MacBook Air: not impressed

Well, now everyone already knows about the Mac Book Air. I've seen the pictures, and to tell you to truth - I'm not impressed.

Yes, its thin. Probably light. But it looks breakable. It's expensive. It has slow hard drive.
And design? I'm not sure yet I like it either.

So, we'll have to wait and see. I thought I could get a new laptop and waited until January. Now I think I lost some time.

Most Hated Company

I just read a post by Mike Elgan, in which he argues that Asus is the most hated company in the computer business right now. And all this just because they made it first to market very cheap laptop with Linux on it (that being Asus eee701 PC).

So here's the breakdown of reasons why it is most hated (mmm, right ):

1. Apple, Dell and HP hate Asus.
That's because they've out a subnotebook earlier than an expected (and, in my opinion, while really possible, still highly speculative) Apple subnotebook, which supposedly will be announced on MacWorld in a week, and will probably cost much more than $400.

2. Microsoft hates Asus.
That's because there's no version of Microsoft Windows is installed in Asus laptop. It's a Xandros Linux (with some Asus' tweaks). And its light and great!

3. Intel is very happy with Asus
Because Asus used their chips in the laptop.

But somehow, I think that industry is just fine with Asus on all this. There are few reasons for that:

1. Asus (or, Asustek) is the manufacturer of many of the laptops in the world. So, vendors are still in good relations with Asus.
2. Cheap subnotebooks market is just emerging, so there's plenty room there still.
3. OLPC was actually earlier to get to that market. Wasn't it?
4. There are many Asus-made products that work on Dells and HPs, and operated with Microsoft.

I don't see any special reason to mad at vendor for selling 200000 machines.

Terminal Codes for Leopard Tweaking

Beautify your Leopard with single liner terminal codes.

read more | digg story

Technorati : apple. leopard

Get Things Done - Things First Looks

Cultured Code recently posted to their site about a new app they are working on called Things, it is a GTD application, but is very different then the rest.

I'm saving this in my bookmarks, to keep this with me ....

read more | digg story

Technorati : GTD

Coverflow for Quicksliver - Way Cool

This is pretty darn cool. Coverflow put into Quicksliver would not only be cool but productive. It's just an idea for now though.

Cool graphics anyways

read more | digg story

The first MacBook Pro with a 64GB SSD?

Ryan Block, editor of Engadget transplants a 64 GB SSD into his MacBook Pro. "Yeah, I just couldn’t resist transplanting the Samsung 64GB solid state drive from my PC to my Mac after I finished most of my tests (which are now up over at Engadget). This is really how everyone’s laptop experience should be.."

Well no, its not. I like my laptop instantaneous. But that's just me

read more | digg story

Touch screen technology

So, we've moved from Dumb text terminals, to Apple II (like, normal graphics), and then to some sort of touch screens, and now we have jewels in the crown - the Apple's iPhone and MS Surface and all sort of other applications.

So does it mean that touchscreen technology is going to rule everything? Get on every platform? Get to control our computers?

Or there's some other technology on the horizon? Something we don't even dream about (like thought-controlling interface)?

I just remember how in "Star Trek: Voyager" they had both tactile (read touchscreen) interfaces and voice-controlling interfaces (well, they had a highly evolved AI with that, but who counts?).....

Just a simple thought....

-A

My Full blog

Gorgeous Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Dock Replacement! [w/pics!]

If you have Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and dislike the look of the dock, but not enough to go all the way back to the old 2D configuration, you may want to check out this quick, clever tweak to the dock. This novice-grade hack makes the dock jet-black, highly reflective, and in most cases, much less obtrusive than Apple's variant.

read more | digg story

Mac-O-Lanterns

How to turn that outdated Apple computer into sweet Halloween decor.

Very cute :-)

read more | digg story

PC Magazine 'Leopard is “by far the best operating system ever written'

In his 4.5-star (out of 5) review of Leopard, Edward Mendelson (pcmag.com) maintains that Leopard is “by far the best operating system ever written for the vast majority of consumers, with dozens of new features that have real practical value.” Mendelson “found Leopard to be startlingly fast, brilliantly streamlined ....."

It's finally out!! I'll just wait for a release of a new mac laptops to decide whether I want to go the mac way....

-A

read more | digg story

Road to Mac OS X Leopard: an extensive look at Preview 3.0

Apple in a matter of weeks will roll out Preview 3.0 as part of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, a significant update to its homebred media viewer that will see the application expand from a simple PDF reader into the beginnings of a full-fledged image editor. Here's an extensive look at what's new in Preview 3.0.I'm so impatient now.

