Advice on Macintosh Purchasing

[marcusmarcusrc]

In which I beat a dead metaphor into the ground in order to ask for advice in the most roundabout way ever:



Once Upon a Time Adam and Eve wandered a garden of paradise unfettered by the demands of clothing. It was a time of freedom, but also a time of ignorance. One day, Eve came upon the tree of Knowledge in the middle of the garden. She took from this tree an Apple, ripe and tempting. And in the moment she bit into it, innocence was lost forever. “And they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons”

But really, fig leaf clothing just didn’t cut it. So one day Abel took it upon himself to design superior garb. He lavished care and time upon the clothing he made, and it was fine. Abel was lauded for his advances, especially for his Mackintoshes which did a great job of keeping the rain off, and for a time all was good. But Cain watched his brother’s success, and grew jealous. And so Cain started his own line of clothing. It was far inferior, uncomfortable, easily ripped, and sometimes, inexplicably, the clothing would lock-up, and it would have to be removed and redonned before it would move again. But Cain let many manufacturers make his clothing. And often he would sell socks together with pants, and bundle mittens with parkas, so that the people would find it easiest to just buy all their clothing from Cain. And Cain’s clothing did take over the marketplace.

Now, Cain used one brand of thread, whereas Abel used another. Oddly, Cain’s brand was actually better for some applications. And therefore Abel asked his agent, Job, to resolve this problem. And Job created a press release, announcing the Abel line clothing would soon be all made with this new thread.

But what about those of us who have 5 year old clothing, and want to buy new clothes now because our current clothes don’t even have the cool OS X label? Is it worth waiting a year? How long a wait will it be (At the Abel store they said that they didn’t know, but “by this time next year everything should be running on Intel”)? If I buy a computer... er, set of clothing... today, will I be sorry 4 years from now? (Given that I own computers on average 5 years before upgrading) I’ll take advice, discussion, or general computer wanking. =)

Comments

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Other things you could do.

- Find someone with an old machine that's capable of OS X, buy that from them, and then in fewer years buy a new new machine.

- Buy a cube now (they're so cute!) and another machine later.

What do you want to do with your current computer that you can't? What form factor do you like in a computer?

[antihip.livejournal.com]

Along similar lines: if you want a tide-me-over computer, why don't you buy a Mac mini? Still easily portable if you've got a monitor/keyboard setup at both work and home, and won't break the bank while you wait for the Intel-based Macs.

[marcusmarcusrc.livejournal.com]

Well, my current computer is beginning to exhibit some signs of age, like the LCD screen freezing up sometimes (which I can fix by squeezing the right parts of my computer). Also, the OS X unix base would mean that I could run most of my code on my own computer if I needed to. Finally, there are more and more things (granted, mostly silly small things) I can't do with my current software (for example, watching some trailers require better versions of Quicktime than I can install, and there are certain functions of my wireless basestation that I can't access. And iTunes. Stuff like that.).

Also, if I get the 12" then the increased portability will be really nice for taking to conferences, etc. Though my travel schedule from this spring probably won't be repeated for a while...

[twe.livejournal.com]

You might be able to get a decent used one. PowerMax (http://www.powermax.com) has bunches...

[kirisutogomen.livejournal.com]

And lo, Adam and Eve did have a third son, and his name was Linus.

Linus took great pleasure in clothing, although he was not picky about thread. His pleasure was great, and he made clothing, from Abel's thread and from Cain's thread also, and he did give the clothing to any who would take it. For he cared not for jewels or gold, nor for incense.

Linus was a master designer, but found sewing tedious. So he sold his clothing with the sleeves unattached, and said, lo, merely sew the sleeves to your clothing, and you may have them.

The people did say, but we do not want to learn how to sew. We wish only to wear clothing and get on with our lives. Yet Cain's clothing did fray and rip, so did Linus say, ye people, your clothing is ragged and torn. You are going to have to learn how to sew anyway. Besides, my cloth, it does wick away sweat, and is like unto weightless Kevlar.

And the people said, but we do not want to learn how to sew. And Linus said, whatever.

Now it came to pass that Abel saw this clothing, and found it sturdy and durable, although not at all fashionable. So then he said unto himself, I shall make such cloth as does my brother, yet I will sew the sleeves on, and place rhinestones and sequins all about.

[marcusmarcusrc.livejournal.com]

Heh. I have somewhat patchy sewing skills (both in real sewing and metaphorical sewing). But having my own linux box would help me learn the system maintenance stuff that sometimes I feel I'm lacking (but don't have the incentive to learn). And a linux box would be ideal for running work code on. And probably be less dangerous for temptations like buying commercial computer games (which admittedly I haven't done for ages, but there were various tempting items in the Mac Store which I was protected from by their OS X requirements).

But I _like_ rhinestones and sequins!

[arcanology.livejournal.com]

Also, you're getting a doctorate.

let's rate for a moment the worth of your time vs the time spend tweaking your linux box. Then be happy to get a mac. ;)

[rifmeister.livejournal.com]

My personal opinion is that this is something of a non-issue. If I needed a new computer today, I would buy a PowerPC Mac with no qualms. I believe they'll be good for at least 4-5 years. The PowerPC Macs will not be immediately orhpaned.

If you're really worried about it, the suggestion of buying a used Mac today is reasonable.

It also really depends on what you need this computer to do.