Learning Curve

I wanted to box it up and send it back.

For those who claim that a Mac computer is intuitive, I can only say you're full of it. In the 10 days that I've owned my MacBook Air, I can't count the number of times I've become stuck, not knowing how to do something, only having to look for a way forward by doing a Google search.

And yes, I'm sure it takes time to learn some of the differences between a Mac and a Windows-based computer, I'm finding that I'm missing some features that were easy to access on my old computer that I just can't find on my MacBook.

I still find I get mixed up on which way to scroll with the mouse. It's the opposite direction on each system, and I find the Windows way the more intuitive. But I now find myself getting it wrong on both platforms.

My brain's become mixed up.

I can learn, over time, to get more familiar with how a Mac works but it'll probably always feel unnatural to me. But what I'm finding is the biggest failure with this computer will be something that I'll have to work around, not simply get used to.

There are only two ports on a MacBook Air. Two USB-C ports, side-by-side. The space between them is about the width of the ports, themselves.

I'm glad that manufacturers of electronic devices seem to have settled on a single, compact format for connections. It'll save people having to buy a ton of different cords for their devices.

Most of my cords still have USB-A plugs, but that's okay. I have adapters that take up very little space, that I keep on my desk so that I can easily access them when I need them.

And while they're small, they can't be used at the same time if I need to plug in two devices that need the adapters.

My workflow for editing photos has been the same for nearly 20 years. I would transfer the images from the SD card to a hard drive, from which I'd then edit the photos. I would then save the edited photo to a separate hard drive.

To move the files from the SD card to the first hard drive, I have a card reader that I'd plug into one port; the hard drive, into the second. On my Windows machine, it was no problem: I have three USB ports, a USB-C port, an HDMI port, and a microSD port. Two of the USB ports are side-by-side, on one side of the laptop, while the third port is on the opposite side.

There has never been a problem plugging in two devices on the ports that are next to one another but because of how I had my hard drives placed on my desk, I typically plugged the card reader on one side of the computer and the hard drive on the other side. As soon as I transferred the photos to the hard drive, I'd unplug the card reader and plug the drive for the edited photos in that port.

(The third port, next to the first hard drive, was used to attach my keyboard.)

I wanted to keep this workflow when using the MacBook, where I'd plug the card reader and raw-file hard drive into the computer and transfer the photos. Once the transfer is made, I'd unplug the card reader and plug in the drive to store the edited photos.

But because I need to use the adapters on both the card reader and both drives, I have a huge problem. There isn't enough room for both plugs.

Serious design flaw.

My hard drives have a USB-A plug on one end and a USB 3.0 Micro-B connector on the other end (which plugs into the drive, itself), so I can't swap the cable for something else. And the card reader is shaped like a thumb drive with SD and microSD slots along the side.

I do have a multi-port adapter, which has a USB-A port, USB-C port, and HDMI port that has a short cable that plugs into a USB-C port. Currently, I use it with my keyboard and a cable to a monitor. I currently use it for both the MacBook and my Windows computer so that I have access to a bigger screen and a keyboard when I use them at my desk. (The USB-C port works for a few devices but doesn't seem to let me plug an external drive into it—a computer won't recognize a drive when plugged in this way.)

Thankfully, I have a cordless mouse that doesn't require a Bluetooth dongle, so I don't need a port for it.

It was bad enough that I couldn't access the monitor or keyboard when I wanted to transfer files but I can't have a card reader plugged in with an external drive, nor two external drives at the same time. So, I have to come up with another workflow for editing photos.

First, I have to plug in the card reader, but at least I can also access a monitor and keyboard. I have to move the photo files onto the computer itself, and I place it in a folder on the desktop.

It also bothers me that I have to copy, paste, and then delete the files on the SD card, rather than simply cut and paste. Why does Apple not give you that option?

As soon as I remove the SD card reader, I plug in my external drive for raw images and copy the files onto it (and then delete the folder on my desktop... ugh!).

Using the raw files on the external drive, I perform my photo editing but when I want to save the edited image, I have to create another folder on the desktop and save the files to it. When I'm finished editing all of the photos, I eject the raw-files hard drive and connect my edited-files hard drive.

Finally, I copy the edited photos to where I want them stored on the drive—I keep a database on this drive so the photos go into the folder that is appropriate for the subject, which may require me to create a new folder or a subfolder.

With the files moved to the second hard drive, I delete them from the temporary folder on the desktop, and I'm done. Frustrated at all the extra steps that I had to take, but done.

I suppose I could buy another multi-port hub but that's an added expense and I'd have to make sure it was fully compatible with what I need.

So, on Friday, after trying to edit photos and taking more time than should be necessary, with more steps than reasonable, I growled in frustration.

"What's wrong?" asked DW, who heard me from another room.

"I'm not liking this MacBook," I said. "I'm tempted to box it up and send it back."

"Sure, honey," she said, "you do that. And then where would you be?"

Possibly, happier, I thought.

Maybe I get used to editing my photos with our Affinity app. I wasn't thrilled with the interface and missed many features that PaintShop Pro had, but the Corel program couldn't properly read the Sony files. Photomator seemed pretty good but my workflow was now so convoluted.

To get my mind off of my Mac woes, I downloaded a Sony photo-editing app and tried using it with some more photos. I liked some of the results and it softened my hard heart, though there were some features that, like Affinity, it lacked.

I guess Photomator is the best app for my α6700 photos, for now.

Because my external drives were formatted for a Windows computer, I've had to move them to a temporary holding space, reformat the drives, and move the files back. I'll share that ordeal later this week. But I formatted the drives such that they can be accessed on both the MacBook and my Windows machine.

Perhaps my workflow will involve both computers, going forward. I can move photos from the card reader to the raw-file hard drive on the Windows computer. That'll save a couple of steps.

But until I find an inexpensive solution, I'm going to be grumbling at the MacBook for the foreseeable future.