Saturday, 16 October 2004

 

Greg Hughes says :   22:18:30
i went to the apple store tonight

Eric Rice says :         22:18:34
yeah?

Eric Rice says :         22:18:40
felt good, didnt it?

Greg Hughes says :   22:18:41
the prices are fixed?

Eric Rice says :         22:18:44
yup

Greg Hughes says :   22:18:48
hahahha yeah they are nice machines

Eric Rice says :         22:18:56
you touched them too

Eric Rice says :         22:19:00
in a naughty way i bet

Greg Hughes says :   22:19:04
i thought i would not like the new imac g5 but really they are pretty nice

Eric Rice says :         22:19:06
'wow this is sleek'

Greg Hughes says :   22:19:10
LOL

Eric Rice says :         22:19:13
YOU DID

Eric Rice says :         22:19:14
hahahaha

It must be the Devil. It has to be. It's the only reasonable explanation I can think of.

I confess: I've been seriously considering buying an Apple computer for a few weeks now - Probably a PowerBook G4, if I ever actually get to the point where I break down and make the switch.

Why? Well, there are certain things the Mac does very well, and certain pieces of software that are available only on that platform. Software that I want and need. Well-made software that just works. Hardware that fits together well.

At GnomeDex there were a gazillion PowerBooks around. Eric Rice uses one and I got to see it in action. I got jealous quickly. It was really quite pathetic.

So - If someone can help me find a good Windows-based alternative, for example, to GarageBand on the Mac, I'm all ears. I mean, If I can keep from spending money on a whole new computer just to solve a few "problems," that's more than fine with me.

But dude, Apple has this way of making things that just work.

If I really need to, I know I could run Windows XP on the Mac inside of MS VirtualPC. Nothing is impossible. But hey - why can't I run Mac OS X on a PC in a virtual machine? Anyone? Seems kinda one-sided, or maybe it can be done I and I just don't know it... Time to look for PPC/Mac emulators that run on Windows?

But it's not just the software. Don't tell anyone, but I spent most of this evening at CompUSA in the Mac section, and then over at the Apple Store at the mall. Their hardware is very well done. I even like the new iMac G5, very cool.

I must be going insane. Apple??? Either that, or maybe I'm actually having a breakthrough and coming back to reality.

I wish I could tell which it is.



Add/Read: Comments [16]
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Saturday, 16 October 2004 22:15:06 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
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Saturday, 16 October 2004 23:20:04 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
There was a hoax recently regarding something called CherryOS which purported to run MacOS X on a PC... nope.

You can run it on your Xbox though. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~ranma1/mac_install.html

I "switched" about two years ago. A month or so ago I ditched my last PC and got an eMac to go with my PowerBook G4. I'm never going back... you get what you pay for.
Saturday, 16 October 2004 23:30:02 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
I was in an Apple store myself today. They are sexy indeed!

If they come out with a Tablet I just might switch myself!

What you trying to do with Garage Band?
Sunday, 17 October 2004 01:49:50 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Macs are for Grandmas and Newbies! BEWARE! Besides, they slow, ugly and incompatable and unupgradeable. Prove me wrong if you like, because I already know I am, Thats just what it says in my dictionary if you look under Mac n' crap.
Dave
Sunday, 17 October 2004 02:56:06 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Well, there is a couple of PPC emulators:Pear PC and the so-called Cherry OS.

Pear PC at this point is a real proof-of-concept thing. It works, but at about 2 percent of processor speed.

Cherry OS is something that claims to run just as fast as the real thing. Problem is, its actual existence is something of an open question.

Google for both'um, you should find 'um.

But better you should buy a Mac. Elegant software that viruses wont beat up on. You'll be glad you did. I've owned a PowerMac G4 for a about a year and a half now, plugs away like a champ, and I use apps like Photoshop, QuarkXPress, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver...sometimes all at once. You will not regret it.

Sam Klein
Sunday, 17 October 2004 07:18:37 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Robert -- Yes, I was thinking the same thing when I was looking at the PowerBooks: Where's the pen??? That's one reason I would not be able to truly "switch" just yet. I use the pen and coverted-slate mode too much on the Tablet to drop that functionality.

I want to use GarageBand for a few things - specifically audio mixing of music at home (real guitar, some mic'ed voice, fake drums, etc) and spoken word voice mixing for - you guessed it - podcasting. Argh I hate that term! :)

I'll probably be back in there (Apple store) later today. I wonder if there's a G5 PowerBook on the horizon?
Sunday, 17 October 2004 08:01:51 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
The forces of Light are making inroads against the powers of Darkness, eh?

Here are my opinions re: your questions, Greg:

No PB G5. Maybe a dual core G4.

