[crouton] Nathaniel Trost: No MacBook Like Home

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Posted by Nathaniel Trost:
No MacBook Like Home
http://crouton.powerblogs.com/archives/archive_2006_11_19-2006_11_25.shtml#1164070403


   Itâs good to be home.
   While the vast majority of my current working life takes place from a
   home studio, occasional on-site client visits are part and parcel of
   the routine. When starting up with a new, major client, an extended
   initial visit to get to know folks and get up to speed is usually a
   wise idea. That said, three weeks away really makes you appreciate
   returning.
   Now if only my sinuses would stop taking their revenge against me. I
   didnât get sick on the trip out, but rather around two-thirds of the
   way through the stay. This meant I was almost, but not quite over the
   last of the congestion before the flight home, and now my sinuses have
   decided to throw a revolt.
   Prior to the trip, I had been musing computing options. My laptop, a
   Dell Inspiron 8100 purchased in late 2001, was still motoring away.
   However, while functional, it was not what Iâd want to be using for
   primary software development. It also struggles on large WoW raids.
   Not that, uh, that was a deciding factor or anything. So I was
   seriously contemplating a new laptop. The laptop I really wanted
   wasnât out yet: A Core 2 Duo based MacBook Pro. I eventually decided
   to cast my fate to the winds of Apple release schedules and was
   prepared to make do with the Dell. Then Apple released the Core 2 Duo
   MacBook Pro less than a week until I was scheduled to leave.
   Naturally, it wasnât that easy to actually get a hold of one, but
   thankfully, after some headaches with phantom Apple Store
   availability, I got my hot little hands on the high-end 15â model two
   days before my trip.
   My impressions now that Iâve had a few weeks to use it? Man, Iâm glad
   I bought it, it just rocks. Iâve wanted to spend more time in OS X for
   years, and thanks to the MBP, I finally am.
   Of course, it wasnât cheap, and this has saved me from buying more
   game systems that I really shouldnât buy right now. There are actually
   quite a few things on the 360 that I wouldnât mind playing. And, of
   course, now thereâs the Wii. Zelda on the GameCube was one of the last
   games I actually played all the way through. Thanks to Mr. MacBook, I
   can safely table these for a while.
   That wasnât to say, however, that I wasnât going to check out the
   console launch day fun. I was out of town and car-less for the PS3
   launch, but not only was I back home for the Wii, I was still on East
   Coast time, so getting up early felt normal. I was hoping the Wii
   would be cleared out, because while I wasnât going to wait in any
   lines, if a Wii happened to stare me in the face, Iâd probably lose
   resolve and buy one.
   I was thankfully disappointed. There was a large line in front of the
   local Target an hour before opening. It looked like at least 60-70
   people, plenty to clean out their initial shipment. The local Wal-Mart
   is 24-hours, so they were promptly emptied at 12:01 AM. Even the local
   Sams Club had a small line for their limited quantities. A good day to
   be Nintendo.