When To Let Go: or How Do You Know When Your Mac Is Getting Too Long In The Tooth?

So today for the third time this week, I'm frustrated

by my Mac.

Today, it's a new annoying thing:  It is dog

slow, acting more like a 10/100 base T connected

machine than the Gigabit ethernet  equipped machine I

know it to be.

Monday, it was the fact that it produced a KP due to

the fact that I tried to push it to do more than it

was capable of it seems:  Burning a DVD in Toast,

 while converting a Video-TS to a DIVX encoded  .avi

file in VisualHub, while copying a folder of digital

files over from server ( a workhorse that is the

2009Mac Mini ).

Right in the middle of 1/3 to a half of everything, 

the KP comes up. I force shut it down & reboot.  I

check iStat Pro and sure enough, the Processor  is at

126C, which in a Dual MDD 1ghz Power Mac,  aka

"Windtunnel" or as it is known in the house, "Eve") is

disatrous.

And last Friday, ahhhh...let's just say that for

whatever wierd reason, one of the  power cables to one

of my 500Gb HDs decided to come undone. (the wires

seperated from the plug) And wouldn't you know it, but

it was my main FCP scratch disc,  a 500GB WD Internal

HD.

Now I admit, the plug was a little worn from having

upgrading the machine  so much over the last three

years:  I've swapped that drive bay out first with a

250gb, then a 300gb, and then finally a 500GB drive,

each time as prices fell on ( what was then standard)

a big drive.

But to completely come undone, the wires literally

pulling themselves out of the plug.... now I have seen

it all!!

But, looking a little deeper inward, I realize what my

true frustration is with my Mac.. not that it is long

in the tooth, and despite ( somewhat) working, it is

the fact that  I have pushed this machine farther than

I have ever pushed one of my macs, and that in

reality, I'm more mad at myself for not replacing it

sooner, letting it go.

I tend to run my electronics into the ground. For

almost 8 years,  I kept my 2nd gen iPod 10Gb around,

as an example,  pushing it with more and more music

playlists, HD use, and in the end, using it as a music

player / external  pocket FW drive. 

Had it not been in my pocket that day I dove into a

pool to save  my floundering oldest from drowning, it

would still be in use today,  and not replaced with a

5th gen 30GB iPod Classic, that,  as I type this, is 4

years old.

My computers are no different: my first mac, a

Performa 460, I kept in service for almost 7 years, I

followed that with  a PowerMac 7100/80, that through

peripheal upgrades  ( an external CD-RW burner that

burned at max 1x,  and a 500MB external HD that I paid

$200 bucks for....),  I kept going for 8 years, until

the Dual 1 MDD Powermac.

So for the most part, I like to keep upgrading my

Macs  at about every 7 years or so, before they

totally wear out. I knew that when I purchased this

one refurbed through the  Apple Store in 2003, I knew

the clock had been set then.

So now, I limp along with the MDD, and one or two

things will eventually happen:  I'll either get off my

duff,  and replace the machine, and move along with a

new mac for another 7 to 8 years, or go another year

fighting the ups and downs  of the MDD, as in this

economy, I'm trying to do my part of  "more with less"

even though it may kill my production output.

I do like the look of last year's i7 model in the 

Refurbished Mac section of the Apple.com website.... 

I think that will be my machine of choice for the next

few years...consolidating much of my clutter  from my

desk, if not to mention just from my computer alone.

For what it's worth as an aside, I highly reccommend

buying your "new" mac  from store.apple.com, under the

refurbished  section ( aka "special deals" section).

Not only do you save as much as $400  on a the cost of

a new mac, but each machine  is certifed to work, and

AppleCare can be bought for the machine  to extend the

warranty on the machine and avoid any hassles.  Once I

learned about how to purchase Macs this way ( with my

Dual 1 MDD), I've been hooked. Both my MDD and  my

wife's iBook G4 were bought this way, and both have

been  solid, stable machies that have been problem

free ( with the exception now of my MDD). For the cost

savings, you can't beat it, and aside from not having

the pretty retail box,  the machine you get performs

just as well as  the retail counterpart.

EPIC FAIL: Apple Increases WD's Bottom Line with weak Apple TV 2 Offering

I had high hopes when Steve Jobs said
"We listened to our customers."

I should have known then that the snake oil was
being opened to spread over my eyes.

Apple announced yesterday at their September 1st event
many new things : a new version of iTunes,
a preview of IOS 4.1 and 4.2 for the iPhone.
But there were only two things I wanted to see:
New iPods and ( hopefully) an Apple TV that works
much, much better than the original.

Well, I didn't hold my breath on the iPod
( The Ipod Classic 160GB is and looks like for me
my last iPod purchase ever, as no one seems to
believe that people want a large capacity
iPod Touch. Go figure), but I had high hopes
for an Apple TV.

