MACBOOK AIR
No it’s not the Michael Jordan Edition with the “Air-ness” logo instead of an Apple, it’s Apple’s latest, smallest, most ultra-portable laptop ever. Ever.

For all it’s coolness, I just don’t see it. And I don’t mean that I can’t see it literally, but that I can’t see it being a worthwhile purchase. No optical drive (that means no CD’s, DVD’s, etc). Non-replaceable battery. Only an 80GB hard drive. Slower processor than what’s otherwise available. For me (and I am guessing many others), losing less than ½” in thickness and two pounds of weight over the MacBook “Normal” (is that what it’s called now?) just doesn’t compute, what with all you lose. Faster processor. Larger hard drive. Optical drive (yay DVD’s!). Plus, for the privilege of having Apple remove all the nicer stuff, they’ll let you pay them an extra $500? Seems like a sore deal all around to me.

Not to take away from its innovation, however. I mean, technically? C’mon! It’s a half-inch thin! Runs for 5 hours on a charge with wireless ON! Weighs three whole pounds! Comes equipped with software to allow you to control optical drives on other machines on the same network! It’s amazing! And I’m glad Apple released it, as it will drive innovation in everything else. We’ll see some of this tech, some of that same R&D come to other lines as well. And for that, I’m very happy.


ITUNES MOVIE RENTALS
About damn time. Too bad they’re overpriced. Look, you’re getting less than a DVD or less than an HD-DVD or BD disc if you try their HD content. Yet you’re paying about the same as you would at a video rental shop, but with more restrictions?

Let’s put this in perspective:

They are competing with Blockbuster, Netflix, and any other similar competitor. If you rent a movie one at a time from any of them, it’ll run you on average about $4-5. The new iTunes movie rentals are no different. Same cost.

On the side of convenience, iTunes wins. Hey, it’ll never be checked out when you get there, guaranteed. Compare to the rental shop, that you have to drive to in order to check and see what they have, and hope it’s not checked out once you actually get there. Netflix? Well kiss spontaneity goodbye, huh? You better have what you want picked out a week or so in advance. But of course, Netflix has no late fees, you can keep it as long as you want it, and watch it however many times you want to when it's in your possession. iTunes? Well, you have only 30 days to view it (better than the store, worse than the Netflix), but once you Do start watching it, you only have 24 hours to actually do so, then it's gone. Oops, accidentally hit Play when you didn't want to watch it until tomorrow evening? You're screwed, sorry. Oh and don't try to rent any new releases within 30 days of wide release. They won't be on iTunes until 30 days after the DVD has gone on sale. So we see that here is where iTunes excels, if you only care about a "need something right now, I don't care what" kind of night. Otherwise, it still loses to the entrenched veterans.

Content. Well, here iTunes loses. The question is how bad, and the answer depends on how much you inlcude in the argument. If we restrict it to just what material is actually viewable, then it loses quite handily, as there’s more room on disc than what they are going to send you, and you get special features, etc. But if we include everything, then it loses handily times 10. If you are still on a Standard Def TV doing DVD’s, now you only get stereo as opposed to Dolby Surround on the disc. But in reality, you're not losing as much as some... If you are in the new Millenium like me and are watching HD content, you’re limited to 720p which is inferior in quality to 1080p, what is otherwise available on Blu-Ray discs, and you don’t get the same high-quality audio options, either.

So in the end, you pay the same price, gain a debatable amount of convenience or lose a lot of convenience or both, and lose quality of content. To me, that’s the recipe for a loser. I’m sorry, but if you want me to shell out the same amount of money (oh yeah, you have to buy the Apple TV too, at the minimum of $229), you either have to up the convenience factor that I already have going, or up the quality factor I already have going, or both. You can’t charge me the same or more, then take away quality and give in return a minimal amount of convenience or none really at all. Sorry, I’ll wait out the Microwaved Burrito and opt for the slow-cooked steak on this one, guys. Especially if they’re the same cost, am I right?


Apple TV
Ah, the Apple TV. Tied closely to the aforementioned iTunes rentals, I give it a thumbs down. No DVR? What? Still? Still can’t play discs? No slot? Can’t output anything above 720p resolution? What?

Wait, what’s that? It’s the same exact Apple TV from last year, but with a new software interface? Yeah OK you lost last year, you lose again. What. The. Hell.

I want 1080p, full audio quality, I want cheaper rentals for everything and TV shows included, and DVR functionality. I want it to be a cable/Blu-Ray replacement, not an overpriced kiddy toy. It’s too expensive for what it offers, and honestly if they gave me what I wanted, I’d say that they could justify a $150 price hike on it. It’d be worth it then. But not now, not even at the “low” price of $229. Not with that content.

Such great potential. Such lousy execution. Sigh. Get it right next go around, Apple.


IPHONE 1.1.3
The iPhone is great in concept, it really is. Again though, not for me. I have a laptop, and when I want to compute, I’d rather work on a full keyboard and have a mouse, as well as a 14” or so screen rather than a 2.5” or so screen, and real horsepower. Call me crazy.

Anyway, the 1.1.3 update added some good functionality. However, it should be mentioned that it was functionality that was sorely missing in the original release. Should have been there from the get-go, but at least now it is there. This is good, even if late (and luckily, not that kind of late, ha ha).

Unless you’re an iPod Touch owner. They want to gouge you $20 for the same additions. Yikes. I’m not going there…. Sorry for ya.


TIME CAPSULE
An addition to go along with Time Machine, Time Capsule allows you to back up your Leopard-Equipped Mac Wirelessly. It was pulled from the features list shortly before Leopard was released, but now apparently it’s back in!

I’m on board for this. I’ll be putting down money for the Big One. Yes indeed. Well worth it, it could be cheaper, but it’s not and it’s still reasonably priced considering all it has and that it’s a one-trick pony that is going to be covered by Apple because it’s their baby. Buy one now. No joke. If you have Leopard, buy one yesterday.

I’m buying mine in a few weeks :-). So much for taking one’s own advice. Hey, gotta make sure the January finances are looking alright, no?




This concludes our Emergency Macworld Blogging
That was fun. Yes I still love me my Apple MacBook. Yes I still think their OS implementation is right most of the way. It’s better than the alternatives, even if it’s not perfect. Hey, they haven’t hired me to do consulting, so that’s the price, apparently.

But criticism is what’s going to keep them moving forward. If everyone drank the koolaid, there wouldn’t be much reason to innovate, huh? And that’s what it’s about: they release some good stuff, it’s not quite perfect, we tell them why not, they make it what we want. Such is the circle, when it works right. Let’s keep the circle going around.

I want my Full-HD Apple TV sooner rather than later, after all.

Peace.

Tags: Apple