I said there was no other way out of here

[austin_dern]

No fresh news on the iBook. So, I went to the department's computer tech people and asked if I might borrow a computer -- preferably Mac, but anything that could read a USB key and be used for LaTeX writing. (LaTeX is a mathematics-friendly and strangely pleasurable typesetting markup language; you can read and write it with any text editor, but compile it into ready-to-publish PDFs.) They looked around and after apologizing that it wouldn't be very fast a couple-years-old but freshly repaired Windows laptop. All right ...

I took it back to my office, popped it open, and got to where it asked my user ID and password. I took it back and asked, ``How do I log in?'' -- while I've got several accounts, it can't know any of them when it's not plugged into a network, after all. Did I want a local or a network log-in? Since I'd almost certainly have to download something to compile LaTeX files I'd need a network sooner or later, and besides, has any computer since 1993 been any good without Internet access?

Two hours later came the verdict: the keyboard doesn't work. Sorry for the fuss.

On the upside, one of today's spams had the subject ``Aphid Kruschev,'' which is a great combination of syllables.

Trivia: Mariner 9 transmitted 7,329 TV pictures of Mars, Phobos, and Deimos, returning 54 billion bits of data, 27 times the total amount of data returned by all previous U.S. missions to Mars. Its twin Mariner 8 crashed into the Atlantic when its Centaur rocket stage began tumbling 265 seconds after launch. Source: On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet, 1958-1978, Edward Clinton Ezell and Linda Neuman Ezell. NASA SP-4212.

Currently Reading: Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, Nelson Johnson.

Comments

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

That's rather poor going on the repair front, I have to say. My own experiences have been far better, but policies change, and probably vary with region anyway - the one time Bunny needed to be sent away to Apple (for its second display hinge repair; the Wallstreets had hinges made of pot metal, leading to a greater failure rate, coupled with the comparatively heavy display casing), the box arrived on Monday, and I received it back on Wednesday. Other repairs were carried out on the spot by a couple local Bay Area outfits.

I still think any good warranty ought to offer a loaner. For many people, computers are hardly quaint luxuries without which everything merely passes on by quite normally. Of course, there'd have to be some immediate attempt at transferring the data off the afflicted system, where possible, given that's by far the more pressing element of such a predicament.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I did ask at the centre if they rented computers but they thought it was a joke ... of course, had it just been the logic board or just been the hard drive everything would have been repaired either by Thursday or Friday. It's the combination of things that's the problem. They pledge 72 hour turnaround time, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays ...

The previous time the iBook had to be repaired, it was back in under two days, and that with the computer going out in the evening.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

"Has any computer since 1993 been any good without Internet access?"

My 486 sx-20 served me well until mid-1997 or so, and only was a source of internet access during the summer months. At college, it was set up in dorm rooms, where 1.44 Floppies, and later, Zip disks passed information to and from the campus Macs. I'd say the real breakpoint was about then for desktops, and about 1999 for laptops. then again, my Grandparents's computer has both a 12-inch monitor and no internet access, and it does the one thing they want it to do: Write the Christmas letter and print out 100 copies.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Oh, specific, task-oriented computers have never much needed Internet access ... but I imagine for most people the uses of a computer are e-mail, comic strips, checking the news, that sort of thing which are quite Internet-dependent. Report-writing and data-processing what can be done just fine by floppy/Zip discs and such are important too, but going without Internet access is kind of like having part of the keyboard chopped off.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

but I imagine for most people the uses of a computer are e-mail, comic strips, checking the news, that sort of thing which are quite Internet-dependent.

Well, for you and me, that's a lot of what we do. For, say, My Mom, she uses the computer to #1 Write documents to print out, #2 watch DVDs and #3 check email. That's it. Two of which can be done without internet access, and the third which would be quite managable on a 14.4 modem. Do be careful of the assumption that most people using a computer are using it the way you are, it's often not the case. There's a lot more non-internet gaming (Sims 2, Half-Life) going on, and more basic homework and print-intended materials than we go.

All that said, yes, the times I've been without a net connection have been twitchy uses of the computer at best. But.. that's *me*.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Ah, but even there one of your mom's three must-have capabilities for the computer is Internet-dependent. If it lost irrevocably its ability to connect to the Internet she'd have to replace it. I'd be curious what the number of computers that just plain don't get connected to the Internet at all -- other than those embedded in hardware that can't be expected to connect (``my thermostat sent me the most fascinating e-mail this morning'') or those that get temporarily connected for updates and such -- these days.