Over a Candle

We own an iPad.

More specifically, Ronni owns an iPad. And she has much more self-control (or perhaps different weird quirks) than I do.

See, the original plan was that I would buy one, let her play with it, and if she liked it, I would give her that one and buy a 3G version when it comes out at the end of the month.

Apparently, I talked her into wanting one so much that she didn’t feel the need to play with one first. She just wanted it. So she went ahead and bought it.

And because she didn’t have a screen protector yet, she has left it in the box. I want to play with it! But I also don’t want to mess up her iPad, so I haven’t pestered her to take it out to let me play with it (much).

It’s just sitting there, in a box, waiting for a screen protector! AAAAUUGH!!!

But I can wait. She wanted to get one in time for her trip to NYC next week, and I thought it was a good idea. I’m not sure I really want to spend the extra $130 for the 3G version. I’m not sure how often I would use that capacity. But I can think of at least one instance (when I’m visiting Ohio and don’t have easy access to wireless). So I’m think I should wait until the end of the month. *sigh*

And I hope Ronni takes it out of the box before I go completely crazy.

This is post is not being written on an iPad.

But it was a near thing. After dinner with friends tonight, I dragged Ronni to our local Best Buy to see if they had any in stock. It was an impulse. Not something I had planned on doing. If I had planned it, I would have gone earlier in the day.

I played around with one of the demos for five or ten minutes. And I really liked it. It was smaller than I imagined, and maybe a tad heavier than I expected. Still, viewing web pages was a much nicer experience than on the iPod Touch (where I have to do much panning and scaling, and it’s still nicer than on my old Palm Centro). Text entry on the keyboard was a little easier than on the iPod Touch, too, though I’ve gotten good at thumbing the iPod and that skill is useless on the bigger iPad.

In short, within five minutes, I knew I wanted one. I don’t know that I need one, but I definitely want one.

My impulse-buy mode in full gear, I asked the salesperson if she had them in stock. She had to check. They had both the 16 GB and the 32 GB in stock, but they were out of the 64 GB. I toyed with the idea of picking up the 32 GB model for a minute, and realized that I didn’t need one today, and I would rather wait for the 64 GB model.

So I’m typing this post on my laptop. And I imagine my laptop will still be my primary computer for the foreseeable future. But now I know that an iPad is in my immediate future.

I just received a text message that appeared to come from my bank, telling me that my account had been frozen and giving me a number to call.

The message looked like all the SPAM phishing emails I’ve received over the years, but the fact that it came from a bank I do have an account with, and thus a bank which might actually have my phone number to text me, I was a little concerned. Instead of calling the number in the text message, I called my local branch. The woman informed me that all looked well with my account.

Given the text donations to Haiti that seem to be widespread the last 24 hours or so, people may find this particular scam more plausible than they would in other situations. Be aware that this is a scam. Check with your bank’s local branch (not the number in a text message) and report the fraud.

Stay safe.

It seems lately that every time I come to New York there is a new Apple store to visit. Thankfully the latest is within walking distance: Broadway and 67th Street.

I enjoy these treks to my own personal holy shrines, but the temptations are great. I’m writing this post on my 32 GB iPod Touch, and at the same time, I’m salivating over the 64 GB model. I’m also looking at $100+ earphones and a Time Capsule (combination wireless router and back-up harddrive). Of course, I’m trying not to spend any money at all, so temptation is a bad thing.

One nice thing about all the Apple store in the City now… Two days before Christmas and we’re hardly fighting any crowds in this store.

It’s nice to have all these options for purchasing Apple products. Unfortunately, it’s incompatible with my new frugality.

Every now and then, something happens that sends a message.

I have been thinking about getting a new MacBook since Christmas time, when Ronni got herself a new one in New York. I was hesitant though. I wanted to save money for my sabbatical and for Ireland. Then I delayed my sabbatical. But I still thought I should wait on a new laptop. After all, while mine was showing its age, taking a long time to start up and crashing in odd ways occasionally, it was still very functional. I figured I might get a new one after we got back from Ireland, but I could wait until then.

A few nights ago, I left my laptop open while I went to brush my teeth. When I got back, I noticed the “n” key had been removed. Ronni was obviously innocent. And I didn’t do it. Which left only three suspects. My best guess is that the boys were wrestling around and someone got their claw under the key and pried it up.

That’s what I think happened anyway.

