To mac or not to mac

I’ve been a windows user for almost all of my life (well, maybe not all of it, as will be mentioned next). My dad had a commodore 64 back in the 80s, and then we had a 386, 486, up to the Pentiums that ran on a variety of Windows versions (ranging from 3.1, 95, 98, and XP). In the last 6 years I had a Dell XPS M1210 which ran on windows vista ultimate (which died after 5 years of hard work), and now I am typing on an ASUS K53T running on windows 7 home edition which I bought at the end of 2011.

So after extensive use of windows, obviously I am familiar with it, at least for the things I need it for. But to tell the truth, I have some gripes with my current windows machine, and would like to exchange it to something that suits me better. I have no problems with the operating system itself, as I previously said, I am familiar with windows and it does what I need it to do. But nevertheless, the little things that I dislike about my current machine makes me want to try and experience something completely different. Like getting a macbook perhaps?  

The first thing that I dislike most about my current machine is the size and spacing of the keys on the keyboard. I don’t know why, but they encourage mistypes more often than what I experienced with my Dell XPS, making the typing experience less enjoyable. The second problem is the location and the sensitivity of the track pad. The track pad is located at such a position that it is easy to accidentally tap it when typing. The extreme sensitivity makes the problem even worse. And typing is my number one activity on my laptops.

The third thing that I dislike about it is the quality of the monitor screen. The colors it produce are rather washed out and lacking contrast. Changing my sitting position often leads to the necessity of changing the screen position.

Other minuses include it being rather heavy and do not look as good as other computers aesthetically.

Thus, I am in the middle of contemplating to sell my machine and get another one instead, a machine that can address my problems and give even more. In come the macbooks. As many of you know, Apple has just released their new line of macbooks, including updates for the macbook air and the macbook pro lines. In addition, my father recently came for a visit and I got a chance to try out his 2011 11 inch macbook air. I have to say that it’s one beautiful piece of machinery. I also tried typing on it a bit, and I found the experience to be gratifying.

However, I needed to list factors to try to make up my mind. And so I have tried to list the pros and cons that I will face by making the change.

The pros are:

1.    The comfortable keyboard keys. As I have mentioned previously, one thing that made me really want the macbook air is the nice keyboard key feel and arrangement. It was so comfortable to write with, my PC doesn’t stand a chance.

2.    The machine looks gorgeous, especially the screen. I don’t know what they do to their screens, but in my opinion, the macbooks screens are among the best looking notebook screens around. As I spend long hours in front of the computer screen, it would definitely be a nice upgrade from my current notebook screen (albeit the macbook air is smaller, they both have the same resolution).

3.    Fast booting up. While I’d have to wait for several minutes to get my PC up and running, the macbook air turns on instantaneously, a real bonus to encourage myself to pick it up and write something.

4.    Lack of games. Well, I’m stating this as a pro because I like video games very much, and I know that they are a waste of time. It’s a sickness that I have had for quite some time. Thus, getting the macbook air would possibly prevent me from playing games and I can use my time for better things.

5.    I’m supporting a company that at least shows that it has commitment towards “green” economy. They try to use recyclable material, reduce the environmental damage that can be caused from production and use of their products, and be energy efficient among other things. In fact, according to a website called better world shopper, who have categorized companies based on their business practices, apple has a respectable rank compared to Microsoft.

6.    Mobility. Obviously it’s uncomfortable to log around a 15inch, 2.5kg laptop around (to tell the truth, back in my undergraduate days, I used to carry an even heavier laptop). The battery life is decent though. For normal use (no gaming and videos), the battery can last for around 3 to 4 hours, but the weight is definitely a downer. The macbook air 11 inch on the other hand is extremely light, weighing at around 1kg with a battery life of 5 hours.

7.    Better integration with my ipad and iphone. Although I have quite an old iphone (an old 3G), I am planning to upgrade it in the future. I also have a new ipad which runs on iOS 5.1 which supports icloud. Although icloud is also available for PCs, the integration with macs seems much more natural.

So those were the benefits that I could think of at the time being. But of course there are also some cons that I need to pay attention to.

Cons:

1.    Expensive. Well this might be a subjective judgment, and may differ among others. But for me, the macbooks are expensive gadgets. So I need to contemplate about whether the premium is worth it for me or not. Of course some people might say that macs last longer, but computers will get obsolete after 4 or 5 years, and my dell lasted for that time span, so to me it’s not a valid argument.

