Works Like You Do

The point of this blog is to capture the highs and lows of making the change from a PC to a MAC (in this case laptop). It all began because I had a number of students working on a communications project and they needed to record podcasts and create some simple videos for the Web. Now, these things can be done on a PC or a MAC but they all had MACs and I had…a PC. THis means I had to download some great open source software for creating podcasts but they could use Garage Band. I needed to try to find something good for editing movies but they could use iMovie. Unfortunately for me, they needed help with Garage Band and iMovie. The solution was to borrow a MAC laptop that was set up like theirs and learn the programs and then teach them the basics and set them off to create content. If this sounds like a hassle, it was.

The IT guys who helped me suggested I think about trading my IBN laptop for a new MacBook Pro. That way I could run Windows and MAC software, they said. I eve saw a demo of Parallels and I read up on BootCamp. This was beginning to sound like the answer. I can use the software I am used to and then also begin to learn and introduce software from the MAC world. Besides, those MAC laptops have that great wide screen display which puts my IBM to shame. The final thing that convinced me was that the MACs didn’t have problems playing movies through the overhead LCD projectors. For some reason, our IBM T43 doesn’t when you want to play a movie or clip. It’s not that it’s impossible but sometimes you need to relaunch your software and sometimes you need to reboot to get it to do it. These are a real deal-breaker in the middle of class. Since I like to use clips and link to them from PowerPoint during a lecture, this seemed to be well worth the learning curve of a new machine.

Maybe the final, final fact that convinced me was my son saying, “Let’s see. You can have the latest, most expensive MacBook Pro for free to play with. It should run everything you currently use plus a number of new things. If it doesn’t work out, you can just get another IBM laptop. Is there really a question about whether or not you should do it?” And he was right and here I am.