Apple MacBook Sets You on Fire!
There have been a lot of reports about how hot the bottoms of Apple’s new MacBook Pro laptops get, but apparently the high temperature isn’t the problem — rather that the laptops aren’t actually supposed to be used on your lap. The computer’s manual warns that “prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn”, saying the machines should instead be used on a desk or flat surface. A computer to be used on a desk — wouldn’t that make it a desktop? There are a million personal stories now about problems with the MacBook’s over-heating issues- and it’s really disappointing- especially when Apple gets mad at you if you even partially expose it to the non-converted.
I’ve recently been cosidering making a MacBook Pro a part of my personal technological arsenal- and for some time Mac in general. It’s not a need, so I wait in the waters, watching the trends. This has been a long, ongoing argument for some time: Mac or PC? I mean, can Mac really set your personal computing time on fire if it doesn’t burn down your house first? The answer isn’t easy- most people take me for a PC advocate, but that’s not true. I’m simply an opportunist when it comes to choosing my tools.
I’ll be honest though- when my friends and peers talk to me about what my opinion is about all of this- I usually tell them to stick with their PC. I’ll tell you why- right after you look at this awesome CTRL+ALT+DEL comic that sums up how I feel about all these new bullshit PC/Mac commericals:
This will be the last time I use this one in an argument- but doesn’t anyone fucking remember when Microsoft saved Apple’s ass from falling apart? For the love of God- they even use the fact that Windows with boot camp runs on the new Intel Macs as a marketing point. Was this campaign really necessary? It’s only making geeks laugh- because let’s face the realities of the modern computing world:
1. Most people are already comfortable with an IBM compatible PC with Windows OS. An Apple Mac with Mac OS X may be easier to learn, but if you are already familiar with a PC with Windows, why switch and deal with a learning curve, even if it’s nearly flat?
2. Looking at PC saturation into most homes and offices, these homes and offices are not going to go out and buy a second computer, even if it’s a Mac.
3. Looking at the economy, few have the disposable income to purchase a Mac as a second computer. Although the Mac computers are more economical than ever, look at the added costs of proprietary Mac software, additional Mac hardware, and accessories.
4. What about digital photography and graphics? Well, the PC has hardware/software options thanks to HP scanning technology and Adobe Photoshop and other software for Windows. Again, Mac users will argue Mac is a better platform. They may be right, but the PC does offer viable options.
5. For developers, the PC is the preferred platform, with or without Windows. Most developers are developing applications to run on the PC or related Servers. Still, few are developing Mac applications, where having a Mac would be beneficial or necessary.
This is just common sense- and really the simple basis for why I usually tell my friends not to get down with Mac. If you want a pro-Apple argument, just go to apple.com. If you’re still in the market for unbiased information, there are articles with extremely useful insight as to why you personally may or may not want to switch. I’ll recommend 2 in recent memory to you: Should You Swith to Mac? - from silvermac.com and Here Be Monsters from edwardthomson.com. There are more, do your research my friends.
If you’ve scanned those articles and more, there’s a lot of different reasons for all sorts of different people to think about switching to Mac or just keeping rocking the Windows you know -it’s not always easy, necessary or cost efficient- and sometimes it is. As mentioned- religious fanboy zealotry can be just that, or rooted in some lesser truth. What you really need to remember, no matter how you feel: don’t take sides with companies, they just want to sell you their shit. They don’t care about loyalty, they care about customer loyalty. All you need to do is decide what the best tool for your productivity would be in terms of cost and time. You all are probably aware that this is a concept sorely lacking from the corporate arena- but it’s not too late for you to think for yourself. Yes, I said it: Think different.
So- what about me? I published my first web page on the net way back in 1995. I was a freshman in college, and my campus was the first place I had even seen the internet. In my high school, we only had 2 real computers: A Mac and a PC. Windows 3.1 just confused the living hell out of me, so I was on the Mac. Good thing, because when I arrived at college as an aspiring art major, all the public computers were Mac. I learned HTML and true graphic design for the first time - on a Mac. It all made sense! It was easy! My website had pictures and everything! A lot of things have happened in the last 10 years, and when I finally became a Web Developer I was living and working in a world of Windows.