I bought one when they first came out
( well, to tell the truth after the first revision
of the 1.0 version, as I always buy my Apple products
refurbished. If you don't know why, read about it here.)
2 years ago, and returned it within 2 days.
Because it only took me one day to see how
limiting the device was to my environment.

All of the content ( and I have a lot of content)
would have to be re-converted to .m4v format for the Apple TV.
And all that content would have to be synced to the Apple TV to play.
And my Apple TV had limited storage. You get the idea.
It was a worthless device to me.

Fast Forward to Now:

the Western Digital HD Media Player is
everything an all-in-one media playing device should be:
1. It's not linmited to strictly "iTunes friendly formats",
able to handle DIVX, XVID, MKV, and OGG. 2. It's expandable,
you can either just stream media from a dedicated server
in your house, or you can hook up any size USB drive x 2
to the device to give it local storage. And it outputs in
1080i to your tv.

The one drawback of the device is that it's menu interface,
while not the worst, isn't as elegant as Front Row on the
Mac. And it's footprint on the living room entertainment
center is, with two USB drives, the length of a decent DVD player.

So I was really hoping that Apple would get the new
Apple TV 2 right this time, and as Steve Jobs read off
the list of customer concerns, he seemed to hint that
he was going to address some of my concerns.

Nope, Nope, and again nope. The new Apple TV 2 still
doesn't handle anything that isn't "iTunes friendly".
They stripped out the storage, & cut the resolution
to 720p. The only good thing about the device is they
lowered the price to be competitive to the WD HD Live,
which as I check on Amazon.com this morning, has
been lowered to within $1 less than the Apple TV 2.

Someone at Apple didn't pay attention or has their own agenda.
I don't know which is worse.

Don't get me wrong. Apple will still get my money
for a new iMac sometime soon. But the product
I REALLY, REALLY wanted to buy, well...that money
will go to Western Digital ( via amazon.com).

Hump Day Wednesday

Another round of girls to help get you through the work week!
These ladies are courtesy of my friend Vincent Gordon!
Mash up Manips, courtesy of yours truly.

Hump Day Wednesday-Mac Girls

How do you like the new Wednesday Logo Girl above?
(courtesy of www.fototrix.com)
I think she's a keeper.....

No new Mac Centric ( or non Mac Centric,
for that matter) videos today,
so to help you get over the hump,
of the work week, here are a few
Mac Related Girls with iPods,
which will be filling in for our
regular feature today.

Hopefully by next week I'll get off
my can and round up a few funny videos
for you to peep out.

Wednesday is Upon Us!

It's Wednesday, and I'm thinking of taking a different track.
Rather than do Hump Day Wednesday, I'm going to instead
focus Wednesday as Fun Day Wednesday, which just means
that rather than find always random mac goodness to
help get through the work week, I'll instead find
random goodness, sometimes apple-centric, to
liven up the middle of the work week.

Why, you ask?
Because there just isn't enough Apple -Centric
funny out there, there is some but not enough,
to make a month of Hump Day Wednesday
posts.

So this will be our last ( for awhile) Apple Centric fun(-ny)
day posts. Next week, something funny, but maybe not
Apple -Centric.

I'll still keep the girls though, like Hannah the new Apple
Girl that is showing off the new Apple iPod Shuffle!
WOW and WOW!!

Hump Day Wednesday

Another Wednesday, Another Chance to Get it Right:
below is some Mac Goodness to help you get through
the work week, until Friday.
I personally can't wait for this weekend,
lots, and lots to look forward to.

Hump Day Wednesday

It's Wednesday, and time for another bit of
Mac Centric Goodness to help you get
through the work week.

Hump Day Wednesday

Another middle of the work week,
and another day to recognize
Random Mac Goodness.
Check it out below:



And I’m always on the lookout for Mac or Apple lovin’ Ladies to post
on the Hump Day Wednesday page! If you think you qualify,
send me your pics (tasteful, please) to me via email.
You’ll receive full credit & a link back to your website or blog or whatever.

Tomorrow is A NEW DAY

Tomorrow begins the controversy that is MacWorld 2009.
And whether you spent the last couple of weeks looking over the rumor mill daily,
or you worried if Steve was going to show
up anyway, or how this would affect Apple’s current stock prices,
I believe that without a doubt, tomorrow at 12 noon CST,
( that’s my time here in Midwest USA), I along with the millions of you,
will be tuned in just to see what shakes loose from the Apple Tree this year.
Regardless of what new goodies make it to
production, I’m sure that even the most budget conscious
of us will be saving our pennies for the newest Apple widget.

Hump Day Wednesday

Here’s another spot of Mac goodness
to get you through the work week!
Only 15 days left of Christmas shopping! woo-Hoo!