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Apple Intros 17" Unibody MBP, DRM-Free iTunes
Phil Schiller delivered the keynote at MacWorld, the first after the Steve Jobs era of keynotes. Here is Engadget's live blog. The big news, predicted by many rumor sites, was the introduction of the unibody 17" MacBook Pro. As rumored, the battery is not removable, but it's claimed to provide 8 hours of battery life (7 hours with the discrete graphics): "3x the charges and lifespan of the industry standard." $2,799, 2.66 GHz and 4 GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive, shipping at the end of January. There is a battery exchange program, and there is an option for a matte display. The other big news is that iTunes is going DRM-free: 8M songs today, all 10+M by the end of March. Song pricing will be flexible, as the studios have been demanding; the lowest song price is $0.69. Apple also introduced the beta of a Google Docs-like service, iWork.com.
I was really hoping to see an updated Mac Mini.
--- Tao
What are people going to whine about now?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
but I was really hoping they would finally update the MacMini.
blah, blah, blah...
3x the charges and lifespan of the industry standard
This is a completely unfalsifiable statement. A Mac user wouldn't be caught dead with this model once the new 17.1" Macbook Pro comes out in six months. No one really knows how long any Apple product "could" last.
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
Come on, it isn't that hard to make a user removeable battery. Just do it -- people want it. It is a freaking laptop!
I'm glad to see Apple stepping away from a massive release of new products every January. While it was exciting from a geek perspective, it was awfully timed. Introducing a slate of cool new gadgets just after Christmas was a marketing nightmare for Apple - hundreds of thousands of new iPod owners would be upset to learn that their new player was suddenly "last year's model," and many other Apple enthusiasts would simply put off their purchases until after the Christmas season in anticipation of "one more thing" in January. That can't have been good news for retailers who ramp up inventory in the months leading up to xmas. Now, Apple has more control over their release cycle. They can keep their products under wrap until they're ready to unveil them to the world, and can stagger releases for maximum coverage.
It is extremely important that Slashdot apprise us of every new product coming from Apple Corporation, in near-realtime fashion.
Please slashdot, tell us more about Steve Jobs' health, Apple Corporation mythology, and Mac purchasing opportunities!
THL phish sticks
Oh well, guess I'll go buy one in a week or two, since no upgrade came for it, and I don't wanna wait till summer for the next possible upgrade.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I simply cannot fathom why Apple keeps making these things without a number pad. If I'm going to lug around the weight of a 17" I feel like a proper keyboard with keypad is a must, especially since almost all of the other brands have no trouble fitting one in.
The weight on this thing is mighty impressive though, I'm not familiar with any 17" laptop that is only 6.6 lbs. Of course, I'm not sure if it's worth the trade-off of not having a removable battery.
Should have better video then 9600m for a $2700+ system come on other laptops have SLI at that price.
And $1200 to go from 4gb to 8gb?
I hope apple has a big Superbowl ad to show off the other new hardware.
If anyone saw the macrumors.com keynote feed, it was hacked and someone inserted some pretty funny (albeit inappropriate) comments into the feed. I'll need to find a link to a screenshot...
You know, its pretty fashionable to argue these days that CEOs are just like everyone else, interchangeable parts that you can just get rid of. Steve Jobs isn't one of them, and I don't think Bill Gates was either, for that matter.
But, in the case of Steve Jobs, the dude could walk out onto a stage, show you a product, and you would think, wow, that's really brilliant.
Regardless of how Shiller is, he's not the guy that founded Apple, beat developers into the ground trying to make a product better. Sometimes took the company into the ground chasing after a vision but a lot of times made a mountain of money chasing after the same.
You can't get the same vision from somebody who runs as a company as you can get from the guy that founded it. Even for CEOs, its just a job, but for founders, its a vision, and I'm going to miss the Apple of Jobs old, even as I miss the Microsoft of Gates the Evil.
This is my sig.
... Steve Jobs wasn't there.... mostly software announcements.. and the iWorks Cloud Service... no biggie, really. And this is probably why Apple has decided to pull out of MacWrold... too much pressure to give updates, even if they are not quite ready. But as usual, you can expect more hardware announcements in the upcoming weeks. I'm sure Apple decided to leave stuff OUT of the keynote once the rumor mills grab onto something.. just to piss them off...
Why is there no mention of Steve Jobs' death announcement? I saw it on MacRumorslive! WTF!
Two semi-glaring points:
-What about TV show and movie purchases? What level of DRM can be expected there (I don't know level of DRM applies now, so feel free to call me a clod who's talking out of an orifice other than stdout ). The verbiage seems to very carefully mention "songs" only, no other iTunes available media.
-What about my current iTunes song library? Will the DRM magically disappear with my next update? Do I need to download my library again, (and thereby lose the totally pointless play count next to my songs? What will I do? That's how I keep score damnit!)
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
Unlocked music from iTunes, finally.
Now they can focus on getting television episodes and movies unlocked.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
One thing that's not mentioned anywhere is whether iTunes DRM-free music will be available internationally or only in the U.S.
Does anybody know?
This space left intentionally blank.
Still, it's a step in the right direction, and I applaud the people over at Amazon (and everyone else selling music without DRM) for doing it first. Without that step, I'm willing to bet that Apple would have stayed with DRM on their music catalog. It looks like part of Defective By Design's Anti-DRM wishlist came true.
That said, Apple is also now charging if you want to get rid of your DRM (which means upgrading to 256 kbps tracks). From Apple.com:
Yes, just $0.30 per song to get rid of the crap that we forced on you in the first place. Awful.
In other news, I was getting my updates from MacRumorsLive.com, when their feed was cracked by 4Chan. The site crashed half-way through the keynote. Here are some screen caps for anyone interested:
http://www.realfx.com/images/macrumorslive_pwned.jpg
http://www.realfx.com/images/macrumorslive_pwned2.jpg
http://www.realfx.com/images/macrumorslive_pwned3.jpg
I have just had a look, and it will cost 20 pence to upgrade each song to DRM free and better quality of the Plus store. Good one Apple!
I was drooling over the new 17" until I got to the non-removable battery part. On long trips I've always loved the ability to swap through multiple batteries. 8 hours (which surely means 6 real world hours) is very good, but it still falls short of two or three swaps. Probably not something most people care about, so perhaps a good business decision... but I'll be holding on to my old 17" until it croaks, I guess.
Well, with all Apple computers...it is best to buy them with minimal RAM, and put it in yourself from 3rd party purchase. Apple has pretty much always been a rip off when having them to upgrade the ram.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Apple also introduced the beta of a Google Docs-like service, iWork.com? Bzzt! Wrong. There was no mention or demo of editing the documents online in the presentation, only viewing, annotating, uploading, and downloading.
This article says you can do so for a fee http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1711 but when I tried for my two purchased albums, it did not work crapping out with some "product has changed" error message. It reportedly worked back when they first introduced DRM-free tracks, so maybe it is a temporary problem as things get retooled.
One is that you do save some space by integrating the battery. There is a non trivial amount of extra material for making it removable since it had to be in it's own enclosure and such. So one could claim that is was done to either decrease size, or to increase capacity (by having larger cells).
The other is that this makes the device much more disposable. Apple is in the hardware market, they make their money on buying new gadgets. It would be best for them if people viewed the gadgets as disposable and simply tossed them after a few years.
I am not particularly concerned with the general idea of a non-removable battery. I know that by removing the extra two walls internally, they fit a bit more charge-storing mass inside the slim case. I know that the life span of this new material is able to hold more Amp-hours, which is welcome.
What concerns me is the "stays plugged in" case. Many people with this class of laptop leave the thing plugged in most of the time, but need the ability to untether just often enough to go on the road. I have had bad luck with batteries in the past, even with the best "smart charge" electronics, where the battery loses its peak capacity if it's left plugged into the DC wallwart 98% of the time. I don't discover the problem, of course, until just when I open the laptop in the airport, waiting for my departure flight.
[
Matte display, it makes it that much worthwhile to me. I hated reflective.
o_O
32G? Isn't last year's 3G-compatible iPhone good enough?
The CB App. What's your 20?
Through the sync chord in iTunes. *sigh*
Offload my photos. Give me the option to buy TomTom or another REAL GPS software tool.
If you want to upgrade your old purchases to DRM-free status, though, you can pay the "upgrade" price.
I bought three albums on iTunes this past weekend. At least one of them is DRM-laden. Colour me unimpressed, but I'm not really surprised. I don't have rose-coloured glasses on when it comes to Apple. I sometimes use iTunes when it's 3:00 a.m. and I'm hankering for new music. I fire up the Bands Under the Radar podcast and poke around until something catches my fancy. They made it convenient, so I put up with the conversion process to other drm-free formats.
"It's also easy to upgrade your iTunes library to iTunes Plus. You don't have to buy the song or album again. Just pay the 30 per song upgrade price. (Music video upgrades are 60 and entire albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the album price.)"
