From the Desk of the Liquid Engineer

I really should just give up on this whole post-once-a-week commitment. It’s quite obvious I’m no good at it.

At any rate, some neat things from around the Mac web that have caught my eye over the last few days.

The Look

In honor of Halloween, here’s a guide (with prices) to dressing like Justin Long, the guy that plays the Mac in the “I’m a Mac” commercials. Almost decided to do this for Halloween, but I a) have no where to be that anyone will see me b) will not be getting any trick or treaters, and c) in the absence of (a) and (b) am not willing to spend $157.97 for the ensemble. Looking that casual should in no universe ever cost that much money.

Thought: Apple should sell the Justin Long clothing set at Apple Stores. Booku* bucks from fanboys with more disposable income than me (which is quite a lot of people, I think).

*Is this a word?

Mind Over Matter (and Reality)

Also of note is an eloquent fellow named Chris, who somehow managed to get the graphpaper.com domain and keep it (surely in defiance of the processed paper mega concerns and their armies of lawyer ninja), who frames the issue of switching from Windows to Mac in terms of a 19th century sensory experiment. Thanks to John Gruber over at Daring Fireball for the reference. Quoting:

In 1896, a scientist named George M. Stratton, showing an ingenuity that must have seemed like madness at the time, conducted a fascinating experiment in visual perception with himself as the subject. He constructed a pair of goggles with special lenses that inverted his view of the world by 180 degrees, causing him to see everything upside down, as if he were standing on his head, continuously. He wore the goggles for many days, never once opening his eyes without wearing them (he would shower with his eyes closed, for example). 

The article uses this experiment as a metaphor for the adaptability of computer users to new interface paradigms, and quite handily illustrates how easily and quickly the mind can reprogram itself as needed. I’ve thought for a long while that moving from one computing platform is as easy as sitting down and using your new device, but the fact remains that there are a large number of users out there who won’t consider moving from one operating system (or web browswer, or email client, etc.) to another, regardless of possible benefits, because of some sort of fear that their computer will become unusable for them and they won’t be able to get any work done and in the worst case something might actually explode. Articles like this emphasize the fact that while, yes, there is an adjustment period in any change, it is surprisingly short and painless.

And, so far as the Mac vs Windows debate goes, newer Macs all are able to run Windows out of the box, so retreating to something familiar is possible. Most often, though, one hears of Mac converts buying a new machine with the idea in their head that they’ll dual-boot or virtualize Windows in the begining so they don’t have to completely leave behind what they had before, and then finding themselves so enamoured with the Mac OS that they never enter Windows again, and go on to lead happier, more productive lives, with more disco parties.

Okay, so maybe part of that sentence might be made up. But in all seriousness, switching operating systems isn’t the Herculean task many make it out to be, similar in proportion to attempting to learn a new language by parachuting into a foreign country with no translation tools at all on your person and hoping for the best. It’s much closer to switching from a manual car from 1950 to a modern automatic. The car’s function remains basically the same, but there are a few minor details you’ll have to master to get the most out of it. And to continue to this obviously pro-Mac metaphor to its logical conclusion, once you do master those details, you’ll be much happier. Which brings me to my next item of interest…

Mac OS X 10.5 in (Roughly) 48 Hours

The next major version of Mac OS X, codenamed Leopard, will hit the globe at large on Friday. This is exciting news. Other, better sites have been putting a lot of effort into covering just why this new OS promises to be more awesome than Betty Boop with an uzi and a wakizashi fighting undead zombie hordes (okay, so that might just be my version of awesome, but bear with me here), and I’m not going to try to duplicate that effort here. Rather, allow me to refer you to the guided tour on this page.

That’s all for now. Later days.

[tags]mac, macintosh, macs, macintoshes, apple, justin long, halloween, switcher, switching, mac os x, os x, mac os x 10.5, os x 10.5, leopard[/tags]

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