Macworld

MacBook Air: Specific Machines, Specific Uses

wood.tang — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:03:12 -0500

The new MacBook Air announced at yesterday’s Macworld keynote doesn’t disappoint; it’s pretty much the laptop I’ve wanted ever since I stupidly broke my 12” Powerbook trying to replace the hard drive. All things remaining the same, I’d buy it simply for the difference in weight, a full two pounds less than a MacBook. As someone who’s put a lot of miles on his kicks with a laptop bag on his shoulder, that would make a world of difference.

What’s interesting though, is what the MacBook Air isn’t: it’s not simply a sexier MacBook Pro on Jenny Craig, it’s a different class of machine. John Gruber rightly points out that it’s clearly designed as a secondary machine for people who do their heavy lifting on a desktop. Without another machine standing by at home or the office, only a select group of geeks could really get by without an optical drive, not to mention the diminished overall specs of the MacBook Air may not please a power user without reinforcements (a.k.a., the folks willing to spend upwards of $2000 on a laptop).

What Apple seems to be increasingly good at is designing machines with a specific purpose in mind. Rather than differentiating their products on matters of style or incremental horsepower like so many PC manufacturers, they make you look at their stuff and say, “I want one of those, and I want to use it for this.” In the case of the MacBook Air, it’s made for travelers, commuters, and other wandering souls who want a slim machine for checking email, web browsing, writing, and maybe some lightweight coding while they’re away from the mothership. For the people who want to use a laptop as more of a primary machine, there’s an obvious choice in the clearly differentiated MacBook Pros, or even MacBooks.

The same goes for the Apple TV, which I was glad to see get a new lease on life. I love mine, and I’m happy that it won’t be relegated to the ghetto of second-hand eBay trading and parts hacking, at least for another year. Apple could have chosen to discontinue it and market, say, the Mini + Front Row as a multimedia computer suitable for attaching to a home entertainment system, a la Windows Media Center, but instead it chose to put its money a device that is specifically designed for doing so, not just a general purpose computer with a few remote control-friendly screens pasted on front.

To return to the same note I always manage to hit here, the key is simplicity. Apple makes it easy for people to simplify their computing environment—“I use my iMac for this, I use my iPhone for this, I use my Apple TV for this,” etc, etc. I made a promise to myself that I’d stop buying computer gear without a specific purpose in mind for it, and I’m not currently in the laptop market because I rarely stray from my home office. But damn if they aren’t making me rack my brain for a reason to need one again.

”MacBook Air: Specific Machines, Specific Uses” was written by Matt Wood for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 16, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Macworld: Mac Gems Picks

Merlin Mann — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:15:41 -0400

Macworld Feature: Connect with the world

Macworld Magazine asked me to pick out a few of my Mac Gems, and I was happy to respond with four favorites.

Default Folder, for example, is a PreferencePane that I’ve used and loved since Christ was a corporal:

Default Folder X (****½)

You can tell Default Folder X is a classic because you start missing it the second you sit down at a Mac that doesn’t have it installed. It reduces the tedium of a handful of annoying dialog-box tasks, and it’s worth its price solely for the ability to set a per-program default location.

”Macworld: Mac Gems Picks” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on July 24, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Merlin & MacBreak @ Macworld: Cocoalicious, Yojimbo, BBEdit, MacUser's Dan Moren, Entourage, MemoryMiner, Pen-it, and Luiza the

Merlin Mann — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 07:50:25 -0500

Here are the final 5 episodes of MacBreak I reported from the Macworld Expo floor this week:

MacBreak 59 Macworld 2007: Show Floor Tour de Force - (MOV) - 11:38 - “Alex and Merlin round out our coverage from the Macworld 2007 expo.”
MacBreak 57 Macworld 2007: MemoryMiner - (MOV) - 08:01 - “Merlin interviews the creators of MemoryMiner.”
MacBreak 56 Macworld 2007: Macworld with Merlin, cont’d. - (MOV) - 11:02 - “Merlin continues his tour of the show floor, speaking with Dan Moren from MacUser, Brian Johnson from Microsoft and indulging in his most relaxing interview.”
MacBreak 54 Macworld 2007: Bare Bones Software - (MOV) - 09:23 - “Merlin chats with the folks at Bare Bones Software, makers of BBEdit and Yojimbo.”
MacBreak 53 Macworld 2007: Cocoalicious - (MOV) - 05:11 - “Merlin speaks to the developer of cocoalicious about his del.icio.us client and the software possibilities of the new iPhone.”

