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MacBook Pro Update
I've finally got my MacBook Pro fully operational. It took me a long time to move everything from my Thinkpad to the MacBook, but now for the first time since 1987, I am back on a Mac fulltime. It feels great.
Here are some questions/observations for the Mac crowd out there:
1 - I need a good simple audio app to re-encode my mp3s down to 96kps for posting. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles. I loved dbpoweramp on the PC. Any ideas?
2 - The Last.fm mac app rocks. I am in love with last.fm again.
3 - NetNewsWire seems great. It might make me use a feed reader for real.
It's been a long road moving 20 years of PC files, apps, and behavior but I am sure glad I finally did it.
Comments (16) | Posted August 10, 2006 in Venture Capital and Technology
Comments
In iTunes - Hit Advanced and Convert Selection to MP3. You should be able to adjust your import settings for when you want to lower the sound quality for posting.
There's also a great app called soundconverter which will let you drag and drop to it and change to any filetype you like.
NNW is great. If you sync with Newsgator or .Mac you can get the same stuff (including tabs) across multiple machines.
Posted by: Jonathan Greene | Aug 10, 2006 10:18:03 AM
I use Audacity for sound editing and conversion. You can browse its features here.
Posted by: David | Aug 10, 2006 10:27:51 AM
NNW is great for me also. I've used Newsfire but NNW is more compatible with my workflow.
If you haven't already, check out Quicksilver. At its most basic, it's an App launcher. With some use and expertise, it becomes your right hand.
Posted by: MikeInAZ | Aug 10, 2006 11:06:48 AM
This is eerie -- I just started using Last.fm for the first time last night! I love it too -- although somehow my Lone Justice station segued into Quentin Tarantino's record collection.
Posted by: Constance Reader | Aug 10, 2006 11:21:23 AM
* Take a peek at NewsFire as an RSS reader - slick and fast.
* You can't go wrong with AudioHijack Pro from Rogue Ameomba for encoding anything.
* and check out www.piknow.com for cool document management in OSX.
(NOTE: I have no affiliation with any of the above)
Posted by: Jim Parsons | Aug 10, 2006 12:41:50 PM
Can I jump in here and ask if there's any free application that allows me to record podcasts on my powerbook?
And am I the only person who has moved his dock to the left hand side of the screen?
Posted by: John Dodds | Aug 10, 2006 1:15:35 PM
Fred - Are you worried about not being able to have the same PC/online experience that the majority of consumers have given your position as a VC evaluating software/web apps? Or do you see a fundamental movement among the younger generation to Macs?
Posted by: Mazen | Aug 10, 2006 1:43:59 PM
Thanks for posting (and for a great blog in general.) I've been thinking about making the switch too. Do you miss the right mouse button?
Posted by: Rahul Pathak | Aug 10, 2006 1:45:37 PM
Mr. Wilson - Jonathan, above, has the correct bead on your resampling mp3s for postings question... iTunes is your best bet.
As for news readers... Nothng against NNW... If you're favorably inclined to sticking with Safari (some just plain don't like it. I do.) I'm happy to show you a high yield way that it can serve as your primary news reader in a delightful simple way. SMS or phone me at 9188139745
Congrats on completing your switch. Did Garageband ever straighten out for your Positively 10th Street casts? (Sorry if this is answered in your cast... haven't waded through all the TEDTalks yet and you and Gotham Gal are in line for attn soon :)
Posted by: Gerald Buckley | Aug 10, 2006 3:06:24 PM
What's the current email client of choice for Mac users ? I hear Entourage is even worse that Outlook.
Posted by: Maneck | Aug 11, 2006 1:27:15 AM
Fred,
welcome to the club! i just converted last week as well to the Macbook. Your first commenter hit it dead on with the iTunes mp3 conversion feature - works like a charm and you already have the app installed. BTW, I wrote up some observations from the move having spent the last ten yrs on a PC. It includes a rundown of some helpful applications you'll want to download:
http://www.scrollinondubs.com/?p=108
I'm assuming you have Parallels running for the PC apps for which there are no Mac equivalents?
Sean
Posted by: Sean Tierney | Aug 11, 2006 3:37:51 AM
Not sure how to answer the email question. Outlook tends to be pretty vital to a lot of folks and it's one of the applications that's difficult to replicate or surpass on the Mac. If you don't work in an Exchange environment, it's naturally a lot easier. In other words, I really don't think Outlook sucks to begin with. Then again, a few years in the Notes gulag could make Outlook Express seem elegant.
My take -
I like Entourage. As an Outlook replacement it does a pretty good job and as a mail client over all, I didn't really have any quarrels. If you need calendaring and contacts to be really tightly integrated, it's worth evaluating, if you're hooked up to an Exchange server behind the curtain, it's also worth a look.
If you don't need any of the foregoing, Mail.app is great. There are third party options here, I didn't find any of them to be superior to Mail.app. I've been extremely happy with Mail.app for all my personal mail via IMAP. It's not without some blemishes here and there, but that plus iCal and Address book does a pretty good job handling what I do in Outlook at work.
Posted by: Grant | Aug 11, 2006 6:04:20 AM
Yes, Fred, the dreaded iTunes is your best bet. For funcionality and ease of use, it can't be beaten. There are things I hate about it - the playlist management blows, mainly if you are importing songs that aren't named/catagorized. Cd burning is a bit lame - waiting to click the icon during a very breif window of opportunity.
For making mp3's at various bit rates, well iTunes gotcha covered there.
Sorry.
Posted by: jackson | Aug 11, 2006 11:16:45 AM
I use this site to find out about mac osx stuff. Its been pretty useful in my conversion to Mac from PC.
http://osx.iusethis.com/
Posted by: evbart | Aug 11, 2006 11:42:38 AM
Fred,
Check out Lame encoder here:
www.spaghetticode.org/lame/
Posted by: Shuki Haiminis | Aug 12, 2006 1:05:08 AM
The new last.fm player is very nice. I have been using it at work quite frequently. Their selection of music just keeps on growing and getting better and better.
Posted by: spi | Aug 12, 2006 11:42:29 PM
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