I can't speak for the entire world, but I've noted that the Apple Canada site (apple.ca) is advertising DRM-free music. So that's one place outside of the USA.
Life is like a web application. Sometime you need cookies just to get by.
Every cell-phone from entry-level to smart phone has a removable battery, why is there this trend to prevent that? I'm not even talking about the need to swap to keep working on the road, I mean swapping when the damn thing wears out. If the number of rated charge cycles isn't over 800, these things are going to die way too quickly. I'm still a bit miffed that I can't get at the battery for my palm tungsten, it's about half of what it used to be. My new mp3 player has an integrated battery, just one more excuse for getting rid of it in a few more years. :eyeroll:
The thing that really miffs me about tech companies and Apple seems excessively guilty of this: they seem to be following the model of the fashion industry with rolling out new products with incremental changes, feature dribbles that could have all been brought out in one unit, etc. I like to run a longer lifecycle on my hardware. I want my lappy to last for 8 years, not 2. Put all your good ideas in one model, then save them up for another one. It's like they expect us to behave like the fashion-conscious, throwing out the old wardrobe not because it's worn out but because it has become unfashionable. Fuck that shit, if I wanted to be a fashion-conscious slave I'd get an Apple -- I don't want to see the bad ideas adopted in non-Apple products!
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
You're usually always paying a slight premium from a retailer. It's DDR3 SODIMM memory, so expect to pay a HUGE premium (especially at that size).
http://shop.crucial.com/1/1/302292-ct2kit51264bc1067-8gb-kit-4gbx2-204-pin-sodimm-ddr3-pc3-8500-memory-module.html
The 8GB kit (4GBx2) = US$1179.99
It is a little to go from 4GB, that you're already paying for, up to 8GB, but nobody is holding a gun to your head. You're still better off buying it third party, and selling the sticks that come with it, but then you don't have the same level of support than if you purchased with it. Any manufacturer will be quick to assume the memory is the problem and refuse warranty until the original sticks are put back in place.
the lowest song price is $0.69
Still forty cents too high. Back when a single came on vinyl and cost a dollar, the manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, etc. gave them maybe a dime profit at most. Now they want a buck with no manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, or any other costs except profit.
Actually producing and recording the sucker was incredibly exoensive back then too. It's dirt cheap these days, but we're still paying the same inflated prices (well, not "we", I stopped buying RIAA drack back when Napster was illegal).
I blame cocaine, the shit makes people greedy. The labels' own greed is causing their downfall.
Free Martian Whores!
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary
Every cell-phone from entry-level to smart phone has a removable battery, why is there this trend to prevent that?
My old iPaq didn't, and of course the iPhone doesn't.
I hereby dub it "the iBattery syndrome".
I'm glad my original Macbook Pro didn't have an iBattery, or else it would have been trashed when my battery swelled out of its case.
I expect it ships with 2x2GB, filling the two slots. To upgrade to 8GB you need 2x4GB, and 4GB DDR3 SODIMMs are still pricey.
If there were 4 slots, it would be much cheaper, as going from 4 to 8 would just mean buying another 2 2GB SODIMMs.
September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA
...will cost $99.
Compare to, say, Amazon MP3, or Magnatune, or Mindawn, or Nugs.net...
What do all of these have in common?
The ability to buy songs with a web browser, and the availability of lossless music.
Yes, I realize most people can't tell the difference. But the implications of lossless (particularly FLAC) are that the studio only has to release that one format, and users can convert them into anything they want. To make it "easy", they can release an MP3, also.
So... With Amarok -- or at least, once Amarok is working again (fucking Amarok 2 broke everything, but the bug is marked WONTFIX in 1), I can buy music straight from Magnatune, in Flac, store it and play it as Flac on my hard drive, and convert it to AAC or MP3 automatically when I transfer it to an iPod -- or convert it to OGG when I transfer it to a RockBox deviec.
With iTunes, I pretty much have to use iTunes to buy the music, and I'm guessing it's still just going to be AAC.
Oh yeah, and the tiered pricing.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Hopefully now we'll see which music store will reign supreme now that iTunes isn't handicapped with the DRM restriction while Amazon wasn't gimped by the RIAA.
Yay "free" markets?
Insert Sig Here
They're ditching DRM. That's pro-consumer. What you're saying is that they are going to have to charge what the studios want to charge (ie, more). That's not anti-consumer enough to balance out the goodness factor of allowing people to actually play the music they buy on any device they own (which has kept me from using ITMS thus far).
I'm sorry you don't like higher prices. But you finally own what you buy. If you're still concerned about ITMS's prices, you really shouldn't have been using them in the first place as they've always been outrageously expensive.
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
My Libretto was rated for 8 hours with the fat battery pack, but I never got more than 5-6 hours. That was still enough to keep me from having to join the tethered geeks near the wall at conferences, but only because I had two batteries and could leave one charging in my room... then swap it out at the lunch break and before the evening sessions.
Not to mention that you don't want to risk a non-removable "iBattery" turning into something like this like my original Macbook Pro's did.
And require all buyers to sign a EULA that they have to return it to base to be refilled with fuel.....for a nominal service charge of course. Hmmmm, names, lemmiesee......iCar maybe??
New iLife: Big whoop.
DRM free Music: Again, big whoop. I dumped ITMS for Amazon a long time ago. With Amazon's tool that automatically dumps your purcahses into iTunes, the songs already being in MP3 format and no DRM it's a no-brainer.
New MacBook 17": Okay, nice, but the freakin' Mini has needed an update for how many years now? I was really hoping and expecting to see a Mini refresh with some real video. It could be such a great set-top device. Oh well.
I wanted, nay, needed an announcement of a new iPod (something bigger than 160). I guess I have to wait til September?
How does the fact that it is not removeable affect its shape by 40%? The only way I could see that happening is if the battery was the size of a watch battery. After all, all you need to do to make a battery removeable is install some contacts (which would have to exist in some form or another anyways) and a latch mechanism (which could be just a simple screw).
I could see the *COST* of the battery being 40% more, but not the shape.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
You are not going to be using your laptop the entire time anyway since people have to eat, get up and use the toilet and potentially take a nap.
It recently took me 8 hours (with connection delays) to fly from upstate New York to Minnesota. The airport where my delays were didn't have any outlets available for charging my laptop, and neither of the planes I flew on could do that, either. If I hadn't had the second battery with me for my thinkpad I would not have been able to work during the layover delay and into the second flight.
Sure there are plenty of people who travel on long single flights but a lot of us are also traveling through connections and short hops also. One battery is just not enough for all of us.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
That said, Apple is also now charging...
NOW charging?
They've been charging 30c to upgrade from 128k AAC with DRM to 256k AAC without DRM since they first introduced the program in May 2007. They originally ALSO charged 30c more for the higher bit rate DRM-free songs, but dropped that in October 2007.
I'm all for tiered pricing schemes. Britney's "Womanizer" crap can sell for $1.29 all day long while I'm buying non-crap for $.69 and $.99
The WORST thing about the iTunes store is the Top-10 seller lists. I haven't seen a track on there in years that I'd buy. And since those will be the target of $1.29 tracks, good for them for bilking people with horrible musical tastes.
"Apple has pretty much always been a rip off"
Couldn't agree with you more.
Oh, I hadn't noticed this, in all the other flaming and innuendo:
I applaud the people over at Amazon (and everyone else selling music without DRM) for doing it first.
eMusic has been selling DRM-free for a long time, but no major labels.
Apple introduced iTunes Plus in May 2007, with their EMI catalog, the first major label to go DRM-free.
Amazon followed up with the their MP3 service in September 2007, with EMI and Universal.
I can't believe I can't pick the songs I want to upgrade to iTunes plus ! All or nothing! I have tons of songs purchased on iTunes... when the previous label went DRM-free, I could choose which ones to upgrade and what not. This is not the case anymore, it's all or nothing, all upfront. I have LOTS of iTunes songs, so upgrading all would be VERY expensive. Some of them I listen continuously and they could user the higher bitrate, some other I never listen or are fine at 128k AAC. There's no other word: this SUCKS!
We are writing to you regarding the case of Dr. Dongxiao Yue v. Sun Microsystems, et al., which is set for conference in January 2009 (Information of the case can be found at www.American-Justice.org and YouTube).
In November 2007, Dr. Yue sued defendants for pirating his PowerRPC software. Evidence included defendants' internal documents showing Sun knowingly sold unauthorized and unlimited copies of PowerRPC to others. However, in March 2008, former U.S. District Judge Martin J. Jenkins dismissed Dr. Yue's lawsuit without ruling on any of the copyright claims.
