Archives by Tag: Mac
Geek Force Utterz #027 - Apple Tax
Last week, Apple announced its new line of notebook computers and unveiled the process involved in carving each new Macbook from a solid brick of aluminum. What they didn’t announce, however, was an affordable addition to their line. Steve Jobs seemed to think that’s what he was doing in announcing that the previous-generation white plastic Macbook would stay in production at a reduced $999 price-point, but he’s delusional. $999 is not in any way something that I would call an entry-level price-point. The fabled Apple Tax is still very much intact.
In today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz, I talk about how the Apple Tax prohibits people like me, people with a limited budget, from buying products that are supposedly targeted at consumers like us (let alone from buying the exorbitantly expensive pro-line stuff).
If you can’t see/hear the embed above, you can listen to the call over at Utterli.com. And remember: once you’ve listened, leave your two cents in the comments.
An Unhealthy Obsession With Her Mac (Video)
Meleah Rebeccah Hawthorne has an unhealthy obsession with her Mac, and now she’s sharing it with the whole world. Together with photographer Jen Rinaldi, Ms. Hawthorne has put together one of the funniest odes to Mac obsession that I have ever seen. My friend Leslie mentioned that this video might be coming soon during our trip down to Boston Media Makers a couple of weekends ago, and Tweeted about it yesterday, but today was the first time I was able to get a few minutes to check it out. And believe you me, it’s worth your time.
Set to the song “Happy Together,” the clip (available in Quicktime, if you can’t see the YouTube version above) is a montage of photographs featuring Meleah and her Mac sharing a candlelit dinner, among many other special moments.
If you like it, Digg it. Then, when you’re done watching, let us know in the comments what a video of you and one of your own obsessions might look like.
Merlin Mann’s Take on Mobile Me
43 Folders has an article by Merlin Mann on MobileMe that I found quite good. Mann describes himself as “someone who’s had strong feelings, high hopes, and occasional disappointmens with .Mac” and his thoughts on the service that Apple is launching to replace it are pretty comprehensive. My favorite observation:
Hiya, Windows hold-outs - I don’t know enough about “Enterprise” buying decisions to speak intelligently about business adoption, but I will say that MobileMe seems like a smart way reach out to individual Windows users and say, “See? Look how easy this all is!” Similarly, a lot of people I talk to these days are down to a single Windows device, and that’s the one they have to use at work. MobileMe potentially keeps them connected to their Apple world, even when they’re on a PC.
That’s the single most important benefit of MobileMe over .Mac for me: the inclusion of Windows computers in the mix.
Apple’s Photo Booth App Helps Recover Stolen Laptop
The Unofficial Apple Weblog broke this story on Friday, the New York Times followed up on Saturday, and I’ve been laughing about it all weekend long.
Apparently, Kait Duplaga, an employee of the Westchester, NY Apple Store, used Apple’s “Back to My Mac” service, in combination with the popular Photo Booth application, to snap a picture of the morons who stole her laptop but didn’t think to reformat the thing.
“Back to My Mac,” in case you’re not familiar, is part of the Apple’s .Mac servce which allows a user to control their computer remotely from any other .Mac enabled machine. Photo Booth, for the uninitiated, is an application which uses the Mac’s built-in camera to snap pictures of the people standing or sitting in front of it. If you see lots of teenaged mallrats hanging out at your local Apple retail outlet, Photo Booth is probably what they’re there for.
Ms. Duplaga used these two applications to snap photos of the culprits, which she then delivered to the police. The culprits, who, according to the deputy commissioner of public safety in White Plains, “were arrested last year on a felony marijuana possession charge” are not “career criminals.” And I think that’s probably a pretty darned good thing. Seriously, dudes, if you’re going to steal laptops for a living, you better be up-to-date on what they can do. Otherwise, just roll yourself a couple joints, listen to some Afroman, and fix yourself a plate of brownies.
.Mac and iPhone 2.0
A little birdy has apparently dropped by the offices of The Unofficial Apple Weblog to spread the rumor that a .Mac relaunch is coming just in time for the release of iPhone 2.0. TUAW’s informant says that the revamp could include .Mac syncing on Windows, among other things. As I’m sure you’ll recall, I’ve been thinking a lot about synchronizing data lately, and particularly about syncing data between my iMac and my Dell laptop. If this rumor becomes reality, I might actually have to give .Mac a try.
