New Mac, dead PC

I took delivery of my new Mac iBook on Monday and have been busy learning the new software. As well as the Apple variations on believed themes - TextEdit word processor, Safari internet and the weird world of Apple Mail, which I'm beginning to like increasingly the more I use it, I'm also having to learning from scratch the Mac access technology; Voiceover in conjunction with Zoom. I'm not too sure how this is going to work out ultimately as there are 20 lessons in all and only on lesson 7. I'm generally impressed by the voices and suspect that once I get the hang of it, the combination should work fairly well for a partially sighted user, though I'm not sure how successful it would be if I were totally blind. Anyway, the laptop itself is ergonomically sound, in a way that very few non-Apple products seem to be. I love the slot loading CD drive for example.

Contrary to Apples statement 'it just works' - well it didn't. What didn't work in particular was it with our BT Voyager modem. This is one of the most common modems in the UK, and the fact that setting it up required quite an extensive search on the net (thanks to Jay from www.satansam.com) I'd still be beating it around with a big stick and cursing the day I ever bought it. In fact it may well have been returned to the Apple shop by now. Apple's support was nil, as was PlusNet, our provider who sent me the wrong information. Even as a non-confirmed AppleHead, it was obvious just by looking at the first couple of lines of 'help' they sent that they didn't have a clue. So I'm not impressed. Once the non-obvious answer had been correctly input in the Mac, hey presto, lift-off. It involved obtaining DNS server numbers.

The other major win-factor is the amazingly long battery life of the iBook which beats the crap out of the old Dell.

Speaking of the laptop, sadly, this is going to get continued use as our main PC, the one we lovingly set up a few weeks ago is no longer working. It died rather spectacularly in the middle of working from home. What is mean by 'spectacularly' is going a bit over board, as there weren't any sparks or loud bangs, but just a sudden absence of anything on the screen. Rebooting just takes us to the pre-Windows (Bios info) screen - and that's it. So no desktop computer. Just we need, and if it weren't for the new Mac I think I'd be clamoring for the return of the abacus.

Lots more to write, but tomorrow if I get time.

Mood: Anticipating work (in a bad way)
Book: Life Expectancy, Dean Koontz
Sounds: Radio 6 and TV