Other Sites
Hidden Dimensions - The Gaping Hole in Apple's Desktop Line
AppleWorks is Dead
Mac mini Performance (August 2007)
iPod Etiquette Falling On Deaf Ears
Apple Ushers In New Mac Generation
Fujitsu Creates Readable, Writeable 'Nanohole' Hard Drive
Novell Owns Unix Copyrights After All
SCO 'Disappointed' As Shares Plunge 70 Per Cent
Body Of A Car, Brains Of A PC
Kids Justify Piracy
Smart Clothes To Power Your iPod Or Light Your Home ... Just Don't Wash Them
Electric breasts charge iPod
eWEEK: Intel Cranks Xeon Quad-core Processor up to 3GHz
Macs In The Enterprise, Or Maybe Not
The Mac Night Owl: Please Be Nice to Customer Support People
Hidden Dimensions - The Gaping Hole in Apple's Desktop Line
MacObserver's John Martellaro says:
I am going to argue that there is an emerging hole in Apple's desktop line of computers. That hole is growing larger because of the change in the way we use our desktop systems. In this case, however, it's not just me with that thought.
This column is a first for me because it is based on a recent TMO forum discussion. Several wise and thoughtful people contributed to a discussion, and so I will do my best to transform this essay from one person's experienced opinion into an opinion that has been crafted by experienced and articulate Apple customers.
Here is the crux of the argument. Both ordinary home and technical professional users who use a desktop Mac are transitioning from a productivity workflow into a video and interactive workflow. In concert with this, our broadband pipeline is slowly growing. As a result, there is a growing gap between the iMac, engineered for home users and the Mac Pro, engineered for Pro-level work in Hollywood video production and scientific computing.
The new iMacs introduced on August 7th don't do anything to change the situation.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macobserver.com/columns/hiddendimensions/2007/08/13.1.shtml
AppleWorks is Dead
Zensmile's Anthony Robertson says:
It would seem that the venerable Appleworks is no more. When one now goes to the old Appleworks directory on the Apple site it redirects to the iWork 08 directory. Appleworks was my first integrated office suite, literally. I used it on the Apple IIe and later on my first Macintosh. I am kind of sad that it has been given the knife and no one really noticed.
The nice thing about Appleworks was its versatility. It was a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, drawing program, presentation tool, and painting tool....
Appleworks is Dead
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.zensmile.com/zensmile.com/Blog/Entries/2007/8/12_Appleworks_is_Dead.html
Mac mini Performance (August 2007)
Primate Labs Blog reports:
Along with new iMacs, Apple announced (well, sort of announced) updated Mac minis last week. While the Mac mini updates are much more modest than the iMac updates, they're still significant, and with the Mac mini's move from the Core Duo to the Core 2 Duo, Apple's current computer lineup is 64-bit (which is a first for a PC manufacturer, I believe).
Of course, how much of a performance improvement does the switch to Core 2 Duo processors bring to the Mac mini? To find out, I've compiled a comparison of the new Mac mini models against most of the previous Mac mini models (including the PowerPC-based Mac minis) using Geekbench 2 results from the Geekbench Result Browser.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/08/mac-mini-performance-august-2007/
iPod Etiquette Falling On Deaf Ears
The Associated Press's Erin Carlson reports:
Apple Inc.'s ubiquitous iPod is best-known as an instrument of solitude - unless the user ignores standards of etiquette by invading the eardrums of fellow commuters, office mates or other innocent bystanders. Then it starts to get annoying. Especially when you're stuck in close proximity.
Amped to its highest volume, the iPod is not nearly as invasive as the classic loud cell-phone conversation. But it can have its moments, such as when you're standing in an elevator at 9 a.m. and a co-worker cranks up Amy Winehouse's Rehab. (Too early for that song.)
Or when an ear-budded subway rider belts out what sounds like a Whitney Houston tune with careless abandon, causing other riders to inch away or flee into another car altogether. (True story.)
For the full report visit here:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5670389,00.html
Apple Ushers In New Mac Generation
FT's Kevin Allison reports:
The introduction of the iPhone and the success of the iPod may have led Apple to drop the word computer from its company name, but for Steve Jobs, the Macintosh is as important as ever.
That was the message delivered last week by Apple's co-founder and chief executive as he unveiled the company's latest generation of Macintosh computers before a gaggle of reporters and analysts at Apple's Cupertino, California headquarters.
[Note: The rest of this article is for FT.com subscribers only}
For the full report click here.
Fujitsu Creates Readable, Writeable 'Nanohole' Hard Drive
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
Fujitsu's scheme to produce hard drives that can hold a terabyte of data in each square inch of recording surface has taken a step closer to realisation. It has made a 2.5in disk made of its proposed 'patterned medium' and verified the disc's read/write capability.
Fujitsu's approach uses anodised aluminium to create a pattern of "nanoholes", each holding a portion of magnetic material used to store a single bit of data. The aluminium-oxide surrounding these so-called 'nanoholes' helps magnetically insulate each bit from all the others, preventing one from affecting another, which might lead to data corruption.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/08/13/fujitsu_hdd_update/
Novell Owns Unix Copyrights After All
The Register's Ashlee Vance reports:
The SCO Group today took a major shot to the groin, when a judge confirmed that Novell still owns the Unix operating system copyrights.
