[Off Topic] I must leave... Goodbye... Ummm... Helloooo, I'mBaaaaak....

[John McGhie]

All:

Well, it finally came time. The poor old TiBook finally reached the point
of no repair. They don't like being dropped while running for the train...

And the Cable Guy offered me money for the rattling remains, soo.... I took
it (pimply youth -- save the smartarse young man right!!).

So off I went to the shop to buy me a new laptop. One of those nice smart
Pentium 3.2 GB with lotsa RAM Sorry about this, Mac Community, it's
been fun, but...

I get to the shop.

There are no WinTel Laptops worth having. None of them. Boring Acers.
Boring Toshibas. Feeble something else... No IBMs... No HP (I work for
HP...). Not even any Compaq...

Just Apples.

This is astounding to an Australian. Apples are rarely seen down here.
Hardly ever in a shop, even in Sydney. Absolutely NEVER in a mainstream
department store such as I was in. Maybe, Apple is back at last? It's been
a while, down here...

Well, it certainly looks like it. Apple Australia is doing a promotion.
Any laptop you like, so long as it's an Apple... Even got an Apple staffer
at the display who knows what he's talking about. Someone who knows what
they're talking about? Never happens in a computer shop, right? (Memo:
Apple: your salespeople's arrogance is even worse than IBM's... This guy
nearly talked you out of a sale...)

But he didn't.

I walked out of there with a brand new 14" iBook G4 1.2 GHz.

Not what I had in mind at all.

In case anyone else needs them, here are the excuses I used:

* From a Business Continuity Planning point of view, it's madness to have
all of your computers the same. One virus and my company is off the air ...
All of it. And I just threw my last Mac out of a train...

* If we don't support Apple, they will stop making them. And then WinTel
will have us in a very family-unfriendly position...

* The price was similar to the Wintel box I was going to buy (by the time
you add the add-ins that Apple includes...)

* If I don't have an Apple, I can't really hang around in here. I realized
I would miss you guys and girls more than I counted on {blush}.

Don't have to do that now. Can I come back in, please? I promise I won't
be rude about Apples. Not for at least a week

Cheers

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Clive Huggan]

You mean all that medication I've been taking for weeks, so I could cope
with the Imminent Departure, was in vain? You're a cad, McGhie, a
bounder!!! (A cross-platform one, admittedly, and a modest, self-effacing
Aussie, but a curmudgeon nevertheless).

Well, ahem, welcome back, you old bugler.

Cheers,

Clive H.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

* If I don't have an Apple, I can't really hang around in here. I realized
I would miss you guys and girls more than I counted on {blush}.

Awww...

You wouldn't have missed us half as much as we'd miss you, McGhie - and
not just because you can answer the difficult questions. I've learned
89% of my Word esoterica from you, but I've mostly enjoyed the way you
teach.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

See, you're more hardcore than the rest of us! cause you have to put a lot
more effort into having a Mac in association with a corporate environment.

Very glad you're sticking around, although I strongly suspect *you* wouldn't
necessarily need an actual Mac in order to do that.

As long as we're offtopic anyhow, I'd be interested in hearing the rationale
for the iBook over the Powerbook, if there's one other than price...

Dayo

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi John!

ROFLO very, very, very L!!

Don't have to do that now. Can I come back in, please? I promise I won't
be rude about Apples. Not for at least a week

We'll hold you to that ;-). Welcome back, so to speak!

Cheers,

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

All:

Well, it finally came time. The poor old TiBook finally reached the point
of no repair. They don't like being dropped while running for the train...

And the Cable Guy offered me money for the rattling remains, soo.... I took
it (pimply youth -- save the smartarse young man right!!).

So off I went to the shop to buy me a new laptop. One of those nice smart
Pentium 3.2 GB with lotsa RAM Sorry about this, Mac Community, it's
been fun, but...

I get to the shop.

There are no WinTel Laptops worth having. None of them. Boring Acers.
Boring Toshibas. Feeble something else... No IBMs... No HP (I work for
HP...). Not even any Compaq...

