MacWorld '08

[theINC]

What did you think of the stuff that went down at MacWorld?

MacBook Air - an Ultraportable... of sorts. No internal DVD drive, one USB port. Option of either 80GB HDD or 64GB SSD. 1.6/1.8GhZ processor. 13.3inch screen (like MacBook) but .16 inches (.4cm) thick. 2GB RAM standard. Starting at $1799

Time Capsule - Airport Extreme with a hard-drive inside it. Back up wirelessly to Time Machine. Still works as an 802.11n router. $299 for 500GB, $499 for 1TB.

Software updates to iTouch/iPhone - Triangulation of your location in Google Maps. Web Clips - 1-touch access to your favourite sites on the springboard. You can reorder the springboard and dock. SMS to multiple people!

The iTouch gets Mail, Stocks, Weather, Notes and Maps, along with location finding, Web Clips, and reordering of your home screen. Free on all new iTouches, $25 for early adopters.

iTunes Movie Rentals - Does what it says on the tin. $2.99 for library titles, to as much as $4.99 for new releases. You have 30 days after download to watch them, and once you start watching you have to finish it in 24 hours. You can copy them from your Mac/PC to your new gen iPod (only classic, nano, and touch - not even iPod 5.5G!). You can also order HD versions direct from AppleTV.

AppleTV - Price lowered from 299 to 229. Movie rentals and Flickr. All AppleTVs get the software update.

Digital Copy - Fox movies on DVD come with a "digital copy" which lets you get the film on iTunes free, no ripping/copy-dodging required.

If I made any mistakes, let me know.
Post your thoughts.
I'm personally really bummed that the iPhone wasn't announced for Aus or Canada.

[Unlucky]

WHOA that MacBook Air is expensive for what you're getting. Sure, it's portable...but no DvD drive and only one USB port? 2 gig of Ram's not bad, but still....$1,800 seems a bit much. Maybe $1,300-1,500. My current D510 Dell has got more than that's offering. And I paid $900 for it. (Well, incrementally...but still.)

Hrm, unfortunately I can't find the link (I know, feel free to shoot me down if you want) but I heard that Telstra had decided not to pick up the Iphone in Australia because they were concerned about the quality of it. Australias major phone company saying no to it, means that it'll get here a lot slower.

Having seen what the Iphone can do, it seems like a rather good piece of technology. And DAMN is it tough! Wish my V3 could survive being dropped\thrown onto various pavements dozens of times.

Other than that I have little to no comment on the other stuff, especially because I don't own\use anything Apple or even through Apple.

[Graham]

MacBook Air is amazing, but not something I'd buy.

The iPhone/iPod Touch triangulation technology is pretty fucking cool. With all the other apps as well, a Touch might be the way to go since Canada isn't getting the iPhone for a while.

The reboot of Apple TV was a brilliant way of admitting that it flopped badly, and I truly think that removing the computer from the equation really is the solution to make the digital movie rental model work.

I love the idea of the Time Capsule, especially since my HD took a dive on the weekend. Bad times.

[wilson_x1999]

I was kinda dissapointed by Uncle Steve, he didn't do the "One More Thing" thing he always does at the end :S

The MacBook Air is pretty and all, but it's not something I'd be inclined to buy, I need an optical drive and I don't want to pay 100 extra bucks to use one, also, 80gb? wtf, what's this, 2002?

The new stuff coming to the iPod Touch was interesting, I might get me one, now, if I only had money XD

[Sable]

I'm...interested in Macbook Air, but it isn't something I would buy as a primary computer. One thing I would buy it for is as a secondary box - like if my better half had a desktop (Mac or PC), we had a bitching wireless network, and I did not exceed the requirements of the machine - so, Web surfing, playing flash games, maybe a tiny amount of Photoshop [The X3100 chipset is a hamster in a wheel, but it's a bit more hamster than I expected]. I've long since been watching movies via rip or digital download, so the lack of an optical drive doesn't fuzz me completely - in this scenario. Being able to "borrow" one from another machine over the network is okay with me, since it looks pretty painless.

The lack of a replaceable battery also irks me some. I killed the first battery in my Powerbook within a year and a half - but again, if we are assuming that the Air would be a secondary computer, the 130USD charge for replacing said battery is the same as another battery for my Powerbook, so it's kind of a wash. While I imagine The Steve would have mentioned if the Air was using the super-lions from A123 Systems [Black and Decker uses them in their cordless power tools since 2005 - they claim something like 5-10x the charges, are a non-exploding chemistry and have a higher energy density than "normal" Lions. From personal experience, many of these claims appear to be true], there is a chance the Air actually does - meaning better battery life and longevity, although I wouldn't count on it.

