Apple

Apple TV First Impressions

/ Cole Camplese / 7 Comments

This could possibly be the longest I’ve let a new piece of Apple hardware sit around in a box. It showed up on Thursday and sat as I tried to figure out how I was going to integrate it into my home setup — My existing receiver has only two component video inputs and it doesn’t do HDMI, so figuring that out was a mess. My TV is on the wall a good 12 feet away from where the equipment sits. All my cables run out through the wall into the garage and back in behind the TV. It all looks very clean, but running a 16′ HDMI cable (at $200.00) wasn’t part of the equation. Long story short, I am setup now after a couple of hours of planning this morning. If the TV was right next to the Apple TV box this would have all been avoided.

That aside, I have to say that the experience of turning it on for the first time exceeded my expectations. I should have taken some pictures, but my wife already thinks I am too into this tuff (here are some pictures of setup from TUAW).It has the standard Apple feel to it … plug it in, flip on the TV, and the glowing Apple logo greets you on screen. The only real setting out of the box are selecting a screen resolution and wireless network. The Apple TV actually saw about a half dozen wireless networks that my laptop doesn’t see. I selected mine and it instantly worked. It gave me a little pass code to pair it with my iMac in the office and that was it. The Apple TV showed up under the heading “devices” on the iMac’s iTunes much like it was an iPod. From there I was able to syncing options for TV Shows, Movies, Music, Photos, and Podcasts. Either all or selected playlists/albums can get synced. No need for me to tell you how it manages all that as Apple does a good job at their website.

What I will tell you about is how fast it all is — very. I instantly filled up about half of the hard drive on the Apple TV with my selections … honestly it was very fast moving items to the Apple TV itself. No problems and I have not purchased the new Airport. No need. As you can imagine the menus are very slick and seem well polished — as a matter of fact the interface is better than FrontRow as far as I am concerned. One thing that is interesting is that one of the menu selections is “sources.” Going in there lets you switch between the items living on the hard drive of the Apple TV or switch to other machines. Selecting the iMac sees the Apple TV connect to it very quickly and make all the media on it instantly available. Unlike the problems I’ve had streaming music from laptop to laptop I haven’t seen any issues pulling the music and video from the air.

This morning we watched a bunch of movie trailers, listened to music (the screen saver is very cool), and watched slideshows backed by our own soundtrack. Everything worked perfectly. I’m not too keen on having yet another little Apple Remote, but it does let you pair it so it doesn’t mess with my iPod sitting next to it. I’ll post more, but I have to say the quality is great, music sounds great over the digital out and video quality of things purchased recently via iTunes Store look good. I was even able to watch movies I had originally prepared to watch on my iPod and they look solid as well. I’m not done putting it through the paces, but it does what Apple claims and does it all with the typical elegance we’ve come to expect from Apple. Good purchase and I have a feeling as I get more used to the way it all works I’ll be taking advantage of it quite a bit.

My Apple TV Shipped

/ Cole Camplese / 3 Comments

Just a note to say my Apple TV shipped this morning … Apple pushed it back a few times, but they kept their word on the “Ships by March 20, 2007” email I got a couple of weeks ago. I should have it by the end of the week. I intend to do a full review this weekend and will post my thoughts then. I am actually excited to see how well this thing plays in my home entertainment network … I didn’t buy the new Airport Extreme and am hopeful speeds will be good enough to make this thing work as advertised. We shall see … stay tuned.

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MacBook Reactions

/ Cole Camplese / 1 Comment

So I have now been using a black MacBook for about five days and I am really enjoying it. The comments made by a whole bunch of people reveal that this is a personal choice that can only be slightly influenced by your peers. Before I get into my initial reactions I just have to say how funny it is that I try to post good stuff about teaching and learning with technology, but the posts that get the most traction are the ones about Apple Hardware and other product style reviews. I think I may have to switch this blog over to an Apple Fanboy site.

