Busy Is Good
I’ve found myself caught in the enviable quandary of not being able to update my blog due to an increase in business. I’ve had three unpublished posts sitting unfinished since the middle of January and haven’t had the time to really develop the thoughts out the way I would like. For me, posts do not usually fall into place (with the exception of this one) because I am forcing myself to post something–even if it is “thrown-up” so to speak.
It also seems ironic that the busier I am and not able to finish blog posts, I seem to get more ideas of potential good ones. For example, I’m just itching to write another post about AppleTV with all the news out the last week and a half about it. The only problem is that if you don’t sit down and start writing right away, specially if it involves breaking news regarding technology or politics, your final post–when you get around to finishing it–won’t be as fresh and relevant, not to mention, other news can break that might render your unfinished ideas and points moot anyways. So, the pressure is on to strike while the iron is hot and get that post finished.
In the meantime, back to werk!
Pixar and the Reshaping of Disney Animation
This is all old news, but thought I would still go ahead and post this as we’re anxiously awaiting the release of WALL-E on DVD on November 18. Came across an inspiring article on the Hollywood Reporter’s website chronicling John Lasseter’s career that began at Disney after attending Cal Arts with peers Brad Bird, Tim Burton and John Musker, but came to a disappointing end after he was fired for going around a manager to pitch a project. The original 1977 release of Star Wars was an inspiration to John and so it seemed a natural for him to land at George Lucas’ nascent computer animation lab, hooking up with pal Ed Catmull that he eventually sold to Steve Jobs and which most know became Pixar Studios and as we all know, was bought by Disney just last year, bringing John Lasseter back around, full circle to not only return to the fold, but to become the shepherd of the whole flock that had been wandering in the wilderness of straight-to-DVD-sequel hell.
OWC Offers MacBook Pro 6GB Memory Upgrades
Hey MacBook and MacBook Pro owners! Looks like your 4GB RAM upgrade just became a midgrade. Just saw on AppleInsider that OWC was offering 6GB RAM upgrades for newer MB and MBP owners. One catch is that you have to have one of the latest models and the even bigger catch is the $400+ price tag for the 4GB module, coupled with the 2GB brings it to just south of $500 ($479.95 to be exact). So, unless you have some serious HD video or 3D rendering crunching needs, you’re probably best off waiting for the price to come down or perform that kind of heavy lifting on a MacPro tower where that amount of RAM and more is a bit more reasonable. But for those that need the portability and power and can justify swinging the cost, more power to ya… literally.
Boxee Trying to Make AppleTV a Better Hobby
I wrote about Boxee earlier this month and indicated how I was Intrigued with AppleTV for the first time. Today, I read over at MacRumors.com, that to sweeten the pot, the folks at Boxee have now announced they have added more content to their application that runs on AppleTV that includes Hulu, CBS and Comedy Central. Now I still haven’t gone out and bought my AppleTV yet, (remember, I said I was “intrigued”, not quite “convinced”) so I’m probably not the most qualified to comment knowledgeably about this system, but it seems to me that Boxee has really stumbled onto what many people have hoped AppleTV would provide all along. The only thing that is missing at this point is the ability to record live broadcasts from a cable or antenna feed (TV tuner + DVR/Tivo), but that’s what your cable-supplied DVR or Tivo is probably already doing. Would it make sense for Apple to include a TV tuner and DVR capability into the AppleTV? While I’m sure this would appeal to many people, Apple seems to have good reasons for not including these—at least yet. Read more
Glossy vs. Matte: is the Battle Over?
So, the battle seems to be over and the glossy coup d’état will be complete with the final inclusion of the 17″ MBP into the glossy-only family of Macs. The only remaining stragglers will be the aging (20, 23 & 30) Cinema Displays–excluding the new, glossy, 24″ LED Cinema Display that is exclusively for the new Mini DisplayPort equipped MB and MBPs of course. Apple looks like it has sacrificed a professional production necessity and caved to the subjective aesthetic that “glossy appeals to more people”. What happened to the simple Mac mantra, that “Macs were for people that actually got work done”? Or at least the distinction between common, everyday MacBooks and iMacs and MacBook PROS and Mac PROS. All Mac users are now being shoehorned into the whole touchy-feely, Windows-switching, mesmerized zombies that have been plugged into the Cupertino Reality Distortion Field™ to just drool over eye-candy and fork over our money (a lot of it). I’m afraid Apple might be losing a bit of the “PRO” distinction in their products by not offering a matte option on their “PRO” products. But there is some good news in it for me…
Left Field: Apple HDTV?
To see the Apple logo emblazoned, front and center, in the living room on a 50″-ish HDTV and not just tucked away on the desk in the office or bedroom or den, but where everyone lives–what a branding opportunity. Not that Apple has ever created a product just for the sake of brand-building, but if there was ever the perfect blending of meeting a need in an arena where brands are defined like no other, creating an HDTV that wirelessly ties into the iTunes store and runs Front Row so brain-dead simple and right out of the box, this would be it. If Jason Calacanis from Valleywag is correct as reported in Nate Lanxon’s blog on CNET UK, which I originally found the link on TUAW’s Rumor Roundup) (link-love spread around), it might finally be taking shape in Cupertino and even more importantly, close to being released to the public.
Waiting for Obsolesence
Since March of 2008, I’ve been the proud owner of the latest version of the current MacBookPro model knowing full-well that it would probably be the last iteration of its current form factor. With the latest rumors circulating about a new MacBook, I feel a little like Mark Spitz must have felt at the 2004 Athens Olympics watching Michael Phelps taking his first shot at usurping his record. Right now, it seems like most of the new form-factor rumors have been centered around the MacBook and little has been heard about possible MacBook Pro revisions. But that doesn’t really mean anything because even when legitimate leaks occur, which, according to Nicholas Ciarelli, Apple seems to be softening on, Apple has gotten real good at at least keeping some surprises close to the vest even when they know the cat has been partially let out of the bag. And with the rumors of a possible aluminum brick cutting new laser-manufacturing process that would be used across product lines, it increases the likelihood it might carryover to the MBP too. But, if they do announce new form-factor MacBook Pros along with the new MacBooks later this month (maybe), well then, instead of the 2004 Olympics, it will be like the 2008 Bejing Olympics where Phelps shatters all Mark Spitz records. OK, maybe not quite that dramatic, but I’m waiting and watching just the same.
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What If Steve Jobs Kicked the iBucket?
I was at a local marketing meeting this morning, (CDA Web Marketers to be exact) and as I got into my Jeep to leave, I was greeted by a phone call from a friend asking what I knew about these “rumors” that Steve Jobs had had a massive heart attack and that Apple’s stock was tanking as a result. I was a little flabbergasted, because I had checked the news and stocks about 7:30 am (PST) before I left for the meeting and nothing seemed unusual except for the expected punditry on the Palin vs. Biden VP debate and the fact that the house still needed to vote on the Golden Parachute bill. But for the last three hours, I had been off the grid and out of touch with the news (with the exception of someone tweeting a friend that the bill had been passed by Congress and that my debt-load had increased by $700 billion).
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Boxee Makes AppleTV Intriguing for First Time
I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a true videophile. We do not have a monumental HD altar dedicated to the pantheon of gods emanating from Hollywood. We have consciously downplayed the role of the television in our household to focus on more profitable, mind-challenging activity such as; conversation (how novel!), reading and game playing (physical games like cards and board games — not Wii, PS3 or Xbox). In fact, with the exception of a couple of 20″ and 24″ computer LCDs, we don’t even own an HD set.
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