The District Court then awarded defendants $219,949.90 of attorneys' fees and costs under Section 505 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
While Dr. Yue's appeal is ongoing, on December 15, 2008, the District Court issued a Writ of Execution directing county sheriff to take possession of Dr. Yue's assets (primarily his copyrights and his family home where his two young children live), despite Dr. Yue's request for humanitarian consideration. Dr. Yue's application for stay at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal was summarily denied without any explanation.
Awarding software pirates under U.S. Copyright Act would encourage infringement of intellectual property and would be detrimental to U.S. economy. The lower courts should have provided Dr. Yue equal protection as other American copyright owners.
We respectfully request that your Honor carefully consider Dr. Yue's arguments before the Supreme Court and make an equitable decision.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Justice need to be served by Supreme court 17.Dr. CHONG WANG Based on my own judgment, some personal retaliation has been involved in this case, thus a more objective, thorough, fair trial is need. 16.Yong Li This is a typical case demonstrated judges' bias, snoblish, racisim and injustice. 15.Ming Wei The case will have a profound effect on the protection of copyright including the copyrights of numerous American products worldwide. PA, USA14.Roy Owens Justice for Yue2 Otisfield St , Mass13.Charles Heckman Typical Ninth Circuit tyrannyWashington, U.S.A.12.John Peterson Dr. Yue has the truth and should be granted justice 11.Facheng Lee save justice! save Dr Yue! 10.line voided 9.Betsy Combier We must abide by the Constitution and rule of law, and protect Dr. Yue's due process rights 8.Carl Bernofsky The shabby treatment of pro-se litigants by the courts must stop. Dr. Yue has clearly stated the case for infringement of his copywrite rights, and the courts must permit genuine due process to go forward in this matter.Shreveport, Louisiana7.kang li protect the human rightstoronto, canada6.robert lackman Give Dr Yue justice 5.Carol Long This illegal court abuse is going on all over the USA. In San Diego the courts are a mess. Allowing purjury and many other laws to be broken. What next, please allow Dr. Yue to win this case. 4.Cheryl Kennedy Dr. Yue has a Constitutional Right to be heard at a jury trial. The corruption and judicial misconduct in the U.S. Court system is a disgrace. Big business harms the small guy intentionally, and payoffs become a big question within the system. 3.Thomas J. Rodeffer This is a typical example of how corrupt the Judicial system here in the U.S. is! There is no justice for the lay person who is the back-bone of the tax-base!3923 Ryan Drive, SW2.George Edward McDermott United States District Court Judge should be removed from office for committing treason against the Constitution and fraud against the court. For denying due
Apple is not going to destroy their business model to protect your $200 monitor investment. They have 9.7 million people eager to buy macs that have tight hardware integration. The person determined to keep their five year old Nec Multisync LCD to save $200 is NOT the iMac target market!!!
Because with Apple the AirPort Express is your "dock", as most of what you're asking for can already be done wirelessly. Plug your speakers and your printer into your Express, and you're good to go the second you set your notebook down.
Use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. No wires. Do Time Machine backups to Time Capsule. No wires. Actual, physical wires are so... '80s.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Sure the tracks are going DRM free, but will iTunes still prevent me from copying music from my iPod to a new iTunes library? It's incredibly annoying to me that any time I move PCs or operating systems that I can't easily move songs off of my iPod. The tracks may be DRM free all the way through, but it still exists if I can't move my library as I see fit.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
there will likely be an "awesome" update around June which is when the original 2G customers contracts will expire.
Apple needs to look harder at the road warrior market. 17" is way too large for those folks (or should I say "us"?). 15" is borderline. We need matte display on smaller MBPs, not 17". Please don't tell me about properly designed workplace. When I am at my desk, I can connect to my real monitor. I need to use laptop screen when I am on the road, where I do not have control over ambient lighting. Reflective sucks, plain and simple, Apple fanboy protestations notwithstanding.
Best yet, design a 12" MBP with a video card supporting at least 1920x1200 external monitor and a field-replaceable hard drive. If you have to do 15", then make it something weird, like 1680x800, so that the monitor is wide but low, so it can be easily opened and used on a plane, where a lot of work is done. If you have no idea what I am talking about, please do not post "I have no idea what you're talking about" proving the obvious.
Replaceable battery would be nice, but I can live with a built-in if it is 8 hours, provided it can be quickly replaced (while you wait) at an Apple store by one of their techs.
End anonymous moderation and posting on
They stated it can be charged 1000 times. That means if you use your laptop every day you will need a new one in 2.7 years.
if you use it every day, including saturdays and sundays, FOR 8 HOURS A DAY, then in 2.7 years, the battery will be down to an 80% charge or 6.4 hours. Which is longer than your current 5 hour battery lasts.
I seriously doubt many users use a computer 7 days a week, soley on batteries for 8 hours a day!
finally you can replace the battery. There's just no simple pop-out mechanism. But unscrewing the case once in the life of a computer is not a big deal.
Additionally Apple care will cover the battery for 3 years-- that's not something you get on most warantee contracts.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Sure, some people can get the nonstop flight from LA to NYC, and survive on a single battery. But not everyone is that lucky. Many of us have to go through one or more layovers to get from where we work to where we are having a meeting. And as the airlines consolidate, and hubs lose their hub status, the layover will become more and more commonplace for travelers.
Add to that the lack of available wall outlets at so many airports - as well as the lack of any sort of outlet on most planes - and you'll see that it is not unusual for a single trip to require more than 8 hours of battery power.
A trip I took recently that was just less than 1,000 miles "as the crow flies" took me over 8 hours of real time. And I'm sure I'm not the only person with a laptop who has experienced this.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
One battery with a 5 hour charge might not be enough but 8 hours should be enough for everyone.
If you ran out of juice after 8 hours unplugged, maybe you should take it as a sign that you are working too hard and that you should take a break.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
retard.
flat pack batteries have a 30% higher fill factor than cyllindrical batteries. that is 4/pi
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
"I don't see why anyone would pay the fee, just remove it yourself."
Let's say last week I bought the album "Nothing's Free", by "The Capitalists". I paid $9.99. I can buy it this week, for $9.99, and it will be playable on every device I own right out of the gate.
If I want that same freedom for my week-old purchase(assuming I'm a non-technical user), I have to pay $3.
It's a straight up cash grab on Apple's part. They're willing to stick it to the client base that already paid.
As long as the song prices remain reasonable for the songs I am after. I have no issues with it. I had no problems with the $.99 a song. As long as I did not have to buy the album. I got the songs I wanted. The DRM was annoying, but I burned it all to an Emulation CD(Iso) and re-ripped it to be DRM Free. The DRM Free makes it easier to work with. So that's props in my book.
As for a price limit, I'd be looking at no more $2 per song, before I start looking at torrents. And defiantly less than $15 per Album.
The airport where my delays were didn't have any outlets available for charging my laptop
That's a weak-assed airport. Also probably dirty, since I've never seen a place that doesn't have places for the cleaners to plug in.
So:
1. fucking hang out by the off ramp light
2. show a sign saying you're a war vet, and
3. profit !!
But if:
1. someone hands you $0.40
2. you spit in his face
3. fuckin' hypocrit !!
Moral of the story:
You are one cheap mother fucker !!
One blow 'til I'll take ya down, I'll take ya down
One smoke and your head spins around and around
Chrome mags, a million drags, a never lags
An ol transport queen momma you never seen
Hear a purrin motor
And she's a burnin' fuel
Push it over, baby
We're makin love unto you
Power booster, I'm talkin to God and more
Crank it up and above my head
Smell my shit eating grin on the skin of my world
Six hundred sixty six miles per hour
Hear a purrin motor
And she's a burnin fuel
Push it over, baby
We're makin love
Hear a purrin motor
And she's a burnin' fuel
-oh they were burnin
Push it over, baby
We're makin love unto you
Makin love unto you
-making
Get back, get back a-rollin
Get back, get back motherfucker
Get back, get back a-rollin'
Get back, get back motherfucker
Comment removed based on user account deletion
What a hideous kludge!
I can't believe any Apple user would buy and use that thing in daylight without wearing a mask and/or holding their nose..
iTunes is offering me the ability to upgrade my purchased music here in the UK, but is unable to do so at the moment (times out - I think everyone and his dog is hitting the store server right now), so it is international.
UK price is 20p per song, or 25% of album price, so around £1.50 to £2.
The iTunes store has been selling DRM-free songs for some time now, but only a limited selection - I have one or two of those tracks, since I tried to get those if they were available (naturally). The big news is the whole-store migration.
so i guess they're phasing out mac mini? that thing hasn't been updated in so long.
warranty *poof!* gone
You miss the PowerBook Duo, don't you. Me, I don't like having a desktop machine that is useless without the laptop present.
Have you considered using Remote Desktop/VNC over WiFi from a desktop machine to control the laptop? Or starting the laptop in Target Disk mode and using it from the desktop as an external drive? You might even be able to boot the desktop from the laptop's drive.
