Polarities are amusing. Look at these, and consider how they often divide us:
- Democrats / Republicans
- Vegans / Omnivores
- Affluent / Low-Income
- Liberal / Conservative
- Simplicity / Materialism
- Black / White
- Artistic / Analytical
Personally, I don’t get too caught-up in either/or thinking. But there was an exception…
- Mac / PC
I’ve been using computers a long time (22 years!), and every one has been a PC. But I’ve always been very curious about Macs. You might even call it a crush… Steve Jobs’ humble beginning… Apple’s trademark zen designs… the mystique of what exactly Creatives do with them. I wanted to know! But I was also scared to “make the switch.” It felt like deciding to all-of-a-sudden start writing with my least dominant hand. Just for kicks.
But something happened and *poof* in a nano-second all my fears about making this change vanished. I went to Apple’s website, and came across this blurb:
“There’s a story behind each part. Take the thumbscoop, for example. It’s the indentation that allows you to open the display. If the scoop is too deep, you put too much pressure on the display to open it. If it’s too shallow, you struggle to open the display. It may seem incidental, but if the thumbscoop is well designed, it makes the difference between a bad experience and a good one. The challenge of the thumbscoop was to create a crisply machined scoop that was still comfortable to use. The designers at Apple worked on hundreds of versions of the thumbscoop — even examining them under an electron microscope — to get it right.”
That. is. poetic.
If that much attention (an electron microscope?!) was given to something as subtle as the lid-opening… if that much care was invested into how my lid-flipping experience feels, what else had they labored over? What other nuances had they mastered for my pleasure?
Today, I bit ;-)
I’ve been using my MacBook all of 3 hours so far and, already, I’ve got 20+ people identified with iPhoto’s face-recognition; my boyfriend and I made a hilarious song with GarageBand; and I started my first video-project with iMovie.
*swoon*
I can’t believe I waited so long to enjoy this intuitive, fluid, neural-friendly, imagination-enhancing, technology. Thank goodness for that irresistible thumbscoop… or I might still be in rigid PC-land wondering ’bout the other dreamy side.
Now I’m there.
Got limiting polarities? Jump ‘em!
November 8, 2009 at 12:18 pm |
Do you think it’s neurotic to rub your thumb over that smooth groove, ’cause I can’t stop! :-) It’s like having a built-in worry stone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worry_stone
November 8, 2009 at 1:57 pm |
hehehe :D
Really loved your writing!
So glad you are enjoying your new machine. They do design them well don’t they?
If you need any software advice, let me know :)
November 9, 2009 at 2:55 pm |
That is such a generous offer, Rob… and I will probably be taking you up on it! (I’m a big fan of shortening learning curves.) Many thanks :-)
November 8, 2009 at 5:03 pm |
I have a Mac, too…I had been lurking on Apple’s website for a while, and all the info just drew me in. I had even looked up reviews on other websites, and they were pretty good. So far I’m loving it! I haven’t tried out all the features, though.
November 9, 2009 at 2:59 pm |
“all the info just drew me in”. Exactly! I’m going to take advantange of the many free 1-hour classes they offer at the North Michigan Avenue store. They sure do make it easy to love them, huh? LOL!
November 8, 2009 at 10:02 pm |
I’m computer bilingual — I have a PC, but I’ve had bosses and graduate advisers (yes, BOTH master’s advisers) that were Mac lovers and tried to convert me :) However, I may look into a MacBook when my current PC laptop dies, especially if I decide to work on the chemistry education PhD — that adviser is a Mac lover too! I’m not quite ready to go to the dark side, ahem, I mean the Mac camp, yet ;)
November 9, 2009 at 3:01 pm |
All in good time…
November 12, 2009 at 4:29 am |
yay! another soul takes the leap! i am a mac-girl through and through :) (and thank you for your lovely comment on my interview in Danielle’s space yesterday x)
November 12, 2009 at 5:03 am |
Leap I did, and so glad about it. Your interview yesterday was one of the most genuine, transparent ones I’ve seen. So thank you, Susannah. XO
May 16, 2010 at 12:54 pm |
Been a Mac user for over 20 years and I just upgraded my older MacBook Pro to a newer model… The one with the specially engineered thumbscoop… The damned thumbscoop whose pointy corners gouge into the meaty part of the heel of my hand when I move it left or right!
Gee! Thanks, Apple… for such wonderful engineering and attention to detail!!!
Jim
May 16, 2010 at 9:14 pm |
“The damned thumbscoop whose pointy corners gouge into the meaty part of the heel of my hand when I move it left or right! Gee! Thanks, Apple… for such wonderful engineering and attention to detail!!!”
Jim, you deserve a comedic-rebate… ’cause that was hilarious :-)
Sorry to hear ’bout your gouged meaty parts!