MacPrices.net

COMMENTARY: 9.05.07-- Last week marked three anniversaries. First, this columnist turned a year shy of Apple's 30 years (no fanfare, please), second our beloved 12-inch PowerBook turned a year old (and still no ultra-portable replacement from Apple... maybe today's announcement? right), and lastly--hard to believe--it's been a year since we joined the team at Power 'Book Central. "And the beat goes on..."

Don't ask just yet about that last part. Maybe we'll have our own media event for that story. No, not the part about being around for a year now. The part in that first paragraph in regard to this site's name.

Anyway, where to start? Forget about birthdays. Who needs to know that? At least, you all know that I'm not an old guy. Remember that person who e-mailed in to us and commented on our holiday story about using your notebook for something else than work for the holidays (such as gaming) and said, "What are you like, sixty? seventy?"

Yeah. I wish. Then I'd be writing about phonographs, typewriters, walkie-talkies, and garage bands. (You make the comparisons there to what those stand for in the 21st century).

I guess, it would only be fitting to talk next about our stint here at PBCentral.com. I still remember the day I was asked to join the team. I couldn't believe it. In fact, I freaked out. How would I ever find time to write about things--much less find topics to talk about based on a "narrow" subject matter--and would I last? Well, I did, I did, and I did.

(I'll be honest when I say that the subject matter I was hired to write about is not what I ended up doing and focusing on... I either found a better alternate niche, my boss is just really nice, or both, or I'll wake up soon and realize that I never wrote a single story).

Proves you never know until you try. It was such in small print too that if I hadn't been paying attention to the fine print, I never would have noticed. "PBCentral.com is looking for a new columnist..."

I don't even remember the exact words, but I wrote in, didn't think I had a chance, then got the word back, and 55 articles later (averaging out 4.58 articles a month over one year... not bad since the requirement was three), a new iPod nano is due to be released today with touch screen features and Wi-Fi capabilities, and...

Oops. Sorry. Got off track there for a few minutes. Who cares about another iPod anyway?

But seriously. One year later, it's been a blast and I hope to be around for a few more. What's my fondest memory? Well, being put on assignment to cover Macworld 2007, me, a rookie. Let me tell you how harrowing that was! I was e-mailing Steve (Hildreth, editor-in-chief... not Steve Jobs) right when Keynote was due to start, telling him I was still in a non-moving line!

At the fourth row over to the left of the main line. Where I'd been standing for the last 1.5 hours!

There I was, the biggest story of my life--to-date--and I was not going to be able to cover it live. Or cover it at all, if I was still in line with hundreds of people when Jobs was supposed to be speaking already. I thought I'd have to leave, and get in a new line looking for jobs.

Second would have been the iPhone release day, of course. Hopping from one side of the bay (San Francisco's) to the other for triple-coverage of the event. I made sure to secure media access this time around and had my bases covered. (Though I did try with Macworld, but as luck would have it, I had already registered as a regular, and dual registering was a no).

Speaking of phones, I still haven't bought an iPhone, and will probably eventually. I still haven't written that piece--sorry--about which company I think Apple should have teamed up with, and why I chose not to buy an iPhone. Thankfully, no one's written about it or had the same thoughts as I do, so it'll still be original.

Which is funny because I just bought a phone last week. Couldn't resist. It was a refurbished RAZR and gunmetal gray. (Like my 12-inch PowerBook). As luck would have it, it isn't compatible with my Mac--surprised?--like my former Samsung model was, and I'll be exchanging it for a newer Samsung model later this week.

Side note: want a Mac-compatible cell phone that works as a Bluetooth modem without any kinks? Get a Samsung phone. In my search on the internet for info about how to get my RAZR to work with my Mac, I came up with nothing. What kept popping up? My Samsung phone and a bunch of other Samsung models. (No, I do not work for Samsung, thank you).

I should've bought an iPhone, right? Duh. Would've been Mac compatible since it's made by Apple. But I don't want an iPhone. Just yet. Only reason I got the RAZR is because it looked so much like my 12-inch PowerBook. Thin, ultra-sleek, small, silver, almost Apple-like!

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