Jobs has an antipathy to the tablet form, which is too bad - all the technologies are there, including handwriting recognition. It "merely" requires a will to make a tablet that is as stylin' as the rest of the product line.

And I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Sunday, 17 October 2004 09:25:33 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
The best decision I ever made was to buy an Apple product.

The only thing lacking (that I can fix with some $$) is the fact that 256 MB of ram just isn't cutting it - so upgrade your ram if you spring for the iMac...and man, are they sexy machines.

And, if you don't like the term podcasting, use the term syndicasting! ;-D
Sunday, 17 October 2004 10:47:06 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
For Windows audio work you need look no further than Sonic Foundry/SONY's Sound Forge. Sound Forge does everything you could ever want. If your not truly making music you can probably get away with the much, much cheaper Sound Forge Studio.
Their ACID products let you work with multitrack files and then mix them down.
Peter
Monday, 18 October 2004 10:06:24 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
iLife '04 w/ GarageBand: $50
SoundForge Full: $399
SoundForge Audio Studio: $69
Acid Pro: $399
Acid Music Studio: $69
Acid Xpress: FREE

Acid Xpress gives you 10 tracks which is a good start. To overcome it is easy: merge existing tracks to conserve space. It's doubtful a band will have more than a guitar track, bass track, and drum track. Even if you were to include 2 guitars, extra drum stuff, you could still merge up to 10 tracks into one.

I got a great deal on Acid from musiciansfriend.com right when Sony bought it from SonicFoundry. I got SoundForge 6 XP (basically SoundForge Audio Studio) and Acid Pro 4.0 with 6 acid loops CDs ($30 each) for around $150. There is no difference in my version of Acid and the one currently out. My version even updates with the updated exes from Sony. It was one of the best deals I ever got for anything and I have yet to actually sit down and use the product.

There were a couple of musicians I knew that used Macs in their recording. Trent Reznor of NiN was one I believe, and the Dust Brothers were another. Macs are great for music or video editing but I don't see much other use of them. My girlfriend owns an older PowerBook and while I think OSX is cool, I don't see any use I could get out of it. There are very few games ported to the Mac in comparison (though they are getting better) and the proprietary hardware turns me off majorly. Trying to upgrade a Mac to have a better sound card for music editing would be a complete pain unless you could get one customized for just that. That'd probably jack the price up to way more than I ever want to pay for a computer (again). I like the fact that I can build a decent PC for under $300. Can't do that with a Mac on any day of the week.

Then again I'm content using my gf's PowerBook whenever I can. I wouldn't ever see the need to buy one for myself, especially since it costs more than my slightly pimped out Dell which I think I paid too much for already.
Monday, 18 October 2004 15:12:00 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
You're not alone, Greg. I'm definitely going to buy a Mac in the near future, and I'm currently trying to decide between the iMac and the entry level PowerBook. The iMac is probably a more practical choice for my needs, but when did practicality come into computer shopping? ;)

As Jared can attest to, going with me to The Apple Store is definitely an event. I want everything, but don't buy anything - except my iPod. That's going to change soon.

Monday, 18 October 2004 19:35:58 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Hey guys I have an old 486 with win 95 on it if you like, you can have it for free instead of spending so much on a mac with basicly the same specs and os.
Dave
Monday, 18 October 2004 19:38:20 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
LOL with Dave
Tim
Wednesday, 20 October 2004 09:49:10 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Try Adobe Audition for the PC....
Thursday, 21 October 2004 21:46:13 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Couple of corrections. First Garageband is included on all new Macs. So the price = $0.

Second, the iBook is ripe for Tablet-ing. Especially since they have Inkwell which I believe is the software technology that gets it right. But. We. Need. A. Screen. Please.

Audition by Adobe used to be CoolEdit PRO and it is tres chic. Very very powerful. Of course, you could use Audacity for plain jane recording. At the end of the day, nothing beats what comes with Garageband.
Monday, 03 January 2005 23:46:37 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0412expo2.html

$500 Apple...an impulse buy?
Wednesday, 05 April 2006 06:40:47 (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Buy a PC, seriously! You wont need to get used to that odd apple logic and best still there are hundreds of fantastic audio apps out there. Now I've done a bit of sound engineering in my time and I have to say I've never come accross garage band. Someone mentioned Soundforge which is great for wave editing but little else. You might try cool edit pro for multi tracking although you'll find that you cant apply effects over channels so really you should be using Cubase SX or the best app in the world - Pro Tools (by digidesign). Pro Tools is used in every major studio accross the world, pro tools rigs vary in price (depending on the hardware you pick to go with it), but the most cost effective way would be to buy an M-box with pro tools bundled with it. The M-box will act as a pre-amp and will give you a few ins and outs. Hope that helped, Tom :)
Tom
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