The Air is expensive...which is a point against it. On the other hand, it is quite capable for how tiny it is, with many of its challenges engineered around. I wouldn't use the Air as a primary rig, but as a secondary machine, specifically as a companion to a desktop, it could rock pretty hard.

Although 3100 for the model with the SSD? Goddamn that's expensive. Here's hoping SSDs get cheaper in the next couple years.

Beyond the Macbook Air, Time Capsule hits me as a fuck yes. I was half an inch from picking up an Airport Extreme base station and using the Airport Disk utility/hack to build myself a little NAS. Looks like Apple did it for me - and for less than I would have paid before. I can dig.

AppleTV 2.0 sounds very interesting to me. I really, really want to see the PQ of the HD rentals - I have nowhere in town that will rent HD things to me, and Netflix isn't my cup of tea due to excessive shipping times to and from Alaska. If Apple's digital downloads look good enough, that little sandwich-sized bugger might find a home in my theatre.

While I would have preferred a new Macbook Pro [And MBP enclosure, come on. The aluminum lozenge is nice but my last two Powerbooks have been identical], I wasn't disappointed by this year's Macworld. There were a couple of really neat new products, one of which is something that was exactly what I'd have made anyway.

[emma]

iTunes Movie Rentals - Does what it says on the tin. $2.99 for library titles, to as much as $4.99 for new releases. You have 30 days after download to watch them, and once you start watching you have to finish it in 24 hours. You can copy them from your Mac/PC to your new gen iPod (only classic, nano, and touch - not even iPod 5.5G!). You can also order HD versions direct from AppleTV.

This is so close to being awesome. SO CLOSE.

My brother has a computer that is very similar to the Air, but it is not a Mac. He has it to take to school, and he loves it! It's very handy to have tiny computers sometimes!

Lastly, what is a Time Machine? (and please don't make the obvious joke)

[wilson_x1999]

...Lastly, what is a Time Machine? (and please don't make the obvious joke)

A backup utility for Mac OS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Machi ... oftware%29

[Graham]

And the new announced Time Capsule is an Airport Basestation / Hard Drive that syncs with Time Machine.

[The Hitman]

And the newly announced Time Lord?

[AeroCmdr]

You have to buy the extra apps for the itouch. Computer died so I bought them on another comp until I can secure a new one but that would remove my music and what not to get the new stuff which is just not worth it. Will add the apps at a later time. I' am posting from the touch right now.

[emma]

The only thing I can say for Apple is that they think their product names out way better.

[AeroCmdr]

And the newly announced Time Lord?

I would have to buy that.

[Graham]

And the newly announced Time Lord?

Oh that's even better.
If you lose your data he'll take you back in time so you can harass yourself to fucking backup your goddamn hard drive.

[AeroCmdr]

It's going to be nice when we will be able to go back in time and stop Ewe Boll.

[Alja-Markir]

Or perhaps just milk him? Although I'm not one for sheep's milk...

~Alja~

[The Hitman]

Oh that's even better.
If you lose your data he'll take you back in time so you can harass yourself to fucking backup your goddamn hard drive.

Are you kidding? And bring back those weird bat-things?

[AeroCmdr]

EXTERMINATE?!

[AeroCmdr]

Or perhaps just milk him? Although I'm not one for sheep's milk...

~Alja~

So we go back and use him to make money? Wait a minute...

[tak197]

It's impressive that Steve Jobs made such a thin computer that they can attempt to sell a manilla envelope for $100 as a carrying case.

the only drawback is I'm pretty sure I could bend it over my leg and snap it.

[theINC]

The iPhone/iPod Touch triangulation technology is pretty fucking cool. With all the other apps as well, a Touch might be the way to go since Canada isn't getting the iPhone for a while.

If the iPhone doesn't come out by June-ish in Australia, I'll get an iPod touch. The new ones come with the iPhone software by default, which is handy, and I'll be going to London where I'm sure there's a wifi network pretty much everywhere you go. It'll get plenty of use.

Oh, and I've re-thought about the whole thing. I was initially disappointed by the keynote, but I've decided that the Time Capsule would be really useful when I get Leopard. I'd actually start backing up for once, I'd start wirelessly sharing the one printer in the house (Canon MFC for christmas), and my current D-Link router doesn't really like the satellite modem -for some odd reason when I just load the page via the regular modem, I get the whole page, but when I visit some US sites via my D-Link (wired or wireless), it takes a few refreshes to load the page. My friend's iPod touch kept timing out, which isn't fun if I get one.
I'll have to pester the parents and save up some cash for one.

[Whatchamabiscut]

The air looks amazing but, it isn't something I would use, as I need enough space for my iTunes and it doesn't look like it could take much abuse. Also I'm not one of the people who wants a smaller and thiner laptop, I'm fine with a larger one with more memory.

I do have a problem with the new software pack for he touch as I was one of the early adopters. I just doesn't seem like Apple to charge for a software update.