For the first time in over 10 years of computing, the thought has actually crossed my mind that I might want to own a Mac- and I might even being celebrating the decision, if I wasn’t so afraid that I would catch on fire using one.
Filed under: Geek
I’ve been a Mac user since 1991. Hard to believe it was the Mac SE that converted me; I guess the 9″ grayscale screen blew me away.
In the end, isn’t the Mac v. Windows v. Linux debate about as useful and interesting as the sand v. dirt v. gravel debate? Platforms are not very interesting to anyone but the owner of said platform. Use whatever makes you happy — whether it be cheap, slick, secure or just handed to you by your boss — and make sure you use a modern browser.
The Web changes everything. When you can emulate older platforms inside this one — mail, telephone, television, desktop — then you know where your loyalties should lie.
Now here’s the best reason to buy a new Macbook:
http://isnoop.net/blog/2006/05/20/macsaber-turn-your-mac-into-a-jedi-weapon?www.reghardware.co.uk
holy frikkin crap! now if i had known that, i would have been on line at the apple store with my jedi robes on!!
but in regards to your first reply- true, rob- the argument is rather old these days; however, you reinforce my point: this cute ad campaign apple started (somewhat) against pc to show how much better their platform is- well, is it really worth it? when it comes to your platform, how likely will change come these days? i’m, guessing there won’t be a huge shift of PC users to Mac. perhaps my view is skewed- after all, the target audience is probably a younger generation.
my friend Ron and I were comparing this issue with that of RSS- which i concluded a discussion by saying ‘personalized technology, whether it be some xml or an operating system is truly a wave of the future.’ i wonder if apple is being terribly smart, repeating history or just plain missing the bigger picture. the web is coming together in some many ways; it is each user to their platform. educated consumers are probably aware that they can have windows running as smoothly as Mac os with a little know how (or me as a relative) - so what then defines Mac in 2006?
maybe it’s the style, the image, the name- but then again i would think a big selling point is the ease of use through platform exclusive applications. this isn’t new- Microsoft for a time did the same thing with its browser, for example. difference being, everyone knew Microsoft was in it for the money, whereas Mac may actually mask this same technique with smooth looks and attitude- clever.
perhaps the extension of cross platform compatible ipod and itunes is something Apple isn’t seeing. if all those fancy app’s on Mac were available for PC, would they not sell like hotcakes? would this diminish Apple to a software company? When Microsoft continued developing apps for Mac, nobody who loved windows stopped using it. i could carry on- but there’s some food for thought.
UPDATE
“Some MacBooks may have left the factory with a thin piece of clear plastic covering the rear vent,” Apple has admitted after some consumers who bought its latest laptop complained the Intel Core Duo-based machines were running too hot.
In a support document posted last week, the Mac maker said the plastic strip - discovered by MacBook buyers who disassembled their notebooks to investigate the problem - was “used in the factory to prevent dust” from entering newly manufactured machines. Symptons include not only overly warm laptops but constant fan operation.
Apple’s solution: “If your MacBook has the plastic still over the vent, simply remove and discard it.”
As yet there’s no similar pointer to the MacBook Pro’s heat problems, which some users claim is caused by too much thermal paste. Others reckon the paste has nothing to do with it. Certainly, the aluminium-clad notebooks have always been hotter to the touch than other latops, right back into the PowerBook G4 era.
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2751590?htv=12
HA!
[...] Mac has had its share of problems though. Recently their biggest concern is their Mac Book. You know, the product that likes to sporatically burst in to a ball of flames ? Yeah, that one. But wait! There's more! It can also moo like a cow ! Maybe that's its death song before it bursts in to said flames. Who knows? When Mac will learn that they can't solve their problems with balls of flames? [...]
[...] Mac has had its share of problems though. Recently their biggest concern is their Mac Book. You know, the product that likes to sporatically burst in to a ball of flames ? Yeah, that one. But wait! There's more! It can also moo like a cow ! Maybe that's its death song before it bursts in to said flames. Who knows? When Mac will learn that they can't solve their problems with balls of flames? [...]