steve jobs finally got me, or mac is the new crack

Well, not really. I mean, I'm on my 3rd iPod nano (first was killed by heat and an open bottle of contact lens solution in the car in the same bag the iPod was in, I lost the 2nd in the Denver airport last year) and I absolutely love that product. Yes, I know the file format is proprietary, blah blah blah, but I've found it far easier to use than any comparable product. I'd rather spend my time enjoying listening to music than fighting with trying to get it in and out of a mp3 player (or fighting with Windows formats).

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Mac for a long time, particularly with the rise of the iPod, iPhone, now iPad... and being around young musicians at Capitol Garage who are toting Macs around because of its traditional niche in arts and music, but the price scared me a little bit. I've always lived on the trailing edge of tech since getting a PC in the 90s... my first one was a PS/1, then I had two clone boxes (in the case of the 2nd, a guy swapped out the mob with an "old" game mob of his that he had no further use for).

The clone boxes eventually started to die of BSOD, and at that point, I thought maybe it was time to move to a cheap laptop. Well, the Compaq (HP) I bought started to die of blank screening/BSOD'ing < 1 year old (and the sticking keys), but I figured WTH, I paid < $400 with tax, so I bought a Toshiba Satellite... that also began sticking and having mysterious crashes in Vista. It still works pretty decent *most* of the time, and I've got Word on it and Sharepoint at work only interfaces with PCs for now... so I'll have it around for telecommuting...

What made me pull the trigger now is Apple putting out two Mac Book Pros in the $1200-$1500 range; I got the higher-end one with an accidental drop protection plan today, and figuring that if I take good care of this computer I won't be swapping it out after a year. Plus Garage Band, which is an excellent practice tool (I have no illusions about my song writing abilities, but being able to play along with loops is invaluable to musical development and practice). I'd looked at compact portable studios as well as Band in a Box, but... figured I'd try Garage Band for a while and I can always get BIAB for Mac later.