Apple Grrl

I was underwhelmed by the MacBook Air. I think it is geared to the business traveler who doesn’t need an actual optical hard drive or any serious storage space because they will only us it to write letters and such. I don’t want a laptop I have to buy a separate hard drive for to store photos, movies, files, etc on. I think they should have kept this in development until someone made a ultra slim hard drive to put in it. Because the MacBook Air with a massive slim hard drive of 160GB or more PLUS the Ram and Flash is has already would have truly been stunning. I’m guessing some gadget heads will buy the air out of a need to have the latest thing right out of the starting gate. I keep seeing comments around the net from people who don’t get that it only has a flash drive and RAM who think the 500GB is plenty of space for a computer, but trust me, it isn’t that kind of memory, folks.

As for the rest of it? The iTunes movie subscriptions and the improvements on the AppleTV and such? That was better than the MacBook Air, frankly. I still wish the AppleTV was also a true DVR, but this is a step in the right direction. Too bad Time Warner countered the innovation with an announcement of a crippling price hike based on bandwidth. Sometimes the entertainment and technology sector can’t win for shooting itself in the foot all the time.

I was also concerned with Apple’s recent Bad Apple legal tactics against bloggers and other fans, and had high hopes they would do something to rectify the situation a bit, but this reaction to a fan tells me I shouldn’t hold my breathe. I had a press pass to this even this year, and no way to go. Now I’m a bit glad I didn’t try harder to find the money for airfare. I would have enjoyed seeing my friends in California, but I would have been disappointed with the overall Keynote. I probably would have had fun wandering around after though - maybe next year.

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Apple released the Apple Gift Guide this week. I can’t believe it is almost Christmas! The link below will get you free shipping on items ordered from the Gift Guide. Enjoy!

Apple Store Gift Guide - Free Shipping on all Gift Guide items.

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SanDisk, of all people. I know! I think of them as the little camera/phone memory card people too! It seems they are tossing their hat in the ring to compete with AppleTV by introducing their version: Sansa TakeTV

I actually think it might sell, if only because it can tap the “anti Apple” movement - people who desperately want the AppleTV but can’t stomach the thought of buying Apple product. What do you all think?

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AppleGazette echoed exactly what I was thinking when I read about the NBC brouhaha the other day. I thought Apple handled it just right - letting NBC shoot themselves in the foot. Sure enough, NBC compounded the problem they’d created by then signing with Amazon’s Unboxed service to distribute their content. Too bad for the short sighted NBC, Unboxed is not compatible with any OS other than Windoze.

I think AppleGazette is right in saying that now would be the time to add DVR capability to the AppleTV unit and increase the hard drive size. They’d have to be careful though - loyal to Apple as I am, I wouldn’t want to switch from my current DVR (dual channel) to a single channel version. I flat out watch too much TV to not be able to watch one show while recording another, or record two at once if I’m out of the house. I hope Apple seizes the moment, and the customers, with a strong DVR move.

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in 1988, Apple released this video, simulating what they thought the computing world would be like in 2010. With 2010 fast approaching, how accurate do you think they were?

[tags]apple, future computer, future of computing, nostradamus, mac, steve jobs, commercial, apple 1988, apple 2010, knowledge navigator[/tags]

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If you don’t know what Slingbox is, you’ve been missing out. Think television that works with your computer, DVR, internet connection and more and travels with you wherever you go that has a computer connection. It’s a pretty slick set up, especially for the determined office slacker with high speed internet.

Get your Slingbox connection here.

This means that, after buying and installing the Slingbox, Mac users can ’sling’ their home cable and satellite signals to themselves at the airport, or in a café hotspot, or over their office computers.

[tags]Slingbox, TV On The Go, Stream TV, TV On Computer, Slacker, Office, Apple[/tags]

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Online data backup services for Macs have been scarce these last few years (ok, ever), but Mozy heard the call and came to the rescue (I realize .Mac and iDisk do this. for those of us with boucoups information for clients, an advanced internet use capability and a serious iTunes addiction, .Mac and iDisk don’t offer enough security or space). (more…)

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Apple is reaching out to the masses by tapping the discount box store with the slightly “edgier” reputation (Target) to sell it’s hip new Apple TV. Each Target will have a fully functional Apple TV display using a High Definition Television, which will give users a chance to disprove the rumors that Apple TV doesn’t have the chops to play well with High Definition screens.

Apple’s choice of Target over other discount box stores like WalMart or KMart reflects their desire to market to a certain “hip” demographic, as reflected in their current “I’m a Mac. And I’m a PC.” ad campaign. Target has been known over that last few years for going out of its way to tap into the market for people seeking hip, edgy trends at an affordable price. They have been using top designers to design their clothing, furniture and household products, so introducing Apple is a perfect fit for their target (sic) market.

Apple TV is currently being offered at Target online for $299 USD, and is scheduled to hit Target stores by the end of the month.

Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved

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