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Thoughts on Using Older Macs as Work Machines
Tackling Keyboard Shortcut Woes In OS X
SSDs Getting Choked By Crummy Disk Interfaces
Acer CEO Vows No More "Cheap And Unprofitable Products"
Next-Generation MacBook Air Rumored To Allow Use Of Three Displays At Once
Let's Stop Classifying the iPad as a PC
The Death Of Email?
Ultrabooks To Get Touch Features - Digitimes' Sources
New Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop Ruggedized for Students and Schools
Thoughts on Using Older Macs as Work Machines
In his latest Miscellaneous Ramblings column on Low End Mac, Charles Moore expresses mixed feelings about trying to use really ancient Macs for production work, noting that if all you need is a typing platform, just about any Mac ever made running software from its era will do, but with the Internet and the Cloud looming ever larger, while there may be workarounds possible, is it really worth the trouble with more powerful machines so abundantly available at affordable prices?
Moore himself still uses two hotrodded 11-year-old Pismo PowerBooks for light to medium duty production tasks, observing that the old laptops' two most important enablers these days are not not hardware upgrades, but software, specofocally the TenFourFox port of Firefox 8 to PowerPC, and the fact that Dropbox supports OS X 10.4 Tiger, and suggests that if purpose of the exercise is mainly the challenge of getting some useful service from a superannuated Mac, then the pure practicality of the project will be a secondary issue. For him, it's about the appropriate tool for the job, and adding that if what you're after is simply an inexpensive computer for light to moderate duty service, these days there's also the tablet option.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://bit.ly/uH6Pv5
Tackling Keyboard Shortcut Woes In OS X
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler notes that keyboard shortcuts are useful for quickly accessing common functions, such as saving files (Command-S), or quitting programs (Command-Q), and in addition to universal commands like saving and quitting, most applications will have unique hot keys for their own functions.
He notes that Apple has a built-in option to set custom hot keys for a number of system and application functions that is is very convenient, but sometimes odd problems can happen when adjusting these settings, with some new issues cropping up in OS X 10.7 Lion.
You can check it out at:
http://cnet.co/szFgYz
SSDs Getting Choked By Crummy Disk Interfaces
The Register's Chris Mellor says that when it comes to SSD disk interfaces, it's gotta' be PCIe, and not SAS or SATA, noting that a flash device that can put out 100,000 IOPS shouldn't be crippled by a disk interface geared to dealing with the 200 or so IOPS delivered by individual slow hard disk drives.
Mellor notes that Generation 3 PCIe delivers 1GB/sec per lane, with a 4-lane (x4) gen 3 PCIe interface shipping 4GB/sec., but you can't hook an SSD directly to such a PCIe bus with any standard interface.
What to do? Mellor reports that there are two efforts to produce standards for an interface that can hook an SSD directly to the PCIe bus: the NVMe and the SCSI Express initiatives.
To read more, click here.
http://bit.ly/vflwyb
Acer CEO Vows No More "Cheap And Unprofitable Products"
MarketWatch's Lorraine Luk reports that Acer intends to ship 10% more notebook PCs and become profitable next year with its strategy to expand market share focusing more on improving profit margins than low prices after a management reshuffle and operational restructuring.
Ms. Luk notes that Acer Inc. has posted net losses for two straight quarters, and is pinning its hope for improved profit margins on sales of higher-priced, ultrathin, "UltraBook" laptops and demand from emerging markets to power a turnaround next year, Acer Chief Executive J.T. Wang saying in an interview that his company intends to increase notebook shipments by 10% next year and become profitable, commenting that "Ultrabooks will become our key growth driver next year....", adding "We will shift our strategy to improving profitability from pursuing market share blindly with cheap and unprofitable products."
For the full report visit here:
http://bit.ly/v1u3gk
Next-Generation MacBook Air Rumored To Allow Use Of Three Displays At Once
Cult of Mac's Alex Heath says: our next MacBook Air should be able to drive a total of three displays at once via one Thunderbolt connection, according to a leaked roadmap of Intel's plans for its Ivy Bridge processors in 2012, noting that with Apple's next-generation laptops primed to sport Intel's Ivy Bridge silicon, it's very likely that future MacBook Airs and Pros will be able to support two external displays plus the MacBook's built-in screen.
For the full report visit here:
http://bit.ly/vYQ8M3
Let's Stop Classifying the iPad as a PC
Tech.pinions contributor Patrick Moorhead is critical of market research firm Canalys's decision to break from the analyst pack and include touchscren tablets in its PC sales metrics, a revision that has put Apple is on track to become leading global PC vendor, given the phenomenal success of the iPad. Moorhead says the re-classification got him thinking about what is a PC and how wide does this definition go?
Moorhead emphasizes that he's not debating whether at least for some users a tablet can perform tasks they would otherwise be doing with a laptop or desktop PC, but rather industry classification of the device. He proposes some multi-point criteria to help qualify PC-ness, but in your editor's estimation, tablets like the iPad meet all of them, soooo ???
For the full commentary visit here:
http://bit.ly/tV1RCg
The Death Of Email?
