First let me say that I am in no way a fanboy for any one platform. I am the type of person who attempts to pull the best from every option. I love the Apple hardware and at this point even some of their software. I see the advantages of many of the Microsoft products. I embrace the free world of Linux. Yes, it is true, I want to have my cake and eat it too.
Isn’t this how we should all be to some degree though. Why settle for one method, implementation, or product when the capability to aggregate some, if not all, the positives offered by companies exists. Obviously in the past this hasn’t always been possible, but since the first trash-80, technology has trended to convergence. Mobile phone/PDA/MP3 Player/Video Player devices exist today. Some are more mature in the convergence walk than others, but the trend continues.
Generally speaking, I believe the everyday consumer wants convergence and standards for technology. They do not care about Mac vs. PC or iPod vs. Zen. They just want something that works. They do not want to carry multiple devices. They just do not care about the battle lines between competitors. You will not see the general public wearing Microsoft Shirts or Hats as if it were their favorite sports team or preferred automaker. There is no loyalty here. It just has to work and work for everyone.
An example; My in-laws are nothing but Apple users. They aren’t musicians, photographers, or directors. The Mac is used by all of them because one of them, my wifes uncle, is a Appleholic. He has been a mega Mac guy forever, possibly all the way back to when apple introduced the world to “Lisa”. My household on the other hand has been 85% Microsoft and 15% Linux. On occasion one of my in-laws will send a file to my wife in a format that is not native to Windows world. She of course has a problem opening this file and then complains to me about it. She, in this instance representing the general public, not only doesn’t care about Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux, she is actually upset by the lack of integration. She wants convergence! Incidentally, I want convergence as well so she will stop yelling at me when she can’t open a file.
So that brings us up to the here and now…
I have purchased a 17” Macbook Pro and so far, so good. I will be using this for most of my day to day non-work related activities. Things such as emailing, surfing, blogging, netcasting, communicating, photo editing, video editing , audio editing, and maybe some j2ee development will be the order of the day.
My primary goal is to document my adventures in “Switching” to the Mac as my primary machine where it makes sense. I have no plans to leave Windows or Linux behind. As I said, I want my cake and I want to eat it too. I am planning to have a netcast to accompany this blog. If all goes well the first netcast will be up in a week or less. In both of these mediums I will be highlighting tips, trick, processes that are new to me and that I find useful as well as any interesting news that comes out about tech and my Mac.
Good Luck,
Demian