2004-04-20 - 9:52 p.m.
More or less seemingly out of the blue, I bought a new computer! Well, actually it's an additional computer, a laptop, as I still expect to keep using my "old" desktop computer for most applications.
The genesis of this was "the trip," which shall remain nameless, but I think you know which one I mean. On the three other such trips I had gone on, there had always been a ton of kids videotaping everything, whereas I was merely taking still pictures with disposable cameras. This time, however, I was the only one actually taking video footage and as over the years I had developed a yen to actually make a great video of the trip, it ends up I got that assignment by default--kind of a combination of my desire and the woman-who-runs-the-trip's request.
But I'm very excited about it. The videos that had been made previously (mostly by the kids) had always been unsatisfactory to me...they weren't worthy "documentaries," not how I would like to make it, anyway, but were instead more like home movies with a bunch of kids playing around. They were cute...that part was good...but they lacked a certain seriousness of intention that I think the trip deserved. So this time I hope to remedy that, by having what I think is the right mix of fun and purpose.
But gee, here I had a great miniDV digital video camera and had taken lots of footage that I liked, but regarding actually editing that stuff into a watchable video, well, I figured I would cross that bridge when I came to it. And "coming to it" came pretty quickly, as now is the time I would like to assemble the ideas that I have into a well-finished product and I realized I had no way to do it.
One of the other chaperones gave me a great idea: he said that if I had an Apple i-Book, the built-in i-Movie software would help me edit like a charm--the computer was made for the very project I had in mind.
The school owns a heck of lot of i-Books, but unfortunately, it ends up that they are all given out to all of the teachers to use and there were no spares. I suppose I could conceivably manage to borrow one from a teacher who might be willing to let go of her laptop for a couple of weeks, but I just wouldn't ask. Alternatively, I could work on the project in one of the computer labs at school where there are dozens of i-Macs, which also have the i-Movie software. But the truth is, I wanted to be at home alone and undisturbed for this creativity.
I investigated the possibility of buying digital video editing software for my home PC, and while there is some wonderful software out there, their system requirements outdo my poor computer, which was the latest and greatest thing when I bought it three years ago, but is now pretty Mickey-Mouse compared with what one can get nowadays. The recommended chip speed for the software was 1 gigahertz, and mine is only 750. Something like a 30 gig hard drive was a must, as was 500 megabytes of RAM. Me, I've got a 10 gig hard drive (that keeps filling up and I keep transfering stuff over to CD-RWs) and, I'm almost embarrassed to say, I've got only 64 megabytes of RAM. Plus I don't even have a video capture card.
To upgrade my computer in order to conform with the software that I would have to buy would cost me as much as it would to simply buy a whole new computer, so ultimately I decided to simply go ahead and buy my own Apple i-Book. I studied various systems on the Internet and even took a couple of different editing tutorials, and decided that this was the easiest and best route. I don't have to worry about issues of compatibility, as everything in there is made to work together, whereas if I tried to upgrade my Dell PC, who knows what kind of frustrating trouble I could get into from one component to the next. I don't have time to build and trouble-shoot a whole new computer, so getting an i-Book and editing right out of the box is the way to go for me!
It's really great, though, I expect this thing to be so cool. I like the white laptop case and the lighted apple on the lid and the white keys; I like the looks of it better than the more powerful (and more expensive) power-Books. I got the maximum of what Apple offered in the i-Book--the 14" screen, the 1.2GHZ G4 chip, 1.256 gigabytes of RAM, and a 60 gigabyte hard drive. It also has a DVD/CD reader, DVD/CD burner. So I can transfer my movie directly to a DVD (or video, or e-mail).
I've NEVER had an Apple before, always being a devout "PC" man. Unlike most people who seem to get more conservative the older they get, I'm the opposite. I'll still have the desktop for the Microsoft Word and the Excel spreadsheets, things that integrate seamlessly with my environment at work, but for the artistic, creative stuff, Apple has always been the way to go. Besides, it fits my politics. My PC is a Dell, and while their current catalogue reveals an almost mind-boggling array of available stuff, I was shocked to learn that Dell is a MAJOR financial donor to President Bush, which means, of course, that they therefore sure aren't on the side of the people. And how could they be...I've noticed Dell to be one of the major outsourcers of American tech jobs to India, something I experience every time I have to call their tech line, which is way more frequent than one should (which is a "Microsoft" issue more than a "Dell" issue). I hope Apple will be more stable and reliable, tech-wise. And Apple donates to political causes that I believe in! (Apple has always been about "empowering the people".)
Throughout my work career, I've felt a little bad about not being fluent in Apple. Now I pretty much expect to enjoy being..."bilingual".
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