I think that Leopard would be a good reason for me to get into the Mac notebooks ....

read more | digg story

Detailed Review Of The 16GB iPod touch

Macguide takes a look at the latest touch enabled device from Apple, the iPod touch. They weight up its pros and cons in-depth in the 1500 word piece, complete with detailed pictures. The conclusion: If you're happy with "just" 16GB of storage and want to upgrade from a previous generation iPod, the iPod touch is perfectly suited.

Oh, my, I'm drooling over it....now that it has the WiFi....possibilities are limitless....

read more | digg story

Look at them apples!

a revolution among college students? see for yourself. this photo was not staged!

Very Cool! I want to see such a school where all the kids have laptops (and Apple ones at that!!!)

-A.

read more | digg story

Note to Apple: Stop thinking Like a Phone Company

Steve Jobs might be better served here to take his own advice and think different. Because, as he has so elegantly demonstrated with the iPhone, these devices are finally becoming little computers. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that consumers will expect them to act like computers. They will want to modify them to their exact, specifications.

read more | digg story

Apple developing OS X minitablet

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has a project underway to develop a minitablet computer based on the OS X operating system it has developed for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The site is calling it "the return of the Newton," referring to the much-maligned but cult-favorite PDA that Apple sold in the mid-1990s.

The I 'New' Tone would be interesting name, wouldn't it?

read more | digg story

IPod touch

Why are people so touched by this IPhone issue? Yea, it is a bummer to find out that the hottest gadget you just bought dropped its price 33%, but still, it has nothing to do with other gadgets :-)
I just think that anything Apple does is a cool designed project, and the choice is still yours. If you want it - buy it. If you're pissed at Apple, then don't.

It's that simple.

My Full blog

Is Steve Jobs Sick Of The Cell Phone Industry Already?

Job's keynote, riddled with anti industry comments, topped it all off with a big middle finger to AT&T by introducing the iPod touch. "We're with you man."

The correctness of this cannot be underestimated. All the population in the world wants the carriers to be freer, more open and less restrictive. And if such a person as Steve Jobs is tired of them, it only proves that a little man can do nothing but work against them. And that means using PC to PC free phone calls where available.

-A.

read more | digg story

How Did Apple Get The iPhone Battery To Last Longer?

"Apple announced on Monday that its much-anticipated iPhone will offer eight hours of talk time rather than the previously announced five. On Wednesday, Jack Shafer mocked journalists for lavishing attention on this tiny morsel of news. Even so, that clever bit of Apple PR got Explainer wondering: How do you make a battery last longer?"

Interesting stuff!

read more | digg story

Why widgets suck

I've just read a blog post by Leah Calver titled "Widgets suck".

She says:

...It's not only widgets, the entire mashup phenomenon that isn't really working. I'm not usually such a naysayer, but for the sake of fellow developers I think perhaps I could call this one out.

From a business perspective, widgets are leeches..."

So I've decided to share my thoughts here.

My personal take on widgets is this:
It is a nice and cool technology which allows to create a single peace of software which does one specific thing. What cool about it, is that you choose to decide the graphics, the appearance, the functionality - its like writing a short story. If you do it well enough, many others will use it gladly and happily.
But my problem with Widgets is that they force you to put an effort to use them.

I'll explain: these things are supposed to make my life more fun, and easier and more interesting. But they are different application than what I already have on my computer. I have to "manually" see them: on Mac it's pressing the key, on Windows its minimizing all windows. That's a usability problem.

Not to mention, that widgets are huge time burner, of course.

I think though, there's a solution possible to this. As our screens are getting bigger in size, time will come when 30 incher will sit on my desk. After working awhile with such a monster, I know that my field of view doesn't catch full 30" without turning my head over. So, dissecting screen area estate to a "constant" part where widgets would sit and give me useful information, and "dynamic" part which will serve as today's monitors (for applications that is), I'd have a benefit of both Widgets (as available to me at all times) and normal work (not interrupted by operation needed to check a weather on a widget).

A temporal solution may be in form of small (say, 15") additional screen nearside your main one, or Lebedev's Mini Three.

Just my thoughts though.
Feedback is welcome.

-A.

Technorati : techonology, widgets

Gallery: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard build 9A466 (WWDC 2007) - Think Secret

Those in attendance at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last week went home with the first new build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard released to third-party developers in almost two months. Think Secret has compiled a number of screenshots from the newest build.

read more | digg story