Minimum Requirements

My First Lieutenant in CT recently brought this site to my attention, thinking it may be of interest. Indeed it is interesting, and I should maybe blog about it. But then just a few lines in I came across the fatal words - 'PC only'. And now I don't want to know.

So rather than blog about for all what I know may well be a ground breaking application, I'll do something else.

I was recently given a Sony EReader. I thought I may be able to use that - to read books and stuff. 'PC only'. I lost interest. It's a bit like not wanting to join a club which would have you as a member. If companies put out these sort of products then they are not talking to me.

As a Mac user I find this frustrating from time to time. I see it as being lazy and sloppy. Yes, I know - it's all about economics and your user base, but I still find it surprising how so many major initiatives and producers can be so short-sighted.

My allegiance to the Mac goes back 20 years now. I trained using traditional manual techniques, and almost missed the boat when it came to switching to digital. I had a lucky break, and despite my fear and ignorance of computers Malcolm Swanston took a chance on me as a freelancer and trained me up to make maps using Illustrator 3 and Freehand 3. Good times. Swanston Publishing did a lot of work for the 'Times Atlas of World History' at that time, and were instrumental in implementing new DTP technology into Cartography. We made some super Historical Atlases there, and my love for Macs was founded.

By this time, despite Apple's troubles, I was a Mac evangelist.

But Swanston Publishing folded, and I soon found myself in a much tougher commercial world. Where using PC's was a requirement. I stumbled around a couple of projects using Maplex and MapInfo, but was never comfortable in that environment. GIS just isn't my bag. Now I'm on my own, and content with that.

So I still use my Mac every day for work. My background and strengths are in graphics and publishing, and that is where my MacPro excels. That a Mac is female there is no doubt. A PC is male, and anything else is Gay/Bi/Trans.

Thinking of my domestic machines, my Performa was a kindly auntie. My Bondi Blue iMac was a mischievous niece. My eMac is a good sister. My G4 is a watchful Grandmother. And my G5 - it's like the daughter I never had.

It's not that I bow down to the altar that is Apple. I have no IPhone. I have no IPad. My IPod is a £30 shuffle. But I adore my Mac. She never fails me.

So that's where I am.

I don't need to know about your C:Drive
I don't need to know about your .exe files
I don't need to know about your right click
I don't need to know about your Norton, McAfee, or how many spams and viruses infect you
And most of all, I don't need or wan't to know about 'PC Only'

Rant over - my girl needs attention