tech ronin

Mac mini 2 DVR and Black iMac at the Expo?

Think Secret says it is so and it would make so much sense that we think this is going to happen. Sometimes the timing is off, but I doubt it. After all, the Mac mini would have been out for a year. How long does it take to get all this DVR stuff right anyway?

It is supposed to be Intel-based. The main feature to me is that it is the right size and price for a living room computer. I want the power of a networkable computer to control my music, photo and video-watching. I want it to replace TIVO which I don't own. It will have an iPod dock built-in. A bigger than 80 gig hard drive. I'm guessing up to 250 gigs. That will be sufficient for this year's needs.

Ken "Caesar" Fisher at ars technica is skeptical about how a home entertainment center fits into Apple's plans. He has a point but the home entertainment center is a key location in music listening and media viewing. Convergence is going to happen and I don't see Steve allowing Microsoft to capture that turf unopposed. The introduction of Front Row in October was a pre-announcement as far as I'm concerned.

I wonder how one of these and an xBox 360 would work together? Wouldn't that be nice? Hmm... The mini 2 will have Intel inside after all... And the xbox plays well with the iPod.

More likely these 2 will compete to the death as would be the norm. It would be nice to see a little more friendly behavior on both sides but both Bill and Steve have the ultra-competitive gene.

Be that as it may, black is back and more black iPods are selling than white. There is no reason why we won't see a black iMac at the Expo this year or at least by mid-year. So, if you prefer black, you might want to wait. Forget that nice tax deduction you were thinking about. I've noticed a definite trend towards black recently in Apples packaging. What I really wonder about is, what they are going to do for an encore with the PowerMacs? Those are so gorgeous but awfully large.

Macsimumnews has a story about the prospect of black iMacs in 2006 and takes it one further by referring to some kind of patent Apple has for computers that can change colors. I'll settle for black, thanks.

Current Mac mini owners especially should check out this nice little article from 123Macmini.com called 10 Things Every Mac Owner Should Know. Other Mac users will also find it useful.

Technorati Tags: iMac, Macintosh, Macmini

Fed Up with Spotlight 1.0

I'm a Mac lover, but this is ridiculous. Sometimes you get lucky with Spotlight, but more often than not it is more trouble than it is worth. Today I was looking for my copy of Take Control of Apple Mail and saw something close right away. Before I could click on it, it was long gone as more and more updates occurred every couple of seconds. Eventually, there was no sign of the Take Control documents -- I have about 6 different ones.

The algorithm just isn't cutting it. The constant updating sucks. Maybe there's a quick way to suspend the updating but I've heard complaints elsewhere and am guessing there is not. If you know a way, I would appreciate knowing.

I often use the Find command which no longer works as well as before having been corrupted by Spotlight technology no doubt.

I wonder if Apple will bother to fix this very immature search technology. I guess perhaps they have other fish to fry.

Technorati Tags: Macintosh, OSX, Spotlight

I'm Not Worried about the Intel Macs Anymore

By now the success of the new iPods nano and video is secure. The iPod growth curve has continued its march into the stratosphere. This leaves Apple with a big hunk of both money and buzz to tide it over while transitioning to Intel Macs.

There's tons of action at my local Apple store and that was before black Friday. Between the iPod money and buzz, Apple has nothing to worry about.

Sounds like we have a good chance of seeing an Intel Mac at Steve's Keynote at San Francisco's MacWorld Expo this year. That would be great. I won't buy one but the curiosity is killing me. I want to see the rumored new wide screen iBook or the thinner Powerbooks.

I suppose I should also mention that speculation has been swirling from the beginning that Apple really wants (1) to sell Macs that can run PC programs and (2) to have OS X run on PCs. Steve has said they don't want to do either. The fear of some Mac users and I have a little of it is that Apple will gradually phase out its Macintosh as we know it today. I'm kind of listening for that I guess.

