Must-Install Mac Software
This is mainly a list for myself, so I know what to download the next time I need to reformat. I’ll be adding to this, I’m sure.
- Perian: Perian is a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats.
Use my iPod?! Are You Nuts?!
I love the iPod. Its sleek design, its shiny and unbelievably vivid color display. Just looking at the marvel of consumer technology sends me into daydreams: caressing the clickwheel, my thumb ever-so-gently navigating through 30 gigabytes of music and movies and photographs, rocking out to Belle and Sebastian, showing off home movies and snapshots of our vacation to England…
Such a shame, then, that I’m afraid to actually touch the thing.
My first iPod, a 20-gigabyte 4G, didn’t get iSkinned for about three months. By the time I covered it in a warm and protective silicon womb, it was battered and dented. The metal back was scratched beyond recognition.
When that iPod died, about eleven months later, I got a replacement, and was waiting at the mailbox with a protective case. As soon as the package arrived, I opened it, and, carefully, without touching the iPod, slid it into its new home. I didn’t want to mar it with the oils from my own skin; fingerprints make both the plastic and metal casings look like crap.
Now, I’ve got a 5G. It’s beautiful and black and has 10 extra gigabytes, can play video, display photos, etc. And, yes, Jonathan Ive‘s gorgeous industrial design is pleasant on the eyes. But it really inspires a sense of despair and panic whenever you want to actually use the thing. I mean, what if you scratched it? What if your carefully-chosen personalized inscription chipped off? So many things running through my head, I’m afraid to skip a song or turn up the volume, lest I damage the clickwheel.
Apple has a great image. Sometimes I wish they’d sacrifice a teeny-weeny bit of it, though, for some workhorse function. It doesn’t have to be coated in yellow-and-black protective rubber or anything. I’d like to be able to put it in my damned pocket, though, without fear that it will be scratched by the lint therein.
That’s all.
The Apple Store Forces Man to Jump Through Hoops
As a follow-up to my heartwarming tale of the $500 MacBook, I am sad to say that the online Apple Store has failed me.
I mentioned in that post that the MacBook was slated to arrive a few days after we left for vacation. So, as I hinted, I was toying with the idea of upgrading the shipping so I could have it in my hands before then, and take it with me to the beach. So I did this, with relative ease. I tried to cancel the order and just pick it up, in-store, but that would have nullified the iPod rebate.
So, this morning, I get a lovely little note in my inbox about how the drop date has been pushed back a week. The MacBook-That-Will-Be-Mine is now leaving Shanghai or wherever next Monday, the 17th, and won’t arrive ’til next Wednesday or Thursday.
Ugh. So, again, I called around, trying to figure out how the hell I can get my damned computer before we head out for a week. No dice. They’ll still trash the rebate if the notebook and iPod aren’t on the same ticket, and I found out today that the Apple Store at Southpoint Mall charges about $100 more for RAM upgrades than they do online (makes sense; they custom-built them in China, whereas they’ll have to pay the entire Genius Bar at the Apple Store here an actual living wage to install new RAM).
Anyway, I just called and changed the shipping address. The MacBook, disasters and hurricanes and the like not withstanding, will arrive on Topsail Island some time during vacation next week. I suppose that will do.
The $500 MacBook
I’m very excited about my new toy, which we ordered online last night after a failed attempt at reaching the Apple Store before closing. Here’s how it works: Natania’s dad needs a notebook, so we’re selling him my G4 iBook for $800. I’m taking that money and putting it toward the MacBook, and then giving my folks my PC. Everyone wins. I even got a free iPod rebate out of the deal, so now I guess I can watch videos on a fancy new gadget. Sometimes I’m ashamed at how much I love new gadgets, but to be honest, we’re doing really well, we’re putting money away at a nice rate, and thanks to the high resell value of the iBooks, I’m only spending about $500. Easy peasy.