m willing to pay for quality products exactly like I paid for my MacBook Pro.

I already use Keynote, but I feel SO lonely not being able to share files that I regret my purchase.

Plug a PC keyboard on my Mac? No way. It’s a laptop, which means I’m using it everywhere. Why would I carry a keyboard???

I don’t want to carry any SD adapter. I’m sure I’d lose it in a wink. It was standard integrated in my good old HP nx7000.

My wireless antenna not being powerful isn’t connected I guess to my router as I use my laptop on many different locations. I just noticed it was less powerful than the one my HP nx7000 had (purchased in 2003). It’s a fact I do verify on an everyday basis. Maybe Apple wants us to buy Apple Airport! (I need a wifi power extender for my router: do you recommend Airport Express?)

1) More compatibility with .ppt would have been warmly welcomed !

2) True, Keynote’s presentations look “different” but maybe this is because we are accustomed to Powerpoint’s. And despite a bunch of templates (KeynotePro’s are remarkable) it still feels like all Keynote’s presentations re similar.

3) Let’s be realistic: nobody uses Keynote in the professional world, at least in France. So…do you really feel like sending your client a presentation he could not even read ?

Here are a few things to help you forget MS Windows – at least as long as you’re still not a Microsoft employee (who knows, maybe someone at Apple France will call you

hard drive size issue : get rid of some files in the MacOS X system, such as languages, modems and printers, documentation, etc. that you don’t need. Also, don’t forget that you’re currently have a dual-OS machine : keep in mind the Windows install also consumes several Gbytes… Your perception is tweaked.

video files formats : install Flip4Mac. It plays .wmv files right into QuickTime.

battery autonomy when watching a DVD : I can go 2-hrs on my 3-yrs old PowerBook.

You wrote : “MS Office developed for PPC CPUs, not Intel Core Duo – so many issues come up when using macros as my Macbook Pro runs an Intel Core Duo. The worse bit has to do with Powerpoint: sharing files is a nightmare as .ppt presentations don’t appear the same on other computers than on mine. Really a nightmare…” : that is a Microsoft issue, not Apple.

For R/W MS Office files on a Mac : OpenOffice 2.0 is enough, and it’s free of charge (sorry for Microsoft).

For PowerPoint files : KEYNOTE ! You’ll never switch back to PPT after using Keynote for the first time…

webcam support on MSN Messenger : aMSN and Mercury, both freeware. aMSN delivers a smoother image; issue : the current version is not 100% compatible with the latest Messenger. Again, this is not an Apple issue.

adapter to plug the laptop to the projector : standard with all Apple laptops since years.

You wrote : “Keyboard: pain in the ass when using Vista (…) why doesn’t Steve Jobs decide to go for the standard keyboard after all??? It would actually benefit to Apple Inc., not Microsoft, as more people would be eager to switch to Mac”

Who says the Wintel PC’ keyboard is “standard” ? It’s a standard in the MS Windows world, that’s all. For us Mac users, the Mac keyboard IS the standard. You react like the English when they visit the Continent for the first time : we dont’t drive on the right side of the road, according to THEIR standards Get the point ?

To use Windows on the Mac : why don’t you plug in a PC keyboard ?

3D on Vista : wait for MacOS 10.5 Leopard. It’s just a matter of weeks now

SD card plug : there are plenty of adapters on the market. I have one multi-standard from LaCie, pretty cool (USB, of course).

Orange PC Card 3G/Edge : not an Apple issue. Wait for the iPhone, anyway.

WiFi internal antenna : I disagree with your statement. My own installation : Airport Extreme basestation at the 3d floor of the house, I get access to the network everywhere at the ground floor, and within a 40-m range from the house in the backyards. Note : it’s an old farm, 80-cm thick stone walls. Question : what is your WiFi router ? An Apple Airport shouldn’t cause the problem. Note : I tested the Orange LiveBox recently : even better than the 1st generation Airport Extreme (I have got the chance to test the latest one).

HTH,

_Marc

I obviously already run VLC as it’s an open source software created and developed right here at Ecole Centrale Paris!

Thanks for the WhatSize freeware, looks useful.

As far as your problems go: For peripherals, I would get some cheap USB-converter from ebay. And I don’t know what to say about the keyboard/graphics in parallels/and disk-space, except that it’s a machine designed for OSX and running other operating-systems on it is just a hack after all. Maybe get a firewire hard-drive for running other operating systems. I’m not sure if that works, but that at would at least solve some of the disk-space issue.

And 120 GB small? I have 40 GB, which is small, and I have over 500 GB at home, which is… small also. There is no perfect disk-size, it seems. :/

WhatSize (freeware) is a good way to see what takes up disk-space on your machine.

For WMV, I would get VLC player as it’s a. free and b. supports everything. Alternatively there’s the Perian-plugin for Quicktime, which supports everything as well, I think. And also free.

Seriously, that’s a good idea. Many thanks.

Try to suppress the various languages of Mac OS X. It might amount to 2-3 GB, and you certainly do not need a Korean or a Portuguese interface, right ?

Empty the cache of your browser from times to time: occasionally, it can get HUGE.

Kari> ‘- / | \ Shift+7, Alt+7, Shift+Alt+7(Shift+7, Altgr+’ Are you kidding me?

Rupert> Of course I watch movies. But not so many you’re right, and I store these on an external hard drive. The point is that I run 3 OSs on my Mac (Vista and OS X are disk space consuming and each require hard drive allocation) so 120 Gbytes aren’t just enough. (and I don’t delete Word files!!! but .ppt yes for instance)

Wow!

I can’t imagine that you don’t have enough space on your HD with 120GB, considering that you don’t watch movies?!?

For fuck’s sake, why can’t this thing escape characters properly?

Anyway, I find the Fin/Swe Mac layout much more comfortable as I’m not forced to do finger acrobatics with AltGr for everyday characters.

But I agree, that using a Mac keyboard on Windows is borderline masochistic.

- @? Shift+2 (not Altgr+2) – I can do it now with just one hand!

- / | \ Shift+7, Alt+7, Shift+Alt+7(Shift+7, Altgr+

2) Flip4Mac is your friend, even with a MacTel: http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=13902

3) As for any PC, disabling Bluetooth will improve slightly your autonomy. Try also to use Intel or UB versions of your programs rather than Rosetta.