Technology10 Dec 2002 06:31 pm
My ibook is pretty sweet. It runs really well and is incredibly reliable. Plus it is just fun to look at. All the icons look really good. Well, the thing that I really like are the Radio streams available in iTunes. While I would really love some political radio streams, I’ve found a winner - NPR 24 hours a day! Yes, I can listen to people talking intelligently and calmly all day long. There’s a station KCRW out in California that streams their NPR content all day long. It’s nice, since I don’t drive to and from work anymore, I can still get my NPR fix.
May 19th, 2003 at 7:10 pm
I was looking at the iBook on Apple’s site, and it seems like a sweet little machine. I also do some Java programming, and was wondering about any differences in compile time between an iBook and a PowerBook. It would probably suit what I need it for: email, web surfing, ripping MP3s from CD, coding, and playing the odd game or two.
What kind of development tools do you use? I’m using a mix of JEdit and NetBeans.
May 20th, 2003 at 9:27 am
I do Java development and am starting to look at Objective C. For Java, I use NetBeans, which is really great on the ibook. I’m sure it will be even faster on the Powerbook with the G4. MacOSX is great because it has an improved version of Swing which is simply faster than on any other platform. My 800 Mhz machine does a lot better at keeping the user interface running than my 1 Ghz PC at work.
As far as games go, I play a little Warcraft. It looks good. Unfortunately counter-strike isn’t on the Mac. For web surfing, email, and coding it is really great to have a laptop always with you. Wireless is great with the Mac. Managing your music and photos is really nice on the Mac too. I’ve heard reports that the 12″ powerbook runs too hot to sit on your lap after its been running a while. The 15″ is probably going to be updated soon. The 17″ has a great display. My friend has one and the display is stunning, but I think it is so big that it isn’t as portable as some of the smaller lappys. I wish the ibook had a G4 because then I could get my Virtual PC to run a little faster.
Hope this helps!