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16:9 Computer Displays: Let's Not Go There
CherryPal out sweetens Apple with 2W, ultra-cheap PC
Apple: Mac Unit Sales Grew 50% In May
Apple's Worldwide Notebook Share Approaching 5 Percent
Mac OS X 10.2 'Jaguar' Can Unleash the Power of G3 iBooks
Ableton Live 7 Tips & Tricks - Learn the Newest Version of the Cross-Platform Software That Has Rocked the Music World
16:9 Computer Displays: Let's Not Go There
Low End Mac's Dan Knight says:
Bigger, more, cheaper! Those are the cries of computer buyers - and successful manufacturers answer in spades with faster CPUs, more RAM, bigger hard drives, and higher density displays. Oh, and sometimes smaller, cheaper computers as well.....
Call it thinking outside the box, but Apple is doing very nicely going its own way. I hope they'll continue to do so as the computer industry is poised to move to 16:9 displays instead of the 16:10 ones we're used to.
It seems logical: widescreen TV is 16:9, and all else being equal, you can get more 16:9 displays from a production run than 16:10 screens. (For the record, Apple started the whole widescreen notebook trend back in 2001 when it introduced the first PowerBook G4 with its 1152 x 768 screen. That was a 3:2 ratio, which was not quite as widescreen as today's 16:9. And it was good....
Look at the numbers: the original 9" Macs used a 3:2 ratio (512 x 342), but later Macs standardized on 4:3 - the 512 x 384 Color Classic, the once ubiquitous 640 x 480, the SVGA 800 x 600, the popular 1024 x 768, the even nicer 1280 x 960, and so forth. Except for some early PowerBooks with 640 x 400 screen (16:10!), until not too many years ago, 4:3 was the norm....
Since 2001, notebook displays have moved from 4:3 to 3:2 and then to 16:10. All of the scuttlebutt from Taiwan points to 16:9 becoming dominant within a year.
At least since the Renaissance, artists and architects have recognized that the "golden ratio" makes for harmonious design. Building designed around it, such as the Parthenon (and its restored duplicate in Nashville, TN), have stood the test of time.
What exactly is the golden ratio? Rather than look at the theory, I'll boil it down to a number: 1.618:1 - or almost exactly the 16:10 ratio of most of today's notebook computers (and iMacs and Cinema Displays). Maybe the aesthetics of the golden ratio will be enough for Steve Jobs to say Apple won't follow the crowd to 16:9 displays.
Why am I opposed to 16:9 computer displays? And why am I so happy with my 1280 x 1024 display?
To read more, click here.
http://lowendmac.com/musings/08mm/golden-ratio.html
[Editor's note: I agree with Dan on this. 16:10 is about right and I would be more interested in vertical depth rather than the squattier, wider "movie-type" proportions of a 16:9 screen. I use my computers as serious tools, not as video boxes.]
CherryPal out sweetens Apple with 2W, ultra-cheap PC
The Register's Ashlee Vance reports:
Here's how you to get to CherryPal. Gather up all of the hot technology buzzwords – cloud computing, going green, communities – and mush them together into something about the size of sandwich.
CherryPal has unveiled a device that's billed as a cloud computer. Don't be intimidated by the name. We're just talking about a PC that runs on an ultra low-power chip from Freescale instead of one of those hot jobbies from Intel or AMD. That energy-friendly chip helps CherryPal keep its computer small and cheap – an ideal combination, we're told, for attracting youngsters to something different.
Fine details on CherryPal's approach remain tough to gather because the company doesn't plan to reveal the full breadth of its assault on the PC market until the third quarter. For now, it's only showing off the hardware.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/17/cherrypal/
Apple: Mac Unit Sales Grew 50% In May
Barrons' Eric Savitz reports:
Apple (AAPL) had a solid May for both Mac and iPod sales.
As Lehman analyst Tim Luke points out in a note today, new data from market research firm NPD shows Mac unit sales grew 50% on a year-over-year basis in May, ahead of the 37% Q2 growth Lehman had expected. Sales of iPods in the month were up 11.6% for the month in units, slower growth than the 14.6% gain in April, but well ahead of the 2% year-over-year decline Lehman has been modeling for the quarter. Average iPods pricing in the quarter was down 4%.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/54x6m7
Apple's Worldwide Notebook Share Approaching 5 Percent
Appleinsider's Katie Marsal reports:
The worldwide market for notebook computers shrank 6 percent during the first quarter of 2008, but the effects of the squeeze were nowhere to be found at Mac maker Apple Inc., which saw sales rise 7 percent to boost its position in the global rankings for the first time in about a year.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5rtxey
Mac OS X 10.2 'Jaguar' Can Unleash the Power of G3 iBooks
Low End Mac's Carl Nygren says:
Last time, I promised you a Snow Leopard article. I'm still working on that one, but in the meantime, I just had to write about another Mac in my collection: the Dual USB iBook.
The Clamshell's successor, the Dual USB was something completely different. It lost some weight, and the multiple colors were all gone. Left was only the white polycarbonate, which is still used in the MacBook and had already been used in the iMac.
The Dual USB iBook features PowerPC G3 processors from 500 MHz all the way up to 900 MHz; mine is a 600 MHz version.
Now let's talk about how I made this Classic Mac more useful in the Intel Age!
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/ed/nygren/08ny/ibook-mac-os-x-jaguar.html
Ableton Live 7 Tips & Tricks - Learn the Newest Version of the Cross-Platform Software That Has Rocked the Music World
[ Press Release ]
Since its inception in 2001, Ableton Live has gathered ardent fans in a way usually associated with performers rather than software. Musicians, DJs, remixers, composers, and producers alike have embraced Live, and it's fast becoming the universal software studio.
However, the new developments in Ableton Live 7 require a refresher's course, and Ableton Live 7 Tips & Tricks ($19.95) does just the trick. This book will give Live novices an insight into working methods that otherwise would take months to discover. For the more experienced user it promises a quick catch-up with Live's latest developments (including new software instruments, complex instrument and effects chains, the phenomenal audio slicing, and full video functionality), and a new perspective on some of Live's more established features.
The book does not duplicate the Live user manual - it expands upon it, and introduces creative concepts, workflow enhancements, and workrounds for common objectives and problems. It also includes interviews with high-profile Live users in a variety of musical genres, passing on their real-world experiences to you.
With this guide, you will learn how to:
• Create a template for performance/studio
• Work with Live's software instruments
• Create complex instrument and effect chains
• Control Live via wireless
• Configure audio editing workrounds
• Prepare a set for performance
• Use Live with other music software
Although the Live interface is remarkably simple, there's a lot of power under the surface, and Ableton Live 7 Tips & Tricks is just the book you need to access that power.
Martin Delaney is a laptop musician, VJ, educator, and video director. Ableton Live has been at the heart of his music work since its first release, for composing, performance, recording, remixing, and production. Martin is the author of Laptop Music and Music Projects with Ableton Live, both from PC Publishing.
For more information about the book, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781906005085
Ableton Live 7 Tips and Tricks
Publisher: PC Publishing
Martin Delaney
ISBN: 9781906005085,
160 pages,
$19.95 USD
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
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