New MacBooks Underwhelming

It has been some eight months since Apple released an update to their laptop lines. Given the delay, us Apple zealots were expecting something big -- and I mean really big.

After the hour I spent on sites such as Gizmodo, and MacWorld reading up-to-the minute updates on the press conference this morning, I can't help but be a little disappointed.

Two things really bothered me. First and foremost, the new models don't sport any processor upgrades. Some models actually appear to have slower processors than the last revision. It is true that Intel is expected to release new mobile processors in the coming weeks. If I were Apple, I would have waited until the new processors were available.

The second thing that bothered me was the absence of the Firewire port on the MacBook model. On the MacBook Pro, only one Firewire 800 port is available. This is a cause for concern for any recording enthusiast, as you will need a Firewire 800-400 adapter in order to plug in your audio interfaces. Furthermore, you won't be able to use the that fast external hard drive, unless it is daisy-chained to your interface, and then you lose more than half of your bandwidth.

The bottom line is -- if you want to record on your laptop, the MacBook Pro is your only option.

Now, that being said, there were some advances in the MacBook and MacBook Pro models that are very impressive. The new design is beautiful, strong, and lightweight. All Laptop models now have LED-backlit displays, which means brighter, truer color representation, and lower power consumption.

The most striking news is the inclusion of the new NVIDIA graphics chipsets, which boast more than 5 times the performance of the Intel integrated graphics chipsets of the last-generation MacBook. The extra gigaflops of processing power will be better realized next year when Apple releases Snow Leopard, which will have the technology to utilize unused GPU-cycles on operating system tasks.

The price points aren't terribly impressive either. That may be partially due to the falling Canadian Dollar, but I digress.

As much as I love portables, I always feel that I am paying a premium for portability. That probably explains why I still have a desktop computer as my main audio workstation. When you consider that you have much greater storage capabilities, faster processors, larger screens (in the case of the iMac), more i/o options, the desktop computer wins hands-down.

I guess I'd be better off to wait another 6 months and see what upgrades the first-revision MacBook Pros will boast. I made the mistake of purchasing a first-generation MacBook, and thanks to an extended warranty, all the issues the computer has suffered has been repaired free of charge. This includes random shut-downs, cracking case (twice!), and audio jack issues.

Yeah, I'm thinking it would be a good idea to wait a little while.

Dirt Nap

Well, it was inevitable. My trusty iBook laptop which has given me so much grief over the years (though it ran trouble-free for almost 14 months) has finally decided to take a dirt nap. It suffered a fall to the floor (not my fault this time), and has trouble booting.

I get a boot chime, and I get a grey screen, but the OS refuses to load. No Apple screen, just a blank grey screen staring back at me. So, of course I went into troubleshooting mode to figure out what I could find out. Well, I pulled out my OSX discs and attempted to boot from the optical drive and repair the hard drive. This usually cures most problems, but no dice this time. I heard the optical drive spin up and do a little reading, but I saw no feedback on the screen.

At this point I decided that I had better find a way to rescue any files that reside on the hard drive.

So I booted into target disk mode from the other laptop in the house (a first-generation MacBook) and was successful in mounting the iBook's hard drive on the MacBook. A few minutes later, and I had everything I could think of that I may need to keep from the dying machine. As an afterthought, I ran the disc utility program and repaired the hard drive on the ailing laptop.

Thinking that I may have repaired some critical damage on the hard drive, I attempted to re-boot the iBook. Again, a boot chime and grey screen, but nothing else. Running all the possibilities through my mind, I came to the conclusion that I had a failure somewhere on the video processor, or some other problem on the hardware bus that was preventing the machine from booting.

Either way the failure is on the logic board, and that only means I have one option left. Purchase a replacement logic board, or retire the laptop. Replacement logic boards are incredibly expensive, and when it comes to iBooks, logic boards are in short supply, as this is the component that usually fails in the first place. As far as eBay is concerned, purchasing a used logic board from a seller is a bit like playing Russian Roulette -- auctions for laptop components are almost always parted from dead laptops.

