Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Thursday, March 27, 2008
Morgan Stanley: 40% of college students plan to buy Macs
Leopard's Certainly no Microsoft 'Vista 2.0'
UI Guidelines: One Reason The Mac Shines, Windows Sucks
Super Talent to ship 256GB Laptop SSD in April (But You Won't Want One)
Apple forbids Windows users from installing Safari for Windows
Apple legal is slacking, Safari on non-Apple hardware prohibited
The new Apple TV: a True Multimedia Device
Keyboard PC design recalls Amiga era
Al Gore gets 10,000 Apple options
Apple's Writers' Strike Response: Better Late Than Never
Morgan Stanley: 40% of college students plan to buy Macs
AppleInsider reports:
Apple's rapidly rising mindshare amongst current generation college students is setting the company up for an "aging phenomenon" that will spur further market share and revenue growth as those students enter the work force, investment bank Morgan Stanley said Wednesday.
A recent higher-education survey cited by analyst Katy Huberty reveals that roughly 40 percent of college students say their next computer purchase will be a Mac, well ahead of Apple's current 15 percent market share in the demographic.
For the full report click here.
Leopard's Certainly no Microsoft 'Vista 2.0'
PBCentral's Joe Leo says:
Today marks the, if anybody's keeping track, pseudo-"fifth" anniversary (really five months) of Apple's big cat's release: Mac OS X version 10.5, also known better as its code name, Leopard. In only five days into its foray out into the wild, 2 million copies were sold, outdoing its predecessor, the still popular Tiger 10.4. 150 days later, how is the big cat faring?
Is Leopard purring along, tame as its domesticated brethren, or is it still as finicky as any release of Microsoft's Windows operating system, making it a true "Vista 2.0"?
To read more, click here.
UI Guidelines: One Reason The Mac Shines, Windows Sucks
THe Apple Core's David Morgenstern says:
Is there a method behind the madness of the Windows experience and the elegance of the Macintosh? One reason can be seen with just one look at the human interface principles found on Apple's and Microsoft's developer sites.
This exploration was sparked by a blog post on O'Reilly's Digital Media by FJ de Kermadec, a Paris-based designer and author. He wrote about several differences between Windows Vista and Mac OS X and the user expectations for each platform.
According to Kermadec, said some new users are either afraid of computers or bored by them. They don't care about the metaphors of the user interface or the niceties of icons, menus and widgets.
Here, Vista's start menu is brilliant: it shoves 99% of what you may want to do in one single menu, allowing users to immediately "get into" their tasks. Calling it "Start" in the old days was a very good move in that it clearly told users to "start here."....
Yayy! The average user feels like a real computer user now: look at how the big machine reacts to his every whim.
Kermadec says Mac OS X is more complicated for these users because it wants them to understand the structure and metaphors. Once users learn the logic, then they appreciate its elegance, especially when things go wrong....
Sorry, I don't buy any of Kermadec's thesis.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1466
Super Talent to ship 256GB Laptop SSD in April (But You Won't Want One)
Macworld's Martyn Williams reports:
Super Talent, a San Jose-based developer of memory devices, will soon begin commercial sales of a solid-state disk (SSD) drive for laptops that can store 256GB of data....
The new drive from Super Talent is the same size as a 12.5-millimeter-thick 2.5-inch laptop drive..."
Exciting news, what? But wait; the article says that the drive will sell for - are you sitting down? - US$5,950.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/132699/2008/03/supertalent.html
Apple forbids Windows users from installing Safari for Windows
The Register's Cade Metz reports:
In using Apple Software Update to slip his Safari browser onto millions of Windows PCs, Steve Jobs didn't just undermine "the security of the whole Web". He's made a mockery of end user licensing agreements.
As spotted by our Italian friends at setteB.IT, Apple's Safari license says that users are permitted to install the browser on no more than "a single Apple-labeled computer at a time." This means that if you install Safari for Windows on a Windows PC, you're violating the license....
So this is merely a case of Apple making itself look silly.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/26/apple_safari_eula_paradox/
Apple legal is slacking, Safari on non-Apple hardware prohibited
9To5Mac's Quincy Pince-Nez says:
Ah, Apple's legal department. Our favorite group of &%# people ever. Turns out someone over there hasn't been doing their homework. According to Safari for Windows' Software License PDF, the software is only to be installed on Apple-labeled computers....
