Regular Reader – Andrew Rudkin

Last but by no means least it is the 12th and last week of these interviews, so the ‘honour’ of answering the last set of questions goes to Andy.

1. As this blog covers a lot of Mac related products what was your first Apple product that you bought?

My first Mac was a G3 iMac which I bought as a basic home web browsing machine back in 2004, since then I have only needed the one upgrade to a G5 20″ iMac back in the summer of 2005 when I went freelance and started working from home. I have been used Apple machines since 1994 when I started my first design course and am very proud to say that my only ever experiences with the windows world is when I have help family out with issues on their PC’s!

2. On a similar theme, but moving forward what will be the next Apple product that you buy?

Over the last 13 years I have developed a real love affair with all things Apple and like most Mac fans I have to hide my wallet whenever new products are launched! From a practical point of view I can see me buying a new iMac before the end of my financial year. I have been holding off on moving to Intel because I was waiting for the Adobe CS suite (the bread and butter of my working life) to settle down on the new platform. I really love the spec on the Mac Pro, but for a print based graphic designer, I wouldn’t get close to pushing one of those beasts to the limit… a maxed out iMac will do me fine thanks… and I am sure my accountant would agree!

And maybe, just maybe I will splash out on an iPhone when they reach the UK!

3. Do you have an all time favourite Apple product or Mac application?

I sure do! I love my Apple Newton. I bought it on eBay about 12 months ago and although it’s totally useless for anything I do, it’s a great bit of kit to mess about with (and very handy for weightlifting!). Considering the technology is now classed as ‘archaic’, the touch screen recognition interface is still right up there for accuracy.

4. The blog also covers other subjects, so do you have any specific interests or hobbies that keep you busy?

I am kind of a borderline workaholic as I am in the lucky position of actually liking my job. Most of my time is spent either designing for cash or messing about on stuff for friends, family or occasionally for myself. When I do get away from the screen I like to play golf to a reasonably bad standard, go running at least 3 times a week, watch movies or watch the mighty Leicester City donate 3 points to whoever is visiting the Walkers Stadium that week!

5. What would be your all time favourite technology gadget?

I’d like to say my Newton again, but it’s rubbish at doing anything other than recognising shapes, so I guess that rules it out! Erm, I guess it would have to be a toss up between the Apple iPhone with all it’s amazing built in functionality or my extra large electronic, talking Homer Simpson bottle opener, which has come to my aid one more than one occasion.

6. How do you pay the bills, or if you are studying what are your future plans to pay the bills?

I am a freelance graphic designer. I used to proud of the fact that I had nothing to do with web design, but as the years have gone by it’s becoming more of a necessity for anyone in the industry. At the minute I have the luxury of having a talented web developer at my disposal who can interpret my designs and make then ‘all clicky’ and ‘look nice of the web’ for me, but I have just started to learn the dark arts of coding and CSS in the hope that I can keep myself in a job over the next 20 years!

7. What three words or phrases would your friends use to describe you?

Sarcastic, fun and loyal

8. Anything else you want to share with us?

Not really, although I guess if anyone did want to send me money, sweets, an iMac, iPhone or lager then I wouldn’t be offended.

About These Interviews

A significant attraction for me in blogging is the ‘community’ that it creates. I am never going to be ‘up there’ with the young bloggers – I am not going to be that attractive to your average teenage blog reader, I actually don’t want to be as I find a lot of the stuff that interests them remarkably shallow and insipid, and I am perfectly happy with the slightly more mature (mentally and/or physically) reader that I attract.

I have ‘met’ some great people through the blog, some I communicate with daily, others much less frequently, but collectively they add to the enjoyment and satisfaction I get from blogging.

This series of interviews is a way of you getting to know each other better, and hopefully attract more of you to participate in the blog. I know there are a lot more of you out there that read the site regularly but don’t comment. That is your right of course, but trust me there are a really great bunch of readers around that I am sure you would get on with.

If you want to be included in this series please just email me either with your answers to these 8 questions or with any questions you may have.

And finally, thanks to all the readers who have participated in this series, and thanks to all of you for reading. I will do a long post at the end of the series with all the interviews so you can catch up easily on any that you miss, or get a great overview of some of the common answers, and some of the wildly different answers!