Bob retains his cell phone and so we hear from him several times each day. In addition, he sends text messages to his youngest sister on what can only be assessed and described as an amazing rate.

For the past two weeks, nearly since the moment he arrived in Texas, Bob has been asking me to get him a laptop. We've talked about it several times. He's left it in my hands and I've had fun thinking, searching and comparing. I settled on the Apple (surprise) iBook in the twelve inch version. The problem is that the only 12" iBooks available locally are equipped with a 30 gig hard drive. Not good enough. So I ordered Bob's iBook from the Apple web site.

The order was sent late on Monday afternoon. By 1:03 AM Tuesday the package had been scanned at the Sacramento FedEx facility. By 8:26 Wednesday morning FedEx placed the iBook on a local delivery truck in Salt Lake City. I know this because of an e-mail message sent by Apple with a nifty FedEx tracking code and a link to the FedEx site.

I spent today getting this new little jewel set up. Tonight I loaded Bob's iTunes library, some pictures and a few other files. Apple does a nice job of making upgrades and changes extremely easy. I'd say that it's a satisfying experience. We will spend a few days with the iBook before sending it on to Texas. I'm making an effort to get Bob's mom and sister to learn the ins and outs of the setup so that when Bob gets the iBook he will have a built in support group. Bob isn't the most technical person and he may need some help. He assures me that there are many computer savvy soldiers that are willing to give technical advice.

I'm still not sure if he will have Internet access readily available. I've set up a .Mac account and an iChat login. I've also tested things out with the wireless card. I'm impressed with the range of the iBook. It seems to be better than my Powerbook. And the battery life is impressive, too. We are beginning to fall in love with the little iBook. Bob may have to wait until he returns to confiscate it from the family. Hey, it's the thought that counts, right........
9:52:35 PM    comment []