512 Pixels

I own a lot of Apple gear. The current list includes:

• 1 original Macintosh
• 1 Mac Plus
• 2 Macintosh SEs
• 1 Color Classic II
• 1 eMate 300
• 1 original iBook G3 Clamshell (Blueberry)
• 1 iMac G3 (Sage)
• 1 PowerBook G3 (Pismo)
• 1 14-inch iBook G4
• 2 PowerMac G4s (1 Quicksilver & 1 Mirror Drive Door)
• 1 13-inch MacBook
• 1 24-inch Intel iMac
• 1 15-inch MacBook Pro

All of these systems boot and run with the exception of one of the SEs and the Pismo.

But today, my collection just got a whole lot cooler, with the addition of a machine I’ve been wanting for a long, long time. Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I now own a pristine 450MHz Power Mac G4 Cube:

Marco Arment:

So I expect a lot of iOS developers to start making Mac apps, especially individuals and very small teams.

I think he’s right. The number of Mac apps is about to really start to grow. I think Marco nails this bit too:

But a huge new market is about to open next door. And yes, it’ll probably be dominated by Angry Birds and other inexpensive, often trivial apps. When this happens, a lot of traditional Mac developers are going to look down on it. But those with a bit of free time to develop their own inexpensive, often trivial apps might have a different viewpoint entirely when they see their sales numbers.

[via The Brooks Review]

Genius.

Mark Spoonauer at Laptop Magazine:

Apple said it would never make a netbook, and it hasn’t. The 11-inch MacBook Air is a powerful ultraportable that makes other systems in its class look positively bloated. More important, this machine never keeps you waiting, thanks to the way it uses flash memory. We just wish the hinge for the display were a bit tighter to prevent unwanted movement. Some may prefer the new 13-inch MacBook Air ($1,299), which offers a higher-resolution screen, faster CPU, and a SD Card slot. If you’re torn between Windows and Mac, the $899 Acer Timeline 1830T offers a much faster Core i7 processor and longer battery life but integrated graphics and a much less compelling design. But if you want the thinnest, lightest Mac experience ever, this Air will leave you elated.

I agree. Apple’s made something few netbooks can be — an ultraportable machine people can use without getting frustrated.

Get my helpful PDF with contest rules and a built-in sign up list here.

TJ Luoma at TUAW:

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.

In a previous life, I worked as the Lead Mac Genius at our local Apple Store, and then helped start (and then managed) an Apple-Authorized Service Provider here in Memphis.

I know about AppleCare. I can take apart, repair and re-build almost any modern Mac apart without looking at directions. I can troubleshoot Apple hardware and software with my eyes closed. I predicted the MacBook SMC shutdown issue as a firmware issue, not a hardware issue, even though Apple had Genius Bars replacing logic boards and heat sinks like it was going out of style. I took apart the first aluminum iMac our Apple Store had in for repair. I personally own a set of tools used in Genius Rooms around the world because they are awesome.

I know all of this, and I buy AppleCare for my computers. Why? Because stuff breaks. And when Apple stuff breaks, it can be expensive. Unlike a PC that might use a separate board for everything, Apple’s all-in-one logic board approach makes for expensive out-of-warranty repairs.

(I don’t buy AppleCare for iPods or iPhones.¹ These items are cheaper than computers, and if something goes wrong out of warranty, I just view it as a chance to upgrade, honestly.)

I view AppleCare like I view insurance. I really hope my family doesn’t ever have to use my life insurance policy, but I don’t mind paying for it monthly, knowing that is there as a safety net in case something ever happens to me. A computer is an investment, and AppleCare (even the expensive AppleCare for MacBook Pros) is a great way to protect that investment.

In short, buy AppleCare. You don’t want to be caught without it. If you never need it, consider yourself lucky and move on. It’s as simple as that.

Jeff Gamet:

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:

The TSA announced a few weeks ago that travelers wouldn’t have to remove their iPad from their bags as they do with laptops, I didn’t find this to be the case. Both times I went through airport security, they scanned my bag twice and then pulled me aside to open it. While that drew unwanted attention my way, I guess I can understand why they wanted to double-check. Still, it was annoying.

I’d be prepared to pull out any device at airport security, no matter what the policy says.

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…

Wayne Dixon at Macgasm:

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.

[…]

Syncing is going to be key to apps within the Mac App Store. In order to facilitate the ability for a user to download their data upon a complete re-install, it is going to be necessary to include sync within the applications. This would allow a user to quickly upgrade their Mac by re-downloading all of their applications again from the Mac App Store and then launching the program. Upon launch, the initial download would request credentials for accessing their account and then the automatic download would occur, thereby allowing the user to quickly get back to their last synchronized state.

Such a system would be killer when upgrading to a new computer, but what about syncing data between Macs? Syncing data between my iMac and MacBook Pro is more tricky for some things than syncing my iMac and my iPad. The App Store could solve this pretty easily, I think.

The Columbus Dispatch, on Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich:

It was one of 16 appearances that Kasich has made on Fox television or radio programs since he formally entered the governor’s race on June 1, 2009, according to a count by the Strickland campaign.

Going back to March 2008, when Kasich said he was seriously considering entering the race, there were 42 other appearances, including several times that Kasich was guest host for The O’Reilly Factor.

Critics say Kasich, an on-air personality for Fox from 2002 to 2008, has received overt help from his former employer, both in extraordinary exposure to largely conservative audiences and in potential donations to his campaign.

“They are, in my judgment, primarily a propaganda network that is committed to getting Republicans elected,” [Democratic Gov. Ted] Strickland said.

So, why does anyone still think Fox is a ‘fair and balanced’ organization?

[ via Media Matters]

Five years is what, like 900 Internet-years. Their ingenious plan? Adding social media to the company’s webmail product.¹

No wonder these guys are losing to Google.

All you need to know about this can be summed up this way.