pepsi challenge

Here's a quick manifest of all my personally owned laptops up to this morning:

1998: Sony Vaio 505 (PCG-505 TR) -- this machine rocked!
2000: Sony Vaio SR-33 -- this machine sucked!
2001: Apple iBook (Late 2001) -- this machine rocked!
2004: Apple Powerbook G4 -- this machine rocked!
2006: Apple MacBook Pro (core2duo) -- this machine rocked!
2011: Apple MacBook Air 11" (Mid 2011) -- this machine rocked!

Today adds:

2015: Apple Macbook Pro Retina 13" (Mid 2014) -- I expect this machine to rock!

That first machine in 1998 weighed 3.1 pounds, lacked an optical drive, and came loaded with a bunch of bloatware. Today's machine weights 3.46 pounds, lacks an optical drive, and came loaded with a bunch of bloatware.

The worst piece of bloatware on this new box is a thing called 'iTunes'. It shares a name with a clever little bit of music management software I used to use on my 2001 iBook. The iTunes of today is a sprawling monstrosity that leaves me more confused with every new version.

I'm taking the Pepsi Challenge with the new machine. I'm going to listen to music on it without iTunes for a month. I'm not turning my back on Apple, or Mac OS X, or even my library of purchases from the iTunes store. Just iTunes itself.

I'm not even going to ditch iTunes yet on the iMac in our house where many purchases are made. Just on this machine. I've made one trip in and out to authorize this machine so that DRMized iTunes content will play in QuickTime and then hopefully in the browser. Audio seems all aces so far, video is not yet happy.

Though this machine is a technological marvel, I'm actually more excited about nuking iTunes than I am about this 'Retina' screen.