Apple Still Has Something Windows 10 Doesn't -- August 1, 2015

Some years ago I remember pundits applauding every new version of Microsoft Windows because, finally, Windows "was almost like Apple." LOL. And, of course, the reason folks were thrilled that Windows was almost like Apple was because the majority of American corporations still used Windows and PCs.

It's a big deal, then, that IBM made the announcement this past week that its enterprise was going rogue.

It seems that one tech reviewer, a Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal was swimming upstream with this headline (July 28, 2015): Windows 10 or OS X? A Mac User Falls For the PC Again.

But then, when I clicked on the link, I saw the "rest of the story": With a simpler interface and new features, Microsoft’s Windows is more like Apple’s OS X than ever before.

LOL. I do believe the writer of that headline was aware of the inside joke.

But it intrigued me. How could a stalwart (by her own admission) Mac user fall for the PC?

It turns out to be very, very disingenuous headline writing.

After telling us how "wonderful" Windows 10 is, she then reminds us why Apple is still better. As the writer says: "There's just one little problem: the iPhone."

Actually, it turns out that, that's just one little problem. There are many, many more. The linked article lists them. If you don't have a subscription to the WSJ, I'm sure there's a way to get to the article.

But this graphic, I think, says it all:

Surely you're joking, Mr Watson.

Ms Stern writes:

But even on that impressive Dell, the trackpad seems to require the touch of an angel to consistently work correctly. So I’ve come to rely on the keyboard shortcut (Windows key + Tab). You can also click on the three-rectangle icon in the taskbar.

You can access Task View on Windows by swiping three fingers up on a trackpad—if that laptop has a “precision trackpad” like on the Surface Pro 3 or new Dell XPS 13, that is.  

I don't know about you, but remembering all these 1-finger, 2-finger, 3-finger swipes, and right click / left click is more than I can manage. I do use some "macro" short-cuts on my MacBook Air, but I don't need to use them. I think I use three: copy, paste, and I forget the third.

So, I was confused whether this reviewer really was going to go back to the PC.

She is, in her concluding paragraph: Microsoft is simply missing too many of the other pieces for me to go back to a PC full time. Still, I’m keeping Windows 10 on my Mac—even if it’s just for a round of “Solitaire” every once in a while.

And that, folks, is why IBM is switching. That damn Solitaire game.

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A Note To The Granddaughters

I sure am going to miss America when I die.

I was reminded of that while reading "Masterpiece: Beauty Outside the Grid --Riverside Park by Frederick Law Olmstead, Robert Moses, and Clifton Lloyd, in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Some of my favorite books on America's cities:

• Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America, Donald L. Miller, c. 2014
• The Hub’s Metropolis: Greater Boston’s Development from Railroad Suburbs to Smart Growth, James C. O’Connell, c. 2013 
• Unreal City: Las Vegas, Black Mesa, and The Fate of the West, Judith Nies, c. 2014
• Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West, One Meal at a Time, Stephen Fried, c. 2010  
• Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger, c. 1951
• The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald, c. 1925
• This Side of Paradise, F Scott Fitzgerald, c. 1920

When I look at the photograph of Riverside Park at the linked article, I often wish artistic visionaries and entrepreneurs would get more support from the state and federal government rather than so much pushback.

After all, it's only money. If it doesn't work out, tear it up and start over.

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More Proof That God Has a Sense of Humor

or

She's Behind the Conspiracy Theory

It's now being reported that on the island where the wing part that might be from the downed Malaysian Boeing 777, a huge volcano is erupting, forcing evacuations on the opposite side of the island. Google it; I'm sure the story is everywhere.

I can't make this stuff up.