Here are the previous 4 segments and here’s a pointer to all of MacBreak’s Macworld coverage.

Thanks to everybody at Pixel Corps who put this together, and most special thanks to everyone who talked with us, came to the meetups, or just said hi on the show floor. It was a really fun week for me.

You can ensure you never miss an episode of MacBreak by subscribing for free.

”Merlin & MacBreak @ Macworld: Cocoalicious, Yojimbo, BBEdit, MacUser's Dan Moren, Entourage, MemoryMiner, Pen-it, and Luiza the” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 13, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Merlin & MacBreak @ Macworld: Omni Group, MailTank, AppZapper, Pzizz, Cha-Ching and Flip4Mac

Merlin Mann — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:31:08 -0500

A few more of my MacBreak segments from the Macworld Expo floor are now available for download:

MacBreak 51 Macworld 2007: The Omni Group - (MOV) - 8:03 - “Merlin chats with Ken Case from the Omni Group about their products and the application development possibilities for the iPhone.”
MacBreak 50 Macworld 2007: MacTank - (MOV) - 07:44 - “Merlin chats with the developers of MailTank and MailTemplate.”
MacBreak 49 Macworld 2007: AppZapper, Pzziz and Cha-Ching - (MOV) - 8:58 - “Leo and Merlin continue their tour of ‘Tiny Town’, visiting with the makers of Cha-Ching, Pzziz and AppZapper.”
MacBreak Macworld 2007: Flip4Mac - (MOV) - 5:59 - “Leo and Merlin chat with the makers of the Flip4Mac suite of digital media tools.”

More episodes coming later today. Never miss an episode of MacBreak by subscribing for free.

”Merlin & MacBreak @ Macworld: Omni Group, MailTank, AppZapper, Pzizz, Cha-Ching and Flip4Mac” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 12, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Spectators at the iPhone Display

Merlin Mann — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:57:54 -0500

Spectators at the iPhone Display
Originally uploaded by x180.

Wonderful photo by Duncan.

”Spectators at the iPhone Display” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 12, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Let OS X developers at the iPhone. Please.

Merlin Mann — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:56:25 -0500

Sixfoot6 Archives: 30 Things the iPhone Could Do That You Haven’t Thought of Yet

Ryan’s list contains a lot of the tear-inducingly sexy fantasies that were going through my own mind on Tuesday morning when we all heard that the iPhone was going to run OS X.

Like a lot of my friends, I (probably naively) took the announcement to mean that, as on my own Mac, I’d be able to install Cocoa applications built to take advantage of announced features like WebKit, Core Animation, and so on. Sure, given the foreseeable hardware limitations, these wouldn’t be the exact applications that we’re each running on our MacBooks today, but, hell, I’d take “OmniOutliner Mobile” or “iTerm Lite” or “Textmate for iPhone” in a heartbeat. No question.

Yesterday morning, though, I started to hear rumbles about the “inability for users to install additional applications of their choosing.” And then later, after Brian from Gizmodo got a hands-on demo along with a sit-down with official Apple honchos, he noted…

It isn’t OS X proper, as you’d expect. And like an iPod, it won’t be an open system that people can develop for. Remember, this is both an iPod and a Phone.

…and I died a little inside.

Yes, there’s still months for this to change, and yes, this is a 1.0, and yes, one reason the iPod became the iPod is because Cupertino retained 100% quality control (up to the point of individual musical taste). So I would completely understand why user-installable applications are off the table. Or how, as my friends have speculated, third-party functionality might be handled in a tightly controlled and for-pay way (ala iPod Games).

Yes I’d understand, but I’d feel like Apple was abandoning an opportunity to make this more than a phone, and more that an iPod, and even — let’s be frank about the elephant in the room — much more than a Palm or a Pocket PC. There’s the potential here for some serious George Jetson shit and it would be a pity not to capitalize on that as early as possible.

I hope our friends at Apple will clarify what we can expect this phone to do for us as Mac users and share that information with developers as soon as possible. To be more honest I guess I wish some C-level would pop in to say “Oh, silly. It’s OS X: of course you can just drop mobile versions of your applications onto iTunes and they’re installed for you!” But, regrettably for now, I think that ain’t gonna happen. And it’s a bummer.

