Antipresto: Deviant Magic

MacBook Air.

Many “leaked” and “rumored” names for the device including MacBook Nano and
13-inch MacBook Pro and even some (very likely) doctored images, concepts and guesses… even some Apple tablet rumors (no, not like the Axiotron) because of the Apple-filed patents for technologies—none of this does justice to or matters in the face or-even the shadow of the “flat-out stunning” MacBook Air.

It wasn’t the only item announced, but for me, it really could’ve been. It’s nowhere-near an end-all machine and it’s not going to appeal to everyone. Many “performance users” are going to stick with MacBook Pros, Mac Pros and even the iMac (at 24-inches and elegant design). The road-warriors finally have a “real” Mac option.

My MacBook Pro is messed up; something happened with the HDD and I got an invalid/missing b-tree node-something, and long-story short, it appears to be a fatal disk problem and I need to bring it to the Apple Store, send it out and get a new HDD installed. Oh well, likely my fault. But here’s some good news for me and other Mac fans!

Apple will unveil a new MacBook at MacWorld!

It has officially been 100% confirmed that Apple will indeed by announcing a new laptop at MacWorld and the new MacBook “will go on sale a week after MacWorld.”

In terms of details surrounding the new notebook, they’re a little more difficult to come by. Steve Jobs and the rest of the Cupertino crew are staying pretty tight-lipped, but I’m sure industry pundits will have plenty of predictions for us to consider over the course of the next few days and weeks. It’s very possible that January 2008 could see an ultra-portable MacBook of some kind, possibly competing against the Apple-esque Asus Eee PC.

I love the Apple computers, and Mac OSX Leopard is awesome in many ways. But I have some issues with it, nothing as serious as those with Vista, and nothing I see being impossible to correct, but here they are:

1. External Drive issues: I’ve had issues with drives not being recognized, networked drives, and Time Machine. A properly-formatted, previously properly-functioning LaCie external terabyte drive suddenly stopped working after an attempt to use one of it’s partitions for Time Machine.
2. WiFi disconnects, over-simplified interface. By default, the settings chosen as “primary” by Apple in Leopard undermine many user’s abilities. Yes, I know that part of Apple’s semi-unique appeal draws in a user-group “new to computers” through ease of use—that’s a good thing, but when something doesn’t work, it’s often feels harder to figure out how to fix it than it actually is to fix. For some reason, more than any other desktop, notebook or device, my fully-updated Leopard iMac 24inch disconnects from (and cannot locate) my home WiFi network. I keep wishing for an update for the Airport Extreme Base Station or Mac OSX Leopard.
3. MovableType “visual editor” issues. I commend Apple for working hard on the Safari browser; in fact, I commend the company for opening up much of it’s software to Windows users—not just Safari… iTunes as well. Microsoft apps Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player are offered to Mac users; even though many of “us” don’t use these options, it’s nice that they’re there. (Random-related info for Mac users: If you’re looking for a great media player option check out VLC Player and Flip4Mac.) MovableType is great; I’m using it for most of my sites, I love the fact that (when I can, finally) it canbe modified so easily and installed via “1-click” through my favorite host, Media Temple. However, using Safari 3, when MovableType defaults to the “Visual Editor,” none of the assumed formatting actually happens! Each and every time I go back to correct something, add something, or just look-over the entry, much of the formatting is stripped, the worst of it being: break-lines and paragraphs are gone. That sucks.

I’m still looking for writing software, blogging software and options, and a writing gig. I need to make massive changes… and I hope I can still post my un-bought, unbiased opinions on technology and software. Though, if someone wants to offer me some cash…

I finally got around to installing and playing around with Leopard. It’s amazing. If you have an Apple computer, you really should use Leopard, and if you don’t have Mac, you should. The myth that they’re slower and more expensive than Windows PCs has been debunked all over, I’m not even going to break it down. I’m not an Apple-cult defender and they don’t pay me to endorse ‘em (though they should, damn it)… just go try out a machine at the Apple store. Surf the net, send out some emails, play around with the UI.

It’s not too far away from what computing should be like. “Using a computer” (IMO) should be the enjoyment and functionality of a 20+ finger touchscreen with full 3D, motion, speach and handwriting detection, on a slightly convex surface, smooth, and both back and frontlit. Having a “digitizer” surface with a 2048 degree of pressure WACOM pen would be nice, too.

Leopard is fun and easy to use. Time Machine will save casual users.