Ok, now on to my MacBook thoughts … I am noticing a few things now about the MacBook that I thought I would share as a follow up to the previous post:

  • I am missing the lighted keyboard … I hate to say it but I look at the keyboard quite a bit when I type. I type fast, but I never really did practice the way Mrs. Hawk (my 9th grade typing teacher) would have liked. With that said, I am digging the MacBook’s keyboard design.
  • The sound is lame … the built in speakers suck. Completely underpowered compared to the MBP. I don’t use the speakers on my laptop much, but I do when I am on the road in hotels. I love music so when I travel my laptop turns into my in room entertainment system. Maybe I just need to forget how good the MBP speakers sounded and get on with life.
  • I am not missing the larger display … the native resolution of 1280 x 800 on the MacBook is treating me just fine. I can always go back to a virtual desktop setup, but Expose continues to be my favorite choice for rapid switching.
  • I love the glossy screen … I know you can get that on the MBP, but I didn’t have it and really like it. We shall see how it holds up on a plane with an open window shade, but so far so good.
  • Video seems a little slow … but I guess that is to be expected. I am only noticing it now as I have hooked up to a 23″ Apple Display … it just feels that way, but it may be in my head. It does do a great job of driving the display however.
  • It gets dirty … and I mean it gets dirty fast. I have no idea how to care for the glossy screen, but I find myself wiping fingerprints off the case a lot.
  • Sexy … yep, I said it. This thing is sexy. People check it out … funny, MBP’s are everywhere on campus and this thing just turns heads. Not that I am into that sort of thing!
  • It is fast … with 2 GB of RAM it is very speedy. I have to say it feels faster than my MBP (which was a first generation Intel MBP) except for when I launch Word. Thankfully (a) I don’t launch it as much as I used to and (b) a native Intel version has been announced.
  • The size … the form factor simply kicks ass. The size and weight are amazing. It has sharp edges around the wrist rests that I will need to get used to, but it is a joy to hold, sit on your lap, and use. I am liking that … it reminds me of why I loved the old 12″ PowerBook.

Later today I am getting my USB Broadband Modem and will be testing it. That will be the make or break on this thing for me … I will post my reactions either tonight or tomorrow on that one. So there it is for today — my mind may change tomorrow, but so far I am really liking the MacBook over the MacBook Pro. Any other thoughts for me?

MacBook Shootout. What to Do?

/ Cole Camplese / 18 Comments

Let me start by saying that this post is about making a decision … I don’t want it to be viewed as anything but me thinking out loud about a couple of really solid products. With that said, let me get rolling with it. For those who know me I don’t think it is a secret that I am an Apple guy — that may actually be a little bit of an understatement. I try to get my hands on most of Apple’s stuff for a ton of reasons, but design is at the top of the list. I love the way they make things, package things, market things, and execute in the marketplace. It honestly started way back in 1984 when the family got an original 128K Mac on my 12th birthday. It was mesmerizing … the whole thing was just amazing to me. I used that machine for 6 years until it literally blew up when I was a senior in high school. From there I got a Mac SE to take off to college. Things got a bit out of control over the next several years … here’s a sample of the Macs I’ve had in my possession over the years, an LC III, Performa 600 CD, PM 7200, Blue and White G3, G3 All in One, Newton 2100, SnowBall iMac, DP G4s, DP G5s, PowerBooks, iBooks, Intel iMac, MBP, and more … let’s not even get into the iPods. I will say that after the Blue and White most of my machines have been either a work or consulting machine, so its not like I’ve been buying everything that Apple brings out — really!

Prior to coming to ETS I was an avid 12″ PowerBook user. I loved it … everything about it. The size and industrial design still makes me smile when I see one. When I got to ETS I switched over to the 15″ PowerBook and since have been using a 15″ MacBook Pro. I love the MBP, but have found myself looking very longingly at the black MacBook recently. I am getting set to start on a ridiculus amount of travel over the next month and the smaller size and increased battery life of the MB is starting to really appeal to me. So after all that bullshit in the first paragraph, this is what I am wondering about … MBP v MB? I have spent the weekend with a MB testing it out and here’s what I am coming up so far:

The MBP gives me:

  • Lighted Keyboard … I am surprised by how much this helps. I find myself missing that b/c I do quite a bit of email late at night in the dark.
  • Bigger Display … Putting them side by side, the 15″ seems a lot bigger, but I’m not sure I absolutely need the extra real estate, but there are times when it is really nice to have.
  • Card Slot … Honestly this has been the MB deal breaker until now b/c I not only use, but need, my card slot to use my Verizon Wireless V640. More and more places offer free wifi, but when you rely on tools like email and Google Docs as much as I do I need a live connection.
  • Pro Looks … I hate to say it but the MBP looks more grown up. I am finding as I am aging that may not be as desirable as I once thought.

