Re: [microsound] I-book, Powerbook or G4 Cube

[Jeremy Tolsma <ccws@xxxxxxxx>]

> if you are planning on using the machine for more (like I do), then my
> opinion is to get the fastest, best machine you can because they are
getting
> obsolete faster and faster.

In my opinion this is the best reason not to get the fastest machine
possible.  In a 6 months the fastest machine will be worth half as much.  If
I had money to burn maybe I wouldn't care, but if I sink thousands of
dollars into something I hate to see its value diminish so rapidly, it just
freaks me out and makes me feel like crap (usually after thinking about how
many hours I actually worked to obtain that money).

My feeling is that since the shelf life of computers is so short, the best
plan is to get the best bang for your buck..  go as cheap as you can while
still retaining reasonable specs.  Then put the money you saved where it
matters most, the audio interface.  The audio interface also wont depreciate
nearly as rapidly.

I think people forget just how powerful computers if the past 5 years are.
I know we're talking about macs here but in the PC world, everyone seems to
be ditching their ISA cards for PCI or usb/firewire.  I picked up a Turtle
Beach Multisound a couple weeks ago for $50.  The guy that sold it to me
said 'its fine, if you stick with the ISA bus'.  I understand that ISA bus
is too slow for video applications, and multi-bus cards, but for a single
audio bus, there are no improvements warranting the purchase of new
hardware.  ISA bus is slow, but my cpu runs at 400mhz which is fast enough
to power more ISA audiocards than I could fit in my machine.

I shake my head when I realize that people are still walking into computer
stores buying the latest Soundblaster AWE Live 3d Hollywood Surround Sound
Hiss Machine for $200 when they could pick up four old Multisounds for the
same price!