I'm loving it!

Man, I don't eat MickyD's but I'm quoting it, I'm loving it!

Ever since I got this baby I'm hooked on it like a fat kid loves cake. The Core Duo heart(s) pumping underneath the slick-looking aluminum keyboard makes it almost as fast as my windows box. And OS X is such an elegant operating system. Not perfect, but it's so much easier (and much more powerful if you tap into its Darwin core) to use. And the computing experience is elevated by some really clever programs such as Growl, QuickSilver. When bored, you can play with OS X's voice recognition and issue commands by "talking" to it. Yes, I'm aware of IBM ViaVoice, but OS X got it built-in. I have my MBP announce the time hourly as well as other system notifications in the voice called Cellos. He sounds annoying sometimes but fun nevertheless because it puts some personality into this beautifully-put-together piece of metal.

I'm also surprised that I feel at home with its keyboard layout. I mean, for crying out loud, it's a laptop keyboard! How would I ever be comfortable with such a crammed layout! By some mystically power, maybe divine force, I have no problem using it. I hated some other keyboards on other's lappies, but not this baby.

When I first received it (a brand new replacement since the first had problems), the palm rest was too hot for extended time of use. The problem went away after the quite release of the SMC patch. Well, either that or I have grown into it.

But truth be told, as much as I'd like to be a Mac convert, I LOVE PC games. No matter how much time I devote into working out or reading or some other activities, there is no way the love for it will ever escape me. Therefore, I'm forced to keep a windows box no matter how. And I will have to pony up for a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate (what silly name!) and deck my gig out with top-of-the-line hardware, just to play games. Ha, pathetic!

Anyway, color me impressed with this $2499 - $150 (rebate) - $100 (refund. thanks to the MacBook release and MBP speedbumps) MacBook Pro. Maybe now it's time to resume reading of this book, just to justify the big dent on my pocket book.

The Law of Perception

What's the law of perception? "Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions."

What a powerful line.

Before reading Law #4, The Law of Perception, I thought this book was full of it. The reason I bought it was the reviews it received on Amazon. When I first got it, I jumped around different laws and picked out ones that seemed interesting. But I just couldn't agree with what the authors were trying to convey. And I'm probably biased because I've seen so many crap churned out by the spinning marketing machines, like the one from nVidia and ATi.

But during my regular reading session on the exercise bike tonight, I started off with Law #4 and after a few paragraphs I started to take on a different view of the book.

It claims that minds of customers or prospects are very difficult to change because we believe in truth, one that is perceived through our own respective pair of eye-window. And we all think that we're right, others are wrong.

What makes it even more difficult is that customers often make buying decision based on second-hand perceptions, ones that are someone else's perception of reality.

The book goes on giving examples of Coca-Cola. From the taste test conducted by the company, New Coke was proved to taste better than Pepsi, and Pepsi tastes better than Coca-Cola Classic. But in the end, New Coke, which is supposed to taste better, loses its crown to what is supposed to have the worst taste, the Classic.

Once a customer's mind is made up, it's next to futile to change it. But what can you do about it? Well, I've gotta read on to find out.