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Thursday, 03 June 2004, 22:36:22 EDT

I dislike laptops. I generally find them to be slow and cumbersome. It is mostly the hard drives that tick me off because they lag really badly. I am used to being able to let an `apt-get upgrade` run in the background downloading and upacking new packages while I compile applications, like MPlayer, or just use the machine in general and that is not possible with every laptop I have ever used. But, today I find myself wanting something I never thought I would want — an Apple Powerbook. Last week I installed Windows XP in Virtual PC on a student's Powerbook 15". I was chatting with the guy and a friend of his, who evidently works where I do, about the machine and how it sucks that all the software written for textbooks and for use in school is written for Windows. The guy with the Powerbook loved the thing, he eschewed Windows and everything about it because he finds it cumbersome and does not like the applications written for it. While I loathe Windows as well, I expressed my ineptness with Macs and my preference for Debian.

Reading that you may be thinking to yourself, "So how does that relate to you wanting a Powerbook?" Well, read on.

Today I read an article written by an ex-Microsoft employee and later a weblog entry on his web site. This guy's enamoration with his Power Mac prompted me to reflect on my experience with the Powerbook last week. Their design is absolutely amazing; you would have to actually operate the lid on one to know why I am talking about but, the thing is structurally solid and operates better than any Dell or any other PC laptop I have ever used. The keyboard is a little light but I could get used to it. And the screen, oh man the screen is delicious. And, amazingly, the thing is light considering size of it; the 17" is only 6.9lbs and that is amazing. I could live with 6.9lbs when the screen is a wide 17". I would also like to give Mac OS X more of a chance. I have cursed it quite a bit at work trying to use the Mac we have there but I was trying to get stuff done quickly and not really taking the time to sit back and forget everything I know about computers and learn the system and the way it works. I know that if I had a machine I could carry around and use constantly that I would learn it and get the hang of it. I would probably even like it; it would be nice to have a very professionally done GUI on top of a Unix operating system. It would be the best of both worlds. The multitasking power and simplicity of Unix combined with the beauty that is a well polished graphical user interface.

So, I may end up talking myself into getting the 17" Powerbook. I must resist this temptation though for I need to pay other bills first and there are higher priorities than a laptop that I must think about. We shall see. It is quite probable that I will succumb to the Dark Side.