Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (6 сообщений)

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  • Analysis: What the MacBook Air is and what it isn't

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    We've seen a lot of commentary on the Macweb and beyond since the Macworld keynote revealed the MacBook Air, and several themes have started to become apparent. One of the ideas most often advanced is that Apple simply made too many sacrifices in power to meet the demands of the gorgeous form factor, a complaint against Apple that has long-standing precedent back to the G4 Cube and beyond. Through much of this, however, I get the sense that there's a kind of mistaken, or at least misplaced, assumption at work.

    Frankly, we've been spoiled by Apple's portable designs. After essentially inventing the modern notebook computer form factor Apple has been churning out better and better portable machines, to the point that Mac portables now significantly outsell the desktops, and for many people their only computer is a PowerBook or MacBook (Pro). We've been led to expect a Mac portable to be the only computer you need (so much so that now the phrase "desktop replacement" almost seems quaint). It's in that light, I think, that the Air seems to fail. Whatever else you might say about the machine, it is not really adequate as your one and only Mac if you're anything like the majority of tech-savvy TUAW readers.

    So what is the AIr? I think the Air is, and is really intended to be, a secondary computer. It's serious enough to get real work done on while you're away from home or office, but it's not a primary production machine in my view. Looked at in this light, however, the sacrifices Apple has made don't seem so bad. If you've ever lugged a 5-6 lbs laptop (plus accessories!) on your back all day, you know exactly what I mean.

    What's the upshot? Well, if you're only going to have one Mac, it shouldn't be the Air. By the same token, it seems to me too highly priced right now to be a huge success. Its real market is going to be executives and others who have enough disposable income (or expense accounts) to have an Air plus another Mac. Thus, I think Apple should embrace this "second Mac" status more explicitly by introducing some kind of syncing system similar to the iPhone/iPod. It would be great if there were a kind of MacBook Air dock you could set it in and have it automatically sync, say, your Documents folder as well as parts of your iTunes and iPhoto libraries, etc. well beyond what third party software can offer in ease of use. Even more radical would be a kind of workspace syncing, so that you could grab your Air and it would automatically have basically the same workspace you were using on your main Mac, with applications, documents, etc.

    Of course, only the future will tell if the Air is too big of a compromise (like the Cube) or whether it will meet with some success. I'm sure Apple will sell plenty of Airs, but I seriously doubt it will have the success of the regular MacBook lines. Nonetheless, it shows that once again Apple is out in front and (in some respects) listening to its customers (who have been clamoring for a small Mac portable since the 12" PowerBook died). It may turn out, like in the case of the original iPod, that Apple is really creating a new market here that we just don't quite understand yet. But if that's so, much like the original iPod, I think the Air will need to drop in price and expand in functionality to really be a mainstream hit. What do you think?
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  • 1password to offer auto-fill for your iPhone

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    There's great news for iPhone users from the makers of 1Password. For those who might need a recap, 1Password is a cross-browser password manager, form auto-filler and digital wallet for your Mac. The application has had its fair share of updates recently, including the new capability to create a secure bookmarklet for your iPhone with your protected password and login information. It's been announced that 1Password will be adding a new version of the bookmarklet feature, with the ability to automatically fill out login info and web forms on your iPhone.

    Ars Technica's David Chartier got a chance to demo the bookmarklet at Macworld and reports that it works well, including the feature to store multiple identities per website, and the word is that the developers hope to ship this new feature within the week. You can get more information on 1Password and download a demo at the Agile Web Solutions site. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, it's also included in the MacHeist bundle if you get there before time runs out.

    [via ars technica]

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  • Found Footage: MacBook Air makes thin in again

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    Is anyone else worried about Apple's obsession with being thin? This issue has come up before, but while last time around it was supposed to be serious, this time it's just plain silly. While Apple is crowing about releasing the world's thinnest notebook, nobody's thinking about the self esteem of all those other laptops and notebooks out there. Instead they're left... well, you can see above. Hilarious.

    Has anyone considered the feelings of these bulky notebooks, growing up in a world that values computers so small and thin that they fit in envelopes?!? Worry not, little laptops. God Dell, Lenovo or HP made you just the way you are, and it's possible to be big and beautiful all at the same time. Well, not Apple beautiful (come on now-- you could definitely stand to lose that optical drive), but beautiful in your own big, bulky way.

    [Via Waxy]
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  • iPhone 1.1.3 update leads to problems?

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    It would seem that the latest iPhone/iPod touch update is doing a bit more harm than good. There have been reports that the 1.1.3 firmware is far less stable than the previous 1.1.2. Some of the problems with 1.1.3 being reported:

    • Error message during/after install of iTunes 7.6 and firmware 1.1.3
    • Loss of sound output from the iPhone's built-in speakers
    • Bluetooth devices that worked with 1.1.2 no longer work
    • Mail problems

    While these problems certainly don't sound good, there are some remedies that seem to work. For the loss of sound, you can try turning the phone off and then back on or plugging headphones in and out. iPhone Atlas has listed some of the reported iPhone problems and some of the remedies that you can try. As always, be sure to check TUAW often for the latest iPhone news.

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  • A peek inside Cirque Du Mac

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    What do Mac geeks do after dark? Cirque Du Mac is a traditional Macworld party where Mac luminaries like Chris Breen, Paul Kent, Chuck LaTournous, Duane Straub, Ryan Chaffin and Dave Hamilton rock the house to a fairly inebriated crowd of conference-goers. The Mac Observer hosted the party at the Red Devil Lounge on Wednesday, and despite a long line to get in a good time was had by all. The audio is a little funky due to it being recorded by a handheld camera's condenser mic, but you get the idea: Mac people work hard and play hard.
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  • Reader questions: Can you install XP via Remote Disk on a MacBook Air?

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    The MacBook Air's idiosyncratic approach to peripheral access and software installation has raised an interesting question: how to do OS installs? My assumption had been that you'll need the external DVD drive (or a NetBoot/NetInstall infrastructure) to reinstall Leopard, should you be unfortunate enough to need to do that. Readers want to know for sure, however, whether or not they can install an OS via Remote Disk -- some even want to know whether they can install XP into Boot Camp via the over-the-LAN disk mounting tool.

    I felt kind of silly even asking this -- remember, XP installs start in a bootstrap DOS environment, which has as much awareness of Remote Disk as a Siberian yak does of the iPhone -- but I dutifully trooped back to the Apple booth to get a comment on this capability. Here's the scoop as they have it right now (and since the product's not shipping yet, specs are subject to change): You can install Leopard via Remote Disk. The host app for RD creates a miniature NetBoot server via Bonjour, so if you've got a bootable OS X DVD in the host machine you can use that disk to boot your MacBook Air. As for Windows XP install disks... well, not so much. Apple reps would not say definitively that you can't do it, but as far as the three people I spoke with are aware, there's no support for booting XP over Remote Disk. If you've got to install XP in Boot Camp, it's an external drive for you. Otherwise, as pointed out in the comments, you can take an existing XP image and use NetRestore or Winclone to restore the Windows partition; however, since the MBA is new hardware on a different processor, you might need to do some work on the Windows config to achieve bootability.
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