Welcoming "MackieMac" to our family

CUPERTINO, CA - AUGUST 7: People check out the...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

With the addition of a 20" iMac for the kids (and an Ikea Vika Amon desk to display it), we are now wholly a Windows-free house. This development was an important goal for me. I am an anal-retentive obsessive-compulsive type who likes everything "just so." It isn't good. I buy all my clothes from the same retailer/brand: shirts, undershirts, pants, underpants, undershirts, shoes, coats. My last three cars were all made by Honda. My TV, DVD player, stereo, and alarm clock are all made by Sony.

What started as new found love for a Mac mini and an iPod shuffle in 2005 wound up being an obsession to do everything the Apple way. We are a family of four; I have an iPod Touch (and maybe an iPhone this summer), my wife has a Red iPod Nano, my son has an iPod nano, and my daughter has the original shuffle (she's the youngest). An Apple Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express provide regular backups, ubiquitous wireless access, and music streaming around the house.

Where my kids used to argue over who crashed the Dell, now they argue who spent more time with "MackieMac." Parental Controls was one of the first features I enabled. My kids are addicted to Pokemon, Webkinz, American Girl crack. They get to spend one hour each day; 3 hours on the weekend. Enough to keep them out of the Disney clinic for recovering screen addicts. Being kids, their favourite application is Photo Booth. This fact might be worse than letting them catch another Chimchar. They have also relieved me of the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse I used on my MacBook.

duct taped dell
Dell Inspiron 2600 - Circa 2001

My wife is enjoying computing life without duct tape. She was previously addicted to the iTunes Bollywood edition, but the lack of Windows crashes now allows her to up her habit slightly. Hits by Lata and A.R Rahman are helping fill the 120GB hard drive on her new White MacBook. She has also upgraded to scolding me via iChat Video.

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G4 Mac mini

Meanwhile, the Mac mini that started the obsession serves the most critical role; as a media server and repository for all our family photos and videos. Mac mini has been upgraded from Tiger to Leopard; from iLife 06 to iLife 09; from 512MB of RAM to 1 GB. He's the one that paved the path for the others to follow. Apple turned a $500 customer into a lifelong addict.

Author: Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale. #nobridge