random thinks

iMac Mini: Apple's new moviePod?

There is an interesting article by Robert Cringely on the PBS website, Mini Me: The New Mac Mini is All About Movies.

Cringely seems to think that the introduction of the iMac mini is going to lead Apple into selling movies for download over the web (in HD no less) much like they lead the way with iTunes and downloading songs.

I like the idea, and I think it would be awesome to be able to do so. Check out the article. Well worth the read, if you are into video, and especially HD.

Mac mini vs. Stripped Dell: Comparing Apples and Oranges

As the local defender of all things Apple Computer related, I have been hearing a lot of crap about how Apple's new budget box is still no bargain and that you can get a Dell with a monitor and a keyboard and a mouse for a lot less.

I stumbled across a great article doing a comparison, saving me the effort.

Check out The Mac mini: Comparing Apples and Oranges. Thanks MacCentral.

Yes, you're paying more (though not as much as you think when it all adds up), but believe me you are buying so much more in terms of less frustration at owning a POS bare bones Windows XP Home box.

Apple Goes Crazy With New Products

Today was the day for the Keynote address at the Macworld conference. This is where Steve Jobs gets up and basks in th elimelight as he announces all the cool new products coming out. You can catch updates about this at almost any mac web site, including apple.com.

There were many rumors floating out there about what the big announcements would be: a sub $500 headless Mac; a flash-memory based iPod; a new Apple word processor.

And you know what? All the rumors were true. The picture here is of the Mac Mini: a G4 based Mac without a monitor (and it also turns out without a keyboard or mouse either). But, it is less than $500. It is about the size of an external hard drive. And other than an anemic 256MB or RAM, it is pretty well appointed. 1.25 GHz, Combo drive, firewire and USB, DVI out, and a 40GB hard drive at the low end. !.42 GHZ, 80GB HD at the $599 price point. Add $67 to get the memory up to a respectable 512 MB, and you are still in good shape.

The flash based iPod is called the iPod shuffle. 512 MB for $99 and 1GB for $149. 120 or 240 songs, approxiately. No screen, so it is shuffle play or single playlist only. Said to have 12 hours of battery life. About the size of a pack of Juicyfruit gum. Hangs from a lanyard round yer neck. Kinda Cool.

iWork is the combination of Apple's Keynote presentation software and the new word processor called "Pages". $79 at your local Apple store.

Whilst all of these are cool, none are necessary enough to get my $$. I bought a new G5 iMac last month (which I love) as well as upgrading my iPod (ther nephew got the old one). I am going to hold off on the iWork. I already have MS Office and kinda like it. If I listened to music when I was working out, I'd spring for the itty-bitty iPod, but that would be a hazard on the racquetball court.

So, cool stuff, but nothing necessary, IMO. I am sure that the Mac sites are swimming with equal parts praise and scorn, but I do note this: the Apple online web site is completely swamped right now.

A Little Bit of a Christmas Bummer

I found myself awake way too early this morning (4AM) and decided to check on my Apple Order Status for my new iMac G5. Instead of seeing the hoped for "Shipped" info, with a tracking number, I found my order has been pushed back to "Will Ship On or Before 12/28". Dammit. Ah well, shirt happens. At least it will not be a distraction while the family is here.

New Toy Coming Soon

A new toy is soon to be on its way. It was time to upgrade the 800 MHz G4 "iLamp". I am pretty psyched. I have been working my ash off this semester, with a lot of extra work, and I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It is time to treat myself.

Mac vs PC, Round 3492

I thought this was pretty amusing. Especially with all the problems we are having on campus with students and their computers.

See more "Speed Bump" at ucomics.

G5 iMac

It's here! I checked the Apple website this morning and saw the new pics of the new box. Pretty sleek. An all in one monitor/CPU that is only two inches thick. 17" and 20" widescreen LCDs. 1.6 and 1.8 GHz G5's 533 and 600 MHz FSB's. 80 or 160 GB SATA HD's NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultras. Sorry, slipped into geekspeak there.

Looks pretty sweet. I can already imagine some of the interesting stuff that might come up. It is hard to have a CD/DVD drive that spins fast at a nearly vertical angle.

I am jealous of the new box, but not jealous enough to give up my trusty 15" 1st rev LCD iMac, and about $1300 - 1900.

Check it out though. Another impressive design from the gang in Cupertino.

Next Generation iMacs Coming in September

This was yanked from the Apple.com website today. I can't wait to see what Jobs and Co. are coming up with next. Very interesting news.

Pepsi / iTunes Rocks...and Wikipedia is Pretty Cool Too.

I have been keeping track. Since the Pepsi/iTunes music giveaway has started, I have clicked that button 48 times! No, I have not actually consumed 48 Diet Pepsis, but it is pretty close. I have had colleagues, and even a couple of my students donate winning caps to the cause. Of all of the Diet Pepsi that I have purchased, only five bottles have been duds. And those five have come from the vending machines on campus. I learned pretty early on that if you tilt the bottle just the right way, you can tell if the bottle is a winner, or if you see the dreaded "PLEASE PLAY AGAIN" on the cap. Some poor schmuck posted the secret on the Internet and got himself Slashdotted for the courtesy. What a drag, share something for the good of the world, and either have your bandwidth allowance shot 15 minutes into a new month, or get a bill from your hosting service that is bigger than your mortgage payment. Not that I wouldn't mind the experience. For the truly geekish, it starts the clock on your 15 minutes of fame.

Back on topic...the iTunes Music Store is pretty awesome for your iPod, and potentially pretty bad for those of us with occasional impulse control issues. The Pepsi giveaway has been a cool way to get "free" music. Free in quotes because of course you have to by the cold carbonated caffeine to get it. Hmmm, which way to look at it? Spend $1 on a bottle of soda and get a free song, or spend $1 on a song and get a free bottle of soda? Actually, in MI, you get 10 cents deposit back as well. Who knows? Who cares? I do digress.

48 songs. Mostly free. Legally downloaded. As long as artificial sweeteners don't end up causing cancer, I am OK.

Pepsi / Apple Music Giveaway!

Pepsi and Apple have joined together to give away 100 million free (and legal) music downloads via the iTunes Music Store. One in three of the specially marked caps of 20oz. Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Sierra Mist (strangely enough, Mountain Dew does not see to be included) bottles have a winning code for a free song.

The college where I work is a Pepsi campus. You cannot swing a dead cat without hitting a Pepsi vending machine. So far, I have managed to get five winning Diet Pepsi caps out of 6 tries (including the one my friend Craig gave me). I am halfway through downloading the album "America Town" by Five for Fighting.

What I need to do is figure out how to let the students on campus who don't use iTunes to give me their winning caps. I figure that I would probably overload my iPod if all the winning caps on campus were donated.

Anyone out there have caps you are not using? Drop me an email. Let's make a deal.