So the next logical thing is to say sayonara to the trusty computer. I've had the machine for over 5 years -- and it was at least 2 years old when I bought it. I've likely sunk as much as $1500 of hardware and software into the laptop -- for repairs, upgrades, etc. So where does one draw the line and refuse to sink more money into the machine? Well, that is always the definitive question. Even if it was working, the most I could get for the laptop would be $200. If I hocked a dead iBook on eBay, I'd get less that $50 for it.

I think it's time to look into a new(er) machine. One of the stipulations is that whatever machine I purchase, it must be faster and newer than the machine it replaces. Therefore if I purchase a replacement laptop, it must have at least a 1 GHz G4 processor. These machines are still sitting around the $500 mark on eBay, which I thought was a little rich, provided that G4 laptops were retired by Apple over 2 years ago.

I realize it might make a little more sense and buy a state-of-the-art laptop computer for $500 more. The other two Apples that live in this house I consider to be quite fast already -- speed isn't the issue here. The issue is the chipset that resides in older Apple machines. The G4 architecture allows me to run legacy software. Yes, I realize that I can run old software through a virtual machine -- though my experiences with virtual machines and emulation has been mediocre.

Since I spend a great deal of time working in Logic on recording projects, I do have need for state-of-the-art technology. I have had my current desktop machine for a year and a half (and it was 1 year old when I purchased it) -- so it's beginning to get a little long in the tooth. I will likely wait for another iMac revision (or 2) and see if I can upgrade to a 24" Aluminium model for $500 less than a new one, but that's a story for another time -- and in all honesty, I don't need to be in a major rush to replace that laptop.

Apple's "Snow Leopard" Set To Pounce Next Year

Yesterday's big news at WWDC 2008 largely was centered on Apple's new iPhone, which included a number of new applications, faster speeds, and a $200 price drop. As this generated a lot of buzz, I don't consider this as groundbreaking as Apple's second announcement: We can expect OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard, about this time next year.

Apple only provided a demonstration to select developers yesterday, so information regarding this release was a little sketchy. However, Apple wasted no time in publishing their objectives for the client and server versions for the rest of us to see.

I'll be a little honest. When Steve Jobs demoed OSX 10.5 Leopard early last year, I wasn't as excited as I had been about past OSX releases. The only technology that really impressed me was Time Machine, as I didn't expect I would find much use out of many of the other technologies. It became clear to many users and pundits that Apple had been focusing in the incorporation of new features and "eye-candy" in order to sell copies of their new operating system.

I was an early adopter of OSX. I have been using OSX since the Cheetah (10.0) days, so I have seen it's growth first-hand. Most users will agree that even though the footprint of each installation has increased (10.0 and 10.1 shipped on 1 CD-ROM; 10.3 shipped on 3 CD-ROMs, and 10.4 shipped on DVD), that the code was written tighter, and performed faster. You didn't even need a benchmarking program to test this; the increase in performance was easily noticeable -- at least until the release of 10.5.

Leopard reversed that trend. A huge amount of animation ("eye-candy") was introduced in Leopard, and at a cost of performance. Many users complained that their computer performed slower than the prior release. In fact, it was once argued that if you didn't have an intel-core processor, you needn't bother upgrading to Leopard. Sound familiar? If I had a quarter for every article I read that said Vista was an abomination and an embarrassment to Microsoft, well -- I'd be on a beach somewhere drinking Mai Tai's instead of writing this.

Early reports on OSX Snow Leopard indicate that Apple is introducing a number of technologies "under the hood". This doesn't usually excite the consumer, but it excites computer geeks like myself. Recently published articles claim a "focus" on performance -- which I understand is partially true. What is true, is the technologies they will be introducing is going to set the stage to introduce technologies and features that were only science fiction a few years ago.

