Busy week, all done.

Busy week, all done.

After blogging the other week about the potential for home IT support, there was an article this week in the Times about the growing multi billion pound market for such services in the UK. Obviously I am ahead of the curve for journalism, but not far enough ahead for venture capitalism.

I know that Macintosh is marketted as the computer for people that don't want to get bogged down with the technology, just plug in and play, but being honest I don't think that is terribly realistic. If we just wanted a machine that did a few basic things, without any new sexy features, then of course we could buy a rock stable machine, and still be using bakelite phones, but we don't. We want all the sexy new bells and whistles, and things that we don't even understand, but heck we want them anyway. Hence new operating systems, that look zingy, but are hardly rock steady. Leopard, I'm talking about you now, you are one mean kitty.

A related point, if you want to use computers seriously, you are just going to have to knuckle down and learn how stuff runs, how to do backups, partition your drives, and the like. It really is not a serious option to just muddle through, unless you want to lose all your data, or miss out on most of the potential that is on offer. When you live in a world that runs on magic, you need to start learning a few spells.

Something else that occured to me, we tend to rate homely architecture and settings, the village square surrounded by cottages, settings that suggest we are an integral part of a small cozy world. We tend to dislike settings that suggest we are a nearly insignificant and meaningless element of a large impersonal world. No one loves the high rise, and motorways with chronic gigantism. But the latter is the reality, the former an affectation that only the rich can afford to pretend to. Maybe we are struggling for a new set of symbols and understanding that let us feel at home in our own brave new world, rather than just hiding behind the mock tudor facade in the suburbs , while sleeping through the mindless commute with thousands of people just like us.

Interesting conference at the tail end of the week, all went well, and I was impressed by the very solutions focussed approach that a lot of the people there had. I always like pragmatism, but this was not some gloomy pragmatism, to which I am prone, but a very upbeat version. Interesting and inspiring.

Also reading in the papers an article about someone that helps people establish their own personal brand. I suppose that if I was pressed, my core values would be
thoughtfulness
creativity
making a difference

On other topics, there were some refurbished Macintosh computers going cheaply on the Apple Store yesterday, so I have bitten the bullet and ordered one. I've not told my daughters yet, but it will mean that they can get the old iMac running Tiger for their room, and we will get the new 20" iMac for the main computer. I'll look at setting up wifi in due course. However keen to avoid my previous mistake of having far too many new things on the go at once.

And the weekend is about done, back to reality again tomorrow.