If you haven’t seen the new series of Get a Mac ads you probably will. The Better Results ad hits close to home for me because I used Windows apps to create videos for the three or four years. It worked, but…
Counselor and Self Pity both make their respective points very cleverly. I have never seen a campaign bring out so many different versions of an ad, so quickly, and keep the quality so high. [link above is to a compilation of all the ads]
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced some new stuff yesterday. These events get Mac users hopping from one foot to the other and –now that I have a Mac– I sort of understand why. I can’t explain why, but I kind of get it.
Speaking of “get it” … I’ll eventually have to get one of the slick new nano’s (I just watched the amazing ad for same). The new Shuffle is literally wearable computing.
And there’s a new version of iTunes. I’m a sucker for a pretty UI and this is about as nice as they come. I haven’t seen them but there’s talk of a new series of Get A Mac ads poking fun at Windows efforts to mimic the sleek look and feel of the Mac OS. I’m sure Vista is/will be pretty but if the new iTunes is a hint of what the new Mac OS is going to look like… it’s no contest for me.
If you spend 90% of every waking moment looking at a computer, that time is more pleasant…more fun… if it’s Mac.
I am incapable of keeping a clean, orderly desktop on any of my Windows machines. Folders and files and shortcuts scattered from top to bottom. It is in no way the fault of the OS. It’s my sloppiness. I have discovered, however, that I can keep the MacBook desktop clean. Maybe it’s the dock or the way Finder works or, perhaps, it’s just the beautiful desktop images that ship with OSX. It would be a shame to cover them. I don’t know. But here’s the desktop as of 5 minutes ago.
Scott Stevenson thinks Apple’s Secret Ingredient is fearlessness:
“Fearlessness allows you set aside all ideas of what people might think and focus on what feels right instinctively. Without that sort of conviction, there wouldn’t be Mac OS X, the iPod, or even the Mac. Google is one of the few other large companies that really gets this. They have different priorities and techniques, but they have the same spirit as Apple. People drive themselves crazy trying to figure out why Google does the various things it does. While there’s always basic idea of what Google should be, I think the answer is that there’s not always a precise, calculated reason for each step they take. It just seems right, so they take a chance.”
Learfield is not Apple but I think it’s a great company because the guy that started it was/is fearless.
Phil Atkinson, head of Learfield’s IT operation, was forced… I mean, he really had no choice… to purchase a MacBook Pro. As our company does more with podcasting and video and iTunes… having a Mac in the house will just make Phil’s life a little easier. At least, that’s the line he gave me. Here you see him closing the cover on the win box and opening the Mac. An image heavy with symbolism. He reports that Bootcamp makes it a snap to run OSX and XP (sound of cash register in Cupertino).
After I purchased my iPod nano (a year ago? two years?), I installed iTunes on my home desktop Windows machine. And for the most part, that has worked fine. This morning I migrated everything over to the Mac Book and sync’d up the nano. My original thought was I wanted to be able to update podcasts wherever I might be. Before, I had hook up to the home PC…now I sync with the Mac Book which I am keeping with me more and more.
I’ve also loaded my Outlook contacts back on the nano (I’ve found this to be extremely useful). First time I did this it was a bit of a pain. Had to export the contacts from my Win machine at work and jump thru a couple of hoops to get the file on the nano. These days, I keep my Mac Book Address Book sync’d with work (I just drag and drop a file) and sync’ing the nano with the Mac Book is… well, you’ve seen the TV ads.
Pre-Mac, I tended to keep a lot of stuff scattered between home, work, laptop. I find myself looking for ways to get my most important stuff on the Mac. I’m looking forward to my first road trip with the Mac.
I haven’t played with GarageBand much but plan to. Supposed to make podcasting a snap. And the folks at Apple think there might be some business applications for podcasting:
“Promoting your business just got easier. Create a podcast with GarageBand, post it to iTunes in minutes, and reach customers, clients, and partners in a whole new way. Chefs are sharing recipes. Maternity store owners are giving the lowdown on diaper bags. And other professionals are airing business discussions, marketing new products and services, and keeping people informed.”
Attended my first meeting of the local Mac User Group last night. Met some nice people and saw a couple of good demos. George Kopp showed us how Boot Camp makes it possible to run the Mac OS and Windows XP on the Mac. Very handy. And George speculated that the next Mac OS will make it even easier. Saw a fascinating demonstration of SketchUp, a 3D landscape design application. And we started off the evening playing the new Mac TV ads that started airing this week. I’m the guy on the left but I want to be the guy on the right. These are great ads that tap directly into the Mac Lust I posted on several weeks back.
Before leaving the subject of Macs… a thought on the age-old Mac vs. PC debate. I’m too new to Mac and too technically ignorant to have an opinion of which might be the superior computing experience. But after only a couple of weeks, I have a theory. Macs are more fun than PC’s. A person who knows what they’re doing can probably get the job down with either Mac or PC but I suspect the Mac user will have more fun getting it done. If that matters to you.
Last MacNugget: Scheduled to try out the iChat thing tomorrow night with Bass. If there’s a way to record the video chat, I’ll post some here.
In time, I suppose I’ll come to appreciate the the more philosophical (spiritual?) aspects of the Mac invironment. For now, I’m finding delight in small discoveries:
I wonder if the Great Mac Mystique is really nothing more than lots of little “oohs” and “aahs” like these. I’m confident that, in time, I will come to appreciate, if not understand, the the more substantive differences between the two operating systems. For now, I will amaze the people of my village with tales of wonder.
The deed is done. Henry drove us to the Apple store in his space car and we were in and out in 30 minutes with a brand new MacBook Pro. My first time off the PC reservation. It’s still in the box, seal unbroken. I don’t plan to post much about my Adventures in Mac Land. PC users don’t want to hear it… and Mac users have heard it all. How about this? I’ll tell you if I return it.