Jay Talbot’s Ramblings

With all the hubbub of the new Windows Vista blowing around, I’ve been pondering my choice of computers. I did my taxes and I’m getting a handsome sum back from our friends/enemies at the IRS. If I don’t get one with this money, it’ll be next year before I’ll have any good amount to just blow again.

I know I’ve got things that I probably should pay off, or at least down, but I’m also getting to the point where I need a new computer. As I sit here an think about the differences between a Mac and a PC, there aren’t many hardware wise, but software wise is a different story. Allow me to explain.

Vista, for the most part, is a DRM and consumer rights nightmare. It’s locked down pretty hard, and even degrades playback of HD content. This doesn’t bode well for Microsoft. It means to consumers that they no longer have control of their PC’s, and that MS at any time can require a reactivation of the OS itself. I find this unnerving to say the least. If you rip a CD, they can monitor when and and what computer it’s being played, as if you’re some criminal in hiding or something. Again, these are real reports coming in from testers and reports from MS itself. I call it bullshit. So far, the negatives are outweighing the positives here.

Mac OS X is a contender now for my new found dollars. It not only encourages the creation of new art, but doesn’t lock you into a dictatorship of my media. Sure, iTunes has DRM, but it allows you at least 5 CD burns, which are plenty if you’re just going to rip the tracks back to mp3 or ogg format. Apple hasn’t come out and said it’ll pander to Hollywood on the degradation of HD content, but I’d think that Steve Jobs has a thing or two to say about it. He plays hardball, and sees anything that’s anti-consumer as a threat to Apple’s growing user base. No, I think Apple would shield it’s users from the sort of content taint that MS has put into Vista.

Either way, I’m going to have to buy or build a new computer. Maybe I should go with a Mac after all. There are far too many positives and few negatives.

Maybe more later….

Tags: Life, Technology //