Just Apples.

This is astounding to an Australian. Apples are rarely seen down here.
Hardly ever in a shop, even in Sydney. Absolutely NEVER in a mainstream
department store such as I was in. Maybe, Apple is back at last? It's been
a while, down here...

Well, it certainly looks like it. Apple Australia is doing a promotion.
Any laptop you like, so long as it's an Apple... Even got an Apple staffer
at the display who knows what he's talking about. Someone who knows what
they're talking about? Never happens in a computer shop, right? (Memo:
Apple: your salespeople's arrogance is even worse than IBM's... This guy
nearly talked you out of a sale...)

But he didn't.

I walked out of there with a brand new 14" iBook G4 1.2 GHz.

Not what I had in mind at all.

In case anyone else needs them, here are the excuses I used:

* From a Business Continuity Planning point of view, it's madness to have
all of your computers the same. One virus and my company is off the air ...
All of it. And I just threw my last Mac out of a train...

* If we don't support Apple, they will stop making them. And then WinTel
will have us in a very family-unfriendly position...

* The price was similar to the Wintel box I was going to buy (by the time
you add the add-ins that Apple includes...)

* If I don't have an Apple, I can't really hang around in here. I realized
I would miss you guys and girls more than I counted on {blush}.

Don't have to do that now. Can I come back in, please? I promise I won't
be rude about Apples. Not for at least a week

Cheers

I don't suppose you were "dipping in the Apple Jack" before you wrote this?

Glad you didn't abandon us! Yes you are forgiven!

--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |MEMBER:VPEA (LIFE) ETA-I, NESDA,ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112-1809 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://home.kimbanet.com/~pjones/birthday/index.htm>
<http://vpea.exis.net>

 

[NJSmith]

I entirely sympathize - glad you're still here.
There are very few users out there who understand the cross-platform
life.
And even fewer who can explain what to do in that environment.
Our home network has 2 Macs and 3 PCs (the balance will likely tip in
the next few months).
We seem to be constantly in trouble with someone - either the Mac
fanatics, or the PC buffs.
True, I like my Mac best...

Anyway, glad you're still around!

 

[NJSmith]

I entirely sympathize - glad you're still here.
There are very few users out there who understand the cross-platform
life.
And even fewer who can explain what to do in that environment.
Our home network has 2 Macs and 3 PCs (the balance will likely tip in
the next few months).
We seem to be constantly in trouble with someone - either the Mac
fanatics, or the PC buffs.
True, I like my Mac best...

Anyway, glad you're still around!

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Very glad to see you ... here, John.

Story _very_ well told. You should publish it.

--
Paul Berkowitz

From: John McGhie <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 21:03:46 +1000
Subject: [Off Topic] I must leave... Goodbye... Ummm... Helloooo, I'm
Baaaaak....

All:

Well, it finally came time. The poor old TiBook finally reached the point
of no repair. They don't like being dropped while running for the train...

And the Cable Guy offered me money for the rattling remains, soo.... I took
it (pimply youth -- save the smartarse young man right!!).

So off I went to the shop to buy me a new laptop. One of those nice smart
Pentium 3.2 GB with lotsa RAM Sorry about this, Mac Community, it's
been fun, but...

I get to the shop.

There are no WinTel Laptops worth having. None of them. Boring Acers.
Boring Toshibas. Feeble something else... No IBMs... No HP (I work for
HP...). Not even any Compaq...

Just Apples.

This is astounding to an Australian. Apples are rarely seen down here.
Hardly ever in a shop, even in Sydney. Absolutely NEVER in a mainstream
department store such as I was in. Maybe, Apple is back at last? It's been
a while, down here...

Well, it certainly looks like it. Apple Australia is doing a promotion.
Any laptop you like, so long as it's an Apple... Even got an Apple staffer
at the display who knows what he's talking about. Someone who knows what
they're talking about? Never happens in a computer shop, right? (Memo:
Apple: your salespeople's arrogance is even worse than IBM's... This guy
nearly talked you out of a sale...)

But he didn't.