This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software. The Apple Software may be used to reproduce materials so long as such use is limited to reproduction of non-copyrighted materials...
So, unless you are running Windows Safari on Bootcamp, or on a Parallels or VMWare Fusion image, you are doing so against the terms of service that Apple provides - in other words, illegally....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.9to5mac.com/safari-illegal-on-pcs-35466345354
The new Apple TV: a True Multimedia Device
Computerworld's Ryan Faas reports:
Although the Apple TV first shipped on March 21, 2007, it didn't get an overhaul for almost a year. During that year, the device, which promised to bring digital media (music, photos and video) from the computer to the living room, tried to establish itself in a marketplace rife with competitors. Systems such as Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Netgear's EVA series, not to mention TiVo, are all striving to dominate that elusive space.
Introduced at Macworld in January, this second iteration of Apple TV (which some call Apple TV Take 2) is a response to many of the initial criticisms of its predecessor as a media device that lacked direct access to online content. Users can now search and buy content from the iTunes Store directly on the Apple TV, including music, TV shows and movie rentals (which were introduced at Macworld).
For the full report click here.
How Do I Copy My DVDs to Watch On My Mac and iPhone or iPod?
MyFirstMac's Mike Smith says:
So imagine you just went out and bought a new DVD. Or maybe you've had your favorite movie on DVD for a while now. You also have an iPhone or a computer you want to put it on. You might think, "What? I can't just click and drag the DVD to my computer and then sync it with my device?" No you can't. That doesn't mean it's not possible to transfer it to your computer though. There are a couple ways to do it.
One: transfer it from the DVD. Companies like 20th Century Fox and now Lionsgate are now making it possible to just drag the movie from the disc to your computer.
Two: use a process called ripping. Basically what this is, is a program reads the information off the disc and decodes it into a file on your hard drive which can then be compressed to put on your iPod, Apple TV, etc.
To read more, click here.
Keyboard PC design recalls Amiga era
The Register's James Sherwood reports:
Fashion often repeats itself, with dated products reborn into popular products. Just think of Volkswagen's Beetle or BMW's Mini. And now we can add the Commodore Amiga to the list, sort of, thanks to a new all-in-one PC with a look rather reminiscent of the home computer.
Cybernet's Zero-footprint PC (ZPC), as it's curiously called since it has a non-zero footprint, integrates a standard PC's internals under the keyboard. There's room in there for up to 750GB of hard drive storage, 4GB of 667MHz DDR 2 memory, an optical drive and an Intel Core 2 Quad processor.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/26/all_in_one_pc_cybernet/
Laptop Vendors Burned In Battery Plant Blaze
The Register's Kelly Fiveash reports:
Some of the world's leading computer vendors have admitted that a worldwide shortage of laptop batteries will impact prices, shipments and sales.
Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Asustek have all grumbled about the dent in the supply chain caused, in part, by a fire at a Korean factory earlier this month where some laptop batteries are manufactured....
LG Chem, which is South Korea's second biggest battery vendor, said its factory will be out of action for up to three months.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/26/laptop_battery_shortage/
Al Gore gets 10,000 Apple options
Apple 2.0's Philip Elmer-DeWitt says:
Former vice president Al Gore, who sits on Apple's compensation committee and supervised the company's internal investigation of its option backdating case, has been granted options to buy 10,000 shares of Apple at the strike price of $129.67, according to Jonny Evans at Macworld UK.
With Apple shares closing at $140.98 Tuesday night, the options would be worth $113,100 if exercised today. Should Apple reach its 2007 high of 202.96 before the options expire in 10 years, the grant would be worth more than $730,000, not counting taxes.
To read more, click here.
Apple's Writers' Strike Response: Better Late Than Never
MacUser's Dan Moren reports:
While we knew that Apple would be crediting the iTunes accounts of those affected by the recent writers' strike, our colleagues over at Macworld have posted a copy of the email that's being sent to iTunes Season Pass subscribers.
Among the salient details is the confirmation that Apple is tailoring the refunds to each individual show, depending on how many episodes were not broadcast.....
For the full report click here.
http://www.macuser.com/itunes-store/apples_writers_strike_response.php?lsrc=murss
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