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Apple Ups The Stakes With Convergence Play
Conservatives are So PC (Or Not)
Former Apple Marketer Moves To The Private Sector
Teflon Windows
About South Korea's 'Dependency' On Microsoft
Adobe Relinquishes: PDF To Become Formal Standard
Windows Vista: The Best Reason To Buy A Mac?
Just How Bad Is a $300 Windows PC?
An Unofficial Daylight Saving Time Fix For Mac OS X 10.3
Intel Teaches IBM How To Reveal Chip Breakthroughs
iPhone Presents Test Case For Media Buyers
The Mobile Internet The Mobile Internet's Future Is East
Specific Details on Intel Processor Updates for a Mac
MacBook Pro (17-inch 2.33GHz) Review
Apple, take a chance - Time to license the Mac OS
PC Mag: PDF File Format to Become Open Standard
PC Mag: Microsoft Windows Vista Full Review
eWEEK: OS X Apps Cross On Over To The Windows Side
PC Mag: Vista's Nine Most Annoying Features
The Apple Hardware Report: The Spam Report: The Night Owl Gets it Under Control
Apple Ups The Stakes With Convergence Play
The Register's David Perry reports:
Alongside the well-publicised launch of the iPhone, Apple has now pre-announced two of its major plays into the converging consumer digital media marketplace. The other was Apple TV, unveiled last year and available next month. Although pre-announcing is something of a departure for the company, it's clear Apple will be handily placed to deliver a seamless digital experience, going toe to toe with Microsoft and its integrated Xbox/IPTV combination.
Although it currently offers only a relatively complete solution for the US market, where movies and TV shows are available via the iTunes store alongside music, it is fair to assume these new facets of Apple's business model will eventually achieve a global reach. So, what are the implications?
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/29/appletv/
Conservatives are So PC (Or Not)
Daily Kos's Devilstower says:
Not PC as in "politically correct," though they certainly have more than their share of those who patrol the language for any nuance that gives off hints of liberalism. PC as in PC.
No one has any doubt that PCs running some flavor of Microsoft Windows dominate the computer landscape as much as dinosaurs did the Jurassic plains. Little Unix systems pop up here and there, as do many less well known systems, holding down small niches in the computer ecosystem.
And then there is Apple.
Despite the dropping of the word "computer" from the company name, Apple does still make computers. The scampering mammals of the IT landscape, Macs have sometimes come close to extinction and even now hold down just less than 5% of computer sales. Hardware wise, that 5% is not so bad, considering that the PC world is divided up amongst Dell, HP, Gateway, Sony, whoever owns IBM's name this week, and a thousand others. Apple is solidly among the top brands.
But on the software side, the share of the market held by Apple's OS X operating system looks tiny beside Microsoft's behemoth. It's even smaller on conservative web sites. When it comes to visitors to Instapundit, OS X visitors make up only 2-3%, suggesting that conservatives are less likely to go for the Apple brand than the general public. On the other hand, Daily Kos statistics show that between 15% and 25% of visitors to this site are using Macs - an astounding 5x times the general population of these computers
So here's a question: why? Why do liberals like Macs, while conservatives shun them?....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/29/142433/003
[Editor's note: I don't dispute that Mac are popular in Liberal circles, but being of the conservative persuasion myself, I take issue with the contention that conservatives shun the Mac OS. For example, Rush Limbaugh has been an evangelistic Mac advocate for more than a decade.
Laureen Harper, a graphic designer and wife of Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a big Mac fan.
Or how about this entry on the Conservative Culture blogsite:
"I love Mac! I love Mac apps! I love how easy it is to use. Now that Mac runs Windows natively why use anything else...."
Another Conservative Culture blogger says:
"Having been a mac user since 1990 I have enjoyed for all those years only what PC users have discovered when Windows finally caught up to the original ‘windows’ once found only in Mac.
Could it be that Apple would eventually market their classy operating system to PC users. I always thought that they should have marketed it from the beginning and beat out Microsoft early. In the meantime I will continue to enjoy the advancements Apple makes and hope they take a bigger bite out of the competition. Nothing beats a Mac in my book."
On the iPhone:
"Just saw a part of the presentation of the iPhone. All I can say is 'I want one.' However considering the starting price which is expected to be over $500 it will be some time before I possess one. Considering all it does and the price of an iPod and a nice phone… some will consider this a good buy. Either way the iPhone looks great and works better than any other device out there. Kudos to Apple once again."
