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- Laptop or Desktop: Which Would You Find It Harder Surviving Without?
The title of a recent Mac Night Owl column by Gene Steinberg grabbed me as a question that might have been more relevant 10 years ago. “Can You Survive Without a Desktop Mac?” Gene queries rhetorically.
From my perspective, and I think that of many others these days, the operative would more aptly be, “can you survive without a laptop Mac?” After all, the New York Times first reported that laptop sales exceeded desktops in May 2003, Apple notebook sales surpassed its desktops sold in July 2005, have done so consistently since April 2006, and now represent roughly three-quarters of Mac systems sold, although from time to time desktops gain back some ground, such as with the hot-selling new iMacs. Industry-wide, laptops began outselling desktops globally in Q3 2008, nearly four years sooner than anticipated.
I was somewhat ahead of the curve, making the switch from desktop to laptop as my main production platform in October 1996, when I bought a PowerBook 5300. Aside from a brief dalliance with a G4 Cube in mid-2001, and purchasing a brand-new leftover SuperMac S-900 tower clone for $300 a year before that to use as a backup machine, it’s been all laptop, all the time for me now for more than a baker’s dozen years. I honestly can’t imagine myself trying to get along with just a desktop Mac anymore.
Not that there aren’t some enticing and compelling Mac desktops. I found that Cube difficult to resist, at least conceptually. I loved the design, but in practical use I found it less enchanting and myself pining for laptop virtues, so after six months I grabbed an opportunity to swap the barely broken-in Cube even-trade for a year-old PowerBook G3 Pismo. I’ve never regretted the decision, and now, more than eight years later, I still have that same old Pismo in regular service. I’ve still got the big S-900 as well, but it’s been quite a while since it was booted up.
Meanwhile, since that first PowerBook 5300, which is also still around and in working order, I’ve owned a PowerBook G3 Series WallStreet, two PowerBook 1400s, three Pismos, a dual USB iBook G3, a 17-inch PowerBook G4, and my present number-one machine — a late 2008 model unibody MacBook, purchased last March. Desktops simply haven’t been a significant part of the picture for me for nearly a decade, and I can’t say there’s anything I really miss about them.
There’s a bit of irony I suppose in that my MacBook serves mainly as a desktop workstation, perched on a laptop stand, connected to three USB hubs, an external keyboard, several pointing devices, a printer, a scanner, a USB microphone, and an Ethernet LAN. In many respects a desktop Mac would be a more logical and rational choice for my main home office production machine. I’ve seriously mused about a Mac mini (which I’ve always admired) for years, and the latest iMacs give you an awful lot of power and display real estate for your dollar.
Never say never, but even though I keep at least two other laptops in service as utility portable/road machines, I would still find it frustrating not to be able to unplug my main axe from its spaghetti-tangle of workstation peripheral cables, drop it in a computer case or backpack, and take it along elsewhere — whether elsewhere is just another part of the house or on a road trip, with full, untethered functionality intact.
If I ever feel the need for a larger display (it does appeal), that’s easy to arrange as well. On the other hand, with a desktop, you’re limited to the availability of 110V wall current or some equivalent, and an iMac, or even a Mac mini with monitor and pointing devices, would be a lot more cumbersome to take along. Also, if the power goes off, as it does fairly frequently in my neck of the woods, I can just keep on computing — for a long time if my emergency 12V battery pack is fully charged.
For me, getting along without a laptop would involve too much compromise. How about you?
Переслать - Focusing on Backup, Some Econ Technology Programs Now Free
The good folks at Econ Technologies recently began offering some of its software for free, in order to allow it the time to focus on its flagship products. Earlier this week, Portraits & Prints, ImageCaster, and DayChaser specifically, went from paid software to freeware. Recognizing the mounting difficulty in competing with cloud-based services such as Google Calendars (which is free to use) was a contributing factor in the early Christmas present that Econ has provided for everyone.
Portraits & Prints is a print shop sort of application allowing you to print off photos in customizable and out-of-the-ordinary ways. From the Econ web site:
Select your photos and they are automatically arranged onto templates and displayed on screen the exact same way they are printed. You don't waste time arranging photos and you don't waste paper since you see the printout beforehand.
ImageCaster allows you to share your webcam’s view to webpages, turn it into a security camera, and more. It even gives you the option to schedule postings if you so choose. From the Econ web site:ImageCaster contains a full set of features within a simple interface. Whether you’re setting up multiple webcams from several cameras or just a webcam at home, ImageCaster keeps the process easy. ImageCaster not only uploads the image it creates the webpage too.
DayChaser can essentially be likened to iCal. I’ve used it in a limited capacity before, and it has functioned well. Though I’d agree with Econ that competing with the likes of Google Calendar et al., is a losing battle. From the Econ web site:
DayChaser lets you create and manage multiple calendar documents simultaneously. Each calendar document contains its own unique set of scheduled entries and To-Do items that can be customized so your personal organizer is truly personal.
All of the above applications have been updated to be Snow Leopard compatible prior to being made freely available. At this point in time, Econ Techologies will be turning all of its attention to improving the already solid ChronoSync and ChronoAgent programs. Both represent robust options for system backups, synchronization, and remote administration. In fact, I’ve found ChronoSync to be invaluable in backing up my work MacBook Pro to a remote SAN.
Everyone’s gotta love free programs (I personally have a problem because I download them all and my Applications folder is atrocious!) right? If any of these sound interesting, why not give them a shot? However, be forewarned that because they are now free, support will likely be negligible, and updates are no longer in the cards.
Переслать
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