And it starts with performance. Although nothing is said yet about what chipsets the new release will support, many pundits feel that it will abandon the old PowerPC architecture. At the very least, nothing has been said to give the indication Apple is declaring PowerPC obsolete. Although, if they did, it would allow them to strip out all the archaic code, and ensure the OS would run natively.

What Apple is doing, is re-writing the OS to take advantage of multi-core systems. This idea isn't new, but my understanding of this is that this technology has not been fully exploited. Apple promises to introduce a new technology -- named Grand Central, which will take advantage of multi-core systems. The end result is simple: The more cores your computer has, the faster it will run.

Obviously this will mean anyone with a dual-core mac (or more) will notice a boost in performance. Those lucky to have quad-core (or 8-core) Mac Pro's will have machines that will perform at mind-bending speeds. Single-core users (mostly Power-PC users) likely wouldn't see a boost in performance. Which leads me to believe OSX 10.6 will abandon PowerPC support.

As many of you already know, OSX 10.5. Leopard is already running circles around Vista. Windows 7 is being designed to replace a problem OS, though it's release may be too late. OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard is going to deliver performance to PC users that will make Windows look dated. And Snow Leopard will likely come at a much nicer price: $129.

Apple began to introduce their intel-core chipsets about two and a half years ago, while completing the transition about 18 months ago. The question everyone is asking, is how many Power-PC users will there be in 2009? And how many of those users will be unwilling to invest in a new computer at that time?

Apple Zealot? Hardly.

Those who know me might argue otherwise, but according to this poll, I'm only 64% addicted to the Apple brand and their products. In all honesty, I figured I would have scored higher.

64%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Matt Good, on the other hand, was quite proud to achieve a score of 76%.

There Was Something In The Air That Night

In recent weeks, there has been a considerable amount of buzz around the Macworld 2008 Keynote. Rumors of new Apple Computers and products have had Mac zealots frothing at the mouth, while placing bets at what might just be under the black curtains at Apple's booth. By this morning, the buzz had grown to such proportions that the commotion outside Moscone Center this morning was reported to be near-pandemonium.

Though I have yet to watch the keynote address, I was reading the highlights via live web feeds, so I have least, some idea what Steve Jobs had to say -- which I could honestly say, wasn't as Earth-shattering as some keynotes have been in years past.

The biggest news, of course was the announcement of the MacBook Air, a new notebook with a new form factor, which should have the competition running back to their drawing boards. Now, there is nothing new with ultra-light, ultra-portable, or ultra-small computers -- except that these types of notebooks are crippled in one way or another. They usually have under-sized keyboards, are under-powered, too small a screen, limited expandability, or too little battery life. So why should Apple be any different?

Apple did some very impressive things with their new notebook. It is the thinnest design of any notebook in production today. At its' thickest, the notebook is 0.76" (1.94 cm) thick at its' rear, and it tapers to a mind-boggling 0.16" (0.4cm) thin at the front. Apple also ensured that the computer weigh as little as possible, as their new model is a scant 3 pounds (1.36kg) -- roughly half of what conventional notebook computers weigh today. To further complement the new design, Apple included a 13" widescreen, and a full-size laptop keyboard. The Power Plant inside the MacBook Air includes 2 Gigabytes of RAM, an 80 Gigabyte Hard drive, a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 802.11n wireless, built-in Bluetooth 2.1, and 5 hours of battery life. Most impressive of all, is that Apple is incorporating their multi-touch technology -- as evident in their iPhones, into this new notebook. This means you can pinch, stretch, rotate, zoom, scroll, and rearrange with 2 or 3-finger gestures on the trackpad.

And you can have one of these beauties in two weeks for $1799.00 US. Some pundits feel the price point is a little steep; others feel that it is much cheaper than some of the competitions' ultra-thin portables.