Apple also has their LED Cinema Display designed for use with their laptops. You plug all your desktop peripherals into the display and connect the display to the laptop with three connections: mini DisplayPort, USB, and MagSafe power connector. Yes, it can even charge the laptop so you can keep the laptop's charger in the bag. It is also Apple's only external display with a built-in iSight camera.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
The whole deal with Fiorina was that the conventional wisdom is that HP was dead as a PC company, the merger with Compaq was stupid, they should have focused on printers, and now look at them.
The printer business is nice for HP, but they are making loads of dough from enterprise business sales (thank you Compaq), and, they are, I think, the leader in PC sales overall, at least in notebooks.
This is my sig.
... $1200? Really? Apple does love to overprice commodity parts, but I'm pretty sure for $1200 you could easily buy an entire second laptop with 4GB of RAM (from anybody except Apple or Sony).
Granted, 4GB RAM modules for laptops are still expensive, but I believe they're well under $400 and Apple gets to save the $100 or so that the pair of 2GB modules would otherwise cost.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
>Well, with all Apple computers... Apple has pretty much always been a rip.
Fixed your typos.
That's because you over-identify with a corporation.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
More to the point, the quality on the bookendz is terrible. We had lots of them at my previous job, and they'd constantly break/stop relaying video/etc. I don't think we had one last more than about 6 months, and they aren't cheap enough to replace that often.
Well, with all Apple computers...it is best to buy them with minimal RAM, and put it in yourself from 3rd party purchase.
How hard is that going to be with the one-piece body?
>I seriously doubt many users use a computer 7 days a week, soley on batteries for 8 hours a day!
Well I haven't had an 8 hour battery life *ever*, but why do you doubt it? The whole point of a battery operated portable computer, for some users, is that you can run it on batteries -- which I do for as long as the battery lasts, as do many others. A good battery is an advantage in many situations, where others scramble for the seats near the plugs in meeting rooms or coffee shops or classrooms, or camp in airports in uncomfortable spots, people with good battery life are free.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Compressed music is useless in the days of a Terabyte HDD being $100 USD cost.
I'm not buying compressed music, give me a CD any day until that happens.
Lossless, where is the lossless "CD QUALITY" music?
Have you tried running your MacBook Pro in clamshell mode? Then it's basically an overglorified Mac Mini that you can plug a keyboard, external monitor, etc into. I had a boss who used his Powerbook clamshell style in the lab and as a laptop at home.
One thing that's not mentioned anywhere is whether iTunes DRM-free music will be available internationally or only in the U.S.
Does anybody know?
Shut up, don't give them any ideas!
Seriously, what reason have you to suspect that it would be US-only?
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
I was really hoping that Apple Netbook rumour was true.
Apple has always built to the high end, but it has been years since the prices have been hugely jacked up, at least on the high end machines. People get pissed because they want an Apple logo, but don't want to have to buy the high end machine, or pay for a lower end machine where the markup is more significant.
Given that Apple is now only about 6 months to a year ahead of the pack, people are less willing to pay for the first user advantage. Does one really need 8 GB in a laptop, does one really need a SSD drive, does one really want to sacrifice a removable battery for space, given that an 8 hour battery might last 5 and a power cord may not be avaialble. If one does, I think this machine provides a good value. If not, then it does not. For me, i am waiting for a good keyboard.
People, go check iWork.com. This is not Google docs by Apple. This is a fully fledged offline office suite, and judging by the tutorial they have there it's pretty sweet. They seem to be marketing it for personal use, not office work, for some reason, so it may lack features MS Office has. I don't know. Obvious downside is it's currently only for Macs. But check the pricing: single license is $79, family pack (install on 5 computers) is $99, So it's cheaper than MS office (if you don't take into account the $$$ you paid for your mac in the first place). There's also a related online service but that's just a bonus. And they're promising full compatibility with Office docs.
The Macbook Air is for roadwarriors. Unfortunately, it too has an integrated (non-user replaceable) battery. However, the replacement process nevertheless appears to be easier than expected.
The Rise and Fall of Online Community
This can pretty much apply to all laptops in general. Most major manufacturers still gouge at a ridiculous level on increasing the RAM pre-installed in a laptop. Apple may be the leader of the pack in overpricing, but unfortunately, all of them do it to some extent.
I am not a *blank*, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Should have better video then 9600m for a $2700+ system come on other laptops have SLI at that price.
Just for the record, the graphics drivers in Mac OS X don't support SLI, CrossFireX, Hybrid x, etc.
(Of course, Apple could code it in. But they'd probably want to build such hardware into more than one model of one Mac before that happens.)
Most of the news reports are not getting the complete picture. Apple have posted a dedicated battery page that talks about it in more detail. Here's the paragraph that expands on the 1000 charge info:
So it's not 1000 recharges and then throw it away!
\ Since when has installing RAM on your own computer invalidated a warranty???
Never heard of that one....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I worked in retail selling batteries for a spell so I took a look at the Apple website at what they had to say about the new battery for the MacBook Pro. I would say Apple doesn't seem to be doing anything new other than making it bigger (in part by eliminating the ability to easily remove it).
The entire notebook industry has been moving to Lithium Polymer for the last several years. Li-Poly is still classified as Lithium Ion technology but with advancements over the previous generation of Li-Ion. One of these advancements is the shape of the cells from the cylindrical form to pretty much any form desirable. So this is hardly innovative unless your comparing it to batteries from five year old notebooks.
Adaptive charging also doesn't seem to be new. Li-Ion batteries have always required special circuitry in the chargers to ensure a safe charge as well as prolong the life of the battery (you're asking for trouble if you try and charge a Li-Ion with a straight trickle charge with no feedback from the battery). Maybe Apple's new adaptive charging has made significant advances over it's competitors, but they certainly didn't invent it like they seem to imply.
There are only a handful of large manufacturers of Li-Ion cells in the world (all in the far east I believe). Apple may be assembling these cells into their own batteries but I'm sure there is nothing special about the cells that any of the other notebook manufacturers couldn't incorporate into their own Notebooks as well. Yet from the Apple's website you'd think they had their own chemists and engineers developing batteries from scratch.
So it seems that they crammed a bigger battery into the new MacBook Pro and therefore it has a longer life over a single charge. Which not being able to easily remove does not bother me as long as it is still serviceable (that is replace the cells like you would RAM or the hard-drive by opening up the case) five years from now when it might make a useful second-hand computer. It doesn't sound like they've come up with anything special that would prolong the overall life of the battery either. Or are they exaggerating this claim as well. Does anyone know the typical recharge cycle ratings on any recent and up-to-date Li-Poly notebook batteries?
Since this is something I know a little about, it seems to me to be another example of how companies get away with deceiving people about how something is supposedly so innovative and better than everyone else's.
By the way I have a two year old MacBook running OSX and Ubuntu so I'm not an Apple hater by a long shot.
Are you sure about iwork.com ? All I see is an ad for the next version of the software suite.
... until this type of battery technology makes it to the 15" MBP or the 13" MB... IMHO 17" is less than portable...
I'd definately like to swap my current MBP 15" for a 13" with similar performance and longer lasting battery life - for all those monkey class flights across the atlantic... ;)
As I posted earlier...when they do that, I'll finally be interested in purchasing music online.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
.. this will be my *last* MacBook.
I wish someone else from the 90's would make laptops as cool as Apple though ..
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
While the music itself is now DRM-free, it is still inaccessible to non Windows/Mac users. I realize that we Linux-only households are few and far between, but as a cross-platform version of iTunes already exists, why not make a version for Linux too?
While they're at it, could they just move the store entirely to the web, and let me access it with a normal browser since I don't need to 'activate' the downloaded music at all anymore?
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
Installing your own RAM doesn't void the warranty. (Unless you break your computer while doing it, in which case it does.)
Are you adequate?
If you recall, when Harmonix allowed users to import songs from Rock Band 1 to Rock Band 2, they charged $5 to compensate the labels for "expanded use".
While it's not mentioned, somehow I think it's more their role in this deal than Apple's. The other thing they want (and get) from this, is a way to measure to how many customers who previously bought DRMed music find this important (enough to pay $.30 for anyway)
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
Ok, so you want to force everyone to have yet another port on their laptop that adds to the weight and style just so that they can doc their laptop in one or 2 seconds less.
A real dock will do more than attach rapidly. Mine has an additional port for a removable drive, maintains a live ethernet connection when the laptop is missing/asleep, gives me a physical lock to keep the machine from growing legs, and even has a half size PCI slot. It also lets me store my laptop quickly and easily out of the way when at my desk so I don't have a rats nest of cables on my desk - not critical but very nice. A real dock is more than just a port replicator. It can actually add function to your machine.
And don't underestimate the benefit of hot plugging a laptop if you are going to meetings all the time and need your machine. I've had days where it has saved me 5-15 minutes of plugging cables which is really nice if you are very busy. I can think of lots of other things I'd rather do than plug in a bunch of cables each time I come to my desk.
