The same is true of digital cameras. In the never-ending quest to "out-feature" each other, the manufactures forget to put the user first, not the marketing department. "We need like 4 more bullet points to beat Canon!"
I'd like to search and browse by record label. Especially indie ones, where I tend to like most or all the bands on a particular label (like, Polyvinyl, for instance).
This makes my dream of having one machine to do all my computer engineering stuff possible, but it also means I'm even less likely to see Mac native versions of stuff like OrCAD or Pspice. I tried using MacCAD (for electronic circuit design and schematics) and it is a totally-hacked-OS 7-port piece of crap.
Now, can I use my Pell Grant to get a MacBook Pro?
Tony Brummel can kiss my ass. I just saw a huge Hawthorne Heights display at Wal-Mart this weekend on my way home from SXSW. And Tony Brummel wants to talk about the soul of the music? I've listened to plenty of Victory bands over the years (not that much recently), but I've heard plenty of stories about what a dickhead Tony can be. So frankly, I'm taking his words with a planet-sized grain of salt.
Can someone please port the following:
OrCAD
PSpice
an ABEL and/or and VDHL compiler
any software for programming PDLs, FPGAs, and EEPROMs.
I'm sick of having to use PCs for my engineering work.
There some pretty good ideas already mentioned here, but here is what I'd like to see:
PB's are aluminum, why don't they come in anodized colors? I'd like black, but they could come in almost any color (look in any sport compact car-type magazine!). While you're at it, you may as well make the iBooks in black, to match the swank new iPods and nanos.
Right-click button.
Tighter engineering tolerances... my 12" PB has lived through a lot, but it has, since day one, felt loose in certain spots. It rocks when typing on a smooth, flat surface, and the lid doesn't close tightly. Also, the slot loading drive has always seemed a little, well, jainkey. I paid over $1500 and that was with a student discount!
A way to swap batteries while the machine is running. A small back-up battery that will power the machine in sleep-mose long enough to pull one battery off and put another on.
That should do for now...
I'd had numerous computers, including Apple ][ clones, an Amiga, an Atari, a TRS-80, a PC XT clone....
But one day I was in my electronics class in high school, circa 1991. The instructor and a couple kids were all hunched over this tiny machine in the corner. I saw him drag the disk icon to the trash. Oscar the Grouch popped out, made some irreverent comment, and then the computer made a vomiting sound as it ejected the disk for you!
From then on I used Macs exclusively, including on campus and when I worked at Kinko's (where I taught myself Photoshop). And in 1998 I bought my first computer that I personally owned: an iMac rev B.
Make mine Mac!
The worst part of it is I was reading the "first look" on PCworld.com or PCmag.com or something... they actually referred to these things (smart folders, etc) as Microsoft innovations! I about shit my pants! Hell, some of the "innovations" were already in PANTHER!
A good friend of mine got a G5 at his business and just goes on and on about how his G5 crashes all the time therefore Macs are crap. I keep repeating to him over and over again: One bad Apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch. Do manufactured goods have problems? Yes. That's what warranties are for. I suggested he take the thing NEXT DOOR WHERE THERE IS AN AUTHORIZED APPLE SERVICE PROVIDER. "I bought a Mac so I didn't have to use the warranty." I can't decide if I'm crazy or he is...
Um, there was a huge backlash against the brushed Al look. There are programs specifically for stripping the brushed metal look from programs such as Safari, for example.
Personally, I don't see why Apple still refuses to offer an OS-level way of using different skins. The fact that Windows has it, and the fact that Kaleidascope was so popular for the Classic Mac OS and now that APE thing (Shape Shifter?) is really hot, speaks volumes. Hell, even Workbench 1.0 on the Amiga had tweakable colors and an editable cursor built in to the OS.
That's not to say it wouldn't be easy to come up with some really crappy skins (I have seen a number of these on Windows machines for sure), and I'm sure this is a concern for Apple (i.e. they don't want people to think someone's lame-ass theme is what OS X is all about). But I'll bet 85% or more of windows desktops use the XP or Classic theme. Most cars on the road are stock, but some people like to put on wings and stickers and mufflers, etc. Some of them look like crap, some of them look pretty damn cool. Either way, folks that do that sort of thing like having the option.
I prefer the GUI look in Tiger over previous OS X releases. It's clean and simple, a lot like Platinum on OS 8/9. It stays out of the way of what I am working on. It wouldn't bother me a bit if the brushed metal went away from iPhoto/iDVD/Finder/Safari/et al. But what if someone liked it so much they wanted all apps to have it? I say let them!
I'll admit to being Power User/Semi-Zealot. You know, being the treasurer of the local MUG and all, it's sort of hard to avoid some measure of zealotry.
on a 12" PBG4 867MHz/640MB/80GB:
Dashboard with 8 widgets
Mail
Safari (with tons of Windows/tabs)
iChat (with several chat windows)
Address Book
iCal
iTunes
Word 2004
NetNewsWire Lite
SubEthaEdit
Transmit
CSSEdit
Calculator
usually I'll also run one or both of Photoshop CS2 and Illustrator CS2. These two will usually slow the machine to a crawl when switching to and from these apps.
God, please help Octiv add Volume Logic support to the iPod and Airport Express. I paid for the plug in, but rarely use it as I primarily listen to my iPod or through my stereo. But when I switch over to ye olde Logitech 2.1s it makes even the tinniest old recording sound awesome!
Reality Check, I Am Not Part of the New Tech Savy Generation
6 Things I Would Change in the iTunes Store
Unreal: Apple Officially Supports Windows with Bootcamp
Victory Records Won't License to iTunes
The Best Software Selection Is on the Mac
What Do You Want Out Of The Intel Based Mac Laptops?
Why do you own a Mac?
Apple’s Media Center PC End Around
Vista=Copy of OS X
Take It With A Grain of Salt
Where for art thou, Brushed Al?
What type of Mac-Head are you?
If Operating Systems Were Cars
How many apps are you running?
Apple, Don't Try to Make the iPod Any "Better"