A few years ago, enough Mac-using conservatives took unbrage at Apple posting Jimmy Carter on its homepage that MacDailyNews ran a short commentary on it:
"Clearly, as evidenced by our Mail's In box, there are a healthy amount of conservative Mac users out there who do not feel that Apple's home page represents their views even though they love their Macs. We wonder if Apple knows, in the words of one email, that, "they are alienating many of their customers by posting Steve's propaganda? Can you imagine the outcry if Ronald Reagan was featured on Apple's home page, instead?"
Indeed. nobody is saying that liberals don't have a lot of drag in Cupertino.
Nevertheless - anecdotal observation proves nothing scientifically, but among my personal circle of "religious right" conservative friends and associates - many of them devoutly Christian and most somewhere to the right of George W. Bush (incidentally, it has been reported that G.W.B. uses a PowerBook, although I haven't been able to substantiate that) - there are an awful lot of Mac-users and fans. CM]
Former Apple Marketer Moves To The Private Sector
Macworld's Jim Dalrymple reports:
As part of Apple's Worldwide Developers Relations division Ed Prasek oversaw many of the marketing and business programs Apple offered to developers. Now, after 10 years at Apple, Prasek has formed Spin Studio, a new company offering strategic marketing services to Macintosh and iPod developers.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/01/29/marketer/index.php?lsrc=mwrss
Teflon Windows
Forbes' Daniel Lyons says:
Can't anyone find anything nice to say about Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system?
So far most reviewers have bashed the new software, griping that it requires a fast processor and loads of memory, and that even after five years in development, it's still not ready for prime time. Heck, I've even been known to bash it myself.....
The Mac, for all of Apple's snazzy advertising, has less than 1.6% share of the PC installed base. Linux, for all of the millions of column inches devoted to its wondrous abilities (many of those lines by yours truly), holds about 2.5% share. (All figures are from Gartner Dataquest.)
No wonder nobody at Microsoft seems too upset about the bad reviews of Vista....
And although I still prefer the Mac, I'm sure that, as my pals at Microsoft would no doubt be very glad to tell me, it doesn't really matter what I think. Vista is going to be huge, no matter what.
For the full commentary click here.
About South Korea's 'Dependency' On Microsoft
CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos says:
A couple of people recently have alleged that South Korea is being pushed around by Microsoft. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds.
"This nation is also a unique monoculture where 99.9% of all the computer users are on Microsoft Windows. This nation is a place where Apple Macintosh users cannot bank online, make any purchases online, or interact with any of the nation's e-government sites online," wrote South Korean blogger Gen Kanai. Commentators on technology news site Slashdot have also tsk-tsk-ed the situation....
To some, this looks like the ugly face of monopolism and bad decisions by government leaders and large corporations. But there is actually a much simpler reason why people in South Korea have so much Microsoft software.
They steal it.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://news.com.com/2010-1014_3-6153862.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Adobe Relinquishes: PDF To Become Formal Standard
CRN's Stacy Cowley reports:
Adobe Systems said Monday it plans to turn its PDF specification over to an industry association, the first step in transitioning Portable Document Format from a de facto standard to a formal, independently managed one.
The move also could resolve Adobe's running dispute with Microsoft over PDF support in Microsoft Office.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.crn.com/sections/software/software.jhtml?articleId=197001260
Windows Vista: The Best Reason To Buy A Mac?
digitmag.co.uk's Mike Elgan says:
Unless you've recently emerged from a coma, you know the consumer versions of Microsoft's new Vista operating system ship Tuesday. Over the next few weeks, many people will try to convince you to move to Windows Vista, from design friends to product and software makers.
This column is not a review of Windows Vista. I'm not here to tell you about Vista or what's wrong with it.
This article is for those of you who are about to download or purchase Windows Vista and install it on a PC. I'm here to talk you out of it. Just say no to Windows Vista - for now. Here's why.
1. Vista is incomplete
2. Vista is expensive
3. Vista wants a new PC
4. Vista is time-consuming
5. Windows XP isn't obsolete
6. Vista may be the best reason yet to buy a Mac
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.digitmag.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=220&blogid=2
Just How Bad Is a $300 Windows PC?
Low End Mac's Andrew J Fishkin says:
The Mac Web is filled with authors and bloggers who like to make fun of ultra-cheap Windows PCs. They're easy targets with vendors like Wal-Mart, eMachines, and Dell being great fun for Mac enthusiasts to pick on.....
