Unpredictable Back Issue #2

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CHRIS'S UNPREDICTABLE and OCCASIONAL Newsletter for MAC USERS #2, 1/15/01
Contents Copyright 2001 by Christopher Plummer
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VENDORS:
One thing I hear all the time from Mac clients and friends is the
difficulty of finding a good place to purchase and/or service Macs.

As computers become more and more "digital appliances", we'll see them
moving into the retail outlets that handle products like stereo and
office equipment. Unlike our counterparts in the Wintel universe who are
already used to shopping for software and hardware at Staples or the
"Wiz" , people "jacked-in" to the Mac world tend to be much more
MAILORDER/WEB oriented. But with the increasing acceptance of standards
such as USB and FireWire, and the distribution of software on "Hybrid"
CDs (which contain both Windows and Mac compatible versions on one disk,
and which are often sold in the "Windows" software section), these
walk-in retail stores can be a resource for us too. For example, Staples
sells the Maxtor 80 Gig external FireWire drive that works great on Macs.
You can find it for less on the web, but it's just down the road if
you're in a pinch!

The Circuit City at the Somerville Circle (and presumably other
locations) has a working display of iMacs with attached digital video
camera, iBooks, and the G4 Cube and displays - worth seeing. The salesman
I talked to seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about Macs.

When you buy at these places, be sure to mention you are a Mac user -
this can serve two purposes: One, it hopefully saves you the agony of an
"incompatible" purchase (which makes the BIG assumption that the
salesperson actually knows something about Macs, and will give you proper
guidance.) And two, it lets the retailer know that we exist, that Mac
users shop and spend money in their store.

And let's not forget the traditional computer retailer. I recently got a
mailing from "G2 Computers" in Newtown, PA. They are an Apple Authorized
Reseller and Service Center and claim to do installation, training, and
consulting. I don't know anything about them other than what I've written
here. 215-321-6542.

This is not an endorsement of these vendors. BUT if you would like to
send me a sentence or two about good or bad purchase and/or repair
experiences with Apple vendors, I will post those UNPREDICTABLY in a
future issue. (Be sure to let me know if you want your comments listed
anonymously).

APPLE NEW PRODUCTS:
Apple announced a SLEW of new products. If you haven't heard about them,
here are the press releases (below). I've listed "iTunes" first because
it's FREE for the download. If you haven't gotten into the MP3 music
revolution, here's the way to do it. iTunes is based on "SoundJam", the
premier commercial MP3 program for Macs. And if you have a problem with
the illegal "bootlegging" aspect of MP3s, you don't HAVE to download
copies from Napster and such. You can make your own MP3s from your CD
collection. I think that iTunes will also "rip" MP3s from your LPs or
cassettes as SoundJam MP Plus does, but I haven't checked it out yet.

There are some system software updates, but I haven't done a thing with
them yet. You might try the "Software Update" Control Panel to see what's
new. Maybe I'll cover that in a future UNPREDICTABLE issue?

All that's left of this issue is press releases, so if you're not
interested in those, don't waste your time scrolling!

-Chris
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** Chris's Unpredictable and Occasional Newsletter for Mac Users **
Oriented towards Mac Users in Beautiful Western Central New Jersey
Published whenever I get around to it - about whatever pops into my
head!

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