Future

Crackberry Addiction (posted by Brad Bowers)

Although I haven't owned a Crackberry since their very first device came out (and all of us hotshots at CNET wanted one because Halsey had one), I still have always used an email-enabled PDA or phone, so I'm essentially just as addicted as actual Blackberry users.

This article pretty much nails it in regards to how addicted we Americans (especially) are to our email and devices.  Always on.

"The first casualty is home life. The BlackBerry user is never really at home. He may be in the room, but his mind is at work. The temptation to check is too great, even if you're meant to be cooking supper or bathing the kids."

"The line you almost never hear is "my employer makes me carry this thing". The truth is, we're doing it to ourselves and this is surely the BlackBerry's most pernicious feature. A whole cohort of workers are turning themselves into virtual slaves, on duty day and night for no extra payment. Their work now intrudes into their bathrooms, their bedrooms, even their sleep. The mobile device was sold as a form of liberation: now your office can be the beach. The trouble is, it's turned the beach into the office."

I try to get away from checking my 8525 if I'm able, but I do inevitably get sucked in all the time, checking emails again and again.

I posted a while back on my purchase of a Razor phone to use on the weekends, and often I do use it.  Aside from being small, it's great because it has no email access.  I'm free from checking it.

One of the things I dislike most, although I've occasionally done this myself, is when people are checking their Crackberries during meetings.  It really is the epitome of rudeness.  It's that person essentially saying "although you are her in-person, something more important may be happening in my email inbox" or "although I'm meeting with you, I'm far too important to focus solely on you."

I'm sure not everyone thinks these thoughts consciously, but they are there inside.

Nonetheless, I do find having immediate, portable access to my email a mostly good thing.  My wife strongly disagrees!

Mac Conversion - A Few Days In (posted by Brad Bowers)

Well it's been about three days and I'm finally getting the hang of the Mac.  However, getting to this point was no simple task.

Having switched computers before (PC to PC) I understand that there is a lot of work required to get your files transferred, get software reinstalled etc., and much of this was the same with the conversion to the Mac.  However, given the difference in software (especially having to use Entourage vs. Outlook), this was a bit more complex.

It's somewhat crazy that despite the fact that Microsoft makes both Entourage and Outlook that it would not be easier to move your old email from the PC to the Mac, but I'm guessing Microsoft isn't that keen on users doing this, and so have not made this very easy.  I used O2M by Little Machines to transfer the files, and for the most part they've moved over ok.

I also moved my office files over by putting on an external hard drive and then transferring them to the MacBook Pro.  This was pretty straightforward.

Aside from getting things transferred, simply learning Apple way of doing things, such as installing software, saving files to folders etc. is a bit challenging at first.  A lot of trial and error.  I'd agree that generally Apple's OSX operating system is pretty intuitive, but after so many years of using Windows, it still requires an adjustment.

The hardest part, I'd have to say, is using Office 2004 for Mac vs. the Office for PC I was using.  The layout and menus are a bit different, and I'd become very proficient in the PC operation of these programs.  Plus things like keyboard controls are different which makes the change have more of a learning curve.  Generally speaking the programs are the same, but some things certainly are different and have required a lot of searching the Web to find answers to how to do things.  Thankfully many of my same questions have already been answered by others on forums and newsgroups, so I've quickly located them as needed.

This notebook is plenty fast, and its boot time (from cold start, or from sleep) is SO much faster than any PC I've owned.  I remember Windows booting more quickly when it was new, and then getting slower along the way, so I'm not sure if the Mac will exhibit this same trait or not. Obviously I'm hoping not.

I have found that a few of the software programs I was using won't work on Mac, which I knew going in. The hardest adjustment will be not using Yahoo Music Unlimited and my Zen MP3 player on this machine.  However, I can still download songs and put them on the Zen using my wife's PC.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the choice, and I have not yet even started to upload pictures, or video recordings into the Mac to see how cool and easy it is to work with them (as I've heard).  So I'm hoping that once I do, I'll be even more pleased with the switch.

So Long Windows - Hello Mac (Posted by Brad Bowers)

I'm having a hard time believing it myself, but after some consideration, I've decided to make the switch from Windows to Mac.

My MacBook Pro is set to arrive tomorrow and I'm quite excited about the change, and looking forward to learning the Mac OS and starting a new "life" as a Mac user.

I can't quite pinpoint the exact moment I decided to make the shift, but it came fairly quickly.  My Gateway 200X ultraportable has been a great computer, and has served me well over the last 3+ years, but it is starting to fall apart and needs to be replaced.

Although I spent a lot of time first looking at potential PC notebook replacements on CNET, PC World, and other sites, I started to realize that I'm quite sick of the constant Windows OS crashes I have to deal with, and the incredibly frequent and annoying updates that I need to download and install for Windows.  From what I understand, Mac users don't experience nearly as many of these issues.

As I started to consider the move, which for me is considerable (at least in my mind right now) given that I've only ever used PCs, I found there were a few colleagues who have previously made this shift, and they were unanimously happy they did so.  They reported no major compatibility issues regarding the key business apps such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint, which was a concern I had.

I waited a bit before taking the plunge in hopes that Apple would release a 12" ultraportable MacBook, which has been widely rumored for a while as a possibility.  But this past week at the Mac press conference, no such system was announced,  so I decided it was time to get moving on this.

I did a good amount of research, but it was ultimately a trip to an Apple Store during a recent trip to L.A. that made me go with the MacBook Pro vs. the MacBook.  The top of the line MacBook is very close in specs to the MacBook Pro, but after touching and holding the MacBook Pro, and considering things a bit more, I was convinced that the Pro was the right choice for me.

I'm sure it won't be totally simple to switch over, but I'm expecting it to go rather quickly and easily, and I'm looking forward to a long-lasting relationship with Apple and my MacBook Pro.

Google Maps - A Great App for Your Cell Phone (posted by Brad Bowers)

I recently downloaded Google Maps Mobile to my 8525 phone, and I have quickly found it to be an incredibly valuable application.

As someone who has not yet purchased at portable GPS, this fills the void pretty well.  And since it's an app on my phone, I don't need to carry around any separate hardware.

What I love about this program, which I've found to work quite well are the following features;

• Driving Directions:  Just plug in the start and end locations and it produces a great map with turn-by-turn directions.
• Real Time Traffic: The app overlays traffic on the map itself, so you can see how the traffic is looking where you are headed and potentially choose an alternate route if things are congested.
• Finding Businesses and Addresses: Frequently I need to locate places and get directions, and this app easily allows you to search for businesses (specific or by type) and then get directions.

I've used the app extensively in the Bay Area, Seattle and L.A. recently, and it was always quite helpful.

The main downside is that it requires you to constantly look at your phone for the directions, which is not only tricky, but unsafe while driving.

Overall, I highly recommend this program to anyone on the go who is often in need of directions.