total.pardo

@mac

whoa.

yes, reader - you never thought you would see it on totalpardo.net - or - anywhere near pardohaus,  say it slowly as you read again:

at macintosh.  meaning, yours truly, johnny pardo is making the switch.

the proverbial switch to the darkside is made by the young pardowon.

and believe this - they are words i never thought i’d type, be interested in, or whatever.

there will be a new category and tag called "@mac" on this blog to list what i discover about this change. (to that end, i have added an "@mac" tag to greader, gmarks, and even a folder under the mostly spartan bookmarks toolbar of firefox.)

that does not mean ol’pardo is not going to continue to make his living in the m$ world - not at all.

but to answer the inevitable questions of "why" - i think that will take some explaining.  to wit:

What does make a difference is when the IT professionals themselves get sick and tired of Microsoft’s licensing requirements or Dell’s build quality and try using the Mac. You know this guy, right? After years of dismissing the Mac, he’s all, "Boy, it turns out Macs aren’t so bad after all! Boy, if it hadn’t been for those obnoxious Mac users who keep saying how great they are, I would have converted years ago! It’s obviously their fault and not because I’m a pig-headed ignoramus!"

Mmm-hmm.

from:  Are Macs a smart career move? | The Macalope

i am ready for new problems.  i am ready for things to just work.  i am ready to learn something new. sure, i am happy with my few year old dell lt and my home brewed gamer box turned media server. i am a FT console gamer - the 360 consumes most of my leisure time. so i want a new primary - one that will do everything i ask of it and more.

if anything, if i ever need to go back to help work, and the shop has/is mac - i will be in decent shape if i understand it.

i have, of course, read pirillo’s diatribe on the 50 reasons to switch and done a plethora of homework.  but what really did it for me was 9 months with an iphone.  it is, by far, the best mobile device i have ever owned or been privileged to use.  more real life - i attached a bluetooth mouse to a macbook - no bullshit setup, no irq’s (what is this johnny, the 90’s??), no reading the manual and consulting 5 pages on the web before it would work.

it just did.  in seconds. no pardo thought required.

hooked up my first airport express, worked in under a minute.  now, its not to say its all roses and skittles.  the old HP 1020 wouldn’t talk to the ApExpress whatsoever.  but it was a well known and documented issue. (thus causing my to replace the 1020 with a wired brother printer that’s workin’ like cherkin.)

but, to agree with pirillo (who i affectionately refer to as the "head" and, by way of exempting myself from the church of pirillo, i rarely EVER agree with the head), i am ready for new frustrations, new ideas, and different ways to do things.  the time machine/capsule duo is dramatically compelling for a two mac family.

one of his other points touched on the supposed smugness of the users and the community.  so far, ever one i have worked with has been great, even more helpful than windows users/experts (however, this point may not be relevant since the egos in my line of work are fairly strong.)

what is the final verdict on model/size, etc?  i am leaning toward 17 incher.  more to come.  and soon.

meanwhile, i am researching, reading, and becoming versed in the the mac world.

i found this blog: http://www.davidalison.com which gave me the idea to write about my experiences in switching.  not that it will matter all that much to the general reader public (as hundreds of switchers have blogged their results.)  this blogger was a windows dev who made the switch and chronicled the minutia of his trials and tribulations with the change. it seems following someone down a not so beaten path is wise advice - let them hit the rough spots first perhaps?

what i enjoy the most is reading about other people’s experiences in using macs and in switching.  they are usually detailed accounts - exploring the same facets that concerned me in my choice to try switching.

its on.  updates to follow.