[El Scorcho]

For anyone who cares, Apple announces new products today. So far we have...

1. Time Capsule: A wireless hard drive that connects to the "Time Machine" software in Mac OS X Leopard for seamless automated backups.

2. Software Updates for iPhone and iPod touch: iPhones are now location-aware and fully integrated with Google Maps. Also added a lot of customization features and some other minor stuff. iPod Touch gets email, stocks, weather, etc. Free update for iPhone. $20 for current iPod touch users, free for new users. ($20? Lame.)

3. iTunes Movie Rentals: Touchstone, miramax, newline, lions gate, 20th century fox, disney, paramount, sony, and universal are all participating!! Wow that is huge. Even Sony. Every major studio is supporting this effort. 1000 films by the end of February. They will be released 30 days after DVDs. Can watch on Macs, PCs, all current iPod and iPhone. Watch instantly. You have 30 days to start and then 24 hours to finish. You can transfer the movie from one device to another seamlessly. A library title is $2.99, a new release, $3.99. (For HD questions, see below)

4. Apple TV 2: Steve Jobs says Apple TV was a failure, so, they're revamping for a sequel. No computer now required with Apple TV 2. Direct from wide screen you can rent movies on your Apple TV. You can rent them in HD quality with Dolby 5:1! You can get podcasts (even in HD), audio, video, photos from .mac and flickr right from your Apple TV. You can buy tv shows and music right from Apple TV. HD movies cost 1 dollar more. Right now there are 100 titles, but it is going to build up fast. $229 for the Apple TV 2, free software upgrade for original Apple TV users. (I would buy this before Blue-Ray and HD-DVD, honestly.)

5. MacBook Air: New .16-inch thick ultra-portable. It fits in an interoffice envelope, and he shows it in one. This thing is thin! Full size keyboard, full size display. It is now the world's thinnest notebook. Magnetic latch. 13.3 widescreen display! It is an LED backlit display. There is a built-in iSight camera. Ambient light sensor on the keyboard too. Large trackpad, they have also built-in multi-gesture support for the trackpad. There are all kinds of preferences for gestures. Sort of a hybrid of iPhone gestures, very very interesting. Pinch zoom just like on iPhone! But all through the trackpad. Intel Core 2 Duo processor. 1.6 GHZ or 1.8 GHZ. 80GB IDE hard drive for 64GB SSD drive. USB2, Micro-DVI and a headphone jack, 802.11N WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. No optical drive. You can buy an optional super-drive (CD-R/RW-DVD-R/RW+-) for $99. 5 Hours of battery with WiFi on. Only weighs 3 pounds. $1799. Fully aluminum case. First display that is mecury-free and uses aresinic-free. PVC free and BFR free on the circuit board. Retail packaging is 56 percent less volume.

Steve is done now. Game over.

[PAmedic]

could you repost that in English, Cliff Notes version?

thanks bunches

[Rocketfan]

That notebook is impressive.....

[El Scorcho]

could you repost that in English, Cliff Notes version?

thanks bunches

I'll give it a shot for you, wee-man.

1 & 2 you don't care about. They're cool for people who already own a Mac, iPhone or iPod touch.

3. All of the major movie studios will let you rent movies from iTunes now. You can download them right away. You have to watch them within 30 days and within 24 hours of when they're started. You can watch them on your computer, iPhone and iPod. $3.99 for a new release, $2.99 for an old title. (Add $1 to each for HD) Movies are in iTunes 30 days after their DVD release.

4. Apple TV 2 is a little box you hook up to your HDTV and your home network. You can then buy music and TV shows or rent movies (even in HD) right from your TV, via the Internet. $229. Does other cool stuff, too, but you're not interested in that.

5. The MacBook Air is a really thin and light computer with a lot of high-end features. It's for people who carry a computer with them everywhere and can afford to pay for shaving off a couple of pounds of unnecessary electronic bulk.

[LUconn]

and within 24 hours of when they're started

that's kinda gay.

[El Scorcho]

and within 24 hours of when they're started

that's kinda gay.

Agreed. I hate the concessions they have to make to keep the content providers happy. However, I think I can live with that one. And if not, I'll just buy it in iTunes.

[PAmedic]

thanks.