You claim that the monitor and USB ports are going to get messed up over time but the docs port will likely suffer the same fate.
Having used docking stations heavily on IBM/Lenovo laptops for most of the last decade I can say confidently you are incorrect on that assumption. The dock connectors are quite reliable most of the time. USB and ethernet ports are designed to be removed a lot so they usually aren't the problem though it is annoying to constantly be attaching them. The problems are more with HD-15 (VGA) connectors and some of the others that aren't really designed for daily installation and regular connection/disconnection. No bent pins, no loose friction fit connectors, and a more organized desktop to boot. (no pun intended)
To drag those people into the next decade.
On the Apple website it says the new 17" MBP has a wider color gamut...does anybody know anything more about this? Is it sRGB, or is it "Wide-Gamut" and closer to aRGB?
I'm interested because I have a wide gamut monitor (the Planar PX2611) and colors in non-color-aware applications (like the OS and most apps) look really over-saturated. In color-aware applications like Photoshop and Firefox, things look fine--so it's obviously a problem that could be solved by software.
If they're really wide-gamut, do these new MBPs have the same problem? Or has it been fixed?
Freelance Web Designer - Portfolio
IMNAL but look at the screenshot of iPhoto, the photoview where you can label photos with a white background is JUST like a polaroid photograph, and that company has just been taken into administration. I hope their receivers do not make the connection with the photo labels looking like polaroids, because they might be sniffing easy money here. Then again if they start sniffing too early Apple can just change the form factor of those images to save a lawsuit.
if you use it every day, including saturdays and sundays, FOR 8 HOURS A DAY, then in 2.7 years, the battery will be down to an 80% charge or 6.4 hours.
Be careful you prolly won't get credit unless you show your work..
Heck, this is why Apple swapped to the magnetic power plug! Why are the rest of the connections less important?
The other connections tend not to be strewn across the floor as a trip hazard. It's intended as a safety mechanism, not a wear-and-tear solution.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I'd like one with a keyboard, but knowing Steve Job's attitude to the number of buttons on his products, that isn't going to happen.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I would hardly consider it a business laptop, and a road warrior's laptop in particular:
It may be a cool fashion-statement device, but business-oriented travel laptop it is not.
End anonymous moderation and posting on
This is an outrage. There is no way I'll take their "innovation". I'll stick with my old trusty PC laptop which is totally open so I can upgrade the memory, processor, video card, sound card, network card...you make it, PC laptops are totally open.
In fact I'm adding in 3 hard-drives, of my choice, and a new RAID card, of my choice.
Leave it to Apple to lock down laptops and tie people into using hardware chosen by The Man!
>...In fact, outside Apple, most digital music players will not play AAC. All will play MP3 however
which begs the question, why don't they all play AAC? They all seem to play MP3 and WMA. Is there a royalty involved in adding AAC support? Likewise, is there a royalty for WMA?
It seems that, now that iTunes is going non-DRM AAC, it'd make sense for all players to support AAC before they'd support WMA.
On a similar note, it was a pain finding the codecs to get non-DRM AAC to play on my Linux box too - at least it was a pain to figure out which non-free libraries I needed to use along with with xine (and then later gstreamer) as needed by the various Linux distros I've used. Again, most of the difficulty comes because the distros are afraid to provide these (or even point you to them) for fear of patent suits.
I assume these are just aspects of the larger software patent/royalty situation. So when are these problems going to start going away now that software seems to be getting a little less patentable?
Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
This is great news (and about time).
I'm curious how this might affect pre-existing purchases that are DRM'd. Presumably, they would remain DRM'd due to the license and price upon which they were purchased. Optionally, Apple might add an additional "fee" to un-DRM your existing iTunes collection.
no one I know has ever bought ram from Apple...
it's one of those goes without saying things. d'oh.
I followed the keynote from one of the Mac magazine's own web sites, vs. Engadget.
The problem with Engadget's blogging is, they just ignored parts they were personally uninterested in (software related items).
I don't think they even covered most of the talk about the new iWork '09 suite!
Actually, the new features they're putting in iLife '09 and iWork '09 I thought were the best parts of this keynote. (We already all knew a 17" Macbook Pro was coming, since they updated the 15" and were still selling the old model of the 17", right? Big deal... Only really "interesting" news was the non-replaceable but improved battery, and for some, the fact you can again order it with a matte screen, for $50 extra.)
iWork '09, among other things, finally becomes a serious contender for an MS Office alternative, because it fully supports "OLE" type capabilities. I can finally make a chart in "Numbers" and link it to a Pages doc or Keynote presentation, and have the chart change dynamically when I update figures in the spreadsheet. Without this functionality, it really was kind of "second class" as Office suites go.....
Yeah, when they say the "majority" of stuff won't be $1.29 I can't help but think they mean 51% of catalog- the total bottom rung crap. Apple fought tiered pricing for years, this is simply their way of spinning it after making a concession they didn't want to make. I will certainly never buy a song at $1.29 despite the best efforts of Apple, the industry simply won't stop shooting themselves in the foot.
I'm curious, since you already payed for the recording, and could burn and rip it into DRM free, why do you not consider P2P downloading it. You are morally free to since you payed for it. I just can't stomach giving more money to these greedy labels
People were told numerous times by industry experts when DRM'd music was available that they would have to re-buy their music once the DRM became obsolete. Nobody listened though, making the iPod the most popular portable music device ever.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
You probably were not aware of this, but USB can be funneled through the DisplayPort. You attach one cable, and the monitor/mouse/keyboard/etxernal storage are connected.
What more do you want?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I still see no reason to move from the Amazon MP3 store. Is there anything that makes iTMS superior?
> DRM-free music is nice though.
While it's nice that new music will be DRM-free, the part that bothers me is that it'll cost you $0.30 per song to remove the restrictions on music you've already purchased.
It's too bad they had to gouge their customers again. I mean, how can they get away with that when there are other websites out there where you can upgrade your music collection for free?
Case in point -- they dropped Firewire from the MacBook. That means you can't use your family's DV or HDV camcorder anymore with a MacBook to use the new iMovie to edit your videos...
No, it means you use almost any newer camcorder which all use USB to attach to the computer. That's why Apple dropped it from the lineup, because it was not needed for even that remaining consumer reason.
They left it in the upper end models because it works better for storage, and also more advanced camcorders may continue to make use of Firewire.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
8 hours (which surely means 6 real world hours)
With past Apple products I've generally gotten within 10% (on either side) of the estimates they give. They are generally not best-case scenarios.
I planned to get a new laptop this year, but I wasn't going to get the 17" because I've found them too big. With the integrated battery leading to lighter weight (6.6 pounds) and a smaller size, along with enough of a battery life I could use it almost anywhere without needing a charge during the day... I'm seriously thinking the 17" might be OK even for occasional air travel.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Well, I don't know how many slots the 17 has but they have a habit of filling up all the slots, so if there are 4 slots than expect 1GB in each slot.
Well, I found this on a shop:
http://www.jr.com/crucial/pe/CRT_8G51264BCK/
Crucial CT2KIT51264BC1067 8GB PC3-8500 DDR3 Notebook Memory Kit: $1,139.99
So, those 4 GB sticks are expensive at this moment.
Unless you think that an unremovable battery implies that its charge must not last very long, the word "but" is inappropriate.
Reflective sucks, plain and simple
I disagree.
I do a lot of photography, so back when I was weighing my purchase choice for a new Macbook Pro a few years ago I was trying to decide between glossy and matte - I chose matte.
After a few days of real use, I found that while matte screens to tone down reflections, they do not eliminate them. And they very fact they are matte mans that the display is going to be dimmer than a non-matte display.
So I returned it and got a glossy screen. I've been much happier with it, even using it outdoors sometimes and always near windows and other random light sources. Even the slightest shift of the screen can eliminate some reflections and the extra brightness of the display cuts through the rest - even truer of the new LED screens which are much brighter.
If matte screens really eliminated reflections I'd agree with you, but they do not.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I have just had a look, and it will cost 20 pence to upgrade each song to DRM free and better quality of the Plus store. Good one Apple!
While annoying, there's some benefit - the DRM free tracks are stored at a higher quality level, so you get an improved version along with stripping the DRM.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Look at all that unused space next to the keyboard! Where are my Intel inside stickers? And the screenshots, how come they're not photos of Formula One racecars, or Lamborghinis or Ferraris banking at Nürburgring?
What it needs on that wrist wrest are CUPHOLDERS. A little round indentation to hold either your Bawls or coffee mug or 2 of your (what else?) sixpack!
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
The mac mini has been a good seller, so the thinking is it was too minor an update for now.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How in the world could one "screw up" plugging in power, monitor and USB?
