Gadgetopia

Toxic Mac Pro’s emitting benzene?: Switch to a PC, or you will die.

A french newspaper Liberation.fr has published a report stating that Mac Pro owners run the risk of getting diseases as dangerous as leukemia (blood cancer) simply by using their computer.

Psystar Corporation - OpenMac: These guys are asking to get sued.

The highly extensible OpenMac is a configuration of PC hardware capable of running unmodified OS X Leopard kernels.

Leopard on a white box machine for $399.

I won’t argue (at least not against Deane!) that Apple’s hardware is a tad more expensive than your run-o-the-mill WinTel gear… Not that there aren’t exceptions, but for the most part it’s true. And a good example is the newly released 8-core Mac Pro, which starts out with a base price of $2,799.

But…

If you pimp one out by clicking all the boxes, the price gets up there pretty quickly. I hit $25,246 high.

I have to confess that I broke one of Deane’s original rules by adding a pair of 30-inch Cinema HD displays. I figured, dang; as long as I’m spending like a drunken sailor, what’s another $3,600 gonna hurt?

I probably could have deselected the quad fibre channel card too, but I’d have to buy one anyway to hook up that dandy $12,399 7TB XServe RAID box; that pushes the price up to $37,645.

Yeah, that’d be great. But you know… for that kind of money I could get a decently equipped Ariel Atom instead. Aaah, what the heck! The boss won’t notice!

Here’s a side-by-side test I’ll bet you thought you’d never see; a Mac Plus running System 6.0.8 up against a mighty AMD Athlon Dual-Core running Windows XP. (link)

We focussed on running tests that reflect how the user perceives the computing experience. After all, most users don’t know or care whether their computer has a 65nm dual-core CPU or a tiny midget wizard squatting in their cases. All they care about is how it works and how quickly it does the tasks we most often ask it to do.

And guess who won? The Mac Plus, of course.

It’s pretty obvious that the test results reveal less about the hardware used than about how we use the software that runs on that hardware; the hardware isn’t the limiting factor in getting things done on a computer. And the test reinforces what I’ve known to be true for a long time; that putting a desktop with more of everything in front of someone isn’t necessarily going to make them more productive, especially if the user is burdened by poor proficiency with the applications they use and a limited view of how to use the computer you put in front of them.

There are of course some areas of work where this doesn’t necessarily hold true; in my field of work — the print industry — going to slower processors and 20 year old applications would put a huge damper on productivity, because the work we deal with day in & day out involves huge amounts of data. I remember the days when you’d hit print on an 8-page layout to send it to the RIP at 4pm today and you might have film waiting for you by the time you got to work tomorrow. And if you found a mistake, guess what? Nowadays, with G4 & G5 desktops and RIPs with dual 3GHz processors and 4GB of RAM, that same job gets done in a matter of minutes instead of hours. Faster is much, much better.

Add to that the issue of our customers who insist on having the latest version of every software package available, and every new release seems to have increasingly higher hardware requirements. Those customers generate their art files using that latest & greatest software and send it to us; in most cases those files can’t be opened by earlier versions, so we upgrade hardware and software to keep up with our customers. We have no choice in the matter.

But when it comes to the more mundane tasks that happen every day in a typical office environment, all the horsepower, disk space, and memory capacity available on modern hardware is just so much fluff. In my current job, one of my responsibilities is purchasing an maintaining all of the PC desktops. There are times when I just can’t believe what I’m buying, especially when I know that the only things that’ll ever be run on it is Word, Excel and a database client. A faster machine does nothing for users like this.

When it comes to the matter of monitor size as it concerns efficiency, there’s no turning back. I would never ask any of my users (much less Deane) to go back to using a Plus with its miniscule 9 inch grayscale monitor. I remember the days of doing page layout on something similar, and those weren’t good days. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that multiple monitors can boost productivity and make it easier to multi-task on a computer; just ask anyone who has more than one monitor on their desk.

The problem is that even though the vast majority of us and the users whose desktops we manage don’t need gee-whiz multi-GHz machines, we buy them anyway. When it comes time to replace broken hardware or add new computers in a business setting, it’s usually more cost effective to buy new from the Dells and Gateways of the computer world than to roll your own or buy used/refurbished gear. (But what about multiple users sharing a single PC? Is that even feasible in a business setting? I’m very tempted to give something like that a shot.)

So in the end, even though we don’t see any productivity increases from buying the newest, hottest machines and software available, we do it anyway because that’s what is available. And since the upgrade cycle is what makes the computer industry go around, there really isn’t any end in sight, is there.

