As part of my plan to help elevate my music career to the so-called ‘next’ level, I started doing a bunch of research into upgrading my recording software. Everything I looked at told me that my current computer either wasn’t compatible, or wasn’t supported, or was ‘not recommended’ for the upgrades of the software that I’ve been using. I couldn’t even load the software onto my old computer, because a DVD drive was required. If I went and got a DVD drive, I still wouldn’t be able to run the software because the computer was too slow.

Yeesh.

So I bit the bullet and headed down to Fry’s to get a new iMac today. I got the one with the Intel DuoCore chip and the 20-inch monitor. It’s really incredible, the way everything’s so self-contained, linked and even wireless. Computers–especially Macs–have come a long way in the last four years.

Summer’s the best time for biting metaphorical bullets, since there are more gigs (and more money), so I figured the time was right. Part Two of this process will involve taking advantage of Digidesign’s hardware trade-up policy to get new software and a new recording interface thingy.

Oh, and I should mention that the iMacs are SILENT. The G4 PowerMacs have notoriously loud fans. There are tons of web sites about how to replace or modify them. Mac users raised enough of a stink about them that eventually Apple sold these replacement fan kits that you could buy for twenty dollars and install yourself. At the time, however, I wasn’t in that kind of financial league, so I’ve been living with the loud fans this whole time. It’s funny to think about how much life can be improved by the systematic removal of annoyances.

Here’s to the removal of more!