In a recent article I showed how a $300 PC really is half the price of a $600 Mac mini. In another, I looked at different options for various users, with the super-cheap PC recommended (by me) for clerical work in an office context.
Now I'd like to take a look at just what $300 or less can actually buy.
...how many Mac reviewers have actually taken a serious look at a $300 PC?
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/fishkin/07/0129.html
An Unofficial Daylight Saving Time Fix For Mac OS X 10.3
Ars Technica's Erik Kennedy reports:
Daylight Saving Time clockAs part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the United States government redefined the start and end dates for Daylight Saving Time, effective this year. As a result, most computer operating systems will need some kind of patch to recognize the new times. Apple has already released such a patch as part of Mac OS X 10.4.6 and later, but what about Mac OS X 10.3? To date, Apple has not released a patch to update the time information for this still-supported version of the Mac OS.
For the full report visit here:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/1/28/6785
Intel Teaches IBM How To Reveal Chip Breakthroughs
The Register's Ashlee Vance reports:
Were you to invent the most fundamental change to processor guts in over forty years, you'd want to tell a lot of people about it. So why on Earth did Intel and IBM reveal such a breakthrough on Friday night, as Silicon Valley went to sleep? That question sparked our interest when Intel and IBM's news statements about new transistor designs appeared together at 9 pm.
Chip makers have used silicon as the element of choice for such transistors for more than forty years. Now, because of atomic-level constraints, they've had to a pick a new element - hafnium - and a pair of undisclosed metals to get the same job done. Finding the right materials and manufacturing techniques to produce these new transistors has taken years and years of blood, sweat and tears research. How funny then that after a decade of grunting in the labs Intel and IBM simultaneously nailed the scientific breakthrough, issued press releases about their achievements at the same time and shared in their ambivalence as to whether or not anyone read about the game-changing events.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/28/intel_ibm_highk/
iPhone Presents Test Case For Media Buyers
The Financial Times' Carlos Grande reports:
When your new product features on more blogs than even the US President, it seems safe to say you hit the launch marketer's goal: create awareness.
The iPhone, the multi-functional device unveiled by Apple, the US electronics group, on January 9, did precisely that.
According to Nielsen BuzzMetrics, a system which tracks English language blogs, the music, phone and web device was mentioned by more blogs than either George W. Bush or McDonald's for the next 10 days.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a6230c0c-afbe-11db-94ab-0000779e2340.html
The Mobile Internet The Mobile Internet's Future Is East
newsfactor.com reports:
Americans yearning for a turbo-charged mobile Web can have a peek into such a tech utopia in the Far East. In South Korea and Japan, mobile TVs already are commonplace. And young people in those countries use their handsets to snap pictures of cute guys and girls and zap them to friends, play online games, and pay for goods using digital money.
Just as the U.S. is becoming acquainted with the term 3G (for third-generation mobile technology), Korea and Japan are zooming ahead into a post-3G world. Korea's wireless carriers have plowed some $5.4 billion into nationwide networks called High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, or HSDPA, the buildout of which will be completed this spring.
These new information superhighways will move data at a maximum speed of up to 3.6 megabits per second - faster than DSL lines in many U.S. households.
For the full report click here.
Specific Details on Intel Processor Updates for a Mac
Hardmac's Lionel says:
We received many questions following our news regarding changing the Mac mini's processor which we are going to try to answer here.
- The MacBook Pro and the MacBook have their processors directly soldered to the motherboard. So it's impossible to change them.
- The iMac and the Mac mini on the other hand have processors placed in connectors. This connector (or socket) is called the 479. It accepts both the Core Duo and the Core 2 Duo which are compatible pin for pin. On the other hand, don't try to install a Pentium M. Although it has the same number of pins (478), it is incompatible.
- The Mac Pros also have interchangeable processors. It uses a socket 771. It will accept all the Xeon 51xx series with a 1333 MHz bus (there are Xeons with a 1066 bus which would slow down the machine). The 4 core Xeons are also compatible.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2007-01-29/#6367
MacBook Pro (17-inch 2.33GHz) Review
CNet UK's Dan Ackerman reports:
The 13.3-inch Apple MacBook and 15.4-inch MacBook Pro, both featuring Intel Core 2 Duo processors, impressed us by mixing Apple's lauded industrial design and user-friendly operating system with the kind of high-end hardware usually seen only on the PC side -- not to mention the ability to run Windows XP through Boot Camp.
