A Proud Apple Fan

Alright, I'll be the first to admit this; I'm a fan of Apple and their products. I currently own several (many) Apple products, and I plan to own more in the future, if I'm able. Right now, I have a Macbook (white), an iMac(orange), an iPod Classic (160 gig), an iPod Touch (2nd Gen, 32 gig), an iPhone (3G, 16 gig), and an iPad 2 (white, 64 gig). According to some of my friends and family, it's a bit excessive, but I disagree. Each and every one of my Apple devices gets used at least once a day (with the possible exception of the iMac, I use that less now that I have the Macbook). They each have different uses and I use them all.

No, I'm not one of the blind followers of Steve Jobs who just buys Apple products because he tells me to. I've shopped the market and tried plenty of other devices to find which will suit my needs the best, and Apple has always been the winner in the end. Up until a day ago, I was using an HTC MyTouch 3G with Android 2.2 installed on it. Everybody had told me that Android was the way to go with phones, so I caved and bought one. For the first week, I loved it. It was new and different and I couldn't stop talking about it. But, then all the issues entailed with Android started to get to me. There were too many glitches in the OS that I started to hate it. If I added a new contact to my list, the phone would delete it after about 30 seconds. I was unable to get into my photos folder to send pictures to people. When I wanted to scroll up a message thread, the phone was extremely glitchy and would keep pulling me back down to the bottom of the thread. There are many other problems I had with the phone, but I won't list them all here. So, after 6 months of using that phone, I decided to switch to a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone 3G. I've only been using the phone for a day, but haven't had any of the problems I listed above. That doesn't mean the phone isn't going to have other problems, but so far, it's leaps and bounds above the MyTouch.

I've also shopped the market when it comes to computers. Before I had my Macbook, I was using a Dell Inspiron 6000, and when I got it, I loved it. It ran everything I needed it to run, and it ran it all decently well. The issues I had with it were that it was quite large (15 inch screen) and it weighed quite a bit (almost 5 pounds, which is a lot for a laptop). There was also the issue with how easily it seemed to pick up viruses. It didn't matter what sites I went to, viruses always seemed to find their way onto my hard drive. The biggest issue, however was the fact that after a year and a half, the internal battery charger died on me. The only way I could use the laptop anymore was if I had it plugged into the wall. That's all well and fine for a desktop pc, but for a laptop, that's a huge inconvenience. After 6 months of only being able to use it plugged in, I broke down and bought a Macbook. It cost the same amount as my Dell did when I first bought it, but it ran so much better. I've yet to get a virus on my Mac, and I've been using it for almost 3 years now. Going along with that, I'm still able to get about 3 hours of battery life out of it before I have to plug it in again.

As for mp3 players, I just immediately went with iPods. I knew from playing with my friend's iPods that they were quality. I've still bought things other than iPods. I have an Archos 5 that I use rather frequently, mostly for recording TV, but my iPod Classic and iPod Touch get used more.

As for the iPad 2, I knew that I wanted a tablet, and before having owned an Android phone, I would have considered getting a Motorola Xoom. Sadly, Android has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't think I'll be going back to it. So, I went with an Ipad 2. I have to say, I use that device more than any of my other tech devices now. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. It's perfect for watching video or browsing the internet, which is one of the main things I use it for. I also love many of the apps for it. *cough*Pocket Frogs*cough*

In summation, I know this sounds like I'm just defending an obsession, but in reality, the reason I keep buying Apple products is because I know they are going to be of the highest quality, will last me the longest, and will give me the best user experience of anything else on the market.

My Personal Tech Wishes & The Words Of An Idiot

Alright, it's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog and I feel bad for that. I'm going to be better at it, I promise.

