I was never a fan of Apple - in fact, I resisted the iPod forever and used other mp3 players. But the iPhone changed that. Once I was it and played with it a little - I had to have one (the classic version). AT&T is fine where i live and work and travel, so I've had few issues with it, and the fact that it connects to wireless networks at the PClub, etc speeds the data transfer then.

Anyway, I've become hooked. I recently bought a MacBook Pro, so I am slowly being sucked into the Apple cult. :)

My girl is so resistant to Apple that she refuses to even let me put iTunes on her laptop. I ask why, and I get: "It's an Apple product." :confused: :rolleyes:

I never understood the whole anti-Apple thing. The company make some very good products and Apple haters are just missing out.

The iPod is the best MP3 player out there.
The iPhone is one of the best consumer cell phones out there (IMO).
OS X is by far the best consumer operating system out there.

I just don't get it... :confused:

EDIT: Yes, I had Kool-Aid for breakfast :D

I'm not a huge Apple fan, but I do like some of their products. I love my iPod, even though my other half gives me grief on a pretty regular basis about owning one (he is a fan of other portable media players). As for the iPhone, I think it's an excellent consumer product. However, despite the recent upgrades to the device, there are still a lot of things it can't do, or do as well as other products, that are more business-oriented. I think the user interface is great, and the device has a great look and feel. And it does render web pages amazingly well for a handheld device.

Still, I'd prefer a real keyboard (I've tried to type on the iPhone's touch screen and much prefer real keys) and I use the BlackBerry's cut and paste text option on a regular basis when editing documents or e-mails while on the go. And, on top of that, my employer only supports BlackBerry Enterprise Server for mobile access to our corporate e-mail, intranet, and LDAP servers. So that pretty much cinches it. If I want that kind of access, I have to use a BlackBerry device.

What I do love about the iPhone is that it has led competitors to improve their devices, especially the UI. So even us non-iPhone users have benefited from some of Apple's innovations, as other products have been improved to better compete with the iPhone.

I just found a small wooden chip.

Will the owner please dial 1 on the white courtesy phone?

:D

:p

In other news, I have finally broken down and booked a CRJ-200. I will be plying the skies between IAH and ELP in mid-september (want to head out to White Sands). The most convenient option coming back was a CR2. I briefly considered WN, as they had a decent flight-time as well, but HOU is just too inconvenient for me.

OMG! I hope you booked the exit row aisle. Avoid the window seats on that plane at all costs.

Yep. I've heard that exit rows don't make much of a difference on those planes, though...

There is no extra leg room, but the row in front of you does not recline so it is a little better (IME). Still, any seat on a CR2 is just bad.

There's about an extra inch to inch and a half of pitch. It does make some difference — but the difference is kind of like the difference between having one eye poked out with a hammer and having both eyes poked out with a hammer. The exit row aisle seats are slightly less miserable than the rest of the seats on the plane.

On the positive side, you get to add a new aircraft type to the FlightMemory. And if you've not flown Chautauqua before, you get a new airline. And odds are you'll get to experience the new and improved B84 upon arrival at IAH.

So are you on a 737 for the IAH-ELP flight? That's a pretty easy EUA in my experience.

Actually there is about an inch more room. My knees do not touch the back of the seat in front of me in the CR2 exit row when I sit fully upright. My knees are wedged into the back of the seat in front of me when I sit in any other row on the CR2 (except for the bulkhead). It's not much space, but it is there. You can also look at the spacing between the seat supports on the floor at the aisle and see the slight difference in seat spacing between the exit and non-exit rows.

I will certainly trust your expertise. :D It is possible that I am usually just so miserable by being on them that I did not notice.

Might be a wooden nickel from the Saint Arnold Brewery.

I don't count express/connection carriers as separate airlines for FlightMemory, and just list them all as CO.

It's going to suck no matter where you sit.