It looks like Wee lad is nearly ready for a computer he can explore with less supervision. We’ve weighed several options, including cobbling a PC together from spare parts, and come to the tentative conclusion that he is better off with a Mac mini. Among the reasons are the fact that some of the programs we want him to use (educational games) require administrative privileges on the PC, but not on the Mac. I’ve watched him come dangerously close to wiping \WINDOWS with random key hits. Also, the mini is very small, and even though we have just upgraded to much larger desks from IKEA, space is a consideration. Moreover, he seems to handle mice with one button better than those with three. The Mac interface is designed with one button in mind, but my iBook is busy with my schoolwork much of the time. Lastly, I’ve decided I really like the video editing capabilities that come with every Mac. Since my iBook doesn’t have a SuperDrive, I can’t take advantage of the iDVD software, which claims to do everything I want. So, when he isn’t the Mac mini, maybe I can finally get around to editing all of this DV we’ve been taking since his birth. So, we’re probably going to get the mini, but not until after the tax refund and hopefully not until after Apple ships their next major system upgrade, Mac OS/X Tiger.
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