So Sunday night I ordered my new MacBook. It arrived today. It’s all very pretty and shiny. A backlit keyboard. Lots of harddrive space. Lots of memory and a faster processor. I used the Migration Assistant to transfer stuff from old laptop. And I’m trying to figure out where about 30 GB of stuff is, and whether I can delete it. But even if I can’t find it (lots of stuff in the library, I think), it’s nice to have more room.

I think, with this computer, I’m finally going to make my laptop my main computer, instead of running a desktop, too. I don’t really need the desktop. I’ll just run everything from this new machine. I’m not sure how it will be to only really use one computer, but I think I’ll adjust.

Now I have visited all three Apple stores in New York City:

Why New York gets three while Moorhead has none is… well, okay, it’s painfully obvious why, but that doesn’t mean I can’t lament the fact.

The 5th Avenue Apple store is located underground below a large glass enclosure at street level. Sunlight can still stream down through the glass enclosure into the store below. (Behind me, in the photo above, is the glass stairwell leading down into the store.) It is packed as I sit here, trying desperately not to buy anything (I’ve picked up a universal dock for iPods, a new power charger, I’ve looked at an iPod touch and external hard drives… basically, I’m going nuts)…

So now I’ve made the rounds to all three stores… SoHo might still be my favorite, maybe because it was my first, but both the West 14th and the 5th Avenue stores are fun to explore.

Ah well… back to other things now…

I was worried about my less than complete enthusiastic response to Steve Jobs’ keynote address Tuesday. So I swiped this quiz from Thane.

78%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

I feel a little better now. (And to be clear, I am still intrigued by the new announcements. I’m just not desperate to have one, the way I sometimes am.)

Apple’s big product announcement was today. I knew I had forgotten something. (That’s what I get for actually doing work at work.)

The big product? The thinnest laptop ever… The MacBook Air

I have to admit, the little I’ve seen, it looks very pretty. And I’m pretty impressed with it. There are a few things that I’m a little hung up on, though.

In the write-up, it looks as though there’s a USB 2.0 port, and a port to connect an external monitor. That looks to be it. The lack of firewire bothers me. As does the lack of ethernet (though I admit that’s not as important to me as it used to be). Further, there is no optical drive. You can either attach a superdrive using the USB port, or wirelessly hook into another computer’s drive. That’s kind of nifty, but it means I would have to have a second computer. In recent years, that’s not been a problem. But I don’t like the idea of having to rely on another computer’s drive.

I like the idea of the computer, and I like the way it looks. But it isn’t so impressive that I feel like I MUST have it. I might pick one up the next time I need a computer, but it isn’t making me feel like I need a computer right now.

In a way, I’m almost more interested in Time Capsule, an airport base station and external hard drive all in one. That might provide a really good solution for backing up and providing more storage at those times I need it.

I’m worried I might be growing up, or something. I don’t seem to feel the need to have the latest toys as much anymore. Hmmm… Seems odd.

Ronni’s mom (who I have recently succeeded in converting to the Mac platform) wanted to come to the new Apple Store in Manhattan on 14th Street. So against our better judgments, we took the subway downtown on the day after Christmas. (I needed to buy a new battery anyway.)

Since she was with me, I actually got to have some pictures taken of myself blogging and being a general geek at my own personal holy site. As soon as we get back to their apartment, I’ll be uploading a couple of pictures.

But I had to blog, on my own computer, from the new Apple Store. Just thought I’d share with you all.

Finally… Here are some photos. First, me blogging…

See? Isn’t blogging exciting? But then we realized that I could be sitting in any random place (I mean, it wasn’t like it was actual proof or anything). That is, unless you knew what the corner of 14th St. and 9th Ave. looks like.

So we staged another shot inside the store.

Again, not exactly an action shot. But at least a recognizable Apple Store feature.

Okay, that’s more images of me on my blog than I ever wanted, and than you all wanted. I think I’ll quit while I’m behind.

Okay, I think I’m finally done. I’ve changed all the operating systems on our computers to Leopard. The longest delay was reformatting the external hard drive. That took a little while (the better part of many hours). All of which was slowed down by the fact that I thought I had bought a firewire drive and it turned out to be a USB drive. Grrr…

Then I had to make a back up of my laptop so I could do a clean install, and that took more time. But I got the laptop up and running yesterday evening. Today was Ronni’s laptop and my desktop. Both computers got the archive and install treatment instead of a clean install. It was just easier, and both computers are used rather lightly, so I didn’t feel the need for a clean sweep.

The system looks nice. Most of the changes I’ve noticed are subtle, but pleasant. Until I play with it more, I won’t be able to comment much. I’m just glad the process is finished with no hitches. *knocks on wood*

And… oh look… the weekend is over… *sigh*