oskidoc's Profile

  • Oct 13, 2007
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Latest comments made by: oskidoc

  • This begs the question: is there a minimum age to being a "switcher"? For example: the kindergartener uses a PC, then in first grade a Mac - is she a switcher? Or rather is she just grateful for the circumstances? Perhaps the question: if your parents make the decision to switch for you, are you really the "switcher," or are you switcher by surrogate? Regarding the color of our skin and the faith we follow, we for some part say "thanks mom" until teen angst and rebellion carve a niche of independence. So thanks for the article - I hope you define for yourself meaning in your Mac experience and other more weighty life endeavors separate from that of your parents. Cheers!
    oskidoc had this to say on Apr 06, 2007 Posts: 8
    My Apple Switch Story
  • Moreover, this is precisely how I began typing DVORAK. Not because I bought a keyboard or rearranged the keys, but rather because onscreen (on a displayed jpeg or pdf) I saw where my fingers ought to move: i.e., the D is where you're used to seeing the H; the U for the old F, the A's the same, the B for the old N, check it out. Now it's all muscle memory and I type at work on qwerty hardware with dvorak mapping. Buh-bye cues. If you have a transparent (think dashboard) display over your wordprocessor of choice, you can always be cued in to knowing where your fingers are and therefore where they are not. Once you accept that, this new small LCD input screen becomes a pan-input device open to the next genius' method of communicating with the computer. It could be interesting. Or we'll stay firm and fast to 19th century technology.
    oskidoc had this to say on Jan 17, 2007 Posts: 8
    The New 12" MacBook Will Have an iPhone-like Interface
  • I use DVORAK, started as a curiosity then became much easier to use than switch from qwerty to dvorak and back. It's fun, it's debatably more efficient, but then again I'm also a long-time piano player so training fingers is nothing new. Getting a SOCIETY to adopt a new input - whether DVORAK or a form of telepathy of sentences directly onto the screen or somewhere inbetween - is a monumental task, especially when you're providing <5% of the hardware. Think of all of the primary and secondary school typing classes. Joe Secretary isn't going to re-train. But it's reasonably possible that one could type onto a virtual keyboard (as originally suggested by the post), perhaps efficiently. The only way I see to do it is to reflect a GHOST keyboard onto the actual display screen and show the keys on which the fingers are resting - this provides the necessary reference for those who type with muscle memory (not so much typing by touch but typing with precise muscle memory) so that one can get instant visual feedback rather than have to look up at the screen, down at the keyboard, up at the screen.... hunt and peck "typists" will always remain so.
    oskidoc had this to say on Jan 17, 2007 Posts: 8
    The New 12" MacBook Will Have an iPhone-like Interface
  • I completely agree that Apple mostly produces products for those who can afford it. I wince at a >$2000 powerbook (don't have one). But....pretty darned good base-model laptops and Macs for near $1000 isn't the gouging the $2700 17" laptop is. Get yesterday's refurbished model and a lot of those base models drop below $1000. That's not economy computing for $250 but pretty affordable for modern technology. This is the Mastercard "priceless": you can't put a price on easy live good quality video chat on Christmas with the whole family from California to Maine when the whole family is using Mac. I think it's a darn good deal compared with debatably equivalent hardware from the PC manufacturers.
    oskidoc had this to say on Jan 09, 2007 Posts: 8
    Macworld 2007 - Summary and iPhone Announcement
  • I'm probably a small segment that Apple doesn't care about. I bought 2 or 3 years ago a Cinuglar Siemens SX-66, basically a phone and pocket PC in one. Thought I had nirvana. The phone part never really worked well, so now I use a RAZR. It still works as a PDA, but it's a full PDA on which I use 3rd party software for my job (I'm my own tech support, though). So Apple on this superphone-ipod-videothing has these widgets and contacts and notes, great - it lays a claim to becoming a PDA - but a bit limited. I really like my PDA not because it runs Windows Mobile, but because it runs the drug reference and medical knowledge apps that free me from carrying 4 little books around. Think some developer is going to make those apps for OSX just because it's mobile? This will be a KILLER device when it seamlessly runs Windows apps just as Leopard is maybe supposed to depending on what you believe..... Ah, yes....Apple will have nirvana when it makes the segregation of the OS obsolete by running M$ apps. Not yet. Can't I dream?
    oskidoc had this to say on Jan 09, 2007 Posts: 8
    iPhone Reaction: Slick but Unwanted?
  • As with anything, new technology is for the rich elite. It's new, it's sexy, it's exclusive, it's expensive. But now anybody can have a DVD drive for <$100. That used to be rich elite. At least Apple is making it backwards compatible with older or even current non-HDTV equipment (not old equipment) with component video and RCA audio output. If I wanted, I could use it on my 4 year old Toshiba CRT TV.
    oskidoc had this to say on Jan 09, 2007 Posts: 8
    Macworld 2007 - Summary and iPhone Announcement
  • One more vote for refurb: I bought my intel iMac, 20" 2GHz core duo in May this year - only difference I can tell was the brown cardboard "refurbished" box rather than the slick packaging. Saved at least $300. Oh yeah, I'm a switcher, and the refurb was a great economic incentive to switch.
    oskidoc had this to say on Nov 20, 2006 Posts: 8
    5 Tips For Getting The Best Deal on Apple Purchases
  • I would argue the G5 imac with flat screen all-in-one is appleutionary. I thought that flat screens were 'da bomb' - saving precious space on my physical desktop at work. But voila - combine the computer and a 20" screen and make it merely inches deep, no real estate taken up anywhere else on the desk or under the desk - it is a beautiful, functional, ideal computer for the desktop, and leaves my desk to actually use for things like writing and reading, not mounting a big computer box. Curious to see what's in store, but this is good enough for me and should keep me happy (first mac in 10 years - was a mac user until college and AUTOCAD forced me to PCs).
    oskidoc had this to say on May 09, 2006 Posts: 8
    Is Apple Getting Complacent?