The Plot Thickens

I thought it was about time to update you all on my current status vis a vis the purchase of an Apple Mac computer. Earlier this year I publicly pleasured myself on the subject, and objectified all things Apple into near grail-like importance. But things have moved on a little since then. And as matters currently stand I am still an MS Windows user.

First off, I had a little economic downturn of my own, which thankfully seems to be over now. But it made me reconsider how I wanted to spend €1000 and whether an Apple laptop was the best way of doing it. I then asked myself some tough questions, shined a torch in my face and got to the meat of why I wanted a laptop at all. The rather surprising answer was, I didn't.

When I looked at it, what I really wanted was a means of staying online when I was out. Partly for fun, and partly for work as I receive a certain amount of stuff via e-mail. What I couldn't envisage, was me sitting in a coffee shop or on a tube train tapping away at a computer. I'd be scared of a) getting mugged and b) looking like a pretentious arse. Also I live in Spain, and whilst we have wi-fi hotspots, there aren't nearly as many as other countries, and I'd thus be forced to get my Mac out in MacDonalds (presumably after clearing the congealed mayo from the plastic table) or in Starbucks (only of course, when wearing sufficient amounts of linen and a goatee beard). And when I thought about it I just couldn't see me doing any real writing or translation stuck in the middle of the city. So the Macbook got cancelled.

Now, I've fixed on the iPhone. It'll allow me to get my e-mails, do a limited amount of typing, see the web and play with lots of toys whilst out and about. Other phones are available but they seem to break into two camps, Blackberrys and phones trying to be Blackberrys, and iPhones and phones trying to be iPhones. I'm not a Blackberry kind of guy. I don't wear a suit for work, I have a semi-permanent beard, I like the arts and I don't drive a company car. And so if I'm going touchy screeny I'll buy the best. Oh yes a Samsung may do all the same things as an iPhone, and technically that's true. But then you can say that a Mondeo does all the same things as a Ferrarri, but I know which one I'd prefer.

However, during my researches I became convinced that the Mac's OS and general coolness appealed to me greatly. And given that I no longer play games on the PC (the PC games market being deader than corduroy) I can focus on what I do use it for i.e. writing, interneting, and watching video content. The new 24inch iMac does all these things wonderfully, and with a grace and power that makes me quiver ever so slightly. That's not to say that Windows is totally dead for me. The new Windows 7 is supposedly a great improvement over Vista (not difficult) and the new touch screen tech is fun and clever, although having played with it a bit earlier today I wonder how long before the novelty and your fingertips wear off. But I've settled on an iMac for now, and that is what I shall lust after hereinafter. But first the phone. The moment I heard you could get an app that makes it sound like a light sabre was the moment that Apple made a sale.