Some guy has taken the Temple of Mac thing way too seriously. Check out the flickr images of his basement. Unreal. One commenter said, “Somehow it just wouldn’t have the same aesthetic if it were a collection of Dell’s or HP’s.” Too true. Too true.

If nothing else, at least check out the Classic II Bar. They say there’s a fine line between genius & insanity; I’d say this guy is teetering on the edge.

Amid all the hoopla surrounding Apple’s new iPhone, another newly introduced Apple-related item hasn’t received much press; Axiotron and Other World Computing (OWC) introduced the ModBook, the first tablet Mac portable.

It sounds like the ModBook is exactly what the name implies; a Modded MacBook. According to Axiotron, they provide the ModBook conversion kit to OWC. OWC then takes a stock MacBook (with a 1.83 or 2GHz Intel dual core processor), tear the original LCD from it and add all the goodies.

Of course, since you’re starting with a stock MacBook and paying people to add parts, it’s going to be spendy. Starting price for the 1.83GHz model is $2,279; two trim levels of the 2GHz model go for $2,579 & $2,849. Ouch. Even though the top models include tons of RAM (1GB & 2GB, respectively) and built-in GPS, that’s still a lot of cash.

And one can only surmise that since OWC is modifying new MacBooks, they’ll eventually start selling the kit to existing MacBook owners — ship your MacBook off to OWC on Monday & get it back on Wednesday, conversion completed. And $1,500 or so charged to your plastic. Ouch.

I still wonder at why Apple hasn’t done a tablet Mac themselves; OS X has had Inkwell Handwriting Recognition since version 10.2, but has never really put it to use. You’d have to add a tablet to make use of it, which makes no sense on a portable.

I for one am glad that someone has finally done this. Time will only tell how solid the conversion is, and how they hold up. And how much of a market there is for an OS X tablet computer.

According to a Radar Online article, Justin Long, the guy who played the Mac in Apple’s hilarious (but infuriating to some) “Get a Mac” commercials, is done.

When the next round of commercials is filmed, John Hodgman will still be the PC guy, but there will be someone else to his left (or will that get changed around?) Or maybe, Hodgeman will play both the Mac and the PC, since Apple hardware can play in both worlds. Wouldn’t that be a hoot!

It’s unclear who initiated Long’s departure; according to his publicity rep, he’s too busy being a movie star to bother with commercials. But let’s be honest; what did more to boost Long’s career, the Apple ads or his roles in Dodgeball, Jeepers Creepers, or Galaxy Quest? With all the Mac haters who bristle at Long’s portrayal of the Mac, it could very well be Apple who is cutting him loose. The world may never know.

As for me, I just don’t get why people were so bothered by Long’s portrayal of the Mac. I could go into a long drawn out psychoanalysis of the hatred for the character, but I won’t. I’ll leave that to you and your shrink.

Flat-panels rule, old boob tube all but dead: Flat panel TVs are owning the market. I knew they were doing well, but I didn’t realize it was this strong.

By next year, the tube TV will cede its crown of dominance to LCD sets for the first time, according to the market research firm iSuppli Corp. Sales of CRTs will fall from an estimated 14.4 million units this year to 10.4 million in 2007, while sales of LCD TVs are predicted to rise from 10.9 million units to 17.8 million.

By 2010, iSuppli predicts CRTs will account for only 2.1 million of the 44 million televisions sold.

Sounds like the long expected release of Office 12 for the Mac is well on it’s way through the halls of Redmond’s Mac Business Unit. The thing most potential customers are looking forward to is a version that will run natively on Intel Macs, but it will also have many of the new features slated for Office 2007 for Windows, replete with all of the new eye candy. And don’t forget the bloat; I’m sure it’ll be there in spades.

I’ve probably said it here before, but I’ll say it again; we don’t need no stinkin’ word processor upgrade! I would hazard to guess that 90 percent of all word processor users use it more like a typewriter than anything else, and aren’t even aware of half of the current feature set, much less use it. Sure there are a few things with the current iterations of Excel and Entourage that I’d like to see fixed (or at least lifted to parity with the Winders version of Excel & Outlook), but I sure don’t like the idea of having to spend $200-400 a copy to get what MS should have delivered in the first place. Guess Bill needs a few more bucks to further his latest plans for world conquest, and sees loads of cash in the form of the Mac users that’ll buy this heap.

There. Thanks for letting me vent a little. I feel a bit better now.

Apple’s iTunes Music Store is down right now; all links redirect to this page.