I got most of that.

something about watching movies online- which I don't know how to do- and hooking it up to my TV, which I think I could do if I had to.

the real determining factor with computers, for me- is whether I can log on to flamefans.com

[flamesbball84]

the thing that stood out the most to me:

that notebook only costs 1800 dollars. I would have thought Apple would have been charging will into the 2000s for that...

by the way, how does the Windows virtualization work on Macs? can you use both seamlessly at the same time, or can you only use one at the same time - I played around with an apple at bestbuy the other day ago but of course that I couldn't do? The fact that Windows is dominant in the software world, the ability to seamlessly use windows stuff on a mac, and mac's prices are the three main things holding me back from using one. SInce I do some work from home that requires the use of a Windows machine, I can't justify buying a Mac unless I can somehow run both Windows and OSX seamlessly at the same time. RIght now the Windows computer works just fine, but if I cant use windows and OSX at the same time, i'd end up having to use Windows a lot due to working some at home, and that would basically defeat the purpose of getting a mac...

the rest of the news is yawn-worthy. the iphone and ipod touch updates are things that should have been in place when they were released and now they are making people pay 20 bucks for this?

how fast will the iTunes movie downloads be? it takes long enough to download 10 minute long videos on youtube on my cable internet, i don't even want to begin to imagine how long it would take to download a high quality movie thats 90-120+ minutes long.

time capsule...i don't see the big deal over this. maybe i'm missing something, but all it is is a hard drive that backs up stuff?? I just paid 60 dollars for a 300 gig hard drive (placed it into an external enclosure I already had) that can automatically backup stuff with a push of a button.

[LUconn]

The Solid State Drive option carries a $999 premium


so tack on another $1000 to that.

[LUconn]

http://images.macrumors.com/article/200 ... C_0050.jpg

that is very cool. It looks fake though

[jcmanson]

the real determining factor with computers, for me- is whether I can log on to flamefans.com

And don't forget, being able to hear our favorite Jerry Edwards!

[flamesbball84]

ok this macbook air doesn't have a user replaceable battery....when is apple going to learn the lesson that people want to be able to change the freaking battery theirselves??

turns out you cant replace the hard drive or the RAM either

can't replace the hard drive in the time capsule thing either

seriously, waht's Apple have against people replacing things??

[flamesbball84]

how much do iTunes movie downloads cost anyways. i'm not talking about rentals, i mean movies you can actually own

[El Scorcho]

ok this macbook air doesn't have a user replaceable battery....when is apple going to learn the lesson that people want to be able to change the freaking battery theirselves?? turns out you cant replace the hard drive or the RAM either seriously, waht's Apple have against people replacing things??

Making such things user replaceable/swappable means you have to engineer into place the mechanisms to make them removable. That takes up space. The entire point of the MacBook Air was to make it as thin and light as possible, so those kind of things would have worked against the goal. It's the same with the iPhone and the iPod. You can have a bigger, clunkier device, or you can keep it small and slim. For what it's worth, though, I've replaced the battery in my iPod and my wife's iPod mini. No problem.

by the way, how does the Windows virtualization work on Macs? can you use both seamlessly at the same time, or can you only use one at the same time

You can do it either way. You can boot into Windows using the Boot Camp software built into Mac OS X, or you can buy virtualization software from VMware or Parallels that lets you run them both at the same time.

the iphone and ipod touch updates are things that should have been in place when they were released...

You're obviously not a businessman. They've sold 4 million freaking iPhones since they launched. The highest estimates before today had them at 2.2. If they waited until they had software bells and whistles worked out, that's 4 million fewer phones that they would have sold up until this point in time. It was ready for the market, and now iPhone users get all the new stuff for free. It's lame that they're charging iPod touch users for the update, but I'd pay if it were me. Email is a nice feature to have on an iPod.

how fast will the iTunes movie downloads be? it takes long enough to download 10 minute long videos on youtube on my cable internet, i don't even want to begin to imagine how long it would take to download a high quality movie thats 90-120+ minutes long.

We've been over this in another thread already, but it doesn't take very long at all. TV shows and movies have been in iTunes for over a year now and it's not been an issue. Downloading an HD movie is just like downloading 4 or 5 regular ones. Takes a little longer, but if you have a broadband connection, it's insignificant. YouTube is a poor comparison because YouTube limits their outgoing bandwidth. It doesn't load based on your connection speed, but based on how much bandwidth they have available (or allow) at any given point in time.

Time capsule...i don't see the big deal over this.

It's not a big deal unless you own a Mac and use Time Machine. It was a minor announcement, but it's still a new product.

[flamesbball84]

thanks for the response, scorcho!

but in reply to the thing with the iPhone/iPod Touch:
Apple left those things out, things that in my opinion should have been on there to begin with. When Microsoft doesn't put something in it's OS that people and mac fanboys think should be in there, they get criticized up and down for years. When Apple does the same thing, like with the iphone and touch, those same people act like apple just produced the greatest invention to ever exist, next to al gore's internet lol. I just think it's a double standard that people use to to criticize microsoft yet when apple does something similar, apple gets a pass for it.

[flamesbball84]

just read that it costs 129 dollars to get the battery changed in the macbook air, and that includes free installation. so i guess that means you have to hand over you computer to apple to install it for you, which is going to suck royally if you dont live near a mac store...

