The rumors were true. The MacBook Air, announced by Steve Jobs yesterday, is the thinnest computer ever. Something tells me it’s is going to be a big seller this year.

Starting at $1799, the Air is so thin it can fit inside one of those yellow envelopes (pictured to the right). It’s tiny, and it’s a full-featured Mac. Well, almost full-featured.

To fit a computer into that tiny package, some compromises were made (as usual with ultraportables).

• Few upgrades available
• Internal Lithium-Polymer battery cannot be swapped-out at will
• No optical drive. You can (and will want to) purchase a $99 external DVD burner. There’s a feature that allows you to “borrow” the drive of another PC/Mac via Wi-Fi, but you really should pay the extra $99.
• Lack of ports. There is only one USB 2.0 port, a micro-DVI port, and a headphone jack
• Internal speakers are mono

Other than that, this is a real cool computer.

• The Touchpad responds to several iPhone-like gestures (pinch to zoom, etc).
• It weighs 3.0 pounds, and is only 0.76 inches thick.
• It has a 13.3 inch display and full-size keyboard (no dedicated numerical keypad, though)
• 802.11n
• 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo (or optional 1.8GHz)
• 2GB of RAM (only option available)
• 80GB Hard Drive or 64GB SSD (no higher capacities for either)
• Onboard Intel GMA X3100 graphics
• 5 hours of battery life

If you need a thin and light laptop, and can deal with the limitations, this is the computer for you.

Further Reading

• MacBook Air: Holding my breath
• MacBook Air’s tradeoffs
• MacBook Air: Thinning My Expectations

Apple’s iTunes now has some serious competition from Amazon.com’s online music store. The e-commerce giant’s music store is totally DRM-free, with all four of the major labels onboard. I think it’s safe to say DRM is on the way out.

However, iTunes hasn’t gone totally DRM-free yet. Plenty of their music still carries DRM, and the albums that are available without it cost more.

I’d like to say iTunes isn’t dead yet.

The iPod is by far the most-owned portable music player, and the average iPod-owner is too tech-illiterate to know that Amazon sells music, know that it works with their iPod, and know how to get the music they bought on to the iPod. iTunes is so easy that my cat could by music and load it onto an iPod.

Also, Amazon may be the first to be totally DRM-less, but I’m sure iTunes will follow suit. Heck, there won’t even be record labels in a few years. Instead, artists will simply distribute their music through iTunes, Amazon, etc. There’s no need for the big record labels anymore.

Apple’s desktop lineup currently includes

• The wimpy $500 Mac Mini
• The “all-in-one” iMac
• The $2500 Mac Pro

So you have you’re choice of a cheap, and tiny, computer that won’t meet the needs of most power users (let’s see you edit video on a Mini); an “all-in-one” computer with enough for most power users, but little choice in the monitor area since everything is built-in to the LCD; and the expensive “ultimate computer” with 8 processing cores.

There needs to be a midrange model that allows for the use of your own monitor, like the ill-fated G4 Cube. It’s stats should be something like these:

• 2.4GHZ+ Core 2 Duo
• 2GB of RAM
• 250GB-500GB of Hard Drive space
• 8x Dual-Layer SuperDrive
• ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory

It’s pricing should be comparable to the iMacs, seeing as the specs would be similar (though the cost of the LCD is cut-out).

Most computers tend to last only 2-3 years. It’s an annoying fact, but that doesn’t make it any less true. My previous computer was a Compaq Presario, which lasted about three years. My current machine, a Gateway 835GM, has been kicking since a few days after the release of the sixth Harry Potter book (July 16th 2005 for the uninformed). How much longer will it last? No idea. At random times (read: the worst possible moment) everything locks-up, and then goes blank. It’s been happening for a few months now, and my attempts to pin-down the problem have been unsuccessful. Who knows how much time is left until it quits.

If you spend a week reading my articles, you’ll likely come to the assumption that I’m a big Apple fan. You’d be right, though I haven’t used any of their products for more than ten minutes at a time. I get Macworld from the library, I read Apple news online, and I’ve read several books about Apple and their products. I don’t have a Mac yet, but I definitely want one. Why, besides being totally obsessed with Apple products (a.k.a. “The Pinnacle of Innovation and Design”)?

First of all, Windows sucks. I’ve been using Windows since before XP was around, and it wasn’t very good. XP came out, and it was more stable and a little easier to use. Nowadays, Microsoft is marketing the heck out of Vista, and I’m thinking “How stupid does Microsoft think we are?” Vista is at least a step backwards. Vista is basically Windows XP with some security patches, a new interface, and more versions. The new “cool” interface may look cool, but from what I’ve seen it definitely hinders usability…and performance. Buy an OS with higher (like double) minimum spec requirements so I can have translucent window borders? No thanks.

In the hardware area, things aren’t much better. New PCs generally have Vista preinstalled, and you run into the problem of your computer self-destructing in two years. Throw-in bad tech support, device conflicts, malware, and the headaches start.

Some people will tell you that Macs have “compatibility issues.” Well, Vista definitely has “compatibility issues.” Only a third of software that runs on XP will run on Vista. You’ll need a new secuity suite for sure, and countless other apps won’t work. Meanwhile, Macs are becoming more and more adept at running Windows apps. Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion allow you to run Windows applications in the Mac OS. That’s right, they even appear in the dock. How is that possible? Now that Macs have Intel chips, it’s a lot simpler to run apps in a “virtual Windows playpen.” Before, virtualization systems had to emulate the chip as well. Of course, some programs won’t run in a virtual state (3D games for example). That’s where Apple’s Boot Camp software comes in. With Boot Camp, you can have an actual copy of Windows installed on your Mac. You can turn off your Mac, and restart it in Windows so you can play Need For Speed or whatever processor-intensive program you need to run. And get this: Vista runs faster on Macs than on any other PC on the market. The Vista Upgrade Adviser even scores iMacs higher than any other non-Apple machine. So…wait…how high would a Mac Pro score?

