I Want to Switch
I’ve been considering the possibility of “switching” (ala, moving to a primarily Apple environment) for quite some time now, but recently I’ve convinced myself that it’s exactly what I want to do. While I do think that there is a general feature parity between my Ubuntu (or Gentoo) desktops and the OS X desktop, there are a couple killer features that are just worth the switch.
First, multimedia. I’ve strugged with media player after media player, even took a very brief stint trying to help out Banshee, but time and time again all I want is to run iTunes. The excellent, crash free(!), library management is exactly what my 16k songs and I need. On top of that, lately I’ve been having a great time with the iTunes music store. While I still can’t justify purchases that support the RIAA in any way the free Download of the Month has been very enjoyable… in fact, I would be completely sold if not on the principle of hating the RIAA. The only reason that Apple hasn’t gotten a nice little chunk of my disposible income (that is, when I have any) is solely that the RIAA are scum. I’m also digging podcasts.
Second, surprisingly enough, the Address Book. The seemly insignificant application on OS X is exactly what I want for my contact management needs. Not only is it slick and easy, it full integrates with my cellphone and chat clients. Between Address Book, my Symbian60 running phone, iSync, and Adium, contact management “just works”. And not only does it “just work”, it also works exactly the way that I want it to… seemless and intuitively.
Only two things are holding me back at this point. The obvious one is cash, though significant money is always just a matter of time. The second is that I want to wait for an Intel based desktop system like a PowerMac. I have the peripherals that I want, I just want the desktop computer. But I also am pretty demanding with my computer, so a Mac Mini won’t cut it for me. While there certainly appears to be a bit of a price premium of about $600 to join the “professonal” teir of Apple desktop computers, after my experiences with my iBook and now PowerBook… I think it’s just plain worth it.
As a third concern, I don’t really “need” a new computer yet. It would be nice, but I’m still getting along fine with my current computer. Maybe by the time September or so rolls around it will be more of a need rather than just a desire. We’ll see.
June 22nd, 2006 at 2:22 pm
FINALLY. People are starting to see the light. Shame its via iTunes and the iPod. The address book is awesome. The integration of the native OS software on the mac is always a boon when it syncs with every single goddamn thing you can put on there. Your palms, your blue tooth phone etc. etc. After so many years of ridicule, after my first quakecon and having someone throw a pizza box at me for walking in with a mac it all is coming to fruition. I feel like the circle is complete. But now my question to you is why now? What has changed on the PC front asides from iTunes and the iPod and the basic integration that was always part of the Mac platform that now Windows doesn’t seem to cut it. Where has Windows fallen short for you? Just curious.
and yes.. the desktop is worth your wait. I love my dual 2.0 g5. Not to mention that I have a g4 5oo mhz at home, but yet I still game on an AMD 3700 with 2 gigs of ram on a windows xp box.
cheers.