First off, I'd like to direct your attention to an article I found on cnet today that made me laugh. The article is Michael Pachter's thoughts on how well a Wii 2 will do in the market. "But wait," you may say, "Nintendo hasn't even announced plans for a Wii 2 yet. How could someone make predictions about it?" Well, if you asked that, you're thinking exactly what I and all the commentors on the article were thinking. No, Nintendo hasn't said anything that would lead people to think that a Wii 2 is on the way, but that hasn't stopped Mr. Pachter from giving his "professional analysts" opinion on the console. According to Mr. Pachter, the Wii 2 is doomed to fail no matter what the console includes. One of my favorite quotes from his analysis is this: "I just think Nintendo's blown it; I think by the time the launch [their next console] if it's Christmas 2011 it's 2 years too late, and for sure 1 year too late." Does anyone else find the humor in that statement? Is seems that Mr. Pachter can't decide how many years late a Wii 2 would be. If it's for sure 1 year too late, doesn't that mean it can't be 2 years too late. I've always thought that if something was "for sure" that meant it couldn't be anything else, but perhaps I was wrong all this time. If you read the article, be sure to also read the comments on it further down the page. I was glad to see that I wasn't the only person who thought Mr. Pachter was blowing steam hoping to sound intelligent. Predicting the doom of anything before it's been released or announced seems to be the way of Michael Pachter, though as we see in this article, also posted on cnet. Granted, Mr. Pachter isn't saying that the Nintendo 3DS will fail, he's just pointing out that it should be priced higher than it is and that we will see stores struggling all year to keep them on the shelves. To me, that doesn't seem like something Nintendo is going to regret. It may just be me, but I think Nintendo would want their newest handheld system selling so well that it is hard to keep stocked. As long as Nintendo has made enough 3DS units to satisfy the initial demand, I think they're going to enjoy a profitable year. I'd just like to end this section by saying that I look forward to reading more of Mr. Pachter's predictions for the gaming community, if for any reason, for a laugh.

Anyway, the other thing I wanted to talk about was some of my wishes for the tech toys I'd like to have in the future. It's tax filing season, which means that I'll hopefully be getting some extra money from the government in the next month or so. Last year I used my tax return to buy myself a 42" HDTV and I can honestly say that it was quite possibly one of my best purchases ever. I've enjoyed that TV every single day since I got it. Also over the year since I got the TV, I've gotten a PS3 and a Wii as well as a wireless set up for Rock Band. I've also finally entered the world of the smart phone with my T-mobile MyTouch. All in all, it's been a good last year for tech for me.

So, with some more of that government money coming my way, what did I want to buy for myself? The first thing that came to mind was an iPad. (If I hadn't bought a TV with my return last year, I was going to get an iPad with it.) I'd like to get an Xbox 360, but for now, that's not really at the top of my priority list. So, after I decided on getting an iPad, I was faced with several other decisions. Do I buy one of the current gen iPads, or do I wait to see what the iPad 2 is going to offer? If I go with a current gen one, do I buy brand new or refurbished?

I finally decided to wait to see what the iPad 2 is going to offer. I've waited a year to buy an iPad, so what's another couple months? Well, to be honest, with how much I've been wanting to get an iPad, another couple months could prove to be very difficult. Especially if it turns out that the iPad 2 doesn't offer anything that special. But, waiting until it's released will at least (hopefully) lower the cost of the first gen iPads so that I can afford a 64 gig one.

It's been rumored that the iPad 2 is going to have dual cameras, which I would really like, but isn't a tipping point for me. There are also rumors milling about that it will have an SD card slot or a regular USB port. The SD card slot seems more likely to happen than the USB port. Apple has always used their own USB connectors on their portable devices, so why would they stop now? USB would be nice for loading files from your Flash Drive, but you'd be able to do that with an SD card just as easily. If it turns out that the iPad 2 is going to have an SD card slot (regular SD, not micro) I'm probably going to opt for the it instead of the first gen. As a photographer, I'd love to be able to pop my memory cards into my iPad to view them and upload them to Facebook. The reason having cameras isn't going to tip my mind in favor of an iPad 2 is that I have cameras that I could use for taking pictures and a laptop that I use for Skype. Although, it would be entertaining to use the cameras if they included a Photo Booth app. I've always had fun playing around with pictures on Photo Booth, and I can only imagine that it would be easier with a touch screen.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm really going to try to be better at updating this blog.