Hi, I'm Jon Gilbert, and this is MacCritic. This new blog is where I vent my spleen regarding everything Macintosh and Apple.
The purpose of MacCritic is not just to bitch about "whatever I feel like, Gosh!" More, it is because I love the Mac, have been a Mac user since 1984, and want Apple to do justice to its past as well as its future by making future versions of the MacOS and related apps as "Mac-like" as possible.
I feel that too much lately, Apple and its new engineers have succumbed overly to pressure from the Windows world in their interface and applications design. Of course, this is inevitable and unavoidable, and in some cases it's perfectly OK. I hope to suggest where it could be done better, however.
Lastly, I won't just limit my critiques to Apple and its software and hardware. I will also critique various third-party applications and products, everything from small freeware widgets to UNIX things you can install to major suites from Adobe and Microsoft.
In order to increase the visibility of this blog I hope to cross-post some of these blog entries, or aspects of them, on various newsgroups and BBSs out there. If you have found this site as a result of such a post, please understand that the only reason I'm cross-posting like that is to increase the likelihood that my comments might be read by someone who hopefully works at Apple or one of these major companies, who hopefully can make a difference or at least pass these ideas on to someone who can make a difference.
I just want the Mac to be the best it can! If you see an idea here, I generally have checked already to see if anyone else has suggested it, and only posted it if I could not find it anywhere else.
- Jon Gilbert
- Portland, OR
- Oct. 27, 2005
PS -- A little about myself: in order that you can better see where my critiques are coming from, here are some facts about me. I'm 28, and have been using Macs a lot since I was 6. I've never been a programmer of Macs, although I took a class on it in college and did a little Java.
These are the Macs I own:
* Original 128k Mac that was upgraded to a 1MB Mac Plus. Disk drive doesn't work. Currently in storage, inside an original Apple-brand carrying case that holds Mac, keyboard, power cord, mouse, and external floppy drive.
* Mac SE/30 32/160 with Apple Extended Keyboard II, Kensington SystemSaver, and a SCSI-to-ethernet adapter. This is my gem, my baby, my pride and joy. She runs smooth, and I still use her to write. Notable software she runs: WriteNow 3.0, MS Word 4 and 5.1a; System 5.5, 6.0.5, and 7.1; Armor Alley 1.1, PlayMaker Football 1.0, and World Builder 1.0; and VideoWorks II, MacPaint 1.0 and 2.0. She needs a motherboard battery though.
* PowerBook 165 (more on this later). Battery doesn't work.
* Mac LC 575 (more on this later). Works; is on my desk in Austin.
* Original Bondi-Blue iMac. Works; is our house computer for roommates who lack a computer. Runs 10.3.
* PowerBook G4 550 "Besty": second generation titanium. Battery doesn't work; screen flickers weird after bootup until I massage the back of it in a particular spot; trackpad periodically stops working; spacebar often doesn't work. Purchased in 2001, Besty has been to NYC, Rome, Austin, San Antonio, and Portland. She's on her second motherboard and keyboard, there having been a meltdown when I was in Rome that required Apple to replace a partially-melted keyboard and motherboard (she still worked but you could not remove the keyboard). Also I had to reformat the hard drive one time after the OS became corrupted and I could not fix it no matter what I did. She's now running the latest 10.4.x, and I primarily use her to record my band, The Craters, using a MOTU-828, and edit my documentary, using a Canon GL-2.
* 17" iMac G5 1.8 GHz. Use for general online use, but primarily for the Photoshop work that I do for expedia.com as a subcontractor for Concierge360.
The purpose of MacCritic is not just to bitch about "whatever I feel like, Gosh!" More, it is because I love the Mac, have been a Mac user since 1984, and want Apple to do justice to its past as well as its future by making future versions of the MacOS and related apps as "Mac-like" as possible.
I feel that too much lately, Apple and its new engineers have succumbed overly to pressure from the Windows world in their interface and applications design. Of course, this is inevitable and unavoidable, and in some cases it's perfectly OK. I hope to suggest where it could be done better, however.
Lastly, I won't just limit my critiques to Apple and its software and hardware. I will also critique various third-party applications and products, everything from small freeware widgets to UNIX things you can install to major suites from Adobe and Microsoft.
In order to increase the visibility of this blog I hope to cross-post some of these blog entries, or aspects of them, on various newsgroups and BBSs out there. If you have found this site as a result of such a post, please understand that the only reason I'm cross-posting like that is to increase the likelihood that my comments might be read by someone who hopefully works at Apple or one of these major companies, who hopefully can make a difference or at least pass these ideas on to someone who can make a difference.
I just want the Mac to be the best it can! If you see an idea here, I generally have checked already to see if anyone else has suggested it, and only posted it if I could not find it anywhere else.
- Jon Gilbert
- Portland, OR
- Oct. 27, 2005
PS -- A little about myself: in order that you can better see where my critiques are coming from, here are some facts about me. I'm 28, and have been using Macs a lot since I was 6. I've never been a programmer of Macs, although I took a class on it in college and did a little Java.
These are the Macs I own:
* Original 128k Mac that was upgraded to a 1MB Mac Plus. Disk drive doesn't work. Currently in storage, inside an original Apple-brand carrying case that holds Mac, keyboard, power cord, mouse, and external floppy drive.
* Mac SE/30 32/160 with Apple Extended Keyboard II, Kensington SystemSaver, and a SCSI-to-ethernet adapter. This is my gem, my baby, my pride and joy. She runs smooth, and I still use her to write. Notable software she runs: WriteNow 3.0, MS Word 4 and 5.1a; System 5.5, 6.0.5, and 7.1; Armor Alley 1.1, PlayMaker Football 1.0, and World Builder 1.0; and VideoWorks II, MacPaint 1.0 and 2.0. She needs a motherboard battery though.
* PowerBook 165 (more on this later). Battery doesn't work.
* Mac LC 575 (more on this later). Works; is on my desk in Austin.
* Original Bondi-Blue iMac. Works; is our house computer for roommates who lack a computer. Runs 10.3.
* PowerBook G4 550 "Besty": second generation titanium. Battery doesn't work; screen flickers weird after bootup until I massage the back of it in a particular spot; trackpad periodically stops working; spacebar often doesn't work. Purchased in 2001, Besty has been to NYC, Rome, Austin, San Antonio, and Portland. She's on her second motherboard and keyboard, there having been a meltdown when I was in Rome that required Apple to replace a partially-melted keyboard and motherboard (she still worked but you could not remove the keyboard). Also I had to reformat the hard drive one time after the OS became corrupted and I could not fix it no matter what I did. She's now running the latest 10.4.x, and I primarily use her to record my band, The Craters, using a MOTU-828, and edit my documentary, using a Canon GL-2.
* 17" iMac G5 1.8 GHz. Use for general online use, but primarily for the Photoshop work that I do for expedia.com as a subcontractor for Concierge360.
posted by J. S. Gilbert | 12:20 PM
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