Not so bad
I got a call from Yodobashi Camera tonight around 9pm telling me that they had my new iBook in the store... if I rush over there before 10 I can still pick it up. I did of course.
My first impression as I opened it up was "oh-no, what have I done?" It was full of wastefull little "extras" such as smooth plastic caps on the ends of all cords, and the plug has some glowing light on it when plugged in... not that these are bad (actually they really are.. I shudder to think of where all those little caps will end up one day. Will it be enough to fill a landfill?), but it bothers me to think how much more affordable it would have been if they didn't waste so much on such superficial things.
I was a bit bummed, afraid that the whole thing would just be about design and have little substance, and every thing that took more than 5 seconds to do really ticked my off. (I know it would take just as long on any other OS also, but I was in an "I'm getting screwed" mood.)
Truth be told though, it's faster than the windows I was using before. much faster than the macs at work.
Now the only major peeve I have is that I can't tab through forms on the Safari browser. Is there some setting I have to change to make the tab button able to select checkboxes, radio buttons, and the submit button?
I'm also a little disapointed that it's heavier than I remember the one in the store. I think they had taken out some parts that weren't needed, and although they had something where the battery was supposed to go,I'm guessing it was an empty case, or worse yet, a case filled with helium filled bubblewrap!
Comments
Those little endcaps...I like them. I went and bought a double click mouse for myself, and kept the Mac mouse for my son. When I set his mouse aside, that cap keeps all the crumbs and crap from getting in the USB connector. If you switch out your cables, those caps are useful, if not just toss 'em.
I had not noticed the tabbing issue with Safari, so I did a quick test. It does seem that you can tab from the address bar through all the open forms on the page, it seems to skip radio buttons, check boxes, pull down menus, and buttons.
I am sure that you will enjoy your new ibook, I am rather jealous myself. If you don"t know of it already, you will find Mac OSX Hints very useful as a mac user. Use their RSS feed to keep up with the flood of hints.
Posted by: Steve | November 3, 2003 11:15 PM
Steve, try to use "d" letter, it usually does the trick.
Posted by: Paul | November 4, 2003 03:11 AM
I'm also a little disapointed that it's heavier than I remember the one in the store. I think they had taken out some parts that weren't needed, and although they had something where the battery was supposed to go,I'm guessing it was an empty case, or worse yet, a case filled with helium filled bubblewrap!
heh. Those bastards tricked me the same way.
Say, you might want to get a spare battery or two to weight down your carryon for long trans-oceanic flights.
Truth be told though, it's faster than the windows I was using before. much faster than the macs at work.
Give it time, you'll figure out a way to slow it down enough to need a new one. I hear G6's are just on the horizon.
We are finally living in the future. I can shoot video in CA, edit on the flight, burn it to dvd (batteries willing), and pass it out on arrival in nrt.
So when are they gonna get us those flying cars i've been dreaming about?
Posted by: james | November 5, 2003 07:02 AM
You finally took the plunge and got an iBook! Don't you bother about the wrappings, and the heaviness, and all those peripheral rants--it is the greatest computer in the world!
If you want a keyboard without all those Japanese chicken footprints, ask at: sales@caliburn.com (they have an office in Tokyo).
:-)
Posted by: Daphne | November 5, 2003 12:28 PM