This week there are a lot of excellent software companies wandering around the floor at Macworld scratching their heads and muttering to themselves about the under-development products that could really benefit from having OS X mobile functionality. They’re anxious and thrilled to start doing what indie developers have always done for Apple — provide the software that answers questions, solves problems, and gives us the personalized affordances to love using Apple hardware all the more.

When it hits stores this summer, the iPhone will be reaching thousands of people who “hate macs.” And, as with the iPod, that’s obviously the idea (note that this is not a “Mac Phone”). If our beloved OS X developers can introduce people on the other side to the richness and variety of the OS X Mac experience via this lovely phone, you can expect to make an extraordinary number of those former haters into new evangelists for the former “Apple Computer, Inc.”

[ Ryan’s page via mathowie ]

”Let OS X developers at the iPhone. Please.” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 11, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

43F Podcast: Snell & Gruber on iPhone applications

Merlin Mann — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:28:23 -0500

Jason Snell and John Gruber on iPhone applications

Merlin talks with MacWorld Magazine’s Jason Snell and DaringFireball.net’s John Gruber about the likely future of applications for the recently announced iPhone. Who will be allowed to play? How does it affect the ostensible competition? Will this end up feeling more like a phone with an iPod, a Mac with a phone, or something altogether different? (5:48)

Grab the MP3, learn more at Odeo.com, or just listen from here:

”43F Podcast: Snell & Gruber on iPhone applications” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 10, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

MacBreak Weekly taping tonight at 21st Amendment

Merlin Mann — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 07:12:50 -0500

Upcoming.org: MacBreak Weekly Live @ 21st Amendment at 21st Amendment (Tuesday, January 9, 2007)

Directions to 21A, from Moscone Center

Just a reminder that tonight’s live taping of MacBreak Weekly takes place at 21st Amendment starting at 6pm. If you’re planning to come to the taping, my advice is to get there early, because we’re anticipating a capacity audience (that’s a big reason everyone agreed it was better not to do this event at the Apple Store on Steve Day).

Leo, Alex, Scott, and I will be discussing today’s announcements and may even have some guests.

A propos of nothing, I will also take this opportunity to remind Mr. Bourne of his (often repeated) promise to buy everyone on MBW an iPhone on the day that they come out. Just saying.

If you come out tonight or see me on the Macworld show floor with MacBreak today, please say hi and introduce yourself.

”MacBreak Weekly taping tonight at 21st Amendment” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 09, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Vox Pop: What's your pick for Steve's big reveal?

Merlin Mann — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 09:44:22 -0500

Of all the speculation and Steve-watching over the past few weeks, the recent chatter about an Apple “nano-computer” may be the most interesting and thought-provoking of the bunch.

Bob Snow writes:

I think Apple will introduce a nano-computer, masquerading as a smart-phone . Basically a tablet computer the size of a Treo or Blackberry with a far more clever input method, full face screen and some version of iLife running on it. Ideally it would be a stand alone wireless nano-computer running OS X. Think of all the capabilities of a MacBook combined with a phone…

Current technology would of course make this computer a brick, much larger than a Zune and more expensive than a MacBook. The Apple genius-phone will have to point the way to such a device with a mobile version of OS X and iLife. Much of your data and the programs that manipulate it might be located on the internet. Strip down the memory. Even sync it with your computer rather than replace your computer. Whatever it takes to put a placeholder out there to position Apple for the coming revolution. It might take a serious partnership with Google to pull this off. Phone service providers be damned.

And here I was conservatively predicting/begging-for (@00:51:04) a 12” MacBook Pro by next year. Always thinking too ~~small~~ big. Now I want me the notional MacBook Nano.

So, what’s your guess? What will Steve’s E-ticket ride be at Macworld this year?

”Vox Pop: What's your pick for Steve's big reveal?” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 08, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Macworld Drinking Game 2007

Merlin Mann — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 06:20:35 -0500

MWSF Drinking Game 2007
Originally uploaded by World Leader Pretend1.

We’ll all be so drunk by 11am tomorrow.

[via Digg]

”Macworld Drinking Game 2007” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 08, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"