Red Hat Diaries/0007

NS-Day?

17 January 2002: An historic day. Moi finally goes over to the Mac.

This day threatened to be a nightmare, but Syd solved it all, and everything turned out wonderfully - except that her computer had not yet arrived. Which makes you wonder - her sacrifices for me were considerable, and yet what did she get out of it? A remarkable woman. And her computer should arrive on Monday.

The first thing to mention is that Apple sells hardware. And they do it good. They sell appliances, not shiteware. Appliances are supposed to work - period. No waiting for betas or next releases or any of that - either they work or you get your money back. Apple puts a lot of money into selling hardware, and the systemware and software have to be integrated. No one is going to worry about whether it was the hardware or the software that screwed up. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work - period.

And so it must. And so they do. Apple's world is a much calmer, saner world that Wintel's. No hysterics here. People are calm and sane and know what they are doing. They smile and they have the inner tranquility to smile. They're not being harassed all the time. They don't have to listen and watch Steve Ballmer do his audition for Planet of the Apes all the time. Steve Jobs impresses me as impressing his minions by being clever and shrewd, not by jumping up and down on a stage and screaming at the top of his lungs. There's a noticeable lack of adrenalin and a commonly shared sense of art.

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