It appears as though the new MacBook may possibly be the easiest Mac laptop to upgrade, ever made. The RAM and hard drive are super easy to access. Jason Snell, of Macworld, has made this video to show us just how it’s done.
Links: Macworld Article | Video on YouTube
The other day I saw a product announcement over at Playlist Mag for new noise reducing earphones that just hit the market…. called Comply NR-1. I had a little birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket, and I’m going on a trip in a couple of days, where I’ll be on a plane for a while (more on that in a later post). So, I thought I would give them a shot. I rushed the shipping in order to get them here in time.
They arrived today… and they’re going back tomorrow… The Comply NR-1 earphones SUCK! They sound terrible! I’ve had $5 earbuds from Radio Shack that sounded better then these pieces of crap. I was stunned at just how bad they really sound. They make my stock iPod earbuds sound like a high end stereo. There is absolutely no base… I mean zero. Anything resembling a low tone is completely lost. The sound is just a high pitch, tinny, whine. I never even got a chance to evaluate the noise reduction. It’s kind of irrelevant if the earphones sound so bad that you wouldn’t want to listen to music through them anyway.
Before I bought these, I tried to find some reviews online. I couldn’t find any, so I thought I would go ahead a risk it. I’m sorry I did. Now I’m out the rush shipping costs to get them here, and the postage to return them. Hopefully, this review will save someone from making the same mistake I did.
I live just a couple of blocks away from the San Francisco Apple Store. With the announcement today of the new MacBooks, I was hoping to make it down there for a little hands on review. Apparently, Scott Ard, of cnet news had the same idea. I didn’t make it down, but Scott did, and while he was there he witnessed Apple Security tackle a shoplifter, for trying to nab a few iPod accessories. Maybe I’ll re-think my plan of trying to stuff a MacBook down my pants.
Found via Mac Fanatic
So, as long as I’m on the subject of money… have you seen the new ten dollar bill? In a word, bluck! This is one of the ugliest bills we’ve done in a long time. I’m all for adding color to our money, but this is kind of a pukey peach color that I personally think looks terrible.
I know they have to take certain measures to reduce counterfeiting, but it looks like they just randomly throw elements all over the bill, without giving it any thought whatsoever. Who designs these things?
The other day I had a story about pennies and nickels costing more than the face value to make. I had no idea they also changed the nickel this year… until I happened to look closely as I emptied the change in my pocket. Both nickels feature Thomas Jefferson, but in the 2006 version, he sports a trendy new doo.
Are you planning on buying one of those spiffy new MacBooks from the online Apple Store? If so, do me a favor, and either use this link, or the link to the Apple Store in my sidebar on the homepage. I’m an Apple affiliate, so I get a little commission for referring people to the store. You’ll get your new MacBook, and help support this site, all in one little click.
Oh, and if you haven’t checked out the sidebar in a while, have a look. There are quite a few stores listed there now. Use any of those links when you shop, and you’ll be helping to support this site. ~Thanks!
In an ongoing effort by movie and TV networks to only do things that have been done before, Spike TV has announced a new TV show based on the Blade movies.
The title role, popularized by Wesley Snipes in the movies, will be played by Kirk “Sticky” Jones. The series is set to start in June.
I couldn’t find an official site for the show, but I did come across The House of Chthon. It appears to be a promotional site for the show, in the form of a vampire recruitment application form. It’s a cool idea, but you wouldn’t know what it’s for without knowing ahead of time, as there is no branding at all.
A couple of weeks ago I told you about the G4 Star Trek commercials. Today, I came across Star Trek Cribs – The Director’s Cut. It’s pretty cool.
… and they have a black one too! I could run down the details, but MacWorld has done a good job with that in their story, including some comments by Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.
A couple of items of interest to me are… The new MacBook has a “glossy” display. I’ve seen these on some budget PC laptops, and I did not like it at all. The screens have a lot of reflection and glare, and make it difficult to work in anything but a dark room. I hope Apple has done a better job with these. I’ll reserve judgement until I see one for myself.
Apple chose NOT to make black available for all models. If you want the black one, expect to pay at least $400 more than the base model, and $200 more than an almost identical white one. Ummm… that seems kind of crappy to me. Are they going to carry this pricing structure over to the next iPod… black will cost more than white?
Also of note… there will be no 12″ Macbook Pro, to replace the 12″ Powerbook. Apple is dropping that size for the higher end laptop to draw a clearer distinction between the two models.
When I first started writing this post, I was very excited by this announcement. But now, only minutes later, I have a bad taste in my mouth. The more I think about the higher price for the black one, the more angry it makes me. Hey Apple, WTF!
Links: Apple MacBook | Macworld Article
The news is out all over the web, but if you haven’t already heard, Apple has released updates to all of the iLife ’06 applications. There are bug fixes and enhancements for all the apps, but the biggest new feature is in iWeb.
The biggest complaint about blogs (and Podcasts) created with iWeb has been the lack of commenting ability… unless you used something like iComment. Well, iWeb blogs now have comments, and a search function. I knew it was only a matter of time. Of course, there is one catch… you have to publish you iWeb blog to .Mac to take advantage of the new features.
All the updates are available via Software Update.
UPDATE: TUAW has a write-up about the new comments feature that’s worth a look. Also, if you’re interested in having multiple sites in iWeb (previously unavailable), Apple has added limited support, and MacWorld has a write-up on using a third party app called iWebSites.
UPDATE #2: Apple has posted a bunch of video tutorials on using iWeb. They cover the changes in iWeb 1.1.