2.    Need to start relearning the OS from the beginning. I have never owned a mac in my entire life, and being used to windows, this worries me a bit. I have used my laboratory’s mac mini for simple chores, but I have never used a mac for extensive usage. But even if OS X doesn’t suite me, I also have the option to install windows 7 on the machine (which thankfully I have).

3.    The 11 inch screen might be too small. Well, my previous dell was 12.1 inches, and I coped just fine. It worries me a bit about the macbook air being too small, but I guess that’s the trade off for being portable, and I’ll be willing to compromise for it.

I can’t think of other cons for the time being. But right now these are the things that I might need to think about before I make my decision. I like to write, even though I am not good in it by any means, a new gadget to encourage me to do more writing would be nice. Nevertheless, I hope I can decide well, not make this extravagance, and benefit from my decision. 

Thanks for reading!

A better way to repel Lady Gaga and co

We are living in bizarre times for sure. It becomes so difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood and good from evil, among other things. With all the attacks that we face, little by little we lose our humanity and the natural state we should have been in. These are times where Prophetic guidance has become more important than ever. Because it distinguishes clearly between truth and falsehood, good and evil, and in turn gives us back the humanity that we have lost.

Lately, there has been a buzz on the banning of Lady Gaga from holding a concert in Indonesia. Spearheaded by a group who call themselves “the Islamic Protector Front” (FPI) who threatened the concert if it was to be held, the organizers succumbed and canceled the SOLD OUT concert. The New York Post said that in total there were 52000 tickets, and all of them were SOLD OUT. So obviously there were a lot of people who wanted to go to the concert, and they have the right to do so. I’m not saying that it’s right… But if you want to have your opinions respected, you have to respect the opinions of others too. If you want to have a debate, have a good and healthy one too.

It breaks my heart to see something like this happen at a country in which Muslims are a majority. It shows the lack of quality that the Muslims have (me included) in understanding the religion properly. And with this, I mean from both sides (the supporters and the opposite).

If only we were decent Muslims that have a teensy weensy bit of knowledge on the religion, this whole Lady Gaga incident would never have happened. First of all, (even non Muslims see this) the singer is clearly not in the best state of mind. She does things that boggle the normal mind constantly (in a negative way unfortunately). And secondly, it is so obvious that many of her lyrics (which I have only heard a little by the way) insinuate towards adultery, and we are strictly told to stay away from such acts. And as a result, the tickets wouldn’t be SOLD OUT like it was.

On the other hand, if only we were decent Muslims, we would be able to react towards these situations in a better way. Not once was it reported that The Prophet (PBUH) shouted towards other people, not even in war! Yet we shout and condemn people to go to hell while we don’t even know what God’s decree is. It’s frustrating to see these so called “protectors of Islam” raising such banners. Many of the Prophets best companions were once opposing the Prophet, fought him (PBUH) in war, yet the Prophet had the patience to invite them to Islam and educate them. If only he (PBUH) was harsh and uncompassionate, they would have turned away from him. But out of God’s mercy, he (PBUH) was patient towards them.

Summing it up, with this whole “Lady gaga” banning saga, we can see that we are a sick nation (ummah). We’re sick enough to empty our purses to go to a music concert rather than feed the millions of poor people in our country, and we’re sick enough to let our akhlaq (good character) be compromised to reach a certain goal (which in this case is to ban a mere singer to perform).

There is no victory in this banning.

What’s the point in banning Lady gaga when we have a TV at home that plays the same kind of music and performances all day long? How are we going to tell our children to not go to such concerts when we ourselves are disconnected with them and don’t have a meaningful relationship with them? How do we expect to know what is good or bad for us if we have no (and are not interested in learning about) prophetic knowledge on the TRUTH of things?

So for Muslims, all of us need to rethink what we believe, get better education on our religion, and make a deeper take on the things that we face. In the ideal condition, even if Lady Gaga and co came to do a concert, nobody would even bother coming because of the obvious lack of benefit that they will get. People would have much better and more beneficial things to do instead.

May God make us people of essence and be able to see beyond the mere spectacles that are offered to us each and every day