The Independent's Adam Sherwin notes that first the Twitterati logged off, and now a high-tech office has abandoned email altogether. So, he asks, is the writing on the wall for our most popular form of communication, with email poised to follow the telex into the dustbin of communication tools we have loved and discarded?
Sherwin reports that use of email, first developed in 1971. Email has dropped to 31 percent among the 12-17 age group with a 21 per cent slump among those aged 18-24, while Mobile Instant Messaging services have supplanted ponderous email for the tech-savvy next generation.
However, Sherwin observes, teens fortunate enough to eventually find jobs are likely to still find themselves enmeshed in email's spam-blighted, sclerotic grip, with the proportion of companies sending more than 50,000 emails each month having gradually increased during the last four years, and email used daily by 85 per cent of workers. Banefully, spam still accounts for an estimated 89 per cent of all emails, and more than 107 trillion emails will be sent this year, according to the report.
[ Editor's Note: Email's killer feature advantage? Universality, contrasted with the IM industry being a hodgepodge of fragmented proprietary services that don't communicate with one another. IM users may fancy themselves being at the cutting edge, but the fact is they're in a constellation of isolated ghettos and off the radar for the email-using majority. Ed.]
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/6meulxj
Ultrabooks To Get Touch Features - Digitimes' Sources
Digitimes' Yenting Chen and Steve Shen report that PC notebook makers plan to employ touch panels for their thin-and-light Ultrabooks to accommodate new features in Windows 8 in hope of regaining market share being gobbled up by tablet PCs, according to industry sources.
Chen and Shen say LCD panels and touch module OEMs have begun delivering samples to notebook makers, according to insider sources, who also say shipments of Acer's Aspire S3 and Asustek Computer's Zenbook Ultrabooks have so far met with market expectations.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20111207PD204.html
New Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop Ruggedized for Students and Schools
Lenovo has announced its new ThinkPad X130e laptop, a specially ruggedized unit for education and with features needed to help students in grades K-12 and their schools get the most out of PC technology.
The ThinkPad X130e comes with choices of the latest Intel or AMD processors combined with integrated graphics, wireless connectivity, and multimedia tools for digital learning. Designed to be handled by kids, the ThinkPad X130e has a reinforced and extra-durable top cover, keyboard and hinges. Lenovo says schools will also like its performance, reliability and customizable options including asset tags, BIOS modifications, custom imaging and broad selection of custom colors.
"At Lenovo ThinkTank 2011 we brought hundreds of distinguished educators together, and the resounding feature CIOs told us that ranks highest on their list of features important for PC purchases is 'ruggedness'," says ThinkPad Business Unit vice president Dilip Bhatia. "While we've built tough products for years that pass many military-grade tests, we've made specific improvements required for a laptop to be successful in an education environment with the ThinkPad X130e."
This 11.6-inch ThinkPad X130e lightweight ultraportable has the processing performance students need for assignments requiring multitasking with choices of AMD Fusion E-300 and E-450 or Intel second-generation Core i3-2367M ULV processors. For multimedia-intensive lessons, the laptop kicks in its AMD Radeon or Intel HD-powered graphics for a richer visual experience.
"Having a purpose-built device designed to improve learning for students is a critical foundation for education transformation," says Intel education strategist Paige Johnson. "Lenovo's ThinkPad X130e laptop powered by Intel Core i3 processors provides the capability and functions that students need for a 21st Century education."
With it weighing in under four pounds, students can easily carry the laptop between classes without the need to recharge, since the battery is claimed to last the whole school day, and even long enough to start homework after school - up to 8.5 hours according to Lenovo.
Throughout the course of a typical school day, students' laptops are often subject to extreme wear and tear. To help school-proof them, the X130e has several heavy-duty features including:
• A top cover rubber bumper to absorb impacts to the side of the laptop
• 33 percent stronger corner to reduce the chance of damage when dropped at an angle
• Stronger hinges to outlast even the most frequent PC user at up to 30,000 cycles
• Reinforced and recessed ports to decrease the effects of student "wear and tear"
• Stronger Bezel with 1.2mm thick plastic to protect the LED panel
Students can use the ThinkPad X130e's low-light webcam to communicate with peers in other schools across the world or just across town, and also easily connect via WiFi and keep their connection while moving from class to class using Lenovo's Instant Resume function. With HDMI and VGA out, users can present reports to the class with a projector or big screen TV.
Making Students & Schools More Efficient
The X130e laptop starts up in less than 20 seconds using Lenovo's RapidBoot technology, and built-in self-help tools like Rescue and Recovery and Access Connections help decrease calls to school IT support, allowing students to recover damaged files and to store and connect easily to different WiFi networks.
Additionally, Lenovo offers a broad range of optional services for the ThinkPad X130e laptop, including custom colors, image services to help keep IT teams focused on enhancing learning - not chasing device drivers and tediously loading images onto each PC manually, asset tagging services help keep track of PCs left on the school bus or classroom, and Accidental Damage Protection services can help keep a check on repair budgets. And if the PC needs to be fixed, Lenovo's Hard Drive Retention service protects students' digital information.
The ThinkPad X130e laptop will be available starting Dec. 20 from business partners and on http://www.lenovo.com
Pricing starts at $469.
For more information, visit:
http://www.lenovo.com
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