Wow! Love it. Where do I begin?
In the first part of the video, LeVitus said he was "hot for Mac clones." Indeed, a lot of us were back in the day, even though I think most of us knew in our gut it wasn't going to work out so well for Apple. We users back then could see the negative impact on Apple over time. Then Steve returned, axed the clones, caused a lot of pain and worry, but in the end, we all know today how well things worked out for Apple. LeVitus said he was offered to be the Guy Kawasaki of Clones and became somewhat of a shill for PowerComputing. But "shill" in this case has a good meaning because, just as LeVitus said, Power Computering was pretty awesome back in the day. "Better, faster, cheaper machines" is right. I loved the Power Computing "Fighting back for the Mac" Sluggo slogan...
Seeing how Apple took the "BTO" approach of Power Computing and later incorporated into their own store was interesting. That was definitely a big appeal of P.C. and is still the hallmark of the Mac buying experience today. Imagine if you had basically no BTO configurability! Even so, Apple still needs to work on getting their BTO RAM price down. Their price gouging on that really stinks.
Anyway, I liked the part in the video where LeVitus said Macworld was "corporate." He was being nice. When a publication tells you that you can't say nice things about software that doesn't advertise much or at all, you know they are dirty rats.
Interestingly, the first and only Mac magazine I subscribed to in the 80's was MacUser, which is the publication he basically said was focused on the best software, not about who advertised the most. Back in the day, I knew of Macworld and browsed some issues, but liked MacUser much more. I started off with it in my teen years, and it just better suited a younger audience. You can sort of see some of that when comparing these two magazine covers...
But eventually, MacUser was absorbed by Macworld, and I was rather disappointed but nevertheless kept my subscription. In fact, I've maintained it to this very day. Yep. Still a Macworld subscriber. Thankfully it's digital now. It was rather pricey for me to get the paper issues mailed to my address in Japan!
Later in the video, LeVitus says he uses his iPhone and iPad far more than his single Mac. I found that interesting because I use my multiple Macs far more than my iPhone, and I've not had an iPad in years. I guess it depends on your personality and your needs. But the Power Computing "POWER USER" in me always returns to those computing "trucks", as Steve Jobs once famously called them. I feel my hands are tied when I only have an iPhone (or iPad). I don't like that feeling. I like my Macs.
I also found the part about the "Libby" app interesting. Before watching this video I didn't know much about it because even though I'm an American, I've lived in Japan since 1994. That means I have no US "local library" access (no library card) at all, and therefore I can't use Libby. Too bad too because I'd probably benefit from it as much as LeVitus does.
The mention of the unreleased PowerComputer "notebook" that would have been twice as fast, twice as energy efficient and half the price as an Apple notebook was interesting to hear. Apple's acquisition of P.C. ended it. Wow.
Toward the end of the video, I was happy to hear he considers himself a true Apple fan who wouldn't switch to another operation system because that describes myself exactly. Windoze? Ha! Homey don't play dat! My first home computer was the 128K, which bested anything else available in '84. And Apple really has produced a lot of neat and powerful machines through the years. It serves my needs well. How do you defect from that? And so, like LeVitus, I remain an Apple-only guy and love it.
LeVitus said that YouTube basically killed the publishing business, and I guess he's right, but YouTube doesn't replace well written technical books. Name me one YouTube video or even a serious of videos that truly "replaces" the Larry Pina book series on vintage Mac Repair! You can't. Those books are GOLD. Sure, a YouTuber (myself included) could take a part of those books and put it into a video, but you can't put the ENTIRE CONTENT of those books in a video. The devil is in the details. So while what LeVitus said about YouTube having killed the publishing business is largely true, and while what he said about young people turning to YouTube over books is true, getting ALL THE INFO YOU NEED really does require going back to the books. You can still do that if you need vintage computing repair guides (e.g., Larry Pina), but what about the future? Will we need to watch a hundred YouTube videos because no one writes a single good book anymore? Obviously, that is a concern. But just as you will always need a "truck" when it comes to a computer, I think we will always need well-written books to keep us truly informed on any given matter.
Loved it when the video closed with him saying you (Ron) were the first person in two years who gave a shit. Also loved the part where he says "retire as early you can. Nobody ever on their deathbed said 'I wish I had worked more hours.''" LOL. True. And of course he said, "You're not doing the wrong thing by sticking with Apple."
Thanks for the great interview, Ron. I saw how you push him for more info when he thought you were going to wrap up, and pressing him for added content really made for a great overall video. Bravo!
