Have you seen the industrial for the new Macintosh — the one with the two men status in big cardboard packing containers? The more youthful, extra lively man, manifestly a Mac, jumps out of his carton, prepared to get to work. The PC man or woman, looking a chunk chagrined, stays in his box. It appears he can not get commenced till he receives a few additional software programs and another device. So sad.
“And so now not authentic,” my daughter tells me. She offered a Dell, which got here with all software she ordered and turned into genuinely prepared proper out of the container. No waiting. No extra system. No trouble. She became using it 10 mins after it arrived.
I, alternatively, changed into now not. I took my excellent new iMac out of the box and plugged it in; however, I had no concept of what to do subsequent. The computer did come with plenty of software programs (iTunes; iCal; iPhoto; iDVD; iMovie; iChat; Garage Band, whatever that is; and something that made little widgets fly throughout my display). However, I did not want that. I wished to open my vintage documents, which I couldn’t do because the laptop did not have the applications I have been using and wouldn’t use the packages I did have. It appeared I might want all the new software, which ended up costing more than the hardware.
I can be a dyed-in-the-wool Mac man or woman. However, I’m additionally technologically impaired. I knew as my Mac guru right away. Seven-and-a-half of hours and $300 later, he had transferred all of my documents to the brand new iMac, linked me to my electronic mail issuer, imported my bookmarks and cope with the e-book, hooked up a king’s ransom in software, and given me a fast excursion of OS X. “You really need to take a direction in this running device,” he suggested.
OK, that was costly; however, really worth it, I thought. True, it was a little greater complicated than the industrial advised, but I was practical. That’s what clearly counted, right? Well, no, no longer proper. It would have counted if I had been useful, but I wasn’t. Since my zip and jazz disks wouldn’t make paintings with the iMac, I now wanted an outside tough power to back up my files. So, I ordered one online, got a lemon, returned it, got another lemon, back it, and eventually offered one for twice as tons money on the Apple save. That took 3 weeks.
Well, at the least, I had Windows, or so stated another Mac business. My new iMac also became a PC with an Intel chip. Pretty top-notch, huh? That’s what I thought. But I become incorrect. The iMac didn’t come with Windows. I might have to buy it if I desired it, in addition to software that allowed me to switch from side to side between OS X and Windows. More cash; greater trouble. I decided to forgo Windows.
By this time, I ought to have predicted the process to be more complicated than advertised. The exact news became that I was going to get a $179 rebate on my iPod, which, pretty clearly, I might in no way have ordered, but it had included the pc. To get my rebate, I wanted statistics from the UPC label on the original carton. Unfortunately, I had thrown out the carton because I had no vicinity to save it.
The Apple representative reluctantly comply with fax me a form; but, considering that neither my fax machine nor my fax software worked with the brand new iMac, I had to have it despatched to Kinko’s. There is a good deal greater to this story, but the factor is that three months, 4 telephone calls, and several portions of mail, I nevertheless have now not obtained the rebate.
What mattered maximum was that I become able to paintings, at final — if I did not rely on printing. The new laptop didn’t appear to like my laser printer, which it insisted on calling Flash Paper rather than LaserJet 2100 M. Flash Paper had something to do with Macromedia’s DreamWeaver. Nothing made it leave, which includes dumping all Macromedia packages inside the trash.
I knew Apple’s support. The tech became baffled and recommended I delete the printer. Then, he sent me to Macromedia, who became also baffled and referred me to HP. HP concluded that the laptop turned into not spotting my printer, and, when you consider that mine was approximately to die of antique age, I have to immediately upgrade to a brand new printer for best $330.
Setting up the printer turned into purported to be so easy a child may want to do it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. The pc become nevertheless calling it Flash Paper. I knew as HP. It seems I did now not have appropriate printer drivers. Still, thru the magic of an HP Macintosh specialist, the iMac eventually recognized the printer, changed its call to HP LaserJet 1320, and managed to remove Flash Paper.
All that remained changed into discerning my new software. My Web guru (no longer to be pressured with my Mac guru) came over to tinker with DreamWeaver, which was now not permitting me to upload files to my Web website. After six hours of troubleshooting, she gave up on depression. I called Macromedia once more.
Macromedia had been bought using Adobe, so it became hard to talk to an actual person. But, using the third try, I reached a completely decided DreamWeaver aid individual in India. She subsequently discovered an area in front of the tough force’s name (don’t inquire from me how it was given there). Take out the gap, rename the hard force, reenter all the information, do that, do this; and, poof, I should add files.
Adobe Creative Suite became some other problem. It appears Mac’s new Intel chip is not totally like-minded with Adobe merchandise. I stumbled around InDesign for days earlier than I gave up. I did not even attempt Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or Acrobat. Instead, I signed up for a semester-long route in Adobe Creative Suite. With my senior discount, it becomes most effective $117.
While I become ready to begin my path, I fired up vintage devoted – Microsoft Word – and got back to work. The screen iced up and would no longer unfreeze, regardless of what I did. I broke down and referred to as Apple. All Apple representatives were, of direction, busy supporting other customers, but my name became very vital to them. Finally, a completely humorless Mac tech disabled something called Bluetooth, which seemingly thought I became wireless. It becomes a heady feeling – till …
Apple keeps to expose the Mac man getting the higher of antique, befuddled PC, but I do not watch them any greater. I need to write the advertising employer that creates the one’s smart commercials and endorse that the copywriter may have to use the product before he does his subsequent storyboard. I want to ship a registered letter to Steve Jobs describing my revel in shiny detail. I want to submit this piece to PC World, submit it on the Internet, and splash it throughout my own web page. I need to plug in my old, decrepit “blue container” Mac and overlook my improvement choice. Worst of all, I want to confess to everyone who uses a PC that they might be right in any case.