The MB gives me:

  • Killer Keyboard Design … I have to say I am digging on the raised keyboard design. It actually reminds me of the keyboard that shipped with my LC III — my favorite of all the keyboards I’ve ever used. I do miss the backlighting, but I have a little flexible USB light that I used to use with my 12″ that will work on a plane or in a pinch.
  • Size … The thing feels like a notebook — not a computer, but a real notebook. I can see myself just grabbing it to take into meetings much more than I do with my MBP. With the MBP I always put it in a bag and take all the stuff with me for some reason. Also, on a plane, this thing will be killer … being able to actually use it in coach is a big motivator here. I am a big guy and the MBP poses problems, especially if the person in front of me needs to recline.
  • Battery Life … I used it yesterday morning from about 7:30 AM until noon without hooking it to an AC power source. I even had the thing cranked to best performance. The MBP cannot even come close to that. Again on a cross country flight I might actually be able to make it without frantically searching for a power outlet during a layover.
  • Wireless … Yeah they are both wireless, but the MB seems to get a much stronger signal here in my house. Not sure why, but it is snappier when browsing, downloading, and uploading. Maybe it is just in my head, but it is noticeable.
  • Lack of a Card Slot … I know I said I need this, but one of my colleagues pointed me to the Verizon Wireless USB720 Modem. Essentially it is the same as the card only USB based. Sure it sticks out farther, but who cares. I once got stuck on the runway for a couple of hours and was happily surfing, emailing, and connected with the broadband … not once did I care if the thing would stick out.

Update: OK, here is one thng that is bothering me a little bit — the case design of the MB. It isn’t terrible, but this one is a little sharp around the edges. Where my wrists hit the wrist rest areas it is sharp edge. Are others dealing with that or is it just the one I am using?

Performance seems to be close to the same … I am a little dismayed by the lack of dedicated video memory on the MB, but if I am going to need something to do some real work on I use my 24″ iMac anyway. At work I hook the MBP up to an external display and I know the MB can drive it — it isn’t a 30″ display, so no worries there. So at the end of the day I still can’t decide, but I am leaning towards the MB. Anyone out there have a MB and want to share some thoughts with me?

Steve Jobs has a Blog

/ Cole Camplese / 1 Comment

Well, not really. But today the CEO of Apple posted an open letter (sort of like a blog post, eh?) to the music industry discussing the state of Digital Rights Management (DRM) as it relates to digital music. The piece titled, “Thoughts on Music” caught off guard when my Deputy CIO sent it around today — there wasn’t any commentary attached, just a simple pointer to the fact that it had occurred. Let me tell you that I feel as though I have been burned by the DRM bug since the creation of the iTunes Music Store … since it has launched I have purchased hundreds of tracks from the store and dozens of books — not the average 22 Steve says people who own iPods purchase. While I understood at the time that the tightly wrapped files I was paying for didn’t really belong to me. You see, DRM makes me feel like I am a criminal. The DRM assumes the worst and it makes me angry now that new devices are on the scene that I would like to use in my digital life. Remember our Macs were intended to be the “hub to our digital life.” BTW, I’m not just talking about portable devices here — this is my music.

The mere fact that Steve was able to convince the labels that selling their music in the digital space was a good thing was huge back in the day. Since then, as we all know the Store has served over two billion orders. Now Steve is turning his attnetion towards opening the flood gates even further … or is he? I know Apple has been under pressure to do something about the DRM they use to protect music — especially in Europe. In all fairness, that was the only way the labels were going to let it happen at all … but how much longer should we (the consumers) and the vendors (Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Napster, etc) play the labels’ game? I guess I can understand the labels’ perspective, but the time has come to think different about the issue. The thing to keep in mind here is that you and I can go to a brick and morter store like Target and buy a CD that has no DRM at all … it makes less and less sense as you begin to really think about it.

Sure someone feels safer with the wrapped files, but it is a real pain for those of us who actually purchase the music. If I wanted to switch devices — or play one of my iTunes songs on my Treo, or Wii, or any other device in the known world other than my iPod I am out of luck. That doesn’t sound too much like that music belongs to me. Steve proposes three approaches … we can do nothing and live with multiple DRM solutions, Apple could license their own DRM solution (which isn’t going to happen), or the labels could come to the realization that this whole mess is really just a mess … if they let it go, would piracy rates explode? I doubt it. Would people stop buying from legal outlets? I doubt it. So what is the deal? This is directly from Steve’s post:

… if the music companies are selling over 90 percent of their music DRM-free, what benefits do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system? There appear to be none. If anything, the technical expertise and overhead required to create, operate and update a DRM system has limited the number of participants selling DRM protected music. If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies.

Sounds logical to me, but I am not pretending to be an expert in any of this … it isn’t my space at all, but it feels like this could be the start of something. If Steve and Apple could crack the labels the first time and get them to look into the future, could this be the opening salvo in a new way of looking at digital content? It could also just be a slick marketing move on the part of Apple, but at the end of the day Apple wins if the labels win … am I wrong about that? Are there changes in the future for us as it relates to the stuff we “own?”

