If there’s one thing that Miles and I can relate on (if not agree on), it’s the frustrating feeling of preferring one Operating System/Platform over the one that is favored by the majority of people in your field. Miles is a programmer/gamer who loves Macintosh, and I’m a graphic designer who loves PCs. We’ve talked about this several times, and both agreed that it was somewhat ironic. As a result, though, I’d like to think that we’ve both shown each other some of the potential of the hated and feared opposing OS.
The result of this is that I applied for a job as a Graphics Production person at a t-shirt shop, and the application said “Mac experience a must.” I have enough training on the Mac that I felt comfortable applying, but it was goofing around on the Macintosh in the tech room with Miles’ help that really made me feel comfortable about it. Sure, anyone can sit down on a computer and open up a program and figure out the basics of how to use it. Computer OS’s aren’t THAT different. The trick is how comfortable you feel working AROUND the beaten paths, and doing things TO the OS, instead of WITH it.
When my boss pointed me at the shiny new G4 (drooooool… just because I prefer PCs doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how awesome a G4 looks), he said “There’s the computer you’ll be working on. Feel free to customize as you need.” Naturally, I changed the wallpapers and color schemes and stuff, but I also managed to rearrange the hard drive, taking all the programs that were installed in the root directory and placing them in the Applications folder! It’s so nice to know your way around an OS.
On monday, I’m taking in my speakers to hook up to the G4, as well as downloaded copies of all the important software I need (Audion, Kalidascope, etc). Then, the only thing remaining for me to do to make this box into the superior ultimate graphics machine I need is a NEW FUCKING MOUSE!
THE HOCKEY PUCK MOUSE MUST GO! I never used one before. They looked really stupid, so we just hooked up a normal mouse to our G4 in the tech room, and all the other Macs I’ve ever used either had a good mouse, or at the very least, the little shell you slip over it to make it the same shape as a normal mouse. What I’m getting at is that I had no idea how INFURIATING using one of these mice is! They don’t fit in the palm of your hand, as one who is used to Microsoft’s ergonomic mice is used to. And on top of that, they tend to get turned around in your hand, which you don’t notice until the mouse starts moving the wrong way on the screen! It’s completely unusable. So I’m ordering a new mouse. Logitech has a good looking 3-button scroll mouse that’s even made of translucent plastic to match the iMacs. It’s like $15, and I think that purchase will be well worth it to retain my sanity at work. The computer also has the stupid iMac keyboard with the teeny-tiny unusable arrow keys, which luckily, I have very little to do with, so I can live with that.
What’s the point of the story? While Macintosh is more fun than I thought, due to my experiences with Miles, the HOCKEY PUCK MOUSE IS THE WORST THING EVER.
I'm a 30-year-old 
While the round mouse does indeed suck, one palliative is to move your "grip" further forward. WAY forward, so that the cord is between your pointer and middle fingers, and you click with the first joint of your fingers rather than the tips. It’s more ergonomic, plus doesn’t get turned around as much.(Actually, this has never worked for me, but some people claim it helps.)
November 5th, 2000 at 7:43 pm
I’ve found that swallowing the mouse prevents all further complications (well, computer complications) and the perfectly round design doesn’t snag on the esophagus.
November 8th, 2000 at 9:22 am
Hmm.One must assume, then, that your comments of "blah blah blah at my job blah blah blah" and "blah blah my boss said blah blah" mean that you have A) a job, and B) a boss. This is good, no?Also, you are working in a tee-shirt production company. I am looking to design some new tee-shirts for Guerilla Theatre’s current season. Is there any chance you can help with this, and help me get them made? I would be placing an order of like thirty or forty shirts, if that helps.Perhaps I should ask you this via email, but I figured your joy of "Oooh! Rye Bread’s name is on my webpage, now my life is complete" would suffice to make up for my apparent* foolishness and lack of foresight.Live well, mortals.Mr. Bread has spoken thusly*note my use of the word apparent. This is intentional, as you should already know, for Rye Bread makes no mistakes.
November 8th, 2000 at 11:04 pm