Tan Family Blog

We are well into the new year now, but when I walked in and asked to buy a near-top-of-the-line iMac, the salesman in the Apple Store must have thought it was Christmas all over again.

Some important context first: unlike my wife and brother, who, as Queensland Health employees, receive a generous allowance for CME (continuing medical education) and are not required to demonstrate how that money is spent, I receive a use-it-or-lose-it allowance which is only reimbursed for CME expenses already incurred. This is how I came to spend $2500 on a computer I did not actually need.

The decision to do so was vexed, but not for financial reasons. For the last five years, I have considered myself a staunch Linux user and free software supporter. Fortunately for me, this has been a golden age for Linux hobbyists, with vast improvements in quality of the operating system and the available applications. Using Linux has satisfied my need to tinker, my non-conformist streak and my idealistic belief in great achievements motivated by altruism rather than profit. Would I be abandoning my principles for just one shiny new computer?

I am also no great fan of Apple, whose major redeeming quality is that it isn't Microsoft. Indeed, I recently labelled Apple users as freedom-hating, bling-worshipping, latte-sipping skivvy-wearers, but only in reference to admitting that I was about to join their ranks. (Of course, this characterisation is obviously unfair, as not all Apple users wear skivvies.)

Having overcome my ambivalence, I strode purposefully into the Chermside Apple Store on Saturday determined to make the purchase. Hau accompanied me for moral support, or more specifically to ensure that I did not chicken out at the last minute. Ten minutes later, we were walking out to the applause of the store staff and patrons (I am told this is the traditional "hazing" of first-time Apple owners). Fortunately, Hau was the one carrying the box, so naturally I joined in the applause and slapped him on the back to deflect attention from me.

Since then, I have spent relatively little time admiring the iMac. (Instead, I have been pre-occupied with configuring Drupal and adding content to this rather bare website with my old computer.) The most that I can say is that the screen size and resolution are fantastic, and anything less (including the monitors connected to my Linux boxes) feels cramped. And much of the free software I enjoy is also available for Mac, else this entire exercise would have been a non-starter.

Over the next 2-3 weeks, the notion that Macs are user-friendly will be tested, since Anne (a Mac novice like me) will be the main user. If she does not like it, not only will the proposition be disproved (in my mind), but I have promised to let Hau have the computer. At least then it would be with someone who truly appreciates it!

So I am not ready to give a final rating (nor to discard my Linux boxes), but so far my impression is favourable.