Mr Altruistic

It was recently mentioned by Brad that I plug ‘n’ played a Microshonk USB optical meese. *Gasp!* I can hear all the dedicated Apple users cry… Why did you do that?

Because I’m not one to stop using something simply because I have a fucked up notion in my head that I’m fucking cool because I use Apple. I don’t wake up thinking, where’s my iPod, and my iCereal and my iMilk, geez I need an iCoffee. If you think like that, and I’m pretty sure a lot of Apple users do, then you are an iDickhead.

The reason I use the MS mouse is because it is simply, far superior to a one button mouse that has no scrollwheel (whoever at Apple thought that was a step towards the future needs a bullet). It’s a fact. I apologise to all Apple users if this update was a little pro PC. Bill has 2 things going right:

1. An OS that can install fonts simply;

2. A mouse with superior functionality.

Fonts.

The building block of any designers work.

The backbone of an idea.

The strength, silkiness and confidence that allows one to say I can do that!.

The dilemma?

Font’s that wont install.

The software?

Apple’s very own Font Book and another commercial Font Manager that is proclaimed to be exceptional at handling fonts Extensis Suitcase.

The reality? Both programs are extraordinarily bad at handling something so simple as font installation. The Font Book just doesn’t work. Ask most Mac users and they either don’t know about Font Book (because they’ve never bothered using it) or they’ve tried using it, realise it doesn’t work, then tried something else. So what’s the alternative? Extensis Suitcase. This is described as “an expert font manager that lets you break down your large arsenal of fonts into nice neat compartmentalised categories of fonts”. Sounds great? But it isn’t!

When you try to install more than about 5 fonts at a time you are greeted with a colour wheel that seems inspired by Microsofts blue screen of death, because that is pretty much what you get, an application that requires a force quit. Sure, you can install the fonts one at a time absolutely hassle free. But who in God’s name has time to install 2000+ fonts one at a time? I never had this problem on PC, and it’s a sad indictment on Apple that claim to be “designed with the geek in mind”.

Considering that the Apple is the designer’s machine of choice you would expect that fonts would install effortlessly, but it seems the PC wins this war. Click left mouse button to select first font, Press [Shift], scroll to end of fonts, select last font, drag entire list to the font folder in the windows system directory, watch the progress bar as the fonts install themselves.

Try something like that on the Apple. colour wheel. Abysmal. Almost makes you want to go back…. Almost.