Others will tell you they’ve owned several Macs, without AppleCare. This is the same lot who never purchases “extended warranties,” which they consider “scams.” To them I say that AppleCare is an exception, especially since Macs are increasingly difficult or impossible to get into. Still others will say that Apple ought to include 3 years’ worth of protection with every Mac they sell. Perhaps, but the world as it exists is often disappointing compared to the world as we wish it existed.
Category: Apple
TSA Thinks 11-inch Air is Pretty Fly
U.S. air travelers can leave their shiny new 11.6-inch MacBook Air laptops in their bags when passing through airport security checkpoints according to the TSA. The 13.3-inch model, however, is too big and still must come out for separate screening.
The iPad, Kindle and other like-devices don’t have to be removed for screening, either.
I flew to Idaho with my iPad earlier this year. Here’s what I wrote then:
White iPhone Vaporware?
While it looked like the white iPhone 4 was simply delayed again, signs now indicate that it has been scrapped all together.
The white model isn’t shown on Apple’s online store, but it does still appear on the iPhone 4 Gallery page.
While I would think Apple would just give up on this, removing it from the store might just damage control at this point.
I guess we’ll see…
On Syncing Data via Mac App Store
So this leads me to wondering something: how does the application’s data get backed up? Right now within the iOS App Store, your data is backed up when you sync your iOS device and this information is then backed up again when you backup your computer (you do backup your computer, right?). But if your application data is just stored locally and you do have to do a re-install of your computer, even though you are able to download the software itself again, your data may not be easily placed in the correct location, even with backups.
Reuters: White iPhone 4 Delayed Again
All you need to know about this can be summed up this way.
New Air Lineup Crazy Fast
James Galbraith’s benchmarks of the new MacBook Air models are impressive. The morale of the story? Hard drive are really, really slow. Even with low-end processors, these machines are giving the Pro line a run for its money.
On iPhoto ’11
I think iPhoto ‘11 is a great piece of software for most people, just not for people who are really into working with their photos.
Excuse me, I have some work to do in Aperture 3 this morning.
‘Micro Apps’
Here’s what I’m thinking: one of the most popular apps since the inception of the iPhone App Store has been Pandora. Pandora obviously works through the web browser, but plenty of people would be into a small app that sits somewhere on your desktop running in the background. How do I know? Because Pandora actually already makes such an app — but it runs on AIR and you need a Pandora One premium account to use it. What if Pandora made a free ad-supported Pandora Mac app? Or a paid version (maybe $5 or $10) that gives you premium features? A lot of people would want such an app.
A Grand Stand
I picked up a Twelve South Compass iPad stand today at the Apple Store. If you use your iPad without a case, you need this little guy in your life. It’s handsome, well-made and a lot heavier than it looks. Which makes it quite sturdy, even when typing on the iPad. The rubber feet and insets grip the iPad to keep it from moving, and keep the stand from scratching it. You won’t regret having it around.
The Problem with iLife
Nine years ago, Steve Jobs announced the new era of computing was about to begin. Pete Mortensen:
It was January 9, 2001. It was the silver anniversary of Apple, and the newspapers were full of stories about the demise of the personal computer. Lots of digital devices had emerged that were tailored to single tasks that they did really well, from digital cameras to DVD players to DVRs to CD players to camcorders to PDAs. Many thought that we would replace our multi-use but often inefficient computers with a bunch of highly effective single-taskers. But not Jobs. As he made clear, the strength of a computer was its ability to control and integrate all these many digital devices. A Mac, in short, could serve as the Digital Hub that unites those disparate points in your digital life.
On Living Without Flash
So, for the last few days, I’ve been running with no Flash plug-in at all, and honestly not really missing it very much.
His post outlines how to setup Safari 5 to run without Flash and without those annoying “Missing Plug-in” alerts.
Apple Stops Bundling Flash with OS X
To be clear, this is a significantly different situation than with iOS. With iOS, Flash not only isn’t preinstalled, it can’t be installed, period. With Mac OS X, users are free to download Flash Player from Adobe and install it themselves.
Apple spokesperson Bill Evans told me: “We’re happy to continue to support Flash on the Mac, and the best way for users to always have the most up to date and secure version is to download it directly from Adobe.”