I walked out of there with a brand new 14" iBook G4 1.2 GHz.

Not what I had in mind at all.

In case anyone else needs them, here are the excuses I used:

* From a Business Continuity Planning point of view, it's madness to have
all of your computers the same. One virus and my company is off the air ...
All of it. And I just threw my last Mac out of a train...

* If we don't support Apple, they will stop making them. And then WinTel
will have us in a very family-unfriendly position...

* The price was similar to the Wintel box I was going to buy (by the time
you add the add-ins that Apple includes...)

* If I don't have an Apple, I can't really hang around in here. I realized
I would miss you guys and girls more than I counted on {blush}.

Don't have to do that now. Can I come back in, please? I promise I won't
be rude about Apples. Not for at least a week

Cheers

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Dayo/All:

That's what I like about this place. It's full of human beings. Half of
whom I have met in person. It's lovely.

See, you're more hardcore than the rest of us! cause you have to put a lot
more effort into having a Mac in association with a corporate environment.

I finally got permission to connect it to the corporate WiFi the other day.
Now I can't see the SSID... It's a hidden SSID, so now we have to go cap in
hand to the Information Security Nay-Sayers and ask for the "correct"
network name

Very glad you're sticking around, although I strongly suspect *you* wouldn't
necessarily need an actual Mac in order to do that.

That's right, I would have been popping in from the PC. But while standing
there looking at the vacant shelves where the PC laptops used to be, I
realized that it's really difficult to provide good support if you can't try
the precise operation the user is asking about. Word 2003 and Word 2004 are
awfully similar, but it's the differences that getcha. Interestingly, I
have no difficulty with supporting Word 2003 from Word 2004

As long as we're offtopic anyhow, I'd be interested in hearing the rationale
for the iBook over the Powerbook, if there's one other than price...

Not really. This is my third laptop (and the second at work...). The
critical thing is to decide how and "where" you are going to use the thing.
There are two laptops in this room at the moment: Josie's Pentium and my
Apple.

Josie never uses her laptop in transit. She carries it from here to the
boyfriends' place and back, or from here to work. But she always USES it
plugged in. And she uses it for heavy-duty photo editing and printing,
email, and short documents.

I mainly use mine on the train on the way too and from work (that's there I
do the majority of my MVP posting). I never do graphics (well, nothing that
would be legitimized with the term "graphics" in Mac circles, anyway). I
'never' print anything. I work on Word documents in the 400- to 5,500-page
range. I do lots of email and newsgroups.

For Josie, Speed, Bus bandwidth and memory are the leading requirements.
Battery life is utterly irrelevant to her: ten or 15 minutes would do fine.
But she needs the grunt of the full-bottle Pentium, not the cut-down and
castrated Centrino. She needs a big hard drive and 2GB of memory.

For me, size and battery life are the leading requirements. Speed or power
is secondary. The 15 and 17-inch PowerBooks are TOO BIG to be opened and
used comfortably in a train or aircraft seat. I know: I had one Their
processors are indistinguishably faster, their battery life half an hour
shorter. The 12" would be ideal if all you are doing is email, but it's not
enough screen for more than one application at a time. Other than that, the
iBook 14" looks suspiciously like last year's PowerBook 15 inch with a
faster processor Everything else you need is either built-in or you can
add it.

If you want to hook it up to a big monitor, different equation: then you
need a real graphics card and you're rattling the piggy-bank for a
PowerBook. If you need more than a gig of memory, again you need a PB. If
you absolutely can't live with 60 GB hard drive, again you need the
PowerBook.

So yeah: Price is a persuasive argument, but you have to carefully analyze
your need to ensure that you can achieve what you want with an iBook. I
can: I've had one before. I know that their real qualifications for
business are price, small size, and the longest battery life in the
business. And they're school-bag rugged

Cheers

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[sun lei]

Download AlbumFamiy software at http://www.albumsfamily.com to help you

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi

This is a Macintosh newsgroup. Your product seems to be a Windows executable
program. Do you realize that this software will not run on a Macintosh
computer?

-Jim
--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info