I use SuperDuper! to maintain a fully bootable backup of my iMac. A couple of weeks ago my iMac G5 decided it was tired and began to unceremoniously shut itself down. Faced with potential disaster, I simply connected my PowerBook G4 to my FireWire backup drive, booted from the external drive and continued to work as if nothing had happened. My iMac was away for a week; it took awhile because replacing the power supply didn’t help, it was actually a logic board problem. Yesterday, I was back to the twenty inch screen after using SuperDuper! to update my iMac from the FireWire drive.

Many thanks to Dave Nanian and Bruce Lacey at shirt-pocket.com.

My family has owned twenty Macs in the last twenty-three years. My Macs have lived charmed lives, I’ve never paid to have a Mac fixed. I have had three hardware problems; all three occurred in the last six years. My original AirPort Base Station failed and was replaced free of charge long after the warranty had lapsed. My daughter’s iBook had a logic board problem that Apple fixed without cost to me; again, after the warranty had expired. Last week my iMac G5 required a visit to the computer technician (see first paragraph) and was repaired under warranty.

I loved watching Joe Montana and Michael Jordan. They both have big hearts, love the game and wanted the ball in the final minutes. I prefer proven veterans to rookies. I’ve never been able to comprehend why rookies receive huge contracts. That said, I’ve just paid for TextMate even though I own version 8 of BBEdit. I’ve heard TextMate targets ‘switchers’ and coders. I’m not a prototypical ‘PC switcher;’ I started using Macs in 1984, moved to NeXT, then to PCs and finally back to Apple and Mac years ago. I’m also not a propeller head. I do basic text editing and a little (very little) HTML, XHTML and CSS.

BBEdit is deep, feature rich, solid and proven. It has features that I’ve only scratched the surface of. I admire Rich Siegel and the gang at Bare Bones.

TextMate is fun. It feels good and has tremendous potential! I’m impressed by Allan Odgaard.

Question: So… who is going to win the Mac text editor war?
Answer: It’s not a war, but users, like you and me, win!

Macs are beginning to regain lost market share. Impressive new programs are being developed for the Mac and that’s great, but you won’t catch me betting against a veteran with a big heart. I’m looking forward to seeing future versions of BBEdit and TextMate.

My deal is to be happy and to try to help others be happier.

Can computers and computer software help people live happier lives? Although the initial purchase of a computer is almost always an exciting, full-of-promise, time, I suspect that many, perhaps most, people quickly become frustrated with their new machines and eventually lose hope that they will ever become truly helpful devices.

Many years ago, I was uncomfortably using Windows 95 at my medical office and at home; I certainly wasn’t having fun. Almost every day I would receive calls from friends asking me questions like, “What does it mean when it says, cannot find TWAIN.DLL?” or making statements like, “I tried to install a sound card and now nothing works.” My, very tolerant, wife would actually leave the house when I was installing new PC hardware.

Shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple I found myself wearing a path in the sidewalk in front of an Apple vendor’s store here in Vancouver. I was contemplating purchasing Macs for my family, but I had a substantial investment in my PCs and my Window’s software, so it wasn’t an easy decision.

News Flash – Computers can be helpful and fun!

Moving to the Mac was the best technology decision I’ve ever made. These days when friends call with questions I say, “I’m sorry I haven’t kept up with Windows problems, I’m using a Mac.”

Consider this simple plan:

1. Buy a new Mac
2. Buy an external FireWire hard drive
3. Buy SuperDuper! and use it every day

Your computing life will never be perfect, but you will enjoy using your Mac and I’m betting that will make you happier. I run my home business with a Mac.

When I was a med student I enjoyed watching the engineering students play with their punch cards; for whatever reason, these crazy guys would curse and then throw piles of their cards in the air. They did it, for me, over and over and over again.

Later, I watched my father play with a little HP computer that sported a tiny black and white screen and a built-in thermal printer. I remember buying dad 16 K of RAM and a program called VisiCalc for Christmas.

My first personal computer was a North Star Advantage. It ran an OS called CP/M and had two large floppy drives. Shortly after buying it, I invested in an amazing 5 MB hard disc, that took almost an entire day to format.

My computing world changed forever when I saw the Apple Lisa demonstrated at a ComputerWorld store in Vancouver. My fascination with the Lisa was so obvious that one of the sales guys asked me if I would like to watch a Steve Jobs’ video. It was as if Steve understood exactly where I lived; I loved the great toys he mentioned!

Today, I play with a 20″ iMac and my wife plays with a PowerBook. Steve’s passion for great products is more evident than ever! BTW, speaking of great toys, have you seen the new iPod nano? Wow!

Imagine operating an international business, from the comfort of home, and all the while getting to play with some of the coolest toys ever. I know my dad would have been impressed.