Mac on the Road
Light… But a Lightweight
I gave my new MacBook Air the “acid test” the past few days by taking it to Maui. Fortunately this was only a “one nighter”. There were numerous times that I was longing for my Sony Vaio. One was when trying to work with Excel. The Apple version just doesn’t work as well. Then came Internet connecting. Although I bought an Apple ethernet converter, it wouldn’t work in my hotel room. The Westin in-room wireless got me on line alright, and I was able to receive e- mail, but couldn’t send any out.
Three things saved the day; one was gotomypc, the others were my Sprint Wireless Card and iPhone; all products I had before buying the MacBook Air. I was also dissappoited by the lack of free wireless connections. The Island Air terminal at Honolulu Airport claimed a wireless service, but wanted $9 for a connection. Here again I used the Sprint Card.
It appears that about the only advantage I have found so far is the weight, and get this; the nifty keyboard light seems to have stopped working. Now that’s a bit soon for a three week old machine. I am off to the Apple Store to see what they say about that one. Stay tuned…
July 28th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Remember how happy you used to be, just making phone calls, answering the phone, and taking messages from your answering machine? Life was so much simpler then.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
-Albert Einstein
Yes it was simple then, but nowhere near as enjoyable.
Maybe just a bit further back when there was no phone or answering machine, just a surfboard. Now that was pure joy, but then came the skin cancer… Too simple maybe!
I’ll opt for just as it is today; new challenges and lessons daily.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Gee….one has to wonder what those three red Dollar signs signify on the screen in your photo above. It must be one of those embedded subliminal messages…
July 30th, 2008 at 3:34 am
Oy vey! Better you than me. It took me two hours to get my ring tone songs loaded on a new Nokia cheapie $40 #2160. You must have a huge threshold for pain. How you endure frustration and stay happy and positive is a gift. I really am the opposite. “A problem is nothing more than a challenge in need of a solution” I think N.V. Peale said. You live that and it is inspiring.
By the way, the real estate market is making a comback in Florida, if you want to buy a house here now is the time. Prices are down and affordable on everything. There are new homestarts. I am not a realtor just happy to see houses sell here.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Eh Ron!
One of our summer students got the new IPhone. Really cool!! (I was wrong: ATT is 3G now!) The guy in our office who is still holding-out hasn’t come up with any really substantial objections (Can you open a Word attachment in an Outlook email? Any issues with the on-screen keypad vs. the physical buttons on a Palm/Blackberry?) Oh yeah, his wife and he are both on Verizon, so he figures he’ll stick with them because 90% of his calls are to her (not a valid objection to the IPhone itself, really).
Our Sprint PC card works great as long as the cell signal is strong. We experienced a really slow connection in Flagstaff, AZ, and at the Longbeach (WA) peninsula (not surprising out there). But in Phoenix and in Portland, OR it is plenty fast enough.
Aloha,
Paki