As fantastic as the new machine sounds, I am not the least bit interested in buying one. Why? What did Apple skimp on in order to produce such a lightweight machine?

Well, I suppose it depends on your intended uses for said machine. If all you are going to do is write school papers, listen to music, write emails and surf the web, then this may just be the machine for you. If I were going to College this year, this would be the notebook I would buy -- simply because it is smaller and lighter than a binder I would tote in my backpack.

One thing I do require a notebook for is mobile recording -- and nearly all recording interfaces use Firewire. Guess what? Apple removed the firewire port on the MacBook Air to save space and weight. Strike one. I suppose I could purchase a recording interface that employs USB 2.0, but that's another story altogether.

A 1.8", 80-gigabyte hard drive (the same ones used in Apple's iPods) are used in the MacBook Air, to conserve space and weight. Sadly, 80 gigabytes doesn't cut it for hard drive space these days. Strike two. In order to solve the problem, an external drive would be required to store the user's photos, music, movies, and documents, which brings me to my next beef.

Apple included only one USB port on the MacBook Air. While other notebook manufacturers are including as many as four USB ports on their portables, I feel this a poor area to cut corners in. Only geeks know how to set up and run wireless print servers; the rest of us plug in our printers via USB. Some of us like external keyboards and mice; especially while working at a desk. Not to mention, we plug in our iPods and digital cameras. Not enough USB ports? Strike three. I suppose you could buy a USB hub to connect all your peripherals to.

Apple further slimmed the design by omitting the optical drive. You can buy a specially-designed external drive from Apple for 100 bucks (sold separately, of course). Now, I agree that my optical drives get little usage; I likely burn 1 disc per month, but it's the security blanket issue that concerns me (what I mean by this is explained below). Apple has been ingenious in designing a clever little application that allows the user to 'hijack' the optical drive of a networked machine, and have the software install on the MacBook via a wireless network connection. I am quite intrigued by this technology, if it works, then it will be really cool to witness, and may spell the end of optical drives on portables. What scares me, is how does one boot from a system recovery disc on this machine, if, heaven forbid, the hard drive fails? I would like to do further research into their wireless-optical-drive-hijacking thingy before I administer another strike.

The MacBook Air does not have built-in Ethernet. Its only connection to the rest of the world is via its' wireless capabilities. You can, however, purchase a USB to Ethernet dongle and connect to your local area network that way. Another cursed dongle. As far as Ethernet goes, I don't think I have ever connected my notebook to the network via Ethernet, so I am unsure if this is deserving of a strike.

Apple ensured that every MacBook Air comes stock with 2 Gigabytes of RAM installed. What they don't tell you is that there is no room for expansion. That's right, the RAM is non-upgradeable. Now, 2 gigabytes of RAM should be enough for a year or two, but when will it not be enough? Remember, Bill Gates once said that 640k of RAM ought to be enough for everybody. Strike four.

Now, I am speculating here, but I imagine that a lot of the exciting technologies that are evident in the new MacBook Air will find their way into the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines by their next revision. I am specifically referring to the multi-touch technology Apple is continually developing, though given the relative success (or failure) of solid-state storage, and the lack of optical drives may deterime which technologies make it into these new machines. I know the MacBook Air by now sounds really compromised. Remember what all the pundits said about the iMac when it was released in 1997? "No SCSI? No ADB? No Floppy Drive? What is Steve thinking!?" They all predicted it would fail miserably -- and it was a grand slam. So we could be wrong. Maybe missing some of these features isn't much of an issue after all.

The following features would be the only things that would get me excited about purchasing a new notebook: LED backight (already in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro), lighter weight, and longer battery life (I want 8 hours!), but I am unwilling to compromise on such issues as RAM (expandable to at least 4 Gigabytes), and drive storage. And since I often deal with high-end audio production, so Firewire and Gigabit Ethernet are a must-have on my ideal machine.