The high-end 17-inch MacBook Pro adds some hard drive space and screen real estate over the 15-inch MacBook Pro, boosting the base price by Ł200. The Ł1,899 system (our Ł2,279 review unit was tricked out with extra RAM) is very light for a 17-inch laptop, and it's a good choice for anyone needing an easily transportable big-screen laptop, although most users will be just as happy with the excellent 15-inch version.
For the full review visit here:
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,39030092,49287253,00.htm
Apple, take a chance - Time to license the Mac OS
The Inquirer's Doug Mohney says:
The introduction of Microsoft Windows Vista and its' many confusing and progressively expensive flavors has opened up a er, period of opportunity for Apple (formerly Apple Computer). Will Steve Jobs take a really bold chance to increase his market share or just play it safe with his little fiefdom of iPods, iTunes and forthcoming iTV?
Operating systems may not be sleek and sexy to Steve, since he realizes he can make more recurring revenue off of music at a dollar a pop than selling decent hardware.
However, Vista is being beaten like a dead horse by the mass media - most of them already are enthralled to the God of Jobs if you read between the lines, so Microsoft could make nuclear fusion work tomorrow and they'd give it a lukewarm review at best. The consensus view out of the babbling punditry is "Don't buy Vista today, unless you have to buy a new computer tomorrow."...
If Apple was serious, and I mean really serious, about gaining more PC market share, they'd realize they need to license/sell their operating system to another hardware manufacturer or two....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37271
PC Mag: PDF File Format to Become Open Standard
"Adobe Systems Inc. on Jan. 29 announced that it has released the full PDF (Portable Document Format) 1.7 specification to AIIM, the Association for Information and Image Management. AIIM, in turn, will start working on making PDF an ISO standard.
In this release, Adobe is opening up the full PDF 1.7 specification as defined in Adobe's PDF Reference Manual. According to Sarah Rosenbaum, Adobe's director of product management, this is the next logical step for Adobe with its PDF formats. In the 14 years since Adobe published the complete PDF specification in 1993, PDF has become a de facto global standard for secure and dependable information exchange and archival storage."
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2088283,00.asp
PC Mag: Microsoft Windows Vista Full Review
"I can't help shake the feeling, though, that Vista was rushed out the door. As you'll see in our walkthrough, I've encountered a number of bugs while I've been exercising the OS over the past few days. Some are outright errors-nothing catastrophic, despite the alarming language in one error dialog-and some are just interface oddities and nuisances that, while not disruptive, indicate to me a lack of fit and finish. I've also observed some other minor forms of misbehavior that I haven't included in this walkthrough because they're difficult to show visually."
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2088444,00.asp
eWEEK: OS X Apps Cross On Over To The Windows Side
"Linux and Apple's Mac OS X are effective desktop operating systems, to be sure, but Microsoft's Windows has such a big piece of the operating system market pie that many app vendors don't even bother making their products available for non-Windows platforms.
Codeweavers' CrossOver 6.0, a commercial distribution of the open-source Wine Project, allows users to install Windows applications on non-Windows operating systems. The most interesting new element of CrossOver (which was formerly called CrossOver Office) is its support for Mac OS X, a feat made possible by Apple's move to the x86 processor platform."
To read more, go to:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2088438,00.asp
PC Mag: Vista's Nine Most Annoying Features
"Microsoft Windows Vista is gonna be with us for a long time. It's a fine operating system, so that's good news. Still, riding shotgun with all of Vista's charms are its many little annoyances. Here are nine that stick in my craw."
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2088329,00.asp
The Apple Hardware Report: The Spam Report: The Night Owl Gets it Under Control
A year ago, our daily bucket of junk mail had gotten way, way out of control. Hundreds of those messages polluted our various mailboxes every single day. It got so bad that it was near-impossible to check the spam captured by our Web hosts and email software for mistakes. In fact, I missed out on a small business opportunity because a message was mistakenly flagged as junk and it got lost in the shuffle. I called the client back too late to repair the damage.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://macnightowl.com/2007/01/30/the-spam-report-the-night-owl-gets-it-under-control/
Notes: You can also access our new RSS newsletter feed, available at: http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/rss
Or our new Atom newsletter feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/atom
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