Also known as “Why all my money has gone to Apple recently.”

A couple months ago I got a free laptop from work. It was a little old, run down and bulky, but hey it was free, and I was in need. I already had a desktop at the house that I really didn’t use all that much b/c it was crippled by Windows Vistas. When they offered me the free one I jumped at the chance to have a mobile PC again, and better yet one with XP loaded.

However here we are months down the road, and the once great laptop, is now a 7lb paperweight sitting on my hearth at the house. As some of you may have read, mid edit of 3SMOV Radio Episode 9… it died. Got the ol’ “Blue Screen of Death” and shut down. Now I have been dealing with PCs most of my life and am pretty used to getting such an error. I didn’t think much of it really and restarted the computer. Much to my dismay, it still didn’t come back on. Several more attempts and nothing. Much like trying to give CPR to an already dead pet, I was just making myself more upset each time it failed to come back to life. Though this is more like a pet that you didn’t really raise all it’s life, kinda like one a neighbor let you have after they moved, and it always chewed on your shoes, and shit in the bed. I was kinda pissed that it died the way it did, but I honestly can’t say it will be missed all that much.

My first thought was to replace the HDD and just make it work. Then I started to do research, for a couple hundred dollars I could get it up and running again, but really, for how long. Why should I pump money into a piece of machinery that I never really cared about or paid for in the first place. It will just turn around and crap on the floor again no matter how many times I rub it’s face in it. So that was when I came to the realization that, I’m Done! No more PCs for me, and yes I will site examples of why.

My wife has been working in the school system for about seven years. The past four she has worked in a particular section of the state that gives each teacher a MacBook to use. She has had the same MacBook that entire time. She has never had an issue with it. Never a virus, never had anything crap out on her with it. The only problem that she has had recently is that the battery doesn’t hold a charge anymore. The only reason she hasn’t replaced it, is because the school won’t do it. They are too cheap, and we ARE in a recession.

Meanwhile since she got that computer I have gone through two different PCs. CONSTANTLY updating it with random dumbass updates from Windows. Not to mention the ridiculous hassle that is Vistas. Nothing says forward thinking like releasing an OS only to totally leave it behind and abandon it two years later.

Also I don’t need 200+ programs preloaded on my PC that I will NEVER USE. Most of which are memory hogs and drag my PC into the dirt every time I turn it on. I don’t consider myself an Apple fanatic, but I have definitely been converted to the Apple way of thinking and business ethics.

I am not under the delusion that Apple is the greatest company on the planet and has a “People First” mantra. Anyone that does think that, needs only to look at the fact that they release a new version of the iPod and iPhone about twice a year. . . Speaking of which . . .

Sweet New Toy

I just put in my pre-order for the new version of the iPhone 3GS. I have been using my iPod Touch over the past nine months religiously. Twitter, Facebook, 50+ apps, Safari, you name it, I use it. I love that little thing. Being that my Verizon Wireless account is up for renewal shortly, I took another leap. I hate to leave VZW because their coverage really is second to none. However their customer service and their phones, UI, pricing, and pretty much everything else is just simply the pits.

I have also been a LONG TIME user of Verizon. Put it this way, I was with them before they were even Verizon. Back in the days when they were still GTEmobile. They have always been a thorn in my side that I have just ignored for years. I am not really sure what pushed me over the edge with them to make me finally switch. Maybe it’s the fact that for the wife and I, we pay around $115 for just our two cellphones and the service to go along with them. We have a 700 min contract and NEVER get close to it, but will they let us take it down, or give us a price break, hell no. Switching to AT&T, I will be on a 550 min plan (with roll over) the data plan for my iPhone ($30, something i never had with VZW for $40) and the extra line for my wife with 200 txt mgs for her. Grand total with the extra line, data plan, and all the extras we still end up saving $5 over Verizon.

A prime example of how Verizon’s customer service sucks: I talked to a CSR for about 20 mins on Wednesday about TERMINATING my contract with them. I asked about the termination fee, when I could actually do it without penalty, all that. Then at the end of the conversation, she has the balls to ask me “What can I help you purchase today?” Lady, are you fucking kidding me? Why after the conversation we just had would you EVER think that I would like to buy something from you? Seriously?!??! Had she actually tried to save me as a customer I might have thought about it. The issue is that Verizon has gotten so big that it has “forgotten where they came from” so to speak. They don’t care about the people that helped them get to where they are now. Make money and screw over those that you trampled under foot to get to the top.

Sweet New Toy 2!

So now that I have placed my order for my new MacBook Pro, I will sit back and wait for the sweet, sweet goodness to roll in. If I played my cards right I should be getting my lappy and my iPhone around the same day. If that is true listen close the rest of the week and you might hear me scream out in a childishly, girlie squeal at their un-boxing. Granted there will be an adjustment phase that I will have to go through coming from an almost strictly PC only basis. However given the track record of Apple computers lasting as long as they do and rarely giving people the hassle that a PC does, I think it will be worth it. Can’t wait to start posting and editing and everything else from my new Mac!