Monday, 4 May 2015
Extend a MacBook Air's life by upgrading it with an SSD drive from Other World Computing
After nearly four years, my MacBook Air seemed nearing the end of its lifespan. Despite using MacPaw’s CleanMyMac to clear unwanted files and Gemini to identify and remove duplicates, it had become impossible to keep the recommended 15% free diskspace available (or 36GB of 240). My MacBook's performance seemed to be slowing and less reliable.
An important benefit of Mac's high-quality hardware is its longevity, but there is minimal support in South Africa for Apple users having more than basic maintenance done (such as upgrading existing hardware). Apple's laptop design focus is on making them attractive, disposable consumables, but providing lighter, thinner options is being done to hackability's detriment. Local Mac consumers are only afforded the option of buying-up {with a trade-in, if lucky}; I could not find any Cape Town company promoting Apple laptop upgrades. Apple's sole South African authorised distributor, The Core Group, has a history of uncompetitive, exorbitant pricing and I was surprised that no local companies promote reasonably priced upgrades. Given the steeply-priced new options available via The Core Group's monopoly, there must be a market need for upgrades that is not being met.
In the absence of local upgrade support, I explored the import options: Other World Computing's (OWC) online store was prominent in Google search for the wide range of Mac upgrade and expansion products it offers. OWC's Mercury Aura Pro SSD and Envoy storage solution upgrade kit promised an impressive upgrade solution that would almost double my hard drive’s space (to just under 480GB), while increasing my laptop's speed up to three times (to 570 MB/S). It's not an inexpensive solution; around R4,050 ($338), which includes US shipping, and R625 on SA Post Office collection. Add in one's time, travel and related additional expenses, this could easily sum up above R 6,000. Still, that's much, much less than a new MacBookAir!
Before ordering, I checked out the installation video to see that I could install the Mercury Aura Pro SSD easily (given that I am far from being a computer technician). It looked to be simple and after collecting my order, the extraction-and-installation process went very smoothly. It took the ten minutes suggested for laptop memory card replacement. Next, I moved the old storage to an external OWC Envoy USB holder. Again, OWC's thorough guidance, this time in a brochure, was easy and quick to follow.
The next phase was to migrate my previous Mac OS X settings and files to the new drive, which took just over a day... I restarted my Macbook Air in a mode to re-install Yosemite. This clean install necessitated downloading OS X {24 hours via entry-level ADSL}, followed by a migration process to import my data {2 hours}. I then ran a software update and repaired the new drive's disk permissions {2 hours} as advised.
This left just four minor issues to sort out;
The next phase was to migrate my previous Mac OS X settings and files to the new drive, which took just over a day... I restarted my Macbook Air in a mode to re-install Yosemite. This clean install necessitated downloading OS X {24 hours via entry-level ADSL}, followed by a migration process to import my data {2 hours}. I then ran a software update and repaired the new drive's disk permissions {2 hours} as advised.
This left just four minor issues to sort out;
1. Microsoft Office required a Java download and re-entry of its product key to launch;
2. I logged out of Google Drive and resynchronised it so that it could re-locate its local files;
3. I reinstalled my Canon printer's core driver;
2. I logged out of Google Drive and resynchronised it so that it could re-locate its local files;
3. I reinstalled my Canon printer's core driver;
4. Backup failed, so Disk Repair's verify-and-repair option was used to fix the back-up drive.
After checking my most heavily used applications and some recent files, I am pleased to report that OWC's marketing promises were spot-on. My hard-drive now affords a capacity of 478GB (much, much more than the latest Mac Air laptop's 256GB!), my laptop starts faster and its speed seems far more responsive. I'm hoping that the enhanced durability of an SSD drive adds a few years before laptop replacement is necessary.
Hopefully, this post helps confirm to local Mac users that it is possible to save money by taking the initiative to do upgrades. This reduces one's frequency of laptop consumption and can add to those examples helping make 'green computing' somewhat less of an oxymoron.
After checking my most heavily used applications and some recent files, I am pleased to report that OWC's marketing promises were spot-on. My hard-drive now affords a capacity of 478GB (much, much more than the latest Mac Air laptop's 256GB!), my laptop starts faster and its speed seems far more responsive. I'm hoping that the enhanced durability of an SSD drive adds a few years before laptop replacement is necessary.
Hopefully, this post helps confirm to local Mac users that it is possible to save money by taking the initiative to do upgrades. This reduces one's frequency of laptop consumption and can add to those examples helping make 'green computing' somewhat less of an oxymoron.
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Phone to Photoshop: Mobile workarounds in young people’s visual self-presentation strategies
Dr Marion Walton, Anja Venter, Prof Johannes Cronje and I co-authored an article for the Design Development and Research Conference 2014; "Phone to Photoshop: Mobile workarounds in young people’s visual self-presentation strategies". I gave the related presentation, today.
For background, the Cape Town Design Capital 2014 initiative provides an important platform for showcasing the wide range of design projects that support social, cultural and economic development in our city. Marion's mobile phone research, her Creative Code project, Anja's research into new design students' software use and mine into Visual Arts learners' e-portfolio choices and contexts, all contribute in small ways to the digital enfranchisement of young Capetonians.
