My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

Yet Another Reason to Get a PowerBook

2001.01.31 - Dave Beekman

There are a number of reasons why a PowerBook is the perfect computer for writers. Some of the advantages are obvious. The portability lets you take it to places where your creative juices can flow, like the trendy coffee house with the hotties behind the counter or the only quiet spot in a house full of kids - that would be up on the roof, next to the chimney. (Thank goodness for AirPort!)

The small, intimate size is an advantage too. A 500 MHz Power Mac G4 with a couple of 19" monitors is just the thing for page layout or Photoshop, but it's a little intimidating and writer's-block-inducing for banging out columns or letters - kind of like composing haiku on the side of a building with spray paint.

Then there's the coolness factor. What PowerBook owner doesn't like to whip his or her unit out in a public place and start pounding away on it? People cast envious glances at our equipment, PowerBook G4 even if it's only a 540 with a mere 9-1/2 inch screen. If it's a well endowed Pismo, look out! We won't even consider the Unobtanium G4 'book!

Those are all great reasons to own a PB, and any one of them should be enough to compel you to whip out your plastic.

But there is another advantage that's rarely spoken of, and it's not given the credit it deserves. I'm talking about how well a 'book accommodates those among us who are, shall we say, keyboard challenged. We're the ones who took typing in our sophomore year because we heard there were girls in the class, and then managed to spend an entire semester not only not learning how to type, but also getting nowhere with the girls. Then, by faithfully applying that same kind of discipline after high school, we managed to use up all of the free synapses in our brains on other manual skills, so that now there is absolutely no chance of our ever internalizing the dexterity needed to navigate a keyboard.

Those of us in this elite cadre practice what is known as "hunt 'n peck" typing, and we're proud to be called "hunt 'n peckers." But along with our glacially slow WPM (words per minute), we also suffer from an occupational disorder known as "hunt 'n pecker head," which is brought on by constantly having to look up at the screen and down at the keyboard. The primary symptom of this dreaded condition is a pain that begins at the base of the neck and eventually works its way around your entire head until your eyebrows hurt.

If this sounds familiar, help is on the way. Just plop a PowerBook onto your lap, prop your chin up on a Coke can, and get ready for hunt 'n peck nirvana. The screen and keyboard are both right there in your field of view, needing only a slight flick of the eyeballs to take in. Now you can work for hours without your neck giving out and your head rolling onto your left shoulder. You may even be able to keep at it long enough to get a case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, just like a real typist.

If your lack of typing skill has always been a pain in the neck, you now have all the reasons you need to get a PowerBook.

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

Join us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Recent My Turn articles

Back to Mac OS 9 Because It's All I Need, 2011.01.26. Sebastian Patting sold his Intel Macs and went back to PowerPC Macs and Mac OS 9. Here's why.
Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 2008.08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 2008.07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
More in the My Turn index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Macintosh Portable, introduced 1989.09.20. The nearly 16 lb. behemoth was innovative but not a smashing success.
February 13 in LEM history: 01: Layoffs may hurt Mac market - 02: Unix for the Mac - Rage against the Macintosh - 03: Options to move data from PCs to Macs - 04: Low cost RAM for older 'Books - 06: Apple, IBM, and Intel - 07: Picking the right cheap computer, new or used - 08: I needed to find an older Mac
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay