Dear Steve,

Help me buy a Mac. I’d like to, but you don’t make the one that I want.

I’m already a believer. I began my roundabout career in software on Macs. I learned to run Freehand and Pagemaker like a pro, figured out the Extensions folder, and parlayed that into my first adult freelance consulting gigs. This led to full-time work as a developer, then manager, then architect — all on Windows (and unix).

Until a couple of years ago, I had never bought a computer of my own — my employers had always furnished them. I agonized for a few months, and eventually bought a Dell desktop as a home office computer. It does the job, but I don’t love it. I should have gotten a G5. I forget the exact reason that I didn’t but that’s not the point — now you and I have another chance.

The Thinkpad 600X that I inherited from Lycos is nearing the end of its life. It’s been a good soldier, but it will need to be replaced sometime in the coming months. Since I have a “desktop” PC at home, I only use my laptop heavily when I travel, so I’m looking for a full-featured but very lightweight, slim notebook. A couple of weeks ago I stopped by the Sony store and looked at the lovely little TR5 again: 3lbs, wifi, Bluetooth, DVD-RW, webcam. Very slick. Or one of the newer 2-3lb slim 12 inch machines with no optical drive – I don’t need one when I travel.

Rich convinced me to stop by the Apple store afterwards. I love good design, and the fact that Mac OS is now based on unix makes me want to use it even more. Looking at the 12 inch Powerbook though, I just couldn’t get past a couple of shortcomings. The biggest fault is that the machine weighs 4.5 pounds. Given the raft of 2-3 pound travel machines on the market, 4.5 feels really heavy. If I’m going to spend $2K+ to replace my Thinkpad, I want something really light. I asked the sales guy why you don’t make an ultraslim machine without an optical drive. He said, well, our users want to be able to do video, audio, production, etc on the road. I gently suggested that I was standing there, ready to lay out my money, if only Apple would make a machine for which there is clearly a significant market. I told him about the Sony. He said there are features the Powerbook has that the Sony doesn’t. He’s wrong. He suggested that I write a note to you, Steve.

So, Steve, help me buy a Mac, please! I really want to, but unless you make a slimmed-down notebook (12″, Bluetooth, WiFi, and leave out the optical drive please), I just can’t bring myself to do it. Don’t make the same mistake that Nokia did — their insistence on a no-clamshell philosophy can set them back 2 years.

I have one more gmail account to give away. If you want one, drop me a line at bowen “at” dwelle “dot” org.

Ergonomic keyboard for pirates — by way of ksolo, by way of pork. Thanks for thinking of me! Arrrrrrr!

A string of little towns along the south shore of Lake Superior: Port Wing, Herbster, Cornucopia… Connected by a ribbon of fresh blacktop, seperated by acres and acres of second- and third-growth woods. Views out over the big lake, green green green everywhere, smoked fish straight from the co-op, sitting around the fire, watching the sun go down slowly. Stars! Lots of sun! Canoeing. Beaches. Great people, new friends. Amazing! Worth the drive!

And, even though it’s a bad one, worth the cold I caught on the way back. Cleaned up in Madison and caught a flight the next day to SF for a spot of work and a flurry of visits with old friends. Adam Marsh and Tina ?. Mark and Petra Pardini, with their new daughter Mia. Does she look like Mark? Yep, the wide part! Rich and Pam, who are kind and generous enough to put me up in their spare room (again!), with their lovely daughter Abby. Ted Baby, my “house husband,” probably the last guy I thought I’d end up married to via a mortgage, but now I’m glad for it, he’s a guy worth knowing. Marc Gardner and SanFranJess are off at some biker pig roast in Forestville but I’ll see them on Sunday. And X. Quite a surprise. Meredith says that she was always her favorite.

I had lunch with the guys I’m working with in Potrero Hill on Thursday, and it reminded me how much I have always wanted to live there. It’s a little town in the middle of the city, slightly wider streets, quiet, great views, good food, sunny. I was looking for a place there when Ted and I ended up buying ours in the Mission, but the Hill seemed too expensive. If I end up back in SF, that’s where I want to be, no question about it.

Just finished reading Joan Didion’s Where I Was From. It’s a great bit of California history, and an insight into the unique nature of the left-coast psyche. She does a good job explaining our particular creation myth. Recommended! Meredith, you should read this one.

A while back I re-read one of my sci-fi favorites, Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix Plus. I used to read tons of mostly “hard” SF when I was a kid. I can’t bring myself to even look at most of Sterling’s other stuff – it looks like junk – but Schismatrix is incredible. Lots of science, body modification both organic and mechanical, and a finely woven subplot about the nature of humanity. One idea I found interesting is that intelligence isn’t necessarily a trait that contributes well to survival in the long term. At geologic time scales, our “intelligent” striving for constant advancement is self-defeating and contradicts the galactic steady state. While I can’t say if that’s true, I’ve certainly felt my own version of that tension often enough.

And now on to Po Bronson’s What Should I Do With My Life? — picked it up in the airport coming back from the east coast the other week. So far, the vignettes are straightforward and honest, insightful, useful, interesting.

It’s getting warm here in Madison, warm and humid. I taught a sailing lesson in the early evening yesterday, great wind, and a great sail. Today I’m planning to head out on an I-20, but they are calling for afternoon thunderstorms. Wind = good. Rain = no problem. Lightning = bad.

After this week, I won’t be doing as much sailing for a little while… I’ve been invited up to a friend’s place on the shore of Lake Superior this weekend. Looking forwards to that, it should be beautiful up there. Plus lots of little country bars, etc. On my return I’ll be heading out to SF for a few days: a little work, and check in with friends and family. Then back to Madison for a week before heading off to Tallinn! I’ve spent at least six hours over the past couple of days trying to find decent, upgradeable flights from MSN to TLL and back… No dice — it looks like I’ll be sitting in back on that trip.