tomacintosh.com

As the Macintosh celebrated it’s 25th birthday yesterday, I found myself wondering what it would’ve been like to have never used a Windows based PC. I didn’t get into computers properly till I was about sixteen. I’d always owned a Games Console but my parents could never afford to by a household PC. Once I’d finished High School I decided to go to College to do a Computers A-Level, that’s when my parents managed to buy me a Pentium 200MHz system to help me with my College work. I remember getting it delivered and my Dad said there was no other room in the house to keep it, except for my bedroom, result! Things went from there and within a week or two I signed up for an AOL Free Trial that got me online for two months, I never looked back. My A-level work actually suffered from the fact I had my own PC because I’d end up staying on it all night and either being late, or falling asleep in College. To cut a long story short I went from 1996 to 2004 owning various PC’s that I built myself.

What made me Switch? One answer, iPod…

3rd Gen iPod was a big influence

In 2003 after much dallying I decided to get myself an iPod. I had a friend who was into Apple in a big way and he kept telling me it was brilliant taking his entire music library on the go. I’d owned various portable CD players in the past and always thought it was annoying having to choose a CD quickly before leaving the house, why couldn’t I just hit shuffle like I did on my PC? I got myself a brand new 3rd Gen iPod that had 15GB of storage. I loved the way the four control buttons lit up red and still miss this even today (I was expecting the click wheel to light up on my iPod Video but sadly it didn’t). I managed persuade another one of my friends to get an iPod and we both then had Apple in our minds. If they could make a music player that works this well, syncs effortlessly with your computer, has a simple yet powerful interface, uses innovative control wheel to let you scroll through your music, then what were their computers like? What was their operating system like? That’s when we started paying attention, thats when we started researching on the internet, visiting the Apple website to check out their products, and most importantly, watching the Keynotes. By the time 2004 came there was still that little something stopping me from switching, but then on August 31st, I got pushed over the edge, big time!  It was Apple Expo in Paris, hosted by Phil Schiller (Big Phil!) and I wasn’t really expecting much. I remember my friend texting me “have you seen the new iMac!?”

iMac G5 20" 1.8GHz

I hadn’t, but scurried online to check it out. The love affair began here. For days after the Keynote all I did was check the specs, watch the advert over and over, and think of a way I could afford one. I sorted out a deal with another friend, he was after a new system and bought my PC for a good price. I scrimped together the rest of the money to finally order this twenty inch beauty. When it arrived I got home from work and was so excited I couldn’t even open the box. When I did I couldn’t believe how big the screen looked. I remember my Dad waxing lyrical about the screen quality and he knew nothing about computers. It was unlike any computer I’d ever owned, it was a work of art. Now was the real test, could I use it, would I like using it, and would I miss Windows? I have to admit, for the first week I did miss Windows. I suppose if you use anything for the best part of 7 years then a change will feel weird. I was lucky to have a friend who had owned Macs for years though, and he helped me along the way. If ever I couldn’t do something I’d done in Windows, I learned that on a Mac it could be done, just differently and usually better. Programs I used in Windows always seemed to have a Mac equivalent. I started playing with iLife ‘04 and realised this is what I’d been missing. Everything just worked, everything seemed integrated, even 3rd party apps all shared the same look, they all fit together, it started feeling right.

So from there my love for everything Apple began, and it still lives on to this day. I have owned many Apple products since 2003, and I still own a fair few now! I am a very nostalgic person, and just wish I got into Apple sooner. I wish I was there from 1996, I wish I was there when Steve Jobs came back. But all I can do now is feed my  thirst for the past, and eBay is a very good place to do that. iMac G3’s, iMac G4’s, maybe a Classic Mac, I don’t know what is next, but I know I’ll never stop buying Apple.

My Apple Timeline

2003 – iPod 3rd Gen 15GB (Sold)
2004 – iMac 20″ 1.8GHz (Sold)
2005 – iMac 20″ 2.1GHz with iSight camera (Sold)
2006 – iPod 5th Gen 30GB (iPod Video)
2006 – iMac G3 Graphite 600MHz
2006 – iMac 20″ 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Sold)
2007 – Apple iPhone 8GB (Sold)
2007 – iPod Nano 2GB Black (Gave to my Brother)
2008 – Mac Mini 1.83GHz with 20″ Apple Cinema Display
2008 – AppleTV 160GB
2008 – Apple iPhone 3G 8GB
2008 – Time Capsule 1TB
2008 – MacBook 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo (Sold)
2008 – Unibody MacBook  2.4GHZ with Backlit Keyboard

At last Apple have updated the AppleTV to bring it in line with iTunes 8.0 and the new iPhone/iPod update. We can now create and play Genius playlists right on our TV’s. The update also adds some nice new features such as On-the-go playlists, HDTV Shows, Music Video playlists and finally a Standby option! There are also numerous security fixes that bring the AppleTV up to date with iTunes security wise.

To update your AppleTV just navigate to Settings > General > Update Software.

Mine had locked up when I turned the TV on (hopefully the new standby feature will help prevent this in the future) so I unplugged the power cable, reconnected it, and it automatically installed the update when it rebooted.

If you are like me and want your Movies and TV Shows to look good on your AppleTV, but also want them to play on your iPod or iPhone, then here is a guide to how I rip my DVD’s. Since the latest version of Handbrake you can also include 5.1 surround sound in your files and they will still play on your iPod or iPhone! Now I will show you how to get great rips, but still maintain compatability.

1. Download and install Handbrake software.
2. Insert your chosen DVD, if Apple DVD Player opens, just wait for it to load the film then quit.
3. Start Handbrake, it will ask you to choose a Source, choose your newly mounted DVD
4. Handbrake will now scan the DVD and nine times out of ten it will find the film for you, just check the ‘Title’ section to make sure it has picked up the film. You will be able to tell from the time.
   

   Make sure you choose the correct Title

    

5. Once you have done that now you need to choose a preset from the panel on the right hand side. If you can see the panel click the ‘Toggle Presets’ button in the top right of the app.
6. Now you need to choose iPod High-Rez, this will produce the highest quality file the iPod and iPhone can play.  
   

   Choose iPod High-Rez

    

7. Notice how Handbrake automatically puts a tick in the ‘Insert iPod Atom’ this ensures compatibility with the 5G and 5.5G iPod’s if the horizontal resolution exceeds 320 pixels.
8. Next you need to tweak the rip a bit by choosing ‘2-pass encoding’. This will make the encode take roughly twice as long but it is well worth it for the detail it retains, and also helps colour reproduction slightly.
9. If you want the film to play in 5.1 through your AppleTV and Amp then select ‘AVC/H.264 Video / AAC + AC3 Audio’    
   

   Get 5.1 audio in your Handbrake rips

    

10. Now all that’s left to do is to hit the Start button and wait for your film to be encoded.
11. Once done, drag it from the Desktop and into iTunes, iTunes will make a copy of it so you can then delete it off the Desktop. Once iTunes has processed it you can then rename it and add details such as Name, Year, Genre and now thanks to iTunes 8.0, you can add a Description.