Infinitely faster

Ever notice how fast life is in this digital age?
Just a moment ago I got an email notification to alert me that someone posted a question about Apple’s new Mighty Mouse on a particular discussion board that I participate in. Since I knew the person, and the question was pretty straightforward, rather than reply on the message board I just sent her an instant message on iChat. Her response was, “Wow you’re fast!� To which I replied, “technology is fast.�

As I sit here instant messaging my friend just a couple minutes after she posted her question, I was forced to contemplate how expedient technology has made us. For communication we’ve got cell phones, text messaging, instant messaging… heck even with email if you leave your Mail application open it is nearly as fast as an instant message. To instantly entertain us we have broadband internet, RSS, podcasts, On-Demand cable, the iTunes Music Store, and my personal favorite - dvds that don’t require rewinding.

Someday we’ll tell our kids stories about how we had to spend 10 minutes rewinding a “tape� before we could watch a movie at home. Or about having to physically go to the store to buy a “cassette� when we wanted our favorite music artists’ new album. Maybe we’ll leave out the part about having to flip over the cassette halfway through the loop.

— Maurice Cheeks @ 11:45 am

Last Post

Well, everyone, this is my last post. I’ve graduated, and I’m moving to a new town to start a new job, with a new car, a new apartment, and of course, a new iBook.

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading over the past several months, and I hope you’ll continue to read as the other student bloggers try to help you find ways to get the most out of your Mac and your college experience.

For my fellow graduates, I’m going crib a goodbye from novelist and radio personality Garrison Keillor: “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”

— Stephen Jendrazak @ 9:20 am

Mobile Learning

So I’m going on a couple weeks with a nice new iPod Shuffle and I’m definitely more impressed than I expected to be. I wear it around work and one of the first things people say to me is the same concern I had before I tried it: “That’s cool, but I need a screen.” Not so fast. When deciding what music player to buy it’s easy to overlook the legendary integration between iTunes and Shuffle. It’s not just about random music fills, set up your playlists right and you’ll always know what’s on your Shuffle and how to get it.

Example: that little shuffle switch on the back.

I’m in my car a lot and I often like to cram up on some audiobooks on the way to/from work. For that, I just setup a playlist with my audiobook right at the top and set Shuffle to play in sequence. However, when I get to work though I want to hear some music, right? For that I just switch over to shuffle mode and Shuffle’s smart enough to know that I only want to hear music. Heading back home? Flick the switch back to sequential mode, tap on play 3x and Shuffle resets to the first track (my audiobook), right where I left off before.

That’s the beauty of the Shuffle system. It’s so small I can wear it wherever I go, the shuffle mode finds music I never knew I had, and (combined with the thousands of audiobooks on iTunes) it’s anytime, anywhere learning.

Swank.

— Clif @ 9:15 am

Freshman Orientation

Freshmen Orientations at my school have been going on for the past few weeks. It’s so interesting to watch the new students and their parents walk through the campus. I am reminded of my own freshman orientation. Wandering through the campus, I attempted to act as cool as the upperclassmen that I saw slowly making their way to their summer classes. Of course, I wasn’t as cool. I was a freshman and still needed the confidence that comes only from experience. I was nervous, excited and had a million questions that I was too afraid to ask (I didn’t want anyone to know I was a freshman of course). I see now though, that the new freshmen coming in act exactly the same as I did. To all you freshmen out there, don’t worry about not knowing where you or going or not looking cool. Remember, you are one out of a class of thousands so you are not alone!

I have tremendously enjoyed talking to these students and informing them of the benefits of buying a Mac. My favorite part is the looks on their faces when I tell them that they Apple even offers a student discount. They are shocked and excited.

So I wish all of you incoming freshmen lots of luck and my advice to you is: Buy a Mac, they ROCK!

— Annie @ 9:11 am

Welcome Mo!

I hope that everyone’s summer is going fantastic. Summer is one of the most fun times of the year, when anything is possible. Internships, cool jobs, traveling all over the world, finding a summer love, and great times with friends. With the summer winding down, back to school is just around the corner.

And, as college goes, eventually everyone graduates and heads off to the “real” world. We’ve had a few of our bloggers head off this summer, and soon we’ll be adding a few new names to the works.

First up is Maurice “Mo” Cheeks, a Career and Technical Education major at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. Mo hails from the south of Chicago and fills his iPod with an eclectic mix of beats featuring: Dave Matthews Band, Thousand Foot Krutch, 2Pac, Bob Marley, and O.A.R. He loves his 12″ Powerbook. Which iPod he carries depends on his mood, 60GB iPod when he feels like color, and his iPod shuffle when he feels like living life to a random soundtrack. If he won the lottery, he’d spread the love with everyone.

Anywhere on his social networking profiles, you’d find the following quote:

“If not You, then Who? If not Now, then When?” - Unknown

— Dave Morin @ 12:48 pm