After this week’s announcement by Apple of its long-awaited iPad, I feel the need to go on a bit of a rant. As unusual as it may be for me to say so, I’m not thoroughly impressed with Jobs et al this time around. Yes, it appears to be an amazing piece of equipment, but after all the hype, I thought this might end up being yet another game changer in the tech world. As it stands, right now, I’m not entirely convinced. It may be that I have different computing needs from many or most other users, or that I have come to expect too much. At the same time, Apple has long been in the business of catering to people who “think different(ly)” and expect a lot out of their machines, and they’ve continued to impress us. Well, impress me at least. But this time I’m not so sure.

As a response to the netbook craze of late, I think iPad doesn’t quite do justice to itself or its pedigree. A computer that can only install programs authorized by its manufacturer will be useful only to the extent said manufacturer (you know who you are) allows it to be. This is not quite so groundbreaking for those of us who may have been holding out for Cupertino to produce something like the Macbook Air-inspired netbook or even a tablet to use during, for example, the hour-long transit commute 10 times a week. In my field, I spend a quarter of my day on the computer fiddling around with the command line, and running the various kinds of open-source, Unix-based software that Apple has been proud of supporting since the release of OS X nearly 10 years ago. I would really have loved to be able to take advantage of all that on a netbook-sized offering.

This is not, of course, to say that people won’t buy this and like it. I think they will. But the claims that you’ll be “holding the internet in your hand” and “touching your music” are hokey at best, and despite the appeal of the larger screen and new iBookstore, there seems to be little that will separate the iPad from its diminutive older siblings. I guess I was just hoping for more control. Obviously, Apple thinks the masses won’t miss it, and, let’s face it, the masses call the shots and must be appeased.

I found out today from EMG that Ben Folds is going to put out an album of all a cappella versions of his songs sung by collegiate a cappella groups. So it's rather convenient that we're having our triennial N2S reunion this weekend. Look for a YouTube video from Needless to Say in the near future. :)

and here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_077GutKBo

This is the first of what will eventually be several designs available through Anna's and my new brain-child, the Cleveland Rocks Online Store!



It all started when Anna told me she wanted a shirt that said "Cleveland Rocks" and I wittily replied something about a pile of rocks on a t-shirt. Apparently, she thought the same thing at the same time. So now we have a store dedicated to witty, nerdy ways to pay tribute to our fair city! Check it out!

http://www.cafepress.com/cleverocks

So also two weeks ago, my laptop broke. The same day as my guitar, in fact. Or maybe it was the day before. With the computer, however, I wasn't so lucky. I have an old G4 Titanium PowerBook, and the hinge holding the display broke on one side, actually surprisingly common, I found. I took it to the Apple store, which recommended a company on Cleveland's west side for the repair.

When I called that company, which is supposed to be the best Apple service place in Cleveland, they said they couldn't get the parts for that repair anymore and they couldn't help me. Hmph.

So I did about 5 minutes of searching and found PowerBookMedic.com, which charges a "mere" $75 for this hinge. It damn well had better be a good hinge for that price. In any case, I ordered one. I could have gotten two, but why get two when I only needed one, right? Or for $150 I could have had one hinge installed, or two for $200, but since I'm a cheapskate, I didn't feel like spending that much money. I mean, what are the odds of both of the hinges breaking on a single unit? [Enter IRONY.]

So, I figured out how to fix my broken hinge. Last night I took my entire Powerbook apart,which involved removing the battery, wireless card, bottom case, logic board, and display, and then easily extracted the left hinge and replaced it. I glued the display casing back together--yes, it was supposed to be glued--and went to bed to let the epoxy cure just as it looks here, clamps and all. [IRONY creeps slowly toward JARED, unnoticed.]



So today after work, I went to put it all back together, got mostly done, and discovered that the other hinge is actually broken, too. [IRONY springs into action, kicks JARED in the face, retreats silently and EXITS, satisfied.] I guess maybe the left hinge's broken state put more strain on the surviving hinge and it failed, too, only not visibly until just today. Damn.

So, I get to start all over. And spend another $75. So it goes.

While tuning my guitar the Friday before last (yes, Friday the 13th), something entirely unexpected happened. No, I didn't break a string. I broke a tuner. The wooden piece that I was turning to adjust the tension on my D string simply split in half, leaving me unable to turn the tuner. I couldn't believe it. Granted, the guitar is a couple years old, but for my 2nd most valuable possession, I didn't exactly expect it to break on me without some sort of horrible, horrible trauma, which thankfully [knock-on-wood] hasn't yet happened.

So I was talking with my good friend EMG on the phone, and told him about it. Having worked at a musical instrument retailer, he said I should try contacting Taylor about it, that they are "usually pretty good about these things." I was a little doubtful, but hey, what's the worst they can do, say no, right?

So instead of taking it to the local guitar guy, I figured I'd call up Taylor to see what they would do. Maybe I could get the part for cheap, and it would match the other 5 tuners and be not horrible to look at, even.

So, I called up Taylor last Tuesday and spoke to a very nice woman in the Service department. I explained what happened, and she asked for the model number (not even serial number or anything), and my address. Then, surprisingly, she told me that they'd ship it out to me that day, and asked if there was anything else she could help me with.

What? No credit card? No serial number confirmation? This was incredible: a company that would take care of a customer complaint, ship a new replacement part, at no cost to and with very little effort by the consumer. Taylor has definitely earned my respect, and my future patronage, in the event that I ever have a large sum of money laying around just begging me to spend it on another guitar.