Certain sacrifices have been made in my life that seem a little arbitrary, to say the least: I don't currently own a TV, although I do watch TV with my parents once a week -- it's a good family time, and we enjoy it. I also don't go out much: working on everything that I do, from comic strips to short stories to programming languages leaves me very little time.
But the truth of it is, it's *quiet* around my apartment. No pets, no roommates, no significant others, it's sometimes pretty stressing. I'm not complaining, it's my choice -- but it's also something that needs to be fixed, even if by temporary solution.
But one final weirdness I have is this anti-corporate stance that seems to pervade my life. No biggie, just one that I seem never to be able to get beyond; I just don't like companies. The few I do like have shown, through significants acts and constant benevolence to charities, that they actually notice something beyond their wallet. And even those, I don't trust -- when is it a PR stunt and when is it true charity?
This, sadly, includes Apple computers. I'm a huge fan of them in many ways: I own several, and have used them since the first Apple II+ hit my house. I like them, and I want to like them.
Several times they've betrayed this trust. Don't think that I don't remember when things like kids getting kicked out of their open-source efforts, or crappy developer relationships like Superclock and Watson occur. They're not clean, just cleaner than average.
So when two companies team up, like Audible and Apple did, they seem at best suspicious, at worst downright disgusting.
Which would have been the case, but I'd been using Audible for about a year before.
What, then, is with all the buildup?
My point is this: I shouldn't like them... and I do anyway. Dang it, they do pretty good. They've got good books, good prices, you can put their books to CDs -- audio or data -- and their premium program is a good deal. And now there's a native player out there.
They have a decent, if a little light, selection of science fiction, some nice historical books, and a whole bunch of others. The books work well, and I'm not getting crappy quality either.
And finally -- you can download them to three other computers. Modest, but doable. I can at least get them both at work and at home, with one to spare (which went to my laptop).
My only complaint is this: I hate iTunes. Really. Audion is much better. And I want to use Audion for playing my downloads. I doubt they'll open up the system, so I suppose this is just a far-out wish. But as it stands, it's pretty good.
Posted by Ted Stevko at October 14, 2002 04:26 PMI do not own a computer but am rather using an inexpensive MSN Companion (Compaq). I am disabled with MS and thus have no money for the Apple laptop I would find so helpful in my efforts to begin writing again. I had heard sometime ago that Apple donates free computers to those in need. I certainly quality in that respect. If someone could guide me in finding the laptop I need, I would be truly grateful. Sitting in front of a PC is difficult, which is why a would like a laptop. Thank you.
Posted by: Janet Anderson at June 30, 2004 05:16 AM