Saturday, May 20, 2006

My ambivalence towards Macbook



Steve Jobs has almost ended the mighty reign of the PowerPC processors. It has come to an inevitable end with the arrival of the unsurpassable Intel Core Duo chips, boasting up to about 6 times faster than PowerPCs. This has opened the door also to dual OS, making the Macintosh more versatile and potently stronger than ever.

But never did I expect that change to be so sudden and quick. Now the only PowerPC left is the PowerMac G5. The Powerbooks 15 and 17 inch have been replaced with the outstanding Macbook Pro. And what about the iBooks and Powerbook 12 inch?

It has recently been swiped away as a newcomer replaces these two wonderful models on the shelves: the Macbook. It has finally become evident to me that Steve Jobs really wants the word ‘Mac’ to be incorporated into the names of the model.

My attitude towards the Macbook is rather ambivalent. I have just purchased my iBook roughly half a year ago for $2,388, and now, it has been deemed obsolete, in the blink of an eye. This does not frustrate me, but what does is that it is CHEAPER and FASTER and BETTER THAN MY FREAKING IBOOK 1.42!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This truly makes my blood boil. There is no justice! I’m paying more than a faster machine?! Huh????

One that has an almost invisible iSight camera, glossy widescreen, 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo which is 5.7 times faster, the whole new suite of iLife 06, a larger hard disk (by 20GB), front row with Apple remote, MagSafe Power Adapter, only for the mere price of $2,200 plus? Is it ever possible? It sounds like a dream!

Maybe I was a bit too impatient to wait half a year more…but now that this good news is smack right in my face, I have to admit that my iBook has been taken over. And Mu Yao and Weng Keong now come and suan me lah! Ah, ask me if I want to buy the black version when THEY DAMN IT KNOW I CAN’T BUY IT. Ok lah, you all will be tinkling around with your new, fast toy soon I know, and I’ll be stuck up with my white PowerPC thing and you can go around boasting about your Macbook and insulting my iBook. Happy?!

It is just so unbelievable, and as much as I hate it, I can’t bring myself to totally reject too. It is an engineering marvel, and the epitome of consumer notebooks in this segment, which beats other XP notebooks head down. But not only does it leave them in dust, it also leaves my iBook in dust.

I should have waited. I knew Apple was going to switch to Intel chips soon, but I did not anticipate soon being so soon. I thought it was going to be like the end of this year, and when it is released it is going to be preposterously expensive, but I was wrong. Totally wrong. It is not the slightest bit expensive, the entry model starting at just $1,800 plus. And not to mention a 1.83GHz chip. Oh damn Apple for releasing it so soon. Yes, I know that I can never keep up with technology and the ever-changing models, but could you have given my iBook like maybe a year to shine before the replacement comes?

From this post onwards, I WANT NOBODY TO TALK TO ME ABOUT THE MACBOOK EVER AGAIN. I do not want my iBook to feel inferior. I do not want to be disappointed and frustrated at my silly decision last December. I just want you all (especially Weng and Mu Yao) to shut your bloody trap about the Macbook thing. Go purchase it all you like and I don’t give a damn, but do not ever show it in my face lest I whack it on the ground. (Oh shucks, there’s hard disk protection…so I can only damage the exterior and not your information, and one year warranty!)

Whatever it is, Macbook is cursed. To the core. What can I say? The Intel family is complete.
Ian

No comments: