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My New Old MacBook Pro 17-inch LCD Review

I am a proud owner of one of the first MacBook Pro 17-inch machines that made their debut two years ago — yes, I have a dreaded “A Revision” box — but that machine still sits next to me today and it has served me well through the writing of five books and it has never given me a moment of discontent… except for a bulging battery… but I never lost use of the machine in the battery swap with Apple.

Today, I am the prouder owner of what will likely be the last revision of the current MacBook Pro line before all the new Apple machines begin to look and feel like the MacBook Air. I couldn’t be happier with my new “old style” MacBook Pro.

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Celebrating the Sheffield Sound

The other day I watched an incredible documentary, Made in Sheffield, that brought back many of the musical memes and memories of my reckoning youth. What I call “The Sheffield Sound” was a movement in the UK in the ’70’s and ’80’s that changed the music world with the introduction of “synthetic sounds.”

Synthesizers were given priority over the standard musical drive of a lead guitar. David Bowie said the music coming out of Sheffield was “the future of music.” Was David Bowie right? Or did the Sheffield Sound implode in vanished wishes and bitter competition? “The Human League” was the lead “sound” coming out of Sheffield, and of the two versions of the band, one didn’t make any money:

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