All I want for Christmas

For as long as I have had a computer, I've always had an Apple, except for the one I am using now. Right now, I am using a Compaq Presario, which I have no problem with. In fact, the machine is dual bootable between Windows 2000Pro and Red Hat Linux. I recently took back most of the space I had allocated to Linux, so I could use the space for Podcasts and Itunes.

When I got my Ipod, I also sprung for a Griffin Italk, so that I could use the Ipod for writing a book about Virginia City and the Comstock Lode. I haven't done much with the book yet, except for gather materials as the hard work of writing it down is the most boring part, so, thus the Italk. I left myself a few voice messages which come out as WAV files. I have downloaded Audacity, a free software program that as I understand it, will convert and edit them into MP3 files. So, my first podcast should be on the way soon. People think I get bored, but I rarely do.

In checking out Apple's latest OS 10.2, I think, code named Tiger some of the new features include built in RSS support, a powerful search engine, installable mini-programs called Widgets and more fun things like Unix support. Apple recently lent its support for Podcasts, which is good, as long as they don't try to 'control' it.

I got this Presario because my former employer wanted me to log in from home, so rather than go through the 'sign out' process, I broke down and bought a Windoze machine since all the company was officially supporting at the time was Win 98, not even 2000 which was the then current OS. I got the most space possible, just in case, which I didn't really start to consume until I began downloading songs. it took the Ipod for me to download songs as I never did in the days of Napster. And, with the Ipod as the 'de facto' MP3 player, Apple's OS was certainly written with the Ipod in mind.

The Ipod's dominance may be short lived, as phones add on more space for songs, but if you want to know where innovation is headed, keep an eye on Apple. Apple is the teacher, Microsoft the student.