Never underestimate morons. I agree you have to wonder about the intellect of the folks who cause these mini-catastrophes. I've seen countless bent pins on HD15 cables, USB connectors that get bent so they can't maintain a friction fit, and of course phone cables plugged into ethernet ports. I even saw one guy plug a modem into itself by routing the phone cable from the line jack to the phone jack - wasn't plugged into the wall at all!
Pretty much if it can be plugged in the wrong place, bent, mangled or otherwise screwed up it *will* happen. You're right that it is a head scratcher sometimes and users being morons is not in my opinion a useful argument against a laptop dock. Cost, use of valuable space in a laptop and the fact that docks really are more of a luxury than a necessity are FAR better arguments against them. Personally I like not having to plug in my mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, ethernet, external hard drive + whatever else each time I come to my desk. Also saves me from transporting some cables. Worth the extra bucks and trade-offs to me but your mileage may vary and I respect that.
If you've seen some of the docks on the market, they are much more laborious to connect, and much easier to screw up with.
Certainly possible to design a crappy dock and I've seen a few. But I've used docks for much of the last 10 years when available and they work well. The ones from IBM/Lenovo are generally of pretty good quality.
This is the sort of evil monopolistic behaviour that caused the FSF to boycott Apple. Time to revive it? If only there was still some sort of government agency to combat such abuse ...
$2,799, 2.66 GHz and 4 GB of RAM, 320GB HD.
After extensive testing, it appears that being the alternative to Microsoft allows you to charge ridiculous prices and still somehow make customers feel good about getting them. Is this a bug or by design?
I recall people complaining a lot louder when they lost their floppy drives, LPT ports, RS232, ADB/PS2, etc. Nobody's stopping you from keeping your old laptop, getting one on ebay etc.
As someone in IT who still has to deal with consoles I find RS-232 ports handy. For better or worse I have to deal with USB-serial adapters now.
I seriously doubt many users use a computer 7 days a week, soley on batteries for 8 hours a day!
Well, I've always used my notebooks 99% of the time plugged in to the wall. The first thing I do when I take it out of the bag is to look for an outlet. However, my observation of other people's usage is that everyone else uses it on batteries most of the time. It is funny to see the desperate faces looking for an outlet ( which I am now occupying and won't budge) when their battery drains out. It doesn't matter how long it lasts, it seems they will always drain it out first before recharging. I think that this is not merely an atavistic attitude from the days when batteries would last longer if you followed that procedure ( I doubt they know that) but is simply the way people act.
What a hideous kludge!
I can't believe any Apple user would buy and use that thing in daylight without wearing a mask and/or holding their nose..
That's probably because you're borderline retarded as a result of being fed a diet of trans-fats, high-fructose corn syrup and lead paint chips as a child, which makes you a perfect Apple Fanboi. I'll bet you're one of the stupid bastards who actually believes Steve Jobs when he says that you don't need more than one button on a mouse or that USB2 and FireWire are equivalent in performance. I've used the BookEndz docks and they work quite well. Perhaps the BookEndz dock offends your aesthetic sensibilities but some us are actually doing work on our MacBooks and actually use those ports, we're not just plugging our new MacBooks into our shiny new Apple monitor with Apple's shiny new mini-display port connector and then masturbating ourselves into a self-congratulatory frenzy over how incredibly 1337 we are.
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
One thing I don't get is given apples descision to use propietry display connectors why didn't they put a couple of USB signal pins in there.
DisplayPort is a digital display interface standard (approved May 2006, current version 1.1a approved on January 11, 2008) put forth by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). It defines a new license-free, royalty-free, digital audio/video interconnect, intended to be used primarily between a computer and its display monitor, or a computer and a home-theater system.
So it's not proprietary.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Like you I and others have pointed out that Apple is missing a market segment that wants a midrange Mac that's expandable and upgradeable. I'd love to be able to get a mid tower with 3 or 4 expansion slots and well as more hdd space for around US$1000. As it is though I'm typing this on my MacBook Pro when I need a more robust desktop, er under desk, PC I'll upgrade my old Linux tower.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Case in point -- they dropped Firewire from the MacBook. That means you can't use your family's DV or HDV camcorder anymore with a MacBook to use the new iMovie to edit your videos...
No, it means you use almost any newer camcorder which all use USB to attach to the computer. That's why Apple dropped it from the lineup, because it was not needed for even that remaining consumer reason.
They left it in the upper end models because it works better for storage, and also more advanced camcorders may continue to make use of Firewire.
God that was a fucking stupid decision. Rather than make the MacBook a few millimeters longer they dropped one of the most useful ports on the system. Ever used FireWire target disk mode? It's absolutely incredible. Oh, and anyone who thinks that USB2 is equal in performance to FireWire 400 anywhere other than a spec sheet is a fucking retard.
Unfortunately Steve Jobs is not an engineer and his whole "make things shiny, then make them functional" mindset has permeated through the Apple ranks. I like Macs, I own two and am considering a third, but I really wish that Steve, the man who gave us the one button mouse, the incredibly fucking unusable mouse that came with the original iMac, the original Mac keyboard without cursor keys and who spent $100k having the logo for NeXT designed before he had any hardware or software for the company, would pull his head out of his ass about the whole "form following function" thing.
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
It's a crime that they made a laptop that large, but didn't include a numeric keypad.
Yesterday (and before) the rumor was that it would be a ZPower silver-zinc battery which would last 5 years or so. But this is the same old Lithium Polymer technology, which starts degrading right away and will need to be replaced in 3 years (or much less if you charge it too often). It's a bummer to know right up-front that you are going to have this pain in the butt to look forward to so soon. Long life between charges is not enough: it needs to have a long total lifetime before they should be making it non-removeable. The computer will definitely not be obsolete by the time the battery wears out, so you will have to replace it at least once. And the "recycling" for LiPoly is pathetic (they just recover the cobalt and burn all the lithium, which is quite a waste of such a rare metal).
And still no tablet! (iPhone doesn't count, I mean a real tablet Mac) And no upgraded Mini!
If size is the biggest concern, why not get a MacBook? Do you really need the extra features of the Pro?
And $1200 to go from 4gb to 8gb?
8GB of DDR3 1066MHz notebook RAM is $1100-$1200 from anyone right now. Apple's price is really decent compared to what mfgr's usually charge for RAM upgrades.
...and their terrorista income policy of removing anything even remotely user serviceable from their products, thereby forcing them to go waste extraneous dollars at their overpriced (tech chimps are a ha'penny a dozen) retail stores and/or "service" centers...
Go Appleistas! (The unwashed masses will, to an extent, buy your crap, but the rest of us will flip you the bird for such consumer unfriendly practices!)
4GB DDR3 is expensive. OWC sells 4GB modules for $700. Making it $1400 for 8GB.
How about a DOCK so that people who don't want to work all the time hunched over a laptop screen but DO want the convenience and reliability of a Mac laptop can work without having to place their laptop on a stack of paper reams to get it to eye level?
To just raise a MacBook Apple sells stands. The Griffin Elevator Notebook Stand has room underneath for a keyboard and mouse. For something more, a dock with ports, there's Bookendz.
I too wish Apple would make a dock but other companies offer them.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
First, the article is discussing their new 17" 1920x1200 notebook. There's no use having a desktop replacement notebook with a screen that size if you're not "comfortable" using it.
I have a 24" iMac for work, and a 15" MBP for travel.
I'm typing this on my 17" MBP, and I take it with me. If Apple offered a 21" MBP I'd probably have gotten it instead. However I want a larger monitor, I'm looking for one at least 24". Having a large screen monitor along with the smaller one with the MBP is great. As a photographer I can have the photo I'm working on displayed on the large monitor while all my tools and pallets are on the laptop monitor. If I want or need I could have email and/or chat client open on the smaller monitor.
Docks are not all they're made out to be either...
My first laptop was from Gateway and I got a dock with it at the same tyme. Within seconds I could undock it and slip it into my backpack, no discounting a bunch of cables. I'd love to have one for my MBP but I'm not about to fork over another $300 for one, not now.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
You're failing to grasp the whole point of copyright. There is an infinite supply of the finished product, but the resources needed to produce it are pretty scarce. Copyright artificially limits the supply of the finished product to match the scarcity of the resources required to produce it. The point is to make the market for the finished products decide how much resource should be invested in their production.
You can keep pointing out that the finished product has effectively unlimited supply till you're blue on the face; that was known from day one, when copyright was invented to benefit the (paper) publishing industry. Copyright is a law, i.e., a conventional rule, not an intrinsic economic limit. The question you really need to address is how will resources be allocated to the production of musical recordings, and how any scheme you propose compares to copyright.
Are you adequate?
There's absolutely NOTHING Apple currently provides that comes even close the the ease of use of Dell's docking stations.
I love my MBP but a lack of a docking station is one thing I don't like. I used to have a Gateway laptop and a docking station for it, and I loved how I could undock the laptop and slide it in my bag without having to deal with a bunch of cables.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
As a Mac Genius at my local Apple Store, I have to call kind-of-shananagins to your last statement.
