PowerBook Fever

Make Publisher and Hacks series chief Dale Dougherty brings us this anecdote cum request for hacks…

Stay tuned for (a la Rocky and Bullwinkle) “Jobs Really Made Fried Green Apples,” Or “Why Am I So Hot I Could Cry?”

Make’s Associate Publisher Dan Woods wrote that his son, Jack, had a fever over the weekend. “The kid was running hotter than a PowerBook with a recalled battery,” added Dan. I know Jack will get over his fever but I’m not sure about my PowerBook. Dan’s light-hearted comment made me realize he’d found the right metaphor for these PowerBooks, which run rather unusually warm. They really do seem sick. My relatively new Macbook Pro warms up to me in a way that makes me really uncomfortable. I’ve tried lap desks and pillows for previous PowerBooks but after a late-night session using my computer while sitting in a chair (or airline seat), I’m overheated and dripping wet. This isn’t cool. And it can’t be good design.

In addition, I find that the Macbook Pro doesn’t want to go to sleep, either — another sign of a sick child. Tonight I opened my laptop in the airport just before a flight from Oakland to LA and closed it when I was about to board. After about an hour, having arrived in LA, I got my briefcase down from the bin and the bag was really hot. The computer was actually too hot to hold, like a skillet. I actually kind of imagine it melting on me someday.

Makes me wonder if the iPhone will run so hot you can’t hold it to your ear or in your hand. Third-party companies will sell iPhone mitts. In really cool colors.

So, Hack doctors, what’s the cure for PowerBook Fever? And if can’t be cured, can I learn to cope with this condition? Lastly, someone must have fried an egg on the back of MacBook Pro and taken pictures, don’t you think?

(Photo note: it looks like Justin Lowery got a great one. Here’s the original photo used at the top of this post, included under CC license.)