Apple Updates iMac, iLife, .Mac 528
Apple just announced new iMacs. They are aluminum and come in 20" (two models) and 24". There's a new view called "Events" in iPhoto that should make it easier to deal with large photo libraries. Apple's .Mac service is enhanced with .Mac Web Gallery, which integrates with the new iTunes and also the iPhone. It's a Web 2.0 app now. And iMovie is being replaced by a completely new app of the same name. Steve Jobs claimed that with it you can put together a 5-minute movie in 30 minutes, and he demo'ed that from the stage. iWeb, iDVD, and GarageBand get new features too. And .Mac subscribers get 10 GB of storage. Here is Engadget's blow-by-blow coverage, and Wired's.
Re:Apple's website not updated? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I, for one, welcome our... (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, I was thinking the same thing.
A lot of people dislike the MacBook keyboards. They look nice, but the keys don't travel far enough for some people, which messes up the tactile feedback. And these new keyboards look very similar to the MacBook keyboards, plus they're extremely thin, which would also suggest a short travel distance for the keys.
But of course, until I check them out next week at the Apple store, it's all speculation.
Re:Apple's website not updated? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It's a Web 2.0 app now... (Score:2, Insightful)
Can we please kill off "Web X.Y"? (Score:2, Insightful)
It's a Web 2.0 app now
No it's not, because there's no such thing as a "version" of the Internet OR the World Wide Web.
Just because O'Reilly and a bunch of bloggers like it, doesn't mean you should use it.
Re:A few thoughts (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Down with the Apple monopoly (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:I got a small chuckle from.... (Score:3, Insightful)
I've yet to see a better way to get widescreen standard definition video to my family. If there's one I'm missing, I hope Steve Jobs will enlighten us.
Re:Finally (Score:3, Insightful)
They stillmissed it by an order of magnitude. Maybe next year.
Re:I, for one, welcome our... (Score:4, Insightful)
Funny, I love mine, and previously I was a diehard Model M user.
Switch on right-click support in the System Preferences or use the Ctrl key.
Personally, I use Ctrl for right-click even when I'm using Linux on a system with a 4-button trackball.
Re:Down with the Apple monopoly (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't like Microsoft because they make shit products and force them down our throats. I use them regularly, as I now have an XP laptop at my current job as a Unix SA. I am willing to pay for Microsoft products when I think they are worthwhile -- I have an XBox 360 Elite -- but usually they are not worth paying for. The XBox is the first Microsoft product I have bought
For my own computer, I am happy to pay the extra few bucks for an Apple product that does exactly what it is designed to do, and does it extremely well. It's just not worth hassling with a Linux desktop machine anymore. OS X has the Windows advantages of being "mainstream" and playing all that fancy DVD and audio content with no fuss, no muss, but without the disadvantages of being utter crap. I definitely spent more money on my Mac Pro than I needed to spend on a computer, but mostly that was me buying an overkill machine, and very little of it was the Apple tax. Of course, if they had a mid-range headless system, maybe I would have bought that instead... But the low-end laptops are very competitive with PC offerings, and to some of us it is worth paying money for stuff that works.
By the way, I register all of the shareware I use and enjoy in OS X, something that is far more true of the Mac community than the Windows community. Why? Because we feel the products are worth paying for, rather than Windows users who feel that they use what they use out of necessity, not choice.
I like the idea of free software, but I'm not devoting my life to the cause. If it works best, I'll use it. If not, I'll pay to use whatever works best. Unfortunately for Microsoft, it is almost never their product.
Attack of the clones. (Score:4, Insightful)
Seeing these new Macs, however, I can't help but wonder why in the hell PC makers don't actually start putting some damn effort into the manufacture and design of their machines. Instead they go for quick, cheap gimmicks like Dell and the goofy interchangeable color covers for their laptops. Even worse are the third party case manufacturers.
There are a million ideas out there for very elegant designs that could be just as impressive, if not more so, than anything Apple has designed. But instead what are we going to see? Dozens of crappy clones of the Apple design. Either that or half-hearted attempts that scream of cost-cutting over thoughtful design. Even Nintendo couldn't help but cloning the MacBook design with the DS and to a lesser extent the Wii.
Apple has nice design, but they are far from being the pinnacle of high design. If only other companies weren't cheap and unimaginative.
Re:A few thoughts (Score:2, Insightful)
Apple knows about Tufte (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I, for one, welcome our... (Score:5, Insightful)
As a point of reference, at home and at work I use a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 keyboard and a trackball (logitech marble mouse at work, Kensington Expert mouse at home).