Office 2008 for Mac

/ Cole Camplese / 4 Comments

Not sure how I missed this last week, but it appears as though Microsoft has announced its plans to release Office 2008 — I know it just turned 2007, but the folks in Redmond say that even though the box says 2008 they will give it to us in the second half of 07. Nice of them isn’t it?

Office has become one of the least used set of apps in my Dock … Word very rarely comes to life unless it absolutely has to — in other words if someone else sends me something. PowerPoint? Forget about it, Keynote is where I spend my presentation life. I do find myself in Excel more than I care to admit, but that is a major shift for me in the last year. All in all we’ll get our Universal version of Office with the nice XML format, but I’m not sure how much I’ll use it. Time will tell.

Update: If this TUAW gallery is any indication, I may find myself back in Office a bit more.

My iPod is Dead to Me

/ Cole Camplese / 5 Comments

Well, not really but after Tuesday’s announcement of the new iPhone I am feeling a little less than thrilled with what I am left holding. We all drooled over the iPhone and its ability to make calls and access the Internet, but the iPod-like features are crazy. All of a sudden the device that on Tuesday morning was a state of the art digital media player with its iconic click wheel and sleek exterior now looks a little dated and outmoded. I find myself thinking, “using a click wheel to scroll through list of music sucks … I want to touch my music.” I am left asking a few questions.

When will the iPod line be refreshed with similar functionality? I love the iPhone, but not everyone needs the total package. Will Apple make us buy that device just to get the iPod features many of us have craved for quite some time — namely wide screen with both horizontal and vertical orientations? I can say that the iPhone gets me close to eliminating a device, but not really. My iPod is 80 GB and it manages a lot of data (as the image below shows). The iPhone is Nano in storage capacity and I am not going to give up the ability to store and access all my music, podcasts, TV shows, and movies when I am going away for a week. I will still need my old-skool iPod to handle those tasks. But for everyday use the iPhone seems to be perfect. What I really want to know is when can I expect a 40, 60, 80, or 100 GB iPod that has iPhone iPod features? You know touch screen and those dual viewing orientations. I would have dropped down cash on the spot Tuesday for that — just to touch my music!

Storage

I am also sort of wondering why Apple went with iPhone as the name … this thing seems to be so much more than a phone … almost in an all new category.  At the same time, it sorts of fits the philosophy of hte iPod naming convention.  I always sort of got the feeling the iPod was named the iPod because it could evolve over time into whatever the market (or Steve told us) wanted.  This iPhone is an iPod to me — just the logical next step in its evolution.  When I say logical, it is only logical now that Apple has shown it to us.  I wouldn’t have dreamed those features on Monday could be real.  At any rate, this thing is my new iPod.

New iPod

I think one reason it will be a while until we see an iPod that looks and works like the iPhone has to do with Cingular.  Now I don’t pretend to understand how the cell phone industry works, but it seems to me that the carriers subsidize the cost of the phones they carry.  I just have to wonder what the true cost of the iPhone is without the contract?  Anyone know?  I imagine that to pack the advanced OS, larger hard drive, big screen, and all that touch stuff into an iPod would have to cost $500.00 on its own.  At any rate I am left holding the 5G iPod and all I can think about is that Apple has turned their own device into an also ran — sort of like the Rio I sold way back in the day to get an original 5 GB iPod.  Is it greedy to hope I can have all the iPod features of the iPhone without the phone?  Is that silly and where can Apple take us next with their music/video player platform?  There is a brand there that must grow — can it grow next to a revolutionary product or is it now the ugly step-sister?  Anyone …

iPhone – Worth the Fuss

/ Cole Camplese / 15 Comments

Rumors and all the other stuff floating around the web the last couple of weeks have driven me crazy … especially all the iPhone stuff. Here’s why, when Apple gets into a business they really get into it. The new Apple iPhone is perhaps the most revolutionary portable device in my lifetime. Is that too much to say? I guess if you throw in medical devices and other life saving items this pales in comparison, but I have to say Apple blew the doors off this one. I guess the thing that gets me is that they did everything we all thought they couldn’t do — deliver a device that packs all phases of communications and access into an incredibly small and sexy package. One thing I find very interesting was Steve saying that he is after 1% of the cell phone market. I’ll obviously be part of that … now I must get one … damn it!

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You got that right, Steve.
Photo, Engadget.