New Years Resolutions 1996

The start of another brand new year. Time to sit down and make a list of resolutions that always seem to lose their importance as soon as February approaches. I thought that maybe I would prepare a few, just to save everyone some time and effort, and get everyone in the proper frame of mind to start off the new year. OK, here we go —

Resolution #1 – I will no longer call myself or anyone else a MAC Fan (short for fanatic)

Being classed as a “Mac Fanatic” to the rest of the world has taken on strange connotations, like – “Poor man, he can’t understand that DOS/WINDOWS 95 is the only way to go.” or “Doesn’t she understand that the MAC is dead?!” Besides, there are enough fanatics in the world to begin with. However, being a Macintosh Enthusist, I will continue to sing the praises of the MAC Operating System to those poor lost souls from the lands of DOS and WINDOWS every chance I get.

Resolution #2 – I will continue to show pity and compassion to those suffering from DOS/WINDOW-itis.

Having to use both systems at work, I have never understood the fascination or fanaticism that DOS lovers exude. The mysteries of the foreign language – COPY (space) [DRIVE:] [path] file.ext (space) [DRIVE:] [Path] file.ext and the lands of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS, I will gladly leave to those who take great joy in constantly having to talk the talk and walk the walk. I have absolutely no problem in using the Mac menu or dragging a projects’ icon over to the floppy icon so that I can copy it for a backup or for whatever reason.

Resolution #3 – I will not laugh in the face of someone who tells me, “Windows 95 is the way to go!”

As I recently had someone tell me, “Windows 95 is the best operating system that has ever come along. It’s taken the best of the Macintosh, i.e. ease of use, user friendly, WYSIWYG, plug and play and everything else and put it into a Windows package.” When I challenged the individual as to his statement and as to why not go with the Mac instead, he admitted that the MAC has always had the better system but that “Windows 95 is the wave of the future, particularly based on market share and the availability of software.” Somehow, the idea that just because there are more games available, or that the latest version of a word processing program is available (using 30 plus megs of hard drive space and a good 12 megs of RAM to run it all), just doesn’t make it the premier operating system to me. I’ll take the best of Mac instead.

Resolution #4 – I will keep my cool with sales people at the “big” computer stores, particularly when no one there speaks “MAC”.

A couple of months ago, I did some comparison shopping between several large stores, looking to upgrade to a new printer. I basically got nowhere with the sales people that were in the stores. I knew more about the products then they did and when you have to set the system up yourself in their computer store, and then show them how to use it (plus how to get around the Mac OS) it’s time to move on. One sales person told me that their “Mac expert” had quit a few months back and gone on to a better paying job because of his skill and that they had not yet found anyone to replace him. No wonder, who would want to be stuck in a place where you’re treated as an outcast, good only when a Mac type walks in. “Taking care of all my Mac needs!” Right! Maybe I should have contacted that State Attorney General about false advertising?

Resolution #5 – I will read the manual.

Yes, the Mac is an easy system to use and learn, but let’s do it right. Why wait 6 months to discover that you can do something with your Mac that you should have know about from the start. What good is Apple Guide, balloon help or on-line help when your system has crashed or it’s frozen up and you can’t get to the help files? There are some really talented people out there that know the Mac OS, or Pagemaker, or Illustrator, or Word, or whatever and have put it down in writing for you to use. I know, God forbid, you should pick up a book and read! But why not make the best of your skills and abilities, learn from someone else’s mistakes and do the best that you are capable of, instead of fudging your way through. When was the last time you checked out the public library’s “Computer Section”?

Well, that’s five items for everyone to chew over and digest. No sense in hitting you all with more right now. Look for more later in this issue – CONTINUING RESOLUTIONS.

(GEE, JUST LIKE CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE!!!)