Guess that means Rob’s comment is on the mark, and the heat will be turned up a bit for Amazon’s Unbox. I’m thinking it’ll be better than perfectly adequate.

Here’s a case where the RIAA might not have a problem with iTunes file sharing feature: Some dirtball in a UM dorm had kiddie porn movies on his computer and was caught when another Cramer Hall resident saw what was shared on his playlist.

The up-side is that there are good aspects of file sharing, but in the long run I suppose it’ll serve only as a warning to these scumbags to be more careful with where & how they store their porn.

At yesterday’s meeting of Apple’s board of directors, Dr. Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, was elected to the board. Link.

Schmidt joins the uber-elite crew of Bill Campbell, Chairman and former CEO of Intuit Corp., Millard Drexler, Chairman and CEO of J. Crew, Albert Gore Jr., Former Vice President of the United States, Steve Jobs, the Man, Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D., Chairman and CEO, Genentech, and Jerry York, Chairman, President and CEO of Harwinton Capital.

Guess that makes it official; Apple, with the help of Google, is out to rule the world. (cue cackling maniacal laughter.)

I know this is late, and you’ve probably already heard, but today Apple cut loose the new Mac Pro — the successor to the G5 Power Macintosh. Prices start at $2,199 for a dual-processor, dual-core 2GHz machine. An extra $1,100 will replace the 2GHz Xeons with 3GHz processors. The exterior looks just like the G5 machines; tall, lovely brushed aluminum monsters (still too wide to fit in a rack, so break out your hacksaw if that’s where you need to mount it.)

Their choice of the “Mac Pro” naming scheme is the first thing that struck me; with the Intel-powered laptops, the MacBook Pro came out first, which is the high-end laptop. It was followed by the MacBook which replaced the iBook as the consumer-level offering. So the question is, with they follow the same naming convention with the desktop machines?

I’m thinking so. The Mac Pro is definitely forming the high-end of the Mac line; they’re even calling it a “workstation” rather than a desktop. Next will come something with a little less oomph than the Pro, but more expandability options than the iMac or the mini, carrying the “desktop” moniker. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking, but it would sure make sense. Time will tell.

Just for fun, I went to the Apple Store to custom configure a Mac Pro. I clicked all the buttons and got the price up to $12,288 (monitors and non-standard software not included). That’d get you a fully decked out Mac Pro with two-3GHz Dual-Core Xeon processors, four-250GB drives, 16GB RAM, wireless keyboard & mouse, NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 video card, and two CD-RW/DVD-R SuperDrives. The only things I left off were the Fibre Channel card and the USB modem ($49), as they both seemed a bit superfluous. All in all, it makes Deane’s snazzy Dell XPS system seem like a Yugo in comparison. At least price-wise.

Mark Pilgrim’s list of Ubuntu essentials for ex-Mac users: Kottke says Apple should be scared of this. Joe has used Ubuntu and claims that it’s borderline amazing.

[…] Mark Pilgrim recently switched to Ubuntu Linux after becoming fed up with proprietary Mac file-formats and the increasing use of DRM technologies in the MacOS.

I’ve been a Mac user since 1984, and have a Mac tattooed on my right bicep. I’ve probably personally owned 50 Macs, and I’ve purchased several hundred while working as an IT manager over the years. I’m about to make the same switch, for much the same reasons.

Apple’s mean-spirited ad campaign.: Yeah, totally.

My problem with these ads begins with the casting. As the Mac character, Justin Long (who was in the forgettable movie Dodgeball and the forgettabler TV show Ed) is just the sort of unshaven, hoodie-wearing, hands-in-pockets hipster we’ve always imagined when picturing a Mac enthusiast.

(And don’t bother bringing up the Slate-Microsoft connection. Microsoft sold Slate over two years ago.)

The fact is, these ads are heavy-handed. There’s nothing even remotely subtle or smart about them. Yes, yes, Mac users think PC users are as common and uncool as just another suited businessman, we get it. We got it, in fact, 10 years ago when you started beating the dead horse.

Truth be told, I look a lot like that businessman. And the kid looks like Nick Burns and it makes me want to punch him in the mouth.

In fact, maybe he is Nick Burns:

It is inferred by Nick’s computer jargon in the sketches that the network he supports is Apple-based, which is atypical for large corporate networks, where Windows platforms are generally preferred. Apple is regularly used in television and movies due to the refresh rate of the screens being better in-synch with the cameras. However, since the monitors are only shown from the backside, the use of Apples in the sketch is unexplained.