I get it, I just don't want it.

I should have posted this when I first went through the trauma, but I just didn't want to write about it at the time. Last fall, my old notebook computer was having problems. It was one of the generation that had problems with the CPU overheating to the point it occasionally separated from the heat sink. I had an extended warranty with 40+ days on it when it started getting really bad. I called Dell and they gave me a replacement laptop, a current generation machine that had been returned under their return policy. The whole replacement activity got me thinking about trying a Mac. I'd seen them in use at NFJS and thought I'd give it a try. I gave my wife the replacement PC and she gave her unit to my daughter who was just starting college.

The problem I had, of all things, was the learning curve, or more to the point, the un-learning curve. I've been working with PCs since the apple II and the PCXT, so I know my way around operating environments. The problem was that the Mac way of doing things was just different enough from the Windows way of doing things that it kept driving me crazy. The Quicken interface was really unsettling; I never could get the hang of it. I was trying to get my mind around Spring and Hibernate and who-knows-what-else at the time, and I just didn't need one more headache. I got so tired of going "Oh yes, it's THAT key combination" for actions I had been doing out of instinct for years. The apple rep was gracious enough to pave the way for me to return the unit, even though I had ordered the memory upgrade. I'm sure they had no problem reselling it, so I don't feel too bad about that.

Once I got that processed, I went to the Dell site and ordered a new 1705 with pretty much the same capabilities for about $1k less.

I realize that there are *some* things that I can do on a Mac that I can't do on a PC, but none that I am all that interested in. I may try a Mac again on my next upgrade cycle, assuming my life is not in as much turmoil as it was then/is now. Then again, I might not. I'd need a more compelling reason than the 'cool factor' to shell out that extra cash.