Way OT** My old dad runs NT4 and Unix and supports Win95 for my (much) younger sister.
Sister's el-cheapo internal modem blew up. Old man replaces el-cheapo with a 3Com V.90 internal.
Windows can't find Mouse. Windows can't find keyboard. System will not boot, AARG. He calls me to vent - computer fried.
I suggest removing the internal modem and try a reboot. Disbelief- What difference could that make? "Just try it" I said.
He calls me back- "Son of a bitch! It works now! How did you know that?" Well, the old fart is damn smart, and he wants to know WHY everything works. I'm not so smart, and figure "it is better to wonder why something works than why something doesn't work." I suggest the trade the internal for a 3Com V.90 external- the modem will long outlast the P90 little sister runs AOL on.
Why do you guys put up with that sort of WINTEL crap? I'm willing to pay a little more for my Mac so the damn thing will just work. My home time is to valuable to waste, unlike at work- where I get paid to struggle with NT4.
Point is, my little sister (16 years old) runs AOL 100% on that machine. She chats with her friends from school, cousins, and friends in Germany.
The old man was ready to chuck the old pentium and buy her an iMac, and make her maintain it. She isn't going to do anything but send email and surf the web, maybe write a paper once and a while- not often enough, but she is a national merit scholar, so the school system seems to suit her.
My point is:
1) There are plenty of people who are just tired of fighting with windows
2) There are a lot of intelegent people who have no desire to "learn computers" but want to send email, surf the web, and write a letter. Maybe learn to use Quicken.
3) The iMac is cute as a bug, and I'm picking mine up tomorrow. It's child's play to ethernet it to another mac- just use an ethernet crossover cable, $10.
Me, I need a small footprint for where I want to put the second machine. No, as for how fast it REALLY is... I'll tell you tomorrow.
WebDrone |