AppleCare will only cover your battery if you are within the designated limits of a battery's expected life (~300 cycles).
If you're above 300 cycles, you're on your own to replace the battery...
Use a bluetooth mouse and keyboard.
Yea, and let anyone sniff your passwords.
Given this, I fail to see how a dock is in any way superior to popping your MacBook onto a desk, plugging in the display, power, and USB cable
Having a dock means I wouldn't have to connect and disconnect all those cables. When I had a dock for my laptop years ago within seconds I could undock the laptop and slip it into it's bag then be out the door.
the ports for which are all on the same side of the laptop for the new Mini DisplayPort models
Right now I have an external USB hdd, printer, and scanner plugged into a USB port on the left side of the MBP (plugged into a hub that's plugged into the MBP). On the right I have my Ethernet cable and a Firewire external hdd plugged in. And when I get a new monitor it will also be plugged in on the right.
MacBooks will even happily run with the lid closed, driving solely the external display. Where is the advantage of a space-wasting dock then the display itself effectively is the dock?
Could I close the lip and slip my MBP into it's bag without discounting things? I was able to do precisely that when I had a Gateway laptop and the dock for it. While it doesn't matter me much now it is an advantage when you're in a hurry.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I don't mean to be rude (I really don't), but is it unreasonable to expect one to read the title of the subthread? Perhaps even the first paragraph of a post one replies to?
And then it gets modded "+1"?
End anonymous moderation and posting on
A quick comment here, if I recall my German right "boxen" is plural for box, "boxes". I may be wrong though, it's been about 20 years since I've used German
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
......And he's the fanboy?
This is the dawning of the age of Schillermania! Forget the false god Jobs. The Schiller will lead us to the promised land!
He even sang "The Best Is Yet to Come!'
What? That was Tony Bennett? Oh. Still... PHIL! PHIL! PHIL!
What... where my damned quad core iMac?
Yup, works great too. My work configuration is an Intel 17" iMac with a 20" LCD attached.
Mine is a MacBook Pro and I'm looking for another monitor, at least 24". I'd get Apple's new 24" LED backlit monitor but it costs a bit more than I'd like to pay. I've been looking lately at Doublesight's 26" DS-265 W or HP's 24" LP2475w. I want it for photography and they both had some good reviews, along with bad ones but mostly good, on photography websites like photo.net.
I was hoping for an updated Mini, I'm in the market as soon as it's out.
What I'd really like is a bigger MBP, about 2 years ago I saw a 21" laptop at BestBuy but it ran Windows, with higher resolution graphics and a bigger and faster hdd. My MBP has a 160 GB drive but I only have 25 GB free space on it.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
warranty *poof!* gone
Wrong. With all the legitimate things to complain about with regards to Apple, I don't understand why people have to make shit up.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, there was no update of any value. I walked past the Apple store at 7:00 tonight, and the place looked only as busy as any other ordinary Tuesday evening. This Macworld generated no buzz, drove nobody into the stores. When the iPhone came out, people were lined up outside the store to see them. When the Air was launched you had to jostle through a crowd to see the display in the store windows. Today? I didn't even see a line at the front counter. And I know it's not because their checkout magically got faster.
At least their stock didn't tank on the (lack of) news. I have plenty of friends with money in them, they don't need more bad news.
John
iTunes is offering me the ability to upgrade my purchased music here in the UK, but is unable to do so at the moment (times out - I think everyone and his dog is hitting the store server right now), so it is international.
Still nothing in the pacific region. Everything is still locked up tight.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Obviously I can't say for sure, but one thing Apple has historically been good about is using only one slot, despite the slightly higher cost to them. Its a nice perk.
Has it not occurred to you that this could be the labels not Apple? Seems vastly more likely.
Moral public domain? I'm not sure what this means. Queen, through talent and hard work, created Bohemian Rhapsody
I'm not sure what "moral public domain" is either, however Queen may vary well have created "Bohemian Rhapsody" with or without copyrights. People, whether musicians, composers, or programmers will create whether they have copyrights or not.
Why is there some expectation that you should now get Queens work for free
Queen has been paid handsomely for their music already.
If you don't like paying for music, learn to play and compose your own
Oh, I agree. Actually one of the things I'd change about education would be to require most kids to learn to play an instrument in school. Though it wasn't required one of the classes I took in junior high was band and I picked the clarinet to learn. Unfortunately I didn't stick with it though but I own a flute made by Nighteagle I want to learn to play. Not because I want to become rich and famous for playing it, which I doubt would ever happen, but because I'd like to be able to play it.
Now, I'm not saying copyrights are bad but life + 50 or whatever is BAD. Twenty eight years is pushing it, under 10 years would be better. The reason for copyrights is to encourage creation, and shorter copyrights would encourage more to be created.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I used to have a Toshiba laptop with the bigger long-life REMOVABLE BATTERY and it got between 6-8 hours of life out of it. That laptop had NVIDIA graphics, too... and ~2GHz CPU (single core). Apple is giving "internal vs. external" as the reason they are giving, but it does not appear to be THE reason.
I have. I'm not sure what you're getting at.
Please see MP3 Royalty Rates. MP3 music sold requires 2% royalty payment.
In addition, MP3-related lawsuits were still raging in the legal world. (Example 1)
In contrast, for AAC, "No licenses or payments are required to be able to stream or distribute content in AAC format."
Ever used FireWire target disk mode?
Yes, I've used it before a few times... it's sad to see that aspect go. I'm not sure how new users are supposed to do user directory transfers to new systems now, I guess the idea is the Apple Store manages it for you? I've not had to do that yet so I don't know what they offer to make that happen.
I also agree that firewire performance is better for external devices (most of the drives I used were external firewire, and I have an external firewire drive for a Mac mini I use as an HTPC). But the difference for 99% of people is so marginal that it really doesn't matter than much, external USB is fast enough for consumer DV work.
Unfortunately Steve Jobs is not an engineer and his whole "make things shiny, then make them functional"
I think Apple is just quick to embrace market realities - and the reality is that even for camcorders, Firewire is on the outs. So like I said it will remain in pro models for higher end camcorders (although HDV is pushing FW400 for quality feeds so that's mostly 800) along with storage (though if you have a higher end system eSata is better if more cumbersome).
The mistake is thinking Apple considers fashion first, when the products are very much about a balance of functionality. Otherwise they would not remain popular against cheaper options.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"Apple" "has" "more"
So, you're a fanboy, eh? Blind zealot, go back to your Mac.
Yes, intentionally quoting out of context is fun!
In the future, the internet will be faster, and I'd bet dollars to donuts that you'll be able to download regular CD audio. In fact, if you think there's an emerging market for that, you could start it up yourself.
Actually there very well may be a good market for them, afterall "Vinyl records are making a comeback".
one last thing -- CD audio sounds flat and empty compared to DVD-Audio. If you could easily download CD-quality audio, would that be good enough, or would you then want DVD-Audio?
Me, I want vinyl. And a reel to reel tape deck. When I get a new turntable and tape deck the first tyme I play a record I'll record on tape then put the record away for safe keeping and listen to the tape.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
For 20 years Apple Mac users had to hear about how retarded they were, from Windows drones, for going against the herd. Now that Apple is on top of the world, the poor Windows Wankers, annoyed at Apple's success, are pretending that Microsoft and and it's 3rd rate products are somehow under appreciated and are the "underdog".
Move on, already.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
Apple doesn't offer MB with matte screens. That's the connection.
No, let's not rehash that discussion again. I will not compromise my eyes. I know many other people who won't. Clearly we are not an important enough market to Apple. So be it. It's only business.
End anonymous moderation and posting on
You are assuming that what they claim, is what they can - and will - deliver.
I've yet to see a battery that lasted as long as the person who sold it claimed it would. 8 hours? Is that in standby, or in use? I would wager that the "actively in use" time will probably be closer to that 5 hour figure. That still isn't bad, I know. But people are just taking that claim at face value, and it just doesn't make sense.
Unless, of course, Apple has indeed produced a battery that is magically 3X better than the 'industry standard', in which case they should forget laptops for a bit, and get busy putting all the other battery companies out of business, ASAP.
Think about it: a battery that is 3X better than current technology, and they are only going to use it in a relatively high-end laptop with a small user base?
I think not. Occam's Razor.
"...there are some things that can beat smartness and foresight. Awkwardness and stupidity can." ~ Mark Twain
With the recent 15" refresh, I was surprised to see the RAM upgrade from 2GB to 4GB was actually reasonable (about what I'd pay online), but that's the only generosity from Apple I've seen. 4GB to 8GB is still more than a low-end Macbook(!) here.
Additionally Apple care will cover the battery for 3 years-- that's not something you get on most warantee contracts.