However, with Professor Cronje we share the concern that a systemic approach is lacking that might support a more representative group of young South Africans (especially from working class backgrounds) in becoming involved with creative industries. Twenty years into a democratic South Africa, learners facing income and class barriers are seldom able to access tertiary education opportunities that could support them with securing careers in design, film and other creative industries. Access to such occupations requires a combination of economic, social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984:2010) that mostly limits participation to young people from middle and upper class backgrounds, reproducing their privilege and guaranteeing future opportunities (Burawoy and Von Holdt, 2012).
Our paper frames this highly unequal context and introduces an emergent gatekeeper to students' access to creative fields; the increasing use of digital portfolios for professional self-presentation in visually creative fields. Given the local context of unequal access to digital technologies, this has become a new hurdle to tertiary studies at elite institutions (for example, the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Arts requires prospective students to submit a digitised portfolio on CD). Not having an online portfolio of high-quality can also be an obstacle to securing freelance employment.
Our paper's two case studies were drawn from my long-term Critical Action Research (Carr and Kemmis, 1986:2003) project exploring the use of digital media for young people studying Visual Art in two quite different high schools in Cape Town. In the first site, twelve volunteer students at a specialised co-ed state school (six males and six females) attended extra classes to develop digital skills and to construct electronic learning portfolios (e-portfolios). In the second site, seventeen male students enrolled at a private boys’ school were required to create e-portfolios as a compulsory component of the Visual Arts syllabus.
My PhD explores the digital self-presentation and portfolio organisation choices of 29 learners and how contextual enablers and constraints were manifested in their e-portfolio significations. Our paper explores the latter in connection with mobile phone use. Although these are the most accessible form of digital media in a South African context, their use in e-portfolio production necessitated extensive resourcefulness for mobile-centric, government school students. We explore how mobile technologies are implicated in digital self-presentation and in the creation of e-portfolios, which involve both specific forms of cultural capital and specialised infrastructure. Similarly, digital portfolio creation requires infrastructure which exceeds the capacities of most South African schools.
The barriers and opportunities presented by digital networking for two young Visual Arts students are described: they attended very different secondary schools and had dissimilar home environments which necessitated contrasting workarounds. In overcoming these obstacles, the two learners developed very different professional self-presentation strategies and portfolio showcases. The visual strategies they adopted as they negotiated an unequal education system in two different parts of Cape Town are described.
Their experiences suggest that educators should be open to accommodating the mobile practices and genres that young people already use as they help them assume and challenge ‘disciplined’ identities in the visual culture.
For background, the Cape Town Design Capital 2014 initiative provides an important platform for showcasing the wide range of design projects that support social, cultural and economic development in our city. Marion's mobile phone research, her Creative Code project, Anja's research into new design students' software use and mine into Visual Arts learners' e-portfolio choices and contexts, all contribute in small ways to the digital enfranchisement of young Capetonians.
However, with Professor Cronje we share the concern that a systemic approach is lacking that might support a more representative group of young South Africans (especially from working class backgrounds) in becoming involved with creative industries. Twenty years into a democratic South Africa, learners facing income and class barriers are seldom able to access tertiary education opportunities that could support them with securing careers in design, film and other creative industries. Access to such occupations requires a combination of economic, social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984:2010) that mostly limits participation to young people from middle and upper class backgrounds, reproducing their privilege and guaranteeing future opportunities (Burawoy and Von Holdt, 2012).
Our paper frames this highly unequal context and introduces an emergent gatekeeper to students' access to creative fields; the increasing use of digital portfolios for professional self-presentation in visually creative fields. Given the local context of unequal access to digital technologies, this has become a new hurdle to tertiary studies at elite institutions (for example, the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Arts requires prospective students to submit a digitised portfolio on CD). Not having an online portfolio of high-quality can also be an obstacle to securing freelance employment.
Our paper's two case studies were drawn from my long-term Critical Action Research (Carr and Kemmis, 1986:2003) project exploring the use of digital media for young people studying Visual Art in two quite different high schools in Cape Town. In the first site, twelve volunteer students at a specialised co-ed state school (six males and six females) attended extra classes to develop digital skills and to construct electronic learning portfolios (e-portfolios). In the second site, seventeen male students enrolled at a private boys’ school were required to create e-portfolios as a compulsory component of the Visual Arts syllabus.
My PhD explores the digital self-presentation and portfolio organisation choices of 29 learners and how contextual enablers and constraints were manifested in their e-portfolio significations. Our paper explores the latter in connection with mobile phone use. Although these are the most accessible form of digital media in a South African context, their use in e-portfolio production necessitated extensive resourcefulness for mobile-centric, government school students. We explore how mobile technologies are implicated in digital self-presentation and in the creation of e-portfolios, which involve both specific forms of cultural capital and specialised infrastructure. Similarly, digital portfolio creation requires infrastructure which exceeds the capacities of most South African schools.
The barriers and opportunities presented by digital networking for two young Visual Arts students are described: they attended very different secondary schools and had dissimilar home environments which necessitated contrasting workarounds. In overcoming these obstacles, the two learners developed very different professional self-presentation strategies and portfolio showcases. The visual strategies they adopted as they negotiated an unequal education system in two different parts of Cape Town are described.
Their experiences suggest that educators should be open to accommodating the mobile practices and genres that young people already use as they help them assume and challenge ‘disciplined’ identities in the visual culture.
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