My giant leap

"We’re gonna make some history today…"

Well about two years ago, I was lucky enough to become a MAC user --- I bought the 12 inch iBook G4, “The Small White”, they call it. And it was so beautiful and elegant like a virgin. Since then I realized that, machine can do arts, too.

For the period, people are interested in the small white I’m using, and they asked me questions: “It must be very expensive, how much did it cost?”, “Can you run Windows apps on it?”, “I heard that MAC software are not as many as Windows, is it true?”… But one of the best questions I got was, “What’re the differences between a MAC and a Windows machine?”

Well, I shall say, no difference. They both can type and print a document like your thesis paper; they both can surf the Internet using a browser or chat with your friend; you can listen to music, enjoy the pictures and watch a football match on both of them. Yes, in those terms, there is no difference at all.

The different thing is that, MAC is beautiful and Windows is ugly. --- Just kidding, it’s true but it’s not my point. Windows machines are designed for computer pros (at least semi-pro), while MAC is for normal human instead of those geeks. Why I’m saying this? Let’s recall something: when you want to connect to the Internet for the first time using your DSL modem, it’s certain that 90% plus people spend 10 plus minutes to find where to input the account and password; when you move or delete a document, you’ll have to close it first (sometimes you will even have to terminate the application first); when you open or save a document, you click 6 folded folders to get the open/save path; when you are writing a letter to your girl friend, you have to copy and paste all the words you wrote into the Microsoft Word to see if there are some mis-spellings; when it is weekend, you feel it the time of organizing your photos, music, movies, you find out that it turns to be tons of work and you have to give up… On the other side, I can list thousands of moments when I got the happy surprise from my MAC: things can be so easy, it’s like the small white smiles at my surprise face: that’s it, you’re done.

You might say, “what’s the problem? I got used to it and I think it’s fine”. What’s the problem? Don’t think the fact that you got used to it is so pathetic? It’s a matter of the spirit of design: machine-like vs. human-like. A quote from Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, “The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste, they have absolutely no taste, and and what that mean is, I don’t mean it in a small way, I mean that in a big way.” Frankly speaking, I didn’t believe it when I heard this words about two years ago, but I’m buying it as an IT principle today.

Starting from June 2005, for more than one and a half years, the small white has been a huge success for me, and therefor, it’s time to replace it.

Starting from March 2007, the small white is gonna fade into the history, we’re making a giant leap today: the MacBook Pro.



It’s still a MAC, only much more sexier and much more faster. And it’s got something new than the old small white: all metal surface --- better hand feeling and cooler (also in temperature terms); backlit keyboard --- never get lost in the dark; MagSafe power adapter --- no worry about the accident; motion sensor --- safe for your data and warn the unexpected users; built-in Bluetooth EDR, iSight, light sensor, Front Row…

And the important thing is, it’s that easy to move all the settings and data to the new MAC without loosing a thing.

A quote again, “30 years, making the best personal computer ever.”

For larger pictures, go to My Flickr page.