Author: Dustin

Don’t Bite the Apple

This post is going to be a little out of the ordinary for me.  I feel that I have some experience with technology, so I want to share a few points of advice.  You can go to a lot of other places on the web to find more comprehensive “studies” and benchmark tests, but I just want to provide something helpful and simple to understand to our readers.

First off, I am no “fanboy” (A person who goes into an outburst every time something he likes is questioned).  I enjoy technology that is quick, efficient, and of good value: no matter what the brand.  My arsenal of computer technology is wide-spread.  I have a five-year old Dell desktop PC, a Dell netbook, an LG phone, an Apple iPod Touch, and a Nikon digital camera.  All I want to give is a simple opinion from my point of view…

Over the last ten years or so, Apple Computer, Inc. has risen from the dead.  During the 1990’s–with the release of Windows 3.1 (I actually remember that operating system!), Windows 95, and Windows 98–Microsoft captured and ran away with the computer operating system (OS) market.  In the late 90’s, Microsoft released a bug-riddled OS called Windows Millennium Edition, which gave a large segment of computer users a bad taste in their mouth.  At about the same time, a little toy called the iPod began to really show itself popular.  This reintroduced a large segment of people to Apple.  With different innovations for the iPod, people began to really look what else Apple really offered.  In the 2000’s Microsoft introduced Windows XP, which firmly solidified the Microsoft grasp with the average computer user.

However, with the introduction of another bug-riddled OS called Windows Vista in 2007, many users began to look else ware, specifically Apple.  Even after Microsoft fixed most issues through service packs within a few months, people still had a bad taste in their mouth.  Thus began the huge rise of Apple–helped, of course, by the release of the iPhone.

Now, doesn’t all of that make you want to go out and get an Apple instead of a PC?  Let’s think all of this through.  Here is a list of points that Mac users make on why their system is better…and my own explanations of why they are not good arguments.

  • “Mac computers don’t get viruses.”–Ha!  This is simply semantics and common sense!  Right now, Mac has about 8% of the computer market.  Microsoft has about 90% Reference.  Do you really think that malicious people are going to try to make viruses for 9% of the market, or will they focus on the larger piece of the pie?  The virus industry is all about money–stolen identities, advertising, and pop-ups.  They are naturally going to aim most of the time at the bigger market share.  By the way, did you know that cell phones can get viruses?  Guess which phone is the most likely to get one?  The Apple iPhone.  Reference
  • “Mac computers are faster and generally preform better”–A very blanket statement.  You can find several places on the internet that will say either way.  In general, if both have the same hardware or close to it, they will preform about the same. Reference
  • “Macs are simpler to use.”–Just try Windows 7.  That’s all that I have to say.
  • “Macs can run all of the same software that Windows can.”  Yes, this is true, but with a necessary piece of software called an emulator.  In layman’s terms, an emulator is like running 2 computers on one machine.  The performance goes way down.
  • “Macs don’t crash”–Just search on the web for “Mac crashes.”  You will find plenty.
  • “Macs have better exclusive software.”  There is a point to this argument.  I do think that Apple’s Safari internet browser is slightly better than Microsoft Internet Explorer.  I don’t like either of them myself; I prefer Google Chrome or Firefox in a heartbeat.  And if you are talking about a video editor, iMovie from Apple is better than Windows Movie Maker–by a long-shot.  Media players are up in the air: iTunes versus Windows Media Player.  For me, I don’t really like either very much.  iTunes is slow and clunky, where Windows Media Player is disorganized.  Just get Winamp, people–fast and organized (not available on Macs)!  With photo editing and organizing, again, I don’t like iPhoto or Windows Photo Gallery: get Google Picasa!  It runs a circle around Photo Gallery, and multiple circles around iPhoto.