The one thing Steve said recently that worried me a little is that Apple's fantastic success with the iPod shows what Apple can do when they aren't working against a Microsoft monopoly like they are with the Mac. Other than that one comment, though, everything is still fine. Probably I and you should put that little thought away somewhere since we all really have no idea about it and Apple probably doesn't either.

Technorati Tags: iPod, Macintosh

The Cult of iPod - Highly Recommended

If you are one of the many fans of iPod and you like to read, you've got to check out The Cult of iPod by Leander Kahney. This is a graphics-heavy, designed, oversized paperback book of high quality. With an amazing cover photo. The price is high for a paperback at $24.95 but Amazon comes through with a 34% discount to get it down to $16.47. Which feels just right.

Kahney also wrote The Cult of Mac. I like this book much better. Partly, it's the amazingly vital and current iPod phenomenon. There's a lot going on and it's fun and interesting to read about and see. Kahney writes for Wired and it shows.

My favorite chapter is called I Want to Hold Your Handheld: Cultural Impact. And in that chapter, my favorite story is about an assistant professor in Marketing at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto. Markus Giesler has some interesting ideas. He thinks the iPod transforms listeners into "cyborg consumers". His website solicits iPod stories from volunteers for his research.

Here's a taste:

"The consumer is plugged into all kinds of technologies and networks that affect consumer behavior," he said. "As a result, consumption patterns change: from materiality to information - the internet; from ownership to access - file sharing; and from pattern to randomness - the iPod."

Giesler notes that jacking into the entertainment matrix changes consumption patterns. Random shuffle...isn't just a novel way to listen to music; it's one of the key constructs of digital entertainment. Giesler said that instead of trading individual songs, users are starting to trade entire hard drives: giant libraries of music or movies. When interviewees are asked how they dip into these libraries, picking items at random is the most common answer. "Shuffle mode used to be a gimmick. Now it is the most viable strategy to access information that would otherwise be lost", he said. "It reduces the complexity of consumption..."

Technorati Tags: iPod, videoipod

I'm the first FileMaker Addict

Hey. There's a new blog out there called FileMaker Addict: Profiles of People Passionate about FileMaker. It's compliments of Tim Dietrich. I'm honored to be the first one Tim interviewed. It took me exactly 30 seconds to subscribe. Check it out!

Mac mini stack = the new digital stereo?

This is kind of neat. These stacking components give you a stereo system with subwoofer, 2nd hard drive and USB 2 on the front and firewire ports in the back. Looks like a digital audio system to me with the Mac mini at its core. This is just a 15 watt system, so is probably more of an office stereo. I don't know.

I guess the attached display (not showing) is where all the interaction would occur other than that one big knob. I would love to play with one of these to see how it works in practice. From a Japanese firm called Green House. The product spec sheet is a little hard too read if you don't read Japanese. [via Akihabara News]

Posers Won't Abandon the iPod

Diffusion Group did a study of iPod users that says:

Consumers who site improved social status as the primary reason for purchasing an iPod are likely to switch brands.

No frickin' way! That's probably true in general. And would be true when applied to iPod owners except for one thing. Apple has demonstrated time and time again that they are far better at creating cool and cutting edge devices than anyone else in the computer/consumer electronics space. Sure, Sony has had success and sometimes other firms do cool things. But, Apple has the baton and they are putting the full might of their extraordinary design team behind the iPod to innovate in form and function.

Steve Jobs coined the term insanely great. That's his standard. Some firms in the Macintosh space have aspired to that standard and done well. But, no one does it like Apple with Steve at the helm. He is more ruthlessly devoted to excellence and innovation and getting it right than anyone else on the playing field. And he has a VERY strong design sense that is part of the DNA of Apple Computer.

I'm not saying that posers are people to be admired. I'm saying that if posers are buying cool, they come to the right place when they come to Apple and buy iPods.

