I'm Having Trouble Controlling the Volume of my Voice
It was another day in the city. Suddenly the phone rang.
Me: Craig Cox here…
Lady's Voice: Man this thing is fast.
Me: What thing is fast?
Lady's Voice: This computer. I just hit 'return' and BANG, it's done.
She's right. It is fast. That was my wife — she's usually right. Me, I'm a columnist up against a deadline.
She called because it was her first time with our new computer. We weren't going to buy a new desktop computer. In fact, our next purchase was going to be a PowerBook, sometime in the coming spring. The new desktop purchase was going to be put off until the G4s came out. The old Performa does still work, after all. It would have done for a while longer.
Then I saw this ad in the catalog — 266 MHz G3 desktop, 96 MB RAM, 6MB Rage Pro VRAM, and a DVD player (meaning that I could — and can — watch movies, as I'm doing right now). It also means you get the Apple Audio/Video DVD personality card, which allows me to tap right into my TV, VCR, etc. Price? $1749. No tax, and shipping was free.
I called my buddy Bob and told him what I'd discovered. Bob's a highly paid Mac LAN administrator and Mac-fiend extraordinaire. It's his business to know the best deals on hardware and software — he buys both nearly every day. He said, "It's too good a deal to pass up. Go tell Patricia you've got to get it." I told him I was too scared. Some things even scare former Marines — like wives. I said "You tell her." He did.
I ordered it that night. Less than 48 hours later this beautiful box was sitting on my door step. Thanks Bob!
 
Somewhere Outside of Las Vegas…
Not only are these computers seriously fast, they're selling even faster. And no wonder. This is an excellent deal. It says something about Apple. In a lot of ways they've really gotten their act together. They're generating a lot of excitement. Large numbers of people are movin' on up, trading in their Windoze machines. Apple sales are up — way up. People are talking about Apple like they haven't in several years.
The other day, a contractor working for me asked what I knew about the iMac. I gave him the lowdown. He told me he had an old PC and he was simply going to have to buy a new computer. He remembered how much fun an old Mac he used to have at work was and how miserable his new high-powered Windoze machine at work is. He thought the iMac was seriously cool.
This wasn't your average teenager. This guy is over 60 years old! Recently at supper he told me he was going to buy one. I nearly had to restrain him to keep him from rushing away from a fine Lithuanian meal served at the award-winning Amber Rose restaurant in Dayton, Ohio.
Now, you'll have to excuse me. I've got to go back to my movie now. I'm dying to find out why this weird bald guy is so interested in finding sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads.