Problems with Macs

  • Compatibility

Not all printers and cameras are Mac compatible.  You always have to look on the label to see if the product you are interested in is compatible–an issue that Windows users rarely have to deal with.  Productivity software for businesses is extremely hard to come by.  Apple is very touchy about their software coding and who has the right to make software for them.  For example, those of you with iPod Touches or iPhones, try to view a website that has Adobe Flash (about 70 percent of all websites).  Apple will not let Adobe produce Flash for their products.  Why?  Again, they are very touchy about letting people make things for their Operating Systems.  Macs are also not compatible with some of the newest Intel and AMD technology when it comes to fast and mobile processors.  The same goes with network devices.

  • Hardware Customization

This is a big issue for me.  It is very hard to upgrade aspects of your Mac hardware, like a video card.  With a PC, all you have to do is pop out the old one, install the drivers, and you are good to go.  If it is possible with certain Macs, you have to buy one of only a few choices that are way overpriced from their Windows counterparts, and usually don’t preform as well.  It’s the same thing with adding extra memory, hard drives, and optical drives.

  • PRICE!

For less money than a MacBook Pro ($1699.99), you can buy a Dell Studio ($749.99) with the same or better hardware specifications and overall performance.  That’s about double the price!  All for the Apple name and “coolness” factor, basically.

Conclusion

A friend of mine said this very well (not an exact quote): “Macs are oversimplified computers–watered down so art students and sorority girls from public colleges don’t have to know how to do anything. The premium you pay for the Mac is making up for your general lack of technological knowledge.”  If I had to buy a computer today, which I don’t, I would probably build my own anyway–Windows based.  Now there is the whole argument about Linux, which is another story.  That OS just seems like a big pain to deal with.  Also, Google is supposed to be coming out with its own OS later this year, which I am somewhat interested in for our netbook–mainly due to my like of the Google Chrome browser.  Plus, it’s free!

The bottom line is research all of this stuff out for yourself before you buy any computer: PC or Mac.  Do what fits your needs most.  Don’t just follow trends or the looks of a computer!  I guess that Macs look a little bit neat, but so do some PC’s.  Find the best overall value.  And believe me, you won’t always get what you pay for.

Updates in the Speckhals World

Well, we hope that everyone had a “Right” and Merry Christmas this year!  We have been pretty occupied as of late due to family visiting and things going on at church–therefore the lack of posts and updates lately!  I think that Andrea is going post about her family’s visit tomorrow, then I have a few things on my mind as well.  The top of my list, though is changing our Be Instant banner and color scheme you see to something more…season appropriate.  But until then, I simply wanted to say that, contrary to popular belief, we are still alive and well, and have not stopped posting because of religious convictions due to converting to the Pennsylvania Amish!  We’re still the same here!  Actually, we got a new Nikon L100 camera as a gift this year, and we’re really looking forward to using it a lot, and posting some good pictures.

Our church’s Christmas program went very well, with lots of visitors, including our landlord and his wife, and a lady we met while going door-to-door a couple of months ago.  Praise the Lord!

Have a happy New Year!

A Vacation Worth Waiting For

This is where Andrea and I will be in just…45 days now.  You say, how can a newly married couple in this recession economy end up on a tropical vacation?  Good question!  This was supposed to be our honeymoon spot.  Almost a year ago, I booked flights and paid for bed and breakfast accommodations: I think it was supposed to be from May 25-June 2.  Three weeks before our wedding, though, a little predicament came in our way called Swine Flu.  I know, I know, it ended up being a big scare over nothing; but it was a big deal back then, if you can remember.  We took some counsel over the whole thing, and instead of taking chances during our honeymoon, we decided to stay in Chicago for the week or so after our wedding.  It ended up being perfect, and better than we could have ever expected…especially after what we get now!  Two airline tickets and accommodations that I already paid for a year ago!

Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico is where our vacation will take us.  This old pueblo in the Yucatan Peninsula has about 10,000 people in it, the majority of which still have indigenous Mayan roots.  I originally picked Tulum because of its tropical climate, beautiful scenery, very reasonable prices, and overall quiet feel (from what I have read on the internet).  Our “casita” is about six miles north of Tulum itself on the coastal road, just 150 feet from the Caribbean Sea!  It looks incredible!  We are also staying 4 nights in a little “posada” (inn) in the pueblo of Tulum itself–the real Mexico, as Andrea would say.  We plan on eating a lot of Mexican food (I trust my wife to find the places that are sanitary/healthy!), seeing a lot of neat things,  and enjoying the Mayan Riviera winter (85 degrees, and no rain).

Some attractions we want to see are the Mayan ruins of Tulum (in the picture above), Chichen-itza (one of the seven wonders of the world), cenotes (giant sinkholes of freshwater that are popular to swim in), and the jungle itself–which is practically everywhere that the ocean isn’t.  We are so spoiled to be able to go on this trip!  We certainly don’t deserve it!

Pastor Chris will be picking us up to take us to the Baltimore/Washington Airport at 3:15am–a little payback, I say, for us having to do the same thing for him and his wife a couple of months ago!  Our flight leaves at 5:45am,  and after a short layover in Houston, we fly to Cancun, arrive at 11:15am, and drive 2 hours south to Tulum.  And I had better stop now–I don’t want to tell the story before we get there!  Our hotels have internet, so I bet we will post at least once from Mexico.

Our casita on the Caribbean

A Right Christmas

This past Sunday morning, our pastor, Randy Starr, preached a eye-opening and interesting message about the Christmas season.  Most of us have heard the song I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas that was made famous by Bing Crosby.  Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with the song or the notion of having a white Christmas, but so often we can get the whole point of Christmas all mixed up.  We have a dream of this picture perfect holiday with a cheery family, plenty of brightly wrapped gifts, the annual Christmas concert, lots of feasting, and of course: snow.  Generally, that is the attitude that even most Christians have about the season.  It’s the “White Christmas” mentality.

But in Pastor’s message, he went through several points of the Christmas story that we all know, and showed us how we can even get caught up with the good Christian celebrations of Christ’s coming, and forget about our relationship with Christ.  Why do we have a dream of a “White Christmas” instead of a “Right Christmas?”  Before all of the joyous festivities with our friends and family, why not make sure we are right with that baby that–don’t forget this–grew up to be a man who died on the cross for our sins.  Jesus was not born so we can celebrate Christmas.  Jesus was born because of God’s love for us.  He came to die on the cross for us.  He came to raise himself up from the tomb.  He came to save us.

The first thing we must have in order to have a right Christmas is a true relationship with God.  This relationship is impossible without a certain time in our lives when we were born again–a time when we realized we were a sinner, repented of our sin, and accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation.  John 3:7 says, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”  It has nothing to do with our works–whether it be communion, baptism, tithing, church attendance, or good deeds (Titus 3:5-Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;).  It has everything to do with being born again.  Without being born again, it is impossible to have a relationship with God.  It is impossible to have a right Christmas.

For us that have been born again and become a Christian, we still can lose the whole thought of having a right Christmas.  We get focused on how this person is going to like the gift I got them, or whether a certain family member is going to visit or not, or whether there is going to be snow on the ground on December 25th.  We judge how well our Christmas season went by those material things.  If any of our “White Christmas” dreams don’t come true, we hang our head low and depress ourselves.  If everything happens just how we think it should go, then we walk around everywhere with a huge fake smile on our face.

However, the real question, before any of the “White Christmas” dreams, is rather, are we having a right Christmas.  Are we right with God?  If we have sin that we are trying to hide from Him, then we are not right.  If we are holding a grudge or ill will against anyone, we are not right.  Any sin that sits between us and God guarantees us of not having a right Christmas.  This Christmas season, try to dream of having a perfect relationship with God, rather than having a “White Christmas.”  It would be so much better of a day on December 25th if we were truly right with our Savior–even more so than a foot of snow, a beautiful tree, lots of presents, lots of family, and lots of food.  This Christmas, instead of saying, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…”, say, “I’m happy with a right Christmas.”  After we can do that, I believe God will give us a lot of those other things too.