Apple has been moving into the consumer space of late and by now has firmly established iself as a force to be reckoned with. They've got great technologists, fantastic designers, a clear and unrelenting inclination to innovate, and passionate, full-tilt leadership. Expect early adopters and posers to remain brand-loyal.

And about that Eminem ad people are talking about. The colors match strikingly. I'm not going to argue whether there was some plagiarism involved if that's even possible with an advertisement. I'm just not at all worried about it. This was Apple's ad agency that did this. And Apple will simply replace the ad with something equally cool or stand by their ad agency. If this was the one cool ad Apple ever had, maybe people would think Apple was slipping. There's no shortage of creativity at Apple. This is just a tiny bump in the road if that.

<via webuser>

Technorati Tags: advertising, eminem, iPod, iPod5G, music, TV

KGTD Rocks

While perusing 43 Folders, I stumbled across Merlin Mann's comments and excellent review of the KGTD project that attempts to resolve one of the key conflicts in the Getting Things Done methodology. How to elegantly maintain and synchronize actions by project and actions by context.

Ethan Schoonover is something special. He's done some magic with Applescript that makes it into a GTD machine - including syncing with iCal. The quality of this .69 beta is amazing.

Of course, anything that operates in OmniOutliner Professional is all right by me. If you like lists and you like aesthetics, you are going to love this. Beautiful!

Technorati Tags: GTD, iCal, MissingSync, OmniOutlinerPro, Tiger, Treo650

Tiger 10.4.3 + Airport Updater is Kick Ass

I installed 10.4.3 on Halloween - the day it came out. And then yesterday downloaded and installed the Airport updater. Whoa! First, I can finally get my G5 in the other room to wake up when trying to connect from my PowerBook over wi-fi. And second, responsiveness is excellent. This is really functional. Very transparent, actually, that I'm browsing the G5's drive over the network. Cool!

Technorati Tags: Airport, Macintosh, OSX, Tiger, Tiger 10.4.3

Lost on the Video iPod

I have to admit to being hooked on Lost. I had seen a 1/2 an episode previous to my start with the first year pilot. I enjoyed it from the beginning. I am at this moment downloading episodes 10, 11 and 12. Too bad I'm running through them so fast. I'm not sure Apple will have something else to my liking once I finish off last season and catch up to the current episode. I like watching the shows in order, so I haven't watched any of this season's shows yet.

Watching on an iPod totally works by the way. The visuals are great. It's not too small. It's light. It's fun. It's not having a big laptop on your lap. It's this elegant little thing in your hand. That you can take with you to the coffee shop and watch an episode if you wouldn't rather read right then. I'm thinking that watching bite-sized TV show episodes of a show with good writing and acting, excellent production values and an on-going plot beats watching most movies. They seem so long.

Of course, the video iPod wows people too. I show it to anyone I know or even don't know that well come to think of it. It's impressive. And kind of a shock to people. They can't believe the quality.

So that's the latest update. I love my new 30 gig black 5G iPod. At $299, this thing is a steal. What about my nano? How is it fairing. Well, when I have a couple good podcasts on it and I'm going out to exercise, it's absolutely perfect. And I still don't have a good case for my 5G, so I feel more comfortable with the nano.

I think both of these machines are going to big hits but I'll bet a lot of what would have been nano sales will go to the 5G. Teenagers are going to want one. I had to have one. I wanted to see for myself what the video would be like. How cool it would be. Right now I'm hoping this is going to change the face of TV, finally. I'm hoping this will generate huge numbers of passionate amateur video podcasters. And options for us to see videos that we would otherwise never have had the convenient opportunity to see. This video play is so cool. I'm hoping Apple can get some more good video content fast.

I'm hoping Apple can do some of the magic they did with music and get the high quality TV shows of all eras and make them available. The popularity of the video iPod will give us an idea of how much people have hated (consciously or unconsciously) the domination of TV broadcasting. Well, maybe it is a love hate relationship, but still.

Technorati Tags: iPod, ipodnano, video iPod, videoipod