Apple Bites Man

The Film Babe and I were married a few weeks back. During the tumult and tension a few days before the ceremony, she asked — the polite verb to use — that I burn a CD of favorite love songs to give to the guests.

As if there wasn’t enough other preparation going on.

(I won’t even mention the fans with our photo on it standing with the Sydney Opera House in the background she conscripted me to make the day before the nuptials. So our guests wouldn’t swelter in the humidity of our backyard.)

So I proceeded to gather love ballads to transfer to my PC, then burn onto a master CD, from which we’d burn enough copies on a stand alone CD copier for each and every attendee.

Which process has led me to a major change. I now reside in the world of Apple. After years of fighting the urge, after months of laughing at the hugely effective advertisements in which Microsoft Vista is dutifully and deservedly skewed, it was only after I couldn’t get my boutique PC to recognize the E Drive to burn the wedding CD that I made the switch.

With help from Sam, now my stepson, who advised me to use the iMac sitting on his desk gathering dust. He had moved on to a Mac laptop. “It’s too easy to burn CDs,” he said. Truth.

Always worried that the learning curve with a Mac would be too arduous, even for a fellow with more than a novice’s sense of how computers work, it became clear very quickly that my trepidation was misplaced. The word intuitive is oft used by Apple acolytes when describing their computers of choice. Truth.

Sam’s iMac was loaded with Tiger, which, if I’m correct, is the last major system upgrade before Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5), which is the current edition. So, after the wedding, when matters had settled down around the hacienda, I started playing with the new toy. Took it over to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store to ask a few questions, and to ogle the newer iMacs with their gloriously oversized screens.

The Film Babe’s ears began to perk as I began to sing the praises of Steve Jobs’ baby. I’m easily dazzled, and, hey, a new toy is a new toy.

It’s not that I intend to join the cult or anything, get an apple tattooed on my butt or perform some exorcism on my PC. There is something silly about the extent of adulation fostered on the cybergalaxy by inveterate Mac lovers. But, when push comes to shove, it is a far easier set up to use.

For one things, the iMacs are self contained units. For the most part. Plug in the keyboard to a USB port in the back, the mouse to the keyboard and your ethernet internet connection, unless, of course yo are wireless, and it’s done. Turn the baby on, name your machine and take off. Plugging in a printer — often a major hassle regardless of the system — not a snafu at all.

Having ventured again to the Apple place, my lust for a bigger, screen and slightly faster set up — not that I need it for what I do, mind you — I inquired of my new bride whether she’d like to switch also. She surfs the net, checks email and creates a few word processing docs. So, her PC worked swell for her purposes. Except for one vexation. Most of the time she has to turn it off manually. Too many calls to tech support hadn’t solved this nuisance. Besides she’s been eyeing the iPod she gave me as a gift last year that I’ve never used. And she intends to cyberfy our wedding photos. She’s heard about iTunes and iPhotos and is entranced without knowing anything further.

So I went for the big hog 24” iMac. I’m working on it right now as we speak.

I’m a happy camper. Not that there aren’t a few tics that I fail to understand. Like why you can’t put a direct one-click link to word count on the iPages toolbar. Or increase the size of the font on the Mail contacts list.

Or this little quirk that we still haven’t figured out, even after several sessions one-to-one with Apple gurus, an email or three to my email company’s tech support staff and a thread on an Apple Support message board. If I leave email programs open, sitting on the desk top while doing other stuff, then return to check for mail, I’ll get a “Connection to host mail.tigertech.net port 995 failed” error. It’s not a major deal, because the second click always connects. But it is frustrating nonetheless. And, with what I paid for this baby, it shouldn’t be happening. (And never did on my PC.)

(By the by, if you’re an Apple geek reading this and know a solution, email me. I’d love to hear from you.)

Anyway, I’m playing away to my heart’s content. I’ve loaded up three word processing programs — iPages, AbiWord and AppleWorks — and will decide which I like the best. And two email programs — Thunderbird and Gyaz Mail — in addition to Mail. I use Sunbird for my calendar instead of iCal, which has an interface that I don’t especially like. And I’ve found a simple and nifty finance program from Fortera to keep track of my money.

All of which is probably of little interest and lesser consequence to you.

But I thought you’d just like to know.

Once again, if you happen to be an Apple geek, or play one on TV, or stayed at that motel last night that makes you and expert, write and let me know the solution to my email vexation. I’d be much obliged.

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