Overreliance on Technology

I recently had some issues with my internet service where it was practically unusable for nearly a week.  I called my internet provider they explained that for two months there have been issues and now it's gotten worse.  There was a small conversation on why they were taking their sweet time and all that jazz, where I rightfully got 50% discount for a certain amount of time.

Without a proper internet, I then got a taste of just how much I rely on it.  I always listen to podcasts or youtube videos while painting, and I was painting my latest speed painting at the time as well as writing.  In regards to music, I listen to grooveshark and in this computer I barely have any actual music downloaded.  So the choice was to either to paint in silence or listen to the same 10 songs over and over again.  Not being able to look for any images as references hurt a bit, as I had to make due in some occasions by finding them while I was at work.   Why not use your cellphone for data you ask?  Well because I only have 300MB of data per month.  I pay 40$/month which is perfect for peasants like me that use WIFI at home and at work while not having much money to afford a better deal. 



For me, it is a bit terrifying how over-reliant I am on technology.  I think as a society especially in North America, we all rely on it.  Husband and wife being in the same room and looking at iPads, cellphones and computer instead of talking more to one another, kids looking down at their cellphones texting instead of actually speaking to the friends they have next to one another.  We can't even go a bit away without looking at our phone even when we're driving, which has become such an incredible health issue in North America.  Louis CK goes over this subject in a manner that's much better articulated than what I'm doing on the youtube video above.

Technology & Humanity

I work with computers every day.  I have a PC at work, an iMac at home, and a macbook that I use both at work and home.  When I go home, I use my computer to either paint digitally so I can further improve my skills, or work on personal projects that may or may not change my career in a big way in the future.  Still failing on that latter point mind you, but the point remains that I use computers quite a bit.

I realize people use their tablets, computers and especially cellphones everywhere they go.  It seems the technological items that can bring us together take us further apart.  I go to lunch with some of my co-workers and at times they're all looking down at their cellphones.  It's probably because of how bored they are talking with me, but that's besides the point. 

I just mentioned that I use computers exessively, but I try to minimize it when I can.  I never buy ebooks, I prefer looking away from a computer if I am reading a book.  I use my cellphone sparingly though I imagine I am an exception in North America in this regard.  This video greatly illustrates how important technology is and some negative effects it has on society.  I was in 5 different countries in Europe over a month ago and noone used cellphones like people in Canada and America do.

Also stop taking pictures of your food everyday and posting it online.  No one gives a shit. :)

Apple marketing to Designers without the hardware to back it up!?

I am pretty frustrated but before I talk about it, like any story lets start at the beginning. I was in school and it was about time I bought my own computer, or rather laptop/macbook. Now if there is one thing about our professor who suggested a Macbook over a laptop, is that the man loves his Apple products. They certainly are stylish, look good, simple UI and the hardware is made to be utilized very well. And in the beginning, there weren't any issues. We were just starting to use Photoshop and Illustrator, two fantastic programs I still use. When I started designing or illustrating, everything was dandy. First of all, I never used the word dandy to describe things before. Second, throughout the near 4 year relationship between me and my Macbook, something changed...

Things got s l o w... Photoshop got slower, and I also started using Adobe AfterEffects. Now Photoshop didn't just get slow because my Mac got slow over time, I simply needed to make bigger illustrations which obviously meant the size also got bigger. For those that don't know, I love illustration and it's the simple road towards getting better... you need to make bigger illustrations so you can zoom in and be able to illustrate the small details which help push your final piece to the next level. It's the usual process for an illustrator. Now I use 300DPI for my illustrations and sometimes have to go down to 200DPI or 250DPI because my Mac cannot handle it. I asked one of the best illustrators in the world on CGhub how big his file is for a certain illustration, and he responded to 890DPI. So my current piece cannot handle 300DPI a lot of the time because sizes get too big, and yet he is using nearly three times that amount. This is just some perspective to show you far behind the "modern, new" Apple hardware is behind what is required.

Which brings me to my main point. Apple is targeting their Macbooks to designers and developers... It's like a bad joke, they are essentially trying to sell their hardware to the group of people who need the best piece of equipment possible, yet they are painfully behind in this department. A major problem is also the customization options are incredibly limited (ie. 2 options), which means you can't even improve your Mac that much if you want to. They have Macbooks that sell them with 4 GIGs and the most they can upgrade it to is 8 GIGs, while many laptops can be upgraded and bought with 16 GIGs. Processors and graphic cards, Apple is also painfully behind other laptops that have stronger and newer pieces. I know what some of you are thinking, after time computers get slow. I make sure it's not. And my HD is also just halfway full, as I keep much of my other work at a separate HD drive to save space on my Mac. So it's not due to age, not to lack of size, or porn (some of you were thinking it). My Macbook is just slow when it needs a good processor, graphics card and RAM, which happens with large files on Photoshop and sometimes when I am using AfterEffects. I am going to be using Cinema4D soon as well, and I don't even want to imagine how that's going to go.

At the beginning of 2013, I upgraded my RAM from 4 to 8 GIGs of RAM. I called up the store asking them the price of upgrading the MAC, and he said it was 400$ to replace it. He then offered me another solution which cost 130$ where another company makes RAM for Macs so they are compatible with Apple's hardware. Things have gotten a little bit faster since then but still not good enough, which is why I will be replacing my hard drive with something much faster which will hopefully make my Mac more tolerable using these two programs. It is already ridiculous enough that Apple charges far more than they should but at the end of the day, that's their marketing strategy. What does piss me off however, is charging that much for old hardware that's not up to standards and market these old computers to designers and developers? They need to properly upgrade the Macs and not just to 8 GIGs, but at least give us the option of being able to put 16 GIGs. The processors and graphic cards are also old now, much newer and better versions are needed. I would have switched to PC a long time ago if I wasn't so used to Macs now. I am waiting until Apple releases a Macbook that is up to date with technology so I can buy a second one, because this hasn't been the case in quite a few years. You've gotten old, stale, and offering incredibly overpriced products that were around 5 years ago Apple, time to catch up.