A highly topical (for me) article by Doc Searls, he of the forty-posts-a-minute blog. Makes a lot of very good points about why real people run screaming from Linux, and a shopping list of things laptops should do (and don’t).
Archive for 19 March 2004
It’s taken me years, but I’ve finally done it – this post is the product of Ecto running on a shiny new 15″ 1Gb Powerbook. And after the initial “it’s the same as Windows / it’s completely different to Windows” confusion, things seem to be settling down. I’ve more-or-less got the hang of installing software, it’s talking to my Windows network quite happily, and the only major flaw has been the complete lack of any meaningful OS X / PostScript drivers for my Xerox Docuprint P8ex. But that’s a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
My first impression was mainly the sheer build-quality – this really is the SL-Class Merc of the laptop world. The fact that the attention to detail extended to the packaging wasn’t something I’d really expected – my HP Omnibook is one of the better screwed-together Wintel laptops I’ve ever used, and it doesn’t even come close in terms of the quality of the case and fittings. There’s an air of precision engineering about the whole device – little details like the recessed Allen-head bolts at the top of the keyboard just make it look like it’s been machined from a solid block of aluminium measured in God-fearing Imperial units by a white-haired time-served craftsman wearing a brown shop coat.
Software-wise, I’m finding it a bizarre mix of Windows and Unix – I’m not 100% convinced that it’s as completely user-friendly as Apple would have you believe, but then I’ve got to put into the context of what would have happened if I’d been fiddling around with a Wintel box like this. Several ground-up rebuilds from the install CDs, no doubt. The Finder is taking some getting used to, but I love the idea that it’s just a very fast Unix box under the hood – even though my Unix knowledge is confined to the absolute need-to-knows that I’ve picked up over the years, it’s still a Unix box, and it’s still mine, which makes me feel like a guru. I completely amazed myself by synching my P800 over Bluetooth first time without a hitch – that’s just not something you’d expect if you’ve grown up with Mr Gates’ idiosynchracies.
The interface is something else – it’s beautiful to look at, certainly, but just enough different to make me stumble over the simpler tasks. For example, I’m Alt-Tabbing (ok, Apple-Tabbing) away like a pro, but I’m really missing the Home and End keys – I know that they’re in there somewhere with a combination of something else and that strange alt/squiqqle key, but I haven’t quite got around it yet. But the little touches like the thumbnail preview-thingy that F9 does – well, that would probably make it all worthwhile if I had to wind the thing up by clockwork and the keyboard was Cyrillic.
Ok, gripes. The keyboard is a long way back from the front of the box, which means that my watch strap catches on the edge, and I’m getting paranoid about scratching the case with my wedding ring. Note that it’s that way around 
I’m not entirely convinced by tit’s he idea of all the ports at the side, either – while it makes for a superbly-robust screen hinge, it does mean that the spaghetti is in full view at the sides of the machine rather than being out of my sight around the back. Although that is offset by neat little touches like the glowing power lead. And where the hell is the hash key – and who’s since when did the @ symbol live on the top of the 2 key – it’s shift-’ as any fule kno.
Otherwise, I’m in love. I can now fully understand why the whole Apple-versus-Windows affair is a religious one.
I spotted this – ahem – object in a arty-crafty-cum-furniture shop in one of the back streets in York, and to be frank, it scared the living shit out of me. God alone knows what kind of psychological damage it could inflict on a child who’s parents were psychotic enough to have something like this in the house. It’s the kind of object that unsuspecting grandparents have lying around, and wonder why their grandchildren have nightmares whenever they come to visit.
I’m not sure what’s the most disturbing – the starey “I’m going to wind out your entrails on a stick and eat them before you as you die” eyes, or the quite frankly terrifying hook/claws for legs. I suppose it’s meant to be a coat hook or something similar, but as far as I can tell it was really designed for hanging small dead animals on. And the shotgun it’s carrying is completely unnecessary…
