The day I almost fell in love with an Apple

The day I almost fell in love with an Apple computer was a strange day. A client had recently purchased a new Macbook Pro from me and I had just delivered the Mac to her. Now to say I am anti-Apple is not correct, I am just neither for it or against it. Given that this Macbook was to be first time setting up a Macbook I was a little apprehensive about what to expect.

Image via CrunchBase

Opening the boring brown box only to reveal the beautiful packaging of the Mac box immediately got me going into the positive mindset about Apple. Opening the box feels like a sense of occassion, it makes you want to open the box and see the mystery that awaits inside.

Opening the box does not dull the occassion, there it was the brand new shiny silver Macbook Pro glistening in the late winter sun, the Apple sign looking polished and ready to snapped up. Even unwrapping the plastic coating is an experience, effortless, simplicity at best.

Switching the machine on and hearing the familiar 'gong' the screen comes alive, the setup is so easy and then the migration assistant prompt appears. This is an awesome tool, selecting the old Mac and transferring the data to the new could not have been easier. It even moved all the applications, everything! Coming from a strictly Windows background I will admit I was in awe of this machine.

The design, the simplicity of use, the way it basically set itself up, it felt like some real IT voodoo magic was happening before my very eyes. After all the stardust in my eyes had settled and I started to use the MacBook and check the settings the magical effects began to wear off.

Setting up the scanner was not as easy you would think, although the scanner was installed, when trying to scan the documents were being cut-off and other random things were happening. Thankfully it was enough to fix.

Then the confusion over the Thunderbolt adapter, having to have an adaptor to connect to an external screen is stupid. The Macbook easily has the space for this why make something easy into a money making thing and force people to buy an adapter.

Adapter in hand, setting up the projector was ok, it didn't just work. I did have to go into system prefernces and fiddle with the display settings but it now works. While I am going on about adapters, only having two USB ports? Seriously? I would really have thought a company has design and customer focused would realise that two USB ports just doesn't cut it.

I do like the magic touchpad with all its gesture controls, but sometimes you can end up flipping screens and scrolling through the wrong document but that is more user error than anything and not the fault of Apple.

Whilst I am thoroughly impressed with the Macbook's packaging and easy setup making you feel like you have not bought a computer but something more something unique something wonderful, that all starts to fade as you realise it is just a computer. Considering that it still costs more than an equivalent spec Windows computer, I do wonder what the fuss is all about.

Is Safari really better than IE9. Is Mac Mail with its limitations better than Windows mail?  Can a new user take to a Mac quicker than Windows. I do not know, but since I love my right click being on the mouse and not a keyboard and mouse click combo. I will stick to Windows for a little longer.

Maybe when Apple release their next model, I will take a look at again, that won't be to far away either as there constanly seems to be a newer model launched every month, we are already up to the iPhone 4S already, I think the 4T comes out soon. I joke of course, but the day I almost fell in love with an Apple certainly changed my admittedly limited perception of what it is all about.

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Clouds of 1's and 0's

Cloud computing is fast becoming the future of information technology. Everywhere you go people are talking about it, even people that would not normally speak about something technological are talking about it. Cloud computing and cloud based services are pretty impressive. This blog is done in the cloud, people have been using the cloud for a long time and may not have known about it even.

My initial thoughts on cloud-based services are less than favourable to using it from an enterprise perspective but from an end-user point of view cloud services are fantastic. My concerns are mainly around security of ones data mind you.

Why trust someone else to look after my data? What happens if the company whose hands you have willingly placed your data into fails? Big companies can crash especially in economic times we are in, think Lehman Brothers in 2008 or scarier Worldcom, the big telecommuncations company back in 2005.

Who is to say that the likes of Amazon, Apple, or Google may go bankrupt. Then what will happen to all that data and the businesses that have been reliant on their services being there and suddenly they are not.

At this stage there is no real security regulation of the cloud based services? We would like to think the corporations will look after our data but big companies are also targets for hacking groups which could led to unexpected down time of your business should you be making full use of cloud services.

The accountant may see benefit in moving things to the cloud but for the IT administrator / security engineer the cloud is a potential landslide of issues. In a country like South Africa where a decent internet connection is rare, why would a small business or for that matter a large business move to cloud based services.

Even if the Internet was better what about the issue of power, can we rely on Eskom to provide sufficient power. Sure UPS devices in businesses work for a shortime but eventually you will lose your Internet connection ergo your business. Not every business can have generators running 24/7.

In my opinion cloud based services are not for South Africa yet, the services will become mainstream in SA as they have elsewhere but only because the accountants think it is cheaper. This is until a Telkom outage or Eskom load-shedding incident occurs showing the folly of the decision.

We will not escape the cloud as it is the future. Microsoft are already designing and launching products aimed at the cloud and with pc's, tablets, and phones increasingly needing the internet it is not surprising.

The cloud is coming, will it be a big, grey and stormy one or a beautiful, soft and fluffy one we will not know. The cloud is there on the horizon looming large, lets wait and see what it brings.

Related articles

• Talkin' Tech: Cloud Computing (blogs.cisco.com)
• Everyone becoming a cloud provider: financial services (zdnet.com)
• Next-Generation IT: Why We Need A Cloud Middleman (bjconquest.com)

Happy 30th Birthday PC!

New York City on August 12, 1981, the IBM 5150 personal computer made its debut. The IBM 5150 ran the Microsoft Disk Operating System, MS-DOS, the precursor to modern day Windows.

Over the last 30 years the technological evolution of the PC has been astounding. The personal computer has lead to many breakthroughs in the way in which we do business and even interact with other. The PC of today is vastly different from the one that made its debut in NYC way back in 1981.

We now have Xbox and Playstation consoles that are more capable and better equiped than most PC's from just a couple of years ago. The ubiquitous smartphone is everywhere nowadays and even these devices are more functional and powerful than a PC of only a couple years old.

This does make you wonder where the PC of the future is going to be. Is there even going to be a need for the PC as we know it today? Why not just have a smartphone that can double up as a PC when needed. The phone could project a 'screen' and a keyboard at the same time and you could work away. The rise of cloud computing and services means you just need a phone with a browser capable of providing such service.

The will be no licensing issues, just a paid-for access account to the services needed. No need for cumbersome printer drivers with modern printers linked to the Internet and their own e-mail addresses. There will also be no lost software disc's.

I think the PC is going to be made redundant within the next few years and replaced by better and faster smartphones. Then again weren't online news sites supposed to have killed off the newspaper already? Either way I for one am very keen to see what the future brings.