US District Judge Dale Kimball issued a decision that spent 100 pages working its way through the various claims and counterclaims presented by SCO and Novell over the years, concerning Unix ownership rights. Much of the controversy covered by Kimball stems from the vague language of a 1995 Asset Purchase Agreement between Novell and SCO. Subsequent discussions held between the two companies did little to clear up the confusion as to whether or not Novell shifted Unix copyrights to SCO during the technology swap.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/11/novell_gets_unix_from_sco/
SCO 'Disappointed' As Shares Plunge 70 Per Cent
The Register's Ashlee Vance reports:
Mimicking a scene from Monty Python's The Holy Grail, the SCO Group has issued a statement declaring that it's not dead yet.
Last week, a judge dealt a devastating blow to SCO's legal actions against both Novell and IBM. He ruled that Novell does in fact own the copyrights to Unix and Unixware. In addition, the judge gave Novell the go ahead to tell SCO to drop its claims against IBM and said Novell is owed some money from SCO's licensing deals.
All in all, many industry watchers pegged the decision as the wooden stake driven through the heart of SCO's ghoulish penguin hunt.
Not so, according to SCO. Probably . . .
For the full report click here.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/13/sco_responds_novell/
Body Of A Car, Brains Of A PC
CNET News.com's Candace Lombardi reports:
Car buyers usually compare things like horsepower, mileage and warranties. But increasingly, the most important parts of a new car are also the least visible: software.
The self-parking Lexus LS 460 has already shown that sensors, cameras and software can get a car to parallel-park itself. Automakers are now gearing up to include more automated driving features for even the most budget models. And further down the road, the computerized car will become part of an even larger network of highway communication.
As car systems get more complex, automakers are looking to the tech industry for help in translating their designs into working software and hardware, according to both carmakers and analysts.
That's why technology specialists like IBM-with decades of software experience-are investing in the automotive industry and the companies that serve it. The potential payoff could be grabbing the driver's seat in a market worth billions of dollars.
For the full report visit here:
http://news.com.com/Body+of+a+car%2C+brains+of+a+PC/2100-11389_3-6201752.html
Kids Justify Piracy
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter reports:
Children in Europe are aware of the risks of illegal downloading, but often rationalize their act by saying that everyone - including their parents - is doing it, according to a major European Commission survey....
Almost all of the children surveyed in the 27 European Union member countries as well as in Norway and Iceland said they expect to continue downloading. They also said the risk of downloading a virus was far more dissuasive than the risk of legal proceedings.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135868-pg,1/article.html
Smart Clothes To Power Your iPod Or Light Your Home ... Just Don't Wash Them
The Guardian's James Randerson reports:
There was a time when all we expected from our clothes was to preserve our modesty, protect us from the elements and pull in a few curves. Not any more.
If the Siggraph 2007 exhibition of future fashions in San Diego is anything to go by, your wardrobe will soon charge your iPod, convey hidden messages, light your home and act as a video game console. Get ready for clothes infused with electronic gadgets and computers that can help you in your daily life - or just give you a laugh....
A device that could give a whole new meaning to the phrase wardrobe malfunction is Andrew Schneider's solar bikini. The skimpy swimwear is covered with 40 flexible photovoltaic cells which feed into a USB connection that can plug straight into your iPod.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/13/sciencenews.news
Electric breasts charge iPod
PCAdvisor's Lexton Snol reports:
The iPod is everywhere – and every wear.
A few weeks ago we reviewed a new suit from Marks & Spencer that has a sewn-in set of controls. This follows all sorts of iPod clobber from the likes of Thomas Pink and Nike – not forgetting Apple's own iPod socks.
At the Siggraph 2007 expo in San Diego the latest iPod gadget garb to pop up is a solar bikini. The skimpy swimwear features 40 flexible photovoltaic cells that you can plug straight into your iPod to charge it.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1192&blogid=4
eWEEK: Intel Cranks Xeon Quad-core Processor up to 3GHz
Intel is giving its Xeon 5300 series a faster server processor and adding a second quad-core model with a 50watt thermal power envelope.
To read more, go to:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2169603,00.asp
Macs In The Enterprise, Or Maybe Not
SmallWave says:
ACCURACY ALERT: No quotes from John Dvorak or Rob Enderle were used in the making of this post.)
There's an article in PC World about corporations slowly considering Macs.
The article starts pretty typically, outlining the new iMac configurations and mentioning how they're price competitive with PCs. Then we get this quote from IDC's Richard Shim:
""Apple isn't necessarily selling on just hardware either," Shim said. "They're innovating on the experience that the customer has, and a lot of other vendors are disadvantaged because they haven't done that."" Any Apple supporter would agree with the above statement. The reason I point it out is that it's a bit unusual for this type of article, because normally the customer experience is not used or even considered by corporate IT. If anything, a pleasant user experience has been used as proof by IT that the Mac is a "toy," and not a "serious business machine."
Of course we know the real reason many IT folks don't like Macs: They don't want to learn anything new that doesn't come out of Redmond, WA, and they take issue with any technology you can use without their help.
Shim then discusses that Apple may not be all that interested in the enterprise market:
For the full report visit here:
http://thesmallwave.blogspot.com/2007/08/macs-in-enterprise-or-maybe-not.html
The Mac Night Owl: Please Be Nice to Customer Support People
In my younger years, I spent a few months working for a small software vendor, doing tech support. Indeed, it was a thankless job, as I had to figure out precisely what users on both the Mac and Windows platforms were doing to mess up the product and help get them up and rolling once again.
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.macnightowl.com/2007/08/13/please-be-nice-to-customer-support-people/
Notes: You can also access our RSS feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/rss
Or our Atom feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/atom
Digg this
del.icio.us
Charles W. Moore
Tags: News ď Tech-Industry ď
