For anyone whose birthday is at the end of March, we live in interesting times. Maybe the old Chinese curse is wrong, but from where I stand, hands-out waiting for my presents, there is just so much going on for a Mac-oholic.

For a start, it is rumoured that Jonathan Ive may be about to depart from Apple to return to the bosom of his family in Somerset. Not that this by itself is anything too exciting, but I am waiting for my next cell phone and tablet to be designed. I hope he has completed his work on the projects; otherwise I shall have to knock them off my list.

Second is the newly released developers’ version of Lion, the Mac OS X which is about to come. Again it’s only rumours plus a sneaky look at a copy; there are going to be some big surprises when the finalised version is available in the wild. Sadly, not soon enough for it to be listed in my birthday prezzie must-have’s.

Anyone who relies on PowerPC applications will lose the most until their software is updated because Rosetta, Apple’s PowerPC emulator for Intel Macs, is not included. Many heavyweight programs, such as Adobe’s applications earlier than CS 3 and Freehand, are still PowerPC-only. Not forgetting that some peripheral products, scanners, cameras, and the like may also become “obsolete.” I don’t think I should put those on my birthday list yet until I know which to ask for.

Then Apple held a special event and introduced the iPad 2. All my hours of list-making go out the window. I decided the iPad 2 is the tablet for me. Super-skinny; good price for the WiFi version; I just have to have one. The iPhone 4 will also be able to act as a WiFi point to share its mobile data allowance with the iPad. That means an upgrade to my iPhone 3GS. Perhaps I will have to hold out until my contract expires in October and hope the iPhone 5 is out by then.

Time to adjust that birthday list. Cross out exercise machinery. Why did I think I’d use a rowing machine? The new cooking pots, they can go too, as can the LCD TV for the bedroom (I can buy that for myself). But what about a new Apple Magic Trackpad or Mouse?

Using a scroll wheel or nipple became painful ever since I broke my right index finger putting the last log on the fire on my birthday last year. The drive back from Rouen was…eventful, with broken index finger bandaged bright white and sticking up vertically from the steering wheel. Oncoming motorists obviously thought Rosbif was giving them the finger and reacted accordingly.

Maybe I’d better get the trackpad for myself.

Now, if I crossed off the chainsaw helmet, safety gloves and collapsible saw horse, track day, helicopter lessons, and Rolex watch—the latter included just to give them something to aim at and never expected—does that leave my loved ones enough to get me an iPad 2, I wonder?

I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see.

Copyright © 2011 Mark Tennent.