I think all of the above is enough reason to go Mac.

Apple’s done it again.

This afternoon, Steve Jobs announced the 2007 iPod lineup. After spending fifteen minutes staring at the above picture, and a further twenty minutes absorbing the specs, you’ll probably come to the conclusion I did: “Holy @$#&%#! There’s no way any of Apple’s competitors can top this…or even come close to it.” I’m happy to say that I did a great job at predicting the new feature set. Let’s take a look at the new iPods, shall we?
(more…)

It’s pretty much definite that Apple’s going to update their iPod lineup sometime from September to November. What are they going to do? Here are my predictions:

• They will start using OS X to power the iPods.
• The iPod Shuffle will stay as-is, though the price may drop.
• The 30GB and 80GB iPods will have MultiTouch screens on the front instead of clickwheels.
• The Nano will receive some updates, but will mainly look the same. The pricing may come down and/or the storage capacity may increase.
• The “Fat iPod” seen online (before Apple sent a take-down notice) will be a midrange model between the Nano and Hard Drive models. Maybe an iPod Mini reincarnation?
• Some models (not the Nano) will have Wi-Fi support. The wireless abilities could be used in a Zune-like manner (only better), as well as for syncing. Though it would be cool if you could buy iTunes tracks at hotspots, but it’s unlikely unless Apple starts letting you move songs from iPod to computer.
• The MultiTouch iPod may be like a phoneless iPhone (a.k.a. the Ultimate iPod). I hope it is.

The iPhone…what exactly is it? Is it a phone? Is it a portable web device? Is it an iPod? It’s all of those, and then some.

Apple has given us a device that shows us a glimpse of the future. What lies ahead? Only Apple knows, but I can hazard a few guesses.

iPods

The iPod’s current “clickwheel” navigation system has been proven to be intuitive and easy to use. It’s one of the features that placed the iPod ahead of the pack. Could Apple be contemplating replacing the clickwheel with an iPhone-style touchscreen?

People have been clamoring for a widescreen video iPod. The iPhone is not that iPod. It is too expensive and, well, it’s a phone. The current iPod lineup includes the 30-80GB iPods, the smaller flash-based iPod Nano, and the screenless iPod Shuffle. The full-sized iPods can play video, while the others can’t. Could Apple replace the hard disk-based iPods with a new iPod model featuring a touchscreen? It’s possible.

I doubt that Apple would totally kill-off the clickwheel, but they could remove it from the video-capable models. Could they go beyond that and introduce web surfing features to the iPods? Who knows, only time will tell.

iComputers?

This may be wishful thinking, but I sure hope it isn’t. Though we may not see it in the next ten years, I think it’s inevitable that we’ll eventually have a pocket-sized computer.

For those who don’t mind Windows, there’s already the OQO. This gadget is a full-featured computer with a 1GHZ processor, a 60GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and a 5-inch 800×600 display. Though it’s a bit big, it’s a real computer you can almost fit in your pocket.

Why should Windows users have all the fun? I’m sure Apple could build something like the OQO, only smaller and better. The iPhone runs on a scaled-down version of OS X, so it’s the first step. With their MultiTouch technology and their technical expertise they could do it.

I don’t think this idea is too far-fetched. Today’s technology may not allow an iPod-sized Mac, but I bet it will eventually. In a few years, there will be a shift in the way computers are used. I think that we’ll all carry computers in our pockets one day. We’ll keep a monitor, keyboard, and other peripherals at home along with an external hard drive for storing less-used files. You’ll just plug your computer into a docking station and enjoy the benefits of full-sized input/output devices. Oh, and we’ll have 5MB/sec wireless data services for reasonable prices. Heck, while I’m at it, Apple’s Mac OS will be the mainstream operating system and Mozilla Firefox will be the dominant browser.

Pocket computers may be 10-20 years away, but I think we may be getting a touchscreen iPod sometime much sooner.

It’s out. The new iMac is here.

Pretty cool isn’t it? The design is the same as the old version, though it’s silvery instead of white, and it looks a little thinner. The color’s nice; it’s not in-your-face METAL, but a subtle aluminum-type effect.

The base machine is $1,199 with a 20-inch display, a 2GHZ Core 2 Duo, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, an 8x SuperDrive, and a decent video card.

There’s another 20-inch model and a couple 24-inches. Take a look at the options.

The Tech Specs are looking pretty good, and you’re getting a lot more for your money now. If you’ve got enough dough to spend, you can get up to terabyte of internal hard drive space, 4GB of RAM, and a 2.8GHZ Core 2 Extreme. What will that top-level model run you?  $3,449.

The new iMac looks good, and it’s pretty powerful.

Allegedly this YouTube video was made by a Microsoft employee who was later fired. It features Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft as an "iPod Silhouette", and some anti-Zune stuff near the end. Not bad work, though Steve Ballmer obviously didn’t thin so. Link to video.

Could new iMacs be coming this week (or the next week)? There’s been an abundance of fake Apple Rumors, and half-baked Photoshopped product images, in the past couple days, and it turns out that Apple has just stopped shipping the old iMac keyboards. They wouldn’t release their new keyboard on it’s own before the new iMac, would they? I doubt it.