I'm pretty sure you're wrong on this point. It looks like the battery gets just 1 year, even if you buy Apple Care.
From Apple's "features" page:
The bottom of the page explains the second footnote:
TO START
PRESS ANY KEY
Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...
I was not aware when I first posted, but the 17" Macbook Pro has an anti-glare option. Some have described in as Matte, others not. Hopefully they'll have examples in the store so you can try them both out...
That might be the compromise that would satisfy most people, though as I said since matte screens do not really stop all glare I'm not sure I find them that much more useful in practice for anyone, I think people like the thought of them more than the reality.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"if you use it every day, including saturdays and sundays, FOR 8 HOURS A DAY, then in 2.7 years, the battery will be down to an 80% charge or 6.4 hours. Which is longer than your current 5 hour battery lasts."
1000 full discharges at 80%?? LMAO. I would be very, very, very, very happy to get 80% at even 500 full discharge cycles. Full discharge cycles are hard on Li-ion batteries.
which is the main reason the majority of us have docks for our laptops.
I would say the priority is
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
I need a large (read 24+ ) screen for doing the work I can show clients "acceptably" on a laptop screen.
The dock means I can just drop the laptop in and not think about it.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
MacRumour's Buyers Guide. It tries to predict new releases of existing products based upon age and rumours. It's not always right but it does seem better than randomly guessing...
Newsflash. Macs run windows too now. When I bought a new PC last year I would have bought a Mac instead if there had been a decent mid tower.
Instead I handpicked my components for another PC. Nice mid tower (Antec Solo) dual core, 8800GT graphics. 500G HD. For not much more than a woefully underpowered mac mini.
I use my PC for a bit of everything. Media center duty with dual screens. Mini fails, can't drive dual screens, might have a hard time with some 1080p codecs as well. I also play some games. Newsflash, you can dual boot macs now.
I also added 2TB more internal HDs.
If there had been a mac with decent graphics and dual monitor support and full size internal HD, I would have bought one. But nothing like that existed, forcing me back to the PC even though, I was willing to try a MAC.
A mid tower or a mini with upgradable graphics and full size HD would be a great media center PC IMO. I am sure it would fit a lot of other peoples needs as well.
But instead Apple makes a line of laptops, but some don't have batteries (Imac) and some don't have batteries or a screen, or a keyboard (mini), but they all share laptop limitations.
They need to build at least one real desktop machine (and no the ridiculously priced pro doesn't count).
Well, with the DRM gone, how are my chances for a native iTunes on Linux?
Or, how complicated would it be for a third party to implement an application, e.g. Amarok plugin for iTunes?
It isn't that hard to take a laptop apart, either, especially if you only have to do it once every few years. I think that substantially increased battery time is well worth that slight inconvenience.
You do know that this is pure horse shit, right?
There is no trade off. You make the battery removable. You might get a seam on your casing. Oh no. But you most certainly do not lose 28.5% of your space! (1 - 1/1.4)
That's kind of foolish. You need a separate case for the battery. You need some sort of robust compartment that won't be damaged by people popping the battery in and out, and that will hold the battery in place. You need foolproof connectors on the laptop and on the battery. You need some sort of latch that won't break or come loose unexpectedly. All of that adds weight and take up space. And you gain what? Avoiding the slight inconvenience of taking the case apart every few years to replace the battery?
iWork '09, among other things, finally becomes a serious contender for an MS Office alternative, because it fully supports "OLE" type capabilities. I can finally make a chart in "Numbers" and link it to a Pages doc or Keynote presentation, and have the chart change dynamically when I update figures in the spreadsheet. Without this functionality, it really was kind of "second class" as Office suites go.....
It also helps that Office 2008 was a dud (sort of like Vista). No more full compatibility with Widows version, no Visual Basic, no Solver in Excel--basically lacking all of the features that made me use Office.
And it's compatible with EndNote. That is big for me, although frankly I'd rather have compatibility with Sente.
Music and film production suites frequently employ DSP chips, which are nestled cosily onto PCI cards. They are quite common in these industries.
I've been a road warrior for years, and frankly, the last thing I want in my laptop bag is another pound of weight in the form of a spare battery. Yet I keep seeing the tech media spewing forth this "people who travel really, really want to take two batteries with them everywhere" nonsense.
Why would they want this? It's not the 1990s anymore. Cars come with AC outlets. Airplanes have AC outlets. Trains have AC outlets. Heck, some planes and trains (and buses?!) even have wifi. Even in Least Developed Countries, the power doesn't usually go off for enough of the day to run down a battery. ;)
Light weight plus long battery life makes me happy. Maybe the other road warriors are masochistic?
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Also, if the power consumption while sleeping is consistent with the 15" MacBook Pro, the 17" battery might power the sleeping laptop for 2 days. I preferred the previous models where it could go weeks.
Have you tried it?
The vast majority of them (such as my HV20) have USB but its used *only* for still images, not for pulling off the DV/HDV stream.
one "market reality" they're overlooking is that they're about to lose the entire laptop-based project studio marketshare to pc laptops with 1394, which people can still use their audio interfaces with.
it's funny, because for years apple pushed macs as the computer you had to have to run a small recording studio.
now they're the computer you can't run a small studio with, because your firewire audio interfaces and recording drives are suddenly orphans.
I agree with you on Engadget. It's unfortunate that MacRumorsLive was "haxx0red" because they were providing the best live coverage until then in my opinion.
I also agree with you about iLife, iWork, and of course iTunes Store being the big news of the day. It really brought Apple's last appearance at Macworld back to the Mac. The new iLife features are fantastic, I cannot wait to finally get all of my photos tagged with the people in them. This is simply too time consuming to do it manually. And being able to crowd-source tagging new Faces in iPhoto via your Facebook network is a brilliant stroke.
By the way, Numbers also has vastly increased the number of functions it supports. There are now over 250 functions available. (http://www.apple.com/iwork/numbers/functions.html) And in addition to being able to link charts from Numbers to either Pages or Keynote, you can also restyle them and retain the link to the data. If you can do that with MS Office, I never figured out how.
Keynote Remote for the iPhone is also a pretty cool addition, but I am disappointed that they're charging 99Â for it.
And, finally, let's hear it for Steve Jobs' "Thoughts on Music" open letter finally bearing all of its fruit with the iTunes Store going totally iTunes Plus (sans DRM, 256 kbps) by the end of this quarter â" it is already most of the way there.
I have a website. It's about Macs.
Just to clarify -- apple covers manufacturing defects for 3 years. If a battery is "depleted" (no longer holding a charge due to use, and the chemicals breaking down) that is not covered under the warranty. If you deplete your battery through normal use, it will not be covered, either under the 1 year warranty or the applecare plan.
a LAP REPLICATOR, or lap accentuator, so those enthralling MacBooks can be more titillating...? Instead of a magnetic attachment, throw in a pneumatic one...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Oh, sure, Steve Jobs put the pressure on the labels to drop DRM, and paid the price after his deal with EMI to have the other labels give Amazon the rights that they forbade Apple from having. And they did get their triple-tier pricing as price.
10 million songs online, anywhere you want 'em. Pretty good.
B-But, didn't Jobs want the DRM to tie you to their lousy music players? You mean--
I did thius earlier today. Went to Crucial. It's $500 each for the necessary modules. That's not too terribly out of line with Apple's $1200.
They didn't say the size increased by 40%. The capacity increased by 40%: "This created enough space for a battery with 40 percent greater capacity â" one that can run for up to 8 hours on a single charge." (see http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/17inch-battery/)
But the 15" doesn't have the matte option, either. So I guess that was the source of my confusion.
Hopefully now that the 17" has the option, it might be available on others, eventually.
Just as an FYI, so you don't look like you're talking out your ass among people who know the subject you're talking about:
HDV and HV have exactly the same bitrate.
HDV doesn't push FW400 any more than DV does. Why? HDV1080i is 25mbit MPEG2 -- the exact same bitrate as DV.
But nice try. I'm sure every other point you made in your rant is accurate.
HDV doesn't push FW400 any more than DV does. Why? HDV1080i is 25mbit MPEG2 -- the exact same bitrate as DV.
On anything using DV tape for storage, yes.
But I'm talking about camera's more along the line of the Red and other higher end disc based cameras.
Nothing that stores uncompressed HDV footage is going to work over FW400, at least not as a live video stream.
More information to read.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
That's why I wrote "We need matte display on smaller MBPs, not 17". 15" used to have the matte option. It was removed a while ago. Apple is going the wrong direction as far as I am concerned.
End anonymous moderation and posting on
That looks like it's on Leopard. Having just installed Leopard yesterday I'm not yet familiar with it. Actually the only reason I upgraded is because Java 6 only runs on Leopard and I want to learn it seeing as how Java 5 has been deprecated.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I lost most of my German so I just checked Babelfish and it says the English translation of the German word "boxen" is "boxes".
Falcon
Should there be a Law?