Re:Attack of the clones. (Score:5, Insightful)
(1) I need this to get work done and it has to run forever: Lenovo (formerly IBM) and high-end HP. Ugly is fine, as long as it's bullet-proof ugly
(2) I'm cheap and have no taste: Dell. Absolutely rock-bottom prices, and it has to match my velvet Elvis or corporate posters from Inspiration.com.
(3) It's a lifestyle choice, and I'm willing to pay for polish: Apple. They're not that much more expensive (especially the laptops), but getting people to overlook the price on the quad-core monsters is going to take better marketing. Tasteful, unobtrusive, and just let you get whatever it is you do done. Should be offered in Latte.
Besides, 94%, give or take a Linux box or two run Windows of some flavor. Why shouldn't the look of the machine remind you of the experience you're about to have?
Re:Dovetails nicely with iPhone. (Score:5, Insightful)
There's also the Slow Keys setting in the Universal Access pref pane. I just turned it on now for the first time, and it's friggin' annoying. If you try this, be sure to set acceptance delay to short. Yeah, this is really annoying.
Yeah, typing that last paragraph pretty much sucked.
There was also a drop in keyboard replacement for the Ti books that was just like a touch sensitive pad. There was a keyboard printed on it I think. Oh, here it is. The TouchStream MacNTouch. Never used one, but it seems interesting because of some of the other input possibilities (chording, gestures, etc.). [fingerworks.com]
Ah, well. You were making a joke and I got all esoteric on you. Sorry. =)
Re:The Dumbest Question I've Ever Heard (Score:5, Insightful)
"Because we want our computers to look classy and not like a cheap whore".
Re:Form Factors and USB/Firewire. (Score:3, Insightful)
I was arguing from Apple's point of view. Apple doesn't care what you add to the iMac after you buy it. Their form factor concerns are with only what they sold to you. They designed a very minimalist product. If you want to clutter it, that's your business. A USB HD drive costs you about $100. A FireWire400/FireWire800 version costs you about twice as much. So I take it $200 is too much for you? And with an external HD, I count 1 power supply wire and 1 data transfer cable (USB or Firewire). That's 2 more wires.
Considering that the iMac is now .33 inches, adding .5 inches would really make it bigger considering it is now thinner than some LCD monitors. It's not just adding thickness. You also have to engineer it to be user accessible. That adds complexity. I suspect that the 20" and the 24" model do not differ much when it comes to the internals other than the screen components and chips (faster CPU or faster GPU). So Apple would at least have to design the MB of the 24" model differently than the 20" model if they were to add an extra drive bay. That adds complexity.
How are backups handled today?
Re:Down with the Apple monopoly (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A few thoughts (Score:4, Insightful)
Complicated as in disassembling the shell, depending on the model, but not complicated as in having to use special equipment, as all you need are a screwdriver (preferably magnetic), maybe a Leatherman toolkit (specifically the pincers), precautions to avoid static electricity, as well as a visual guide: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ [xlr8yourmac.com].
Going one notch further, when I upgraded the hard disk on my Indigo G3 http://www.faqintosh.com/risorse/en/guides/hw/ima
As for RAM chips and the new Macs? I'd guess it takes less than five minutes to do it, just open a little hatch, fit the chip in the slot and you're good to go!
Re:I, for one, welcome our... (Score:4, Insightful)
Tada, you've made life better for people who like 2-button mice and you have not hurt the 1-button mouse people in the slightest!
Re:I, for one, welcome our... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I, for one, welcome our... (Score:2, Insightful)
Who said anything about gaming? (Score:3, Insightful)
The GMA950 hurts any 3d application, and any application that pushes the limits on RAM - and not only because it eats 64M of real memory. It's not just third-party software (let alone games) that exceed the limits of what the GMA950 can do, Apple's own software uses 3d effects all over the place, so it's got to load their software OpenGL to cover for the shortcomings of the GPU regardless. And it's going to be using more and more of them over time.
I mean the original Mini's GPU was marginal, and Tiger required more than it could handle mere months after it was released... and *it* was more capable than the GMA950. It's only because they could afford to waste CPU power to inefficiently cover for the Intel GPU that they got away with it in the first place.
Re:iWork - Numbers! (Score:3, Insightful)
Fair?!? It is a comparison of the available options. I don't care if one company is slow to release new version, I just care about what is available. Currently, Word is slow, unresponsive, and resource intensive. I'd rather use something that is the opposite of that. I don't care if it is a new version of MS Office or iWork, although I also care about usability and feature set.