Apple bites man (The Independent Weekly)15 February 2010, 6:03 pmAre Macs nothing more than style porn?
They got me in the end, with their Hillsong eyes and enhanced browsing experiences.
I'd given it a red hot go, staving off their advances. But damn it, they impose themselves upon you, insinuating the topic into every discussion, like a mid-level Scientologist just one more convert coupon away from a weekend retreat with Tom Cruise and a ride on the mothership. So I bought an iMac. And I haven't looked forward since.
It's the smugness that does you in the end.
I mean, there's the operating system, 'Snow Leopard' . I just want it on the record – I had no idea at the time. And what's with the unnerving, Narnia-like motif? I mean snow? Felines? Grace, adventure and beauty? A nod to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
You know they say the author CS Lewis, was a closet supremacist. Now, it's not mine to suggest the good guys at Apple are inbreeding computer parts in some demented plot to create a master race of 'advanced hardware technology'. But I will say be careful what you wish for and look not to their sleek, uniform 27" ubercomputers, but recall instead certain Royals who were locked in attics, hidden from view over the centuries.
OK, it's purdy, I'll grudgingly cede that. While booting into Windows is a series of Get Smart-style doors slamming behind you (but one where your foes have already skimmed all the swipe mechanisms), logging into a Mac is relatively secure super terrific happy fun hour.
The packaging is a fetishist's wet dream, each peripheral presented as though it were a Hermes Egg. I will say this much, it did get up and running lickety-split. But ever since then it's been one big 'meh'…
Yes, it's all 'whoosh', 'swoosh' and 'check this out', but only in a very bad way. There's the Star Trek-style 'dock', where you access your applications from what appears to be a bouncing castle fashioned entirely out of stupidity. 'Finder', the interface for dealing with files scores a bore draw with Windows Explorer. Web browsers have mastered tabbing, why is this so difficult for file interfaces? It's like turning up to the circus and watching the seals do OK on the trapeze, because the acrobats 'can't be arsed'.
more at
http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/national/national/general/apple-bites-man/1752093.aspx