[El Scorcho]

but in reply to the thing with the iPhone/iPod Touch:
Apple left those things out, things that in my opinion should have been on there to begin with. When Microsoft doesn't put something in it's OS that people and mac fanboys think should be in there, they get criticized up and down for years. When Apple does the same thing, like with the iphone and touch, those same people act like apple just produced the greatest invention to ever exist, next to al gore's internet lol. I just think it's a double standard that people use to to criticize microsoft yet when apple does something similar, apple gets a pass for it.

That's because when Microsoft leaves something out, it's usually something they promised to begin with, or they've set the product up in such a way that it can never be fixed. Microsoft is about as backwards as a technology company can be, in most regards. But, just so you're ready, more updates are on the way for the iPhone in February. If sales stay on pace, Apple will have sold another 600,000 iPhones between now and then.

just read that it costs 129 dollars to get the battery changed in the macbook air, and that includes free installation. so i guess that means you have to hand over you computer to apple to install it for you, which is going to suck royally if you dont live near a mac store...

Not really. They almost always have repair by mail repairs turned around within 7 days. I pay them $129 for a battery now with no installation, so I don't think that's a bad deal at all.

[thepostman]

the Apple cult strikes again!!!

I'm just messin' with ya scorcho

[flamesbball84]

and that's 7 days without your computer, where as with my dell i can buy a backup/replaccement battery and only have to be without use of my computer for a few minutes or less.

[El Scorcho]

and that's 7 days without your computer, where as with my dell i can buy a backup/replaccement battery and only have to be without use of my computer for a few minutes or less.

Yes. Then it's right back to carrying around that great big brick of a sloppily engineered machine. To each their own.

[PAmedic]

hey!

I'm typing to you on my nifty $300.00 ebay Dell laptop right now!



just call me Mr Thrifty

[flamesbball84]

and that's 7 days without your computer, where as with my dell i can buy a backup/replaccement battery and only have to be without use of my computer for a few minutes or less.

Yes. Then it's right back to carrying around that great big brick of a sloppily engineered machine. To each their own.

And my sloppily engineered machine happens to be highly rated and I can actually replace and upgrade parts, and I don't have to lug around an external DVD drive if I wish to use CDs and DVDs on it! Plus it's very visual appealing to me and cost significantly less. So i'll take my "sloppily engineered machine" that just happens to be superior in everything but size...

[El Scorcho]

and that's 7 days without your computer, where as with my dell i can buy a backup/replaccement battery and only have to be without use of my computer for a few minutes or less.

Yes. Then it's right back to carrying around that great big brick of a sloppily engineered machine. To each their own.

And my sloppily engineered machine happens to be highly rated and I can actually replace and upgrade it, what a novel concept! lol

Is it made of plastic?

By the way, I can replace my machine too. I didn't know Dell had cornered the market on that one.

Like I said, to each their own. I just have a great appreciation for perfection in industrial engineering and design.

[flamesbball84]

Yes. Then it's right back to carrying around that great big brick of a sloppily engineered machine. To each their own.

And my sloppily engineered machine happens to be highly rated and I can actually replace and upgrade it, what a novel concept! lol

Is it made of plastic?

By the way, I can replace my machine too. I didn't know Dell had cornered the market on that one.

Like I said, to each their own. I just have a great appreciation for perfection in industrial engineering and design.

I edited it, so you might want to reread it. and its not made out of plastic...

[El Scorcho]

And my sloppily engineered machine happens to be highly rated and I can actually replace and upgrade parts,

Kudos to you. Have you done it yet?

and I don't have to lug around an external DVD drive if I wish to use CDs and DVDs on it!

I never ever ever use my SuperDrive and would gladly be rid of it. I understand some people need it, but I'm not one of them. I prefer for it to be optional.

Plus it's very visual appealing to me...

And bean counters everywhere.

...and cost significantly less.

For significantly fewer features in a much larger and heavier package.

So i'll take my "sloppily engineered machine" that just happens to be superior in everything but size...

Superior to everything, huh? I highly doubt that. LED backlit display? Ambient light sensor and backlit keyboard? Built-in megapixel cam and stereo mic? 1.8" or SSD drive? 802.11n? Blutooth 2.1+EDR? Magnetic power connector? All aluminum and glass? Come on dude. I'm not buying that. The core specs might be similar, but there's no way you're superior to that on the cheap.

Listen, I'm a big proponent of use what you like and what works for you. So if you're content with your machine, good for you. By all means, stick with it. Just don't try to convince me that you're getting better for cheaper. It's simply not the case. The MacBook Air is a super premium computer. It's not for everyone.