After a huge Apple software security update I had to reboot. I don’t reboot that often and I always forget how much I dislike the Apple boot sound. Actually, the sound is great, but it sounds terrible coming from laptop speakers.
Long story short, either 1) mute your Mac before rebooting, 2) hold down the mute button while rebooting, or 3) install this preference pane.
Short story long, here is some stuff I thought about while reading search results for “turn off mac boot sound“:
- Google is everyone’s man page of first resort.
- Microsoft is so full of lawyers they just have to be doomed. An older Scobleizer post about startup sounds mentions that lawyers sat in on the Vista startup sound decision making process just in case “trademarked pieces of media experiences that can’t be copied” were discovered. As soon as your company is more about risk-aversion or patent trolling than innovation you’re doomed. Even worse, you’re boring.
- Apple has great lore that supports their overall marketing “story”. Compare the above story with Apple’s Jim Reekes just going with his creative instinct. See also: Folklore.org for anecdotes from Apple’s early days, and Seth Godin on the importance of stories in marketing (ironically Seth’s latest post is about Microsoft doing something right).
- If I ran a big company I would fire all employees with blogs before they quit first and made me look like a sucker. Day jobs are about giving you the illusion of security in exchange for 40 hours a week, 40 years of your life, and total ownership of everything you do. Of course if you’re an employee you should start blogging about your industry or interests right now because it’s the easiest way to build equity in yourself. The great thing about putting your creative output on the web is that the value you create is cumulative and – if you’re lucky – compounding. Every post builds a little more momentum until one day the job offers, influence, or even just the advertising cash generated by your blog obviates your day job like it did for Scoble and Jeff Atwood.
@ Point 1 – Easy for us simple folk to say. But when you’re running a multi billion dollar monster that a lot of people like to sue for shits and giggles, perhaps covering your own ass isn’t such a bad idea?
@ Point 2 – Isn’t the whole premise of this post about how much you dislike the Apple boot sound?
I always appreciate when a post about someone’s dislike with something Apple related, ends up bashing Microsoft. Classy.
Hi Alex, thanks for commenting.
@2: I reserve the right to write horribly obscure SEO-obtuse headlines and ramble off topic about random crap that runs through my head while web surfing.
@1: Let me be clear by stating that I love Microsoft. By making computer use ubiquitous they’ve done more to improve the human condition than anyone in recent memory besides Jonas Salk and Norman Borlaug (even though MS hasn’t always acted in good faith).
That said, there’s a difference between performing due diligence and letting a culture of risk avoidance, HR bureaucracy, and patent fence building totally take over what should be a corporate culture about building products that people love.