So no MacBook Air for me. Although, I think we will see new MacBooks in exciting new form factors in the coming months, and those will be impressive machines. They will be thinner than the current models too -- just not as 'thin as air'.

I wonder how long it will take Low End Mac to dub this machine a 'Road Apple'.

Musings of an Uber Geek

Eureka!

I get excited abut geeky things -- especially when it involves big computers. I get especially excited when I can make 'super' computers out of the spare parts that I have lying around. Just look through my archives, and you will find many posts involving me trying the breathe new life into an old laptop that refuses to start up.

I have my iMac desktop, which is serving me well. Also at my disposal is a 13" MacBook, which still operates, though it has taken numerous trips to the local Apple-Authorized-Service-Center to get all kinds of repairs that I would otherwise not attempt while the computer is still under warranty. What I like about using the MacBook is that I can work on it anywhere: The couch, the dining room, the back yard, and yes, even the toilet. What I don't like about the MacBook is that all my personal files, my photos, my music, my bookmarks, and other necessities all reside on the iMac's drive. In order for me to use both machines requires synchronization, which gets messy. Furthermore, the number of files that exist on the iMac is so large, that it would overflow the poor MacBook, rendering it virtually useless. What would be perfect, is if I could access all my personal files that exist on the desktop computer from the laptop. All changes would be made and saved on the desktop computer.

In other words, enter the server. I need a central point in my house (perhaps even worldwide), that I can access my files quickly, and securely. This may mean that I will require a dedicated server sometime in the future, but at this point, I can make do with what I have.

Today, after some experimentation, I have begun a transitionary phase, where my desktop computer is becoming a server, at least within the confines of my residence. The first trivial step was to find a way for the laptop to access my iTunes files on my iMac.

This is simple is one sense. iTunes allows users to "share" their playlists with other connected users. I have been doing this since the MacBook arrived last May. This however, does not update your playlists, play counts, ratings, and other metadata. Today after some serious web sleuthing, I managed to get my experiment to work. It's not quite perfect, but it is a big step in the right direction.

Now I just need to do some further reading in order for the MacBook to automatically mount the Desktop machine upon login. This will require some more reading and searching on the web, but as I said, it's a step in the right direction.

Once I get this working a little more reliably, and automatically, then I can think about ensuring that my other documents can be accessed from the server. This would include my photographs, calendars, email, and documents.

Of a more serious nature, is you can probably tell, I take my digital information very seriously. I have, over the years -- at least since the "crash of 2000", tried to keep backups of my digital information. But manually backing up is only as good as your habits, and I have noticed that it takes time and effort to keep backups of my personal information.

So finally, after several years of deliberation, I will be acquiring the infrastructure necessary to ensure that my data will always be reliable.

Enter the RAID. For the uninitiated, RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Drives. The are collections of hard drives that can offer the user vast amounts of storage, and offer the user redundancy, which is the digital work means security. You see, it's never a question about if your hard drive should fail; it's more of a question of when.

What are so cool about RAIDs, is that even if a drive fails, your data remain intact. Remove the failed drive, plug in a fresh one, and the RAID array automatically backs up the data to the new drive.

So what exactly, did I order? It is an external drive with removable bays. This way, I can always store a copy of my data off-site in a secure location. This way, if there ever is a disaster of sorts, be it flood, fire, or theft, I won't be destroyed if ten years' worth of digital memories happened to disappear into a meaningless string of 1's and 0's.

Since the advent of the internet, the majority of computer users are under the false assumptions that our (essential and personal) data is safe and secure. For the most part, that is true. But our data is easily manipulated and destroyed, and therein lies a big problem. We need to ensure that in the wake of disaster, we can recover what is lost. In the computer world that means backing up often, redundancy on many levels, and storage of those redundant copies in a secure off-site location.

What are you doing to protect your essential digital memories from evaporating?

The Ad Said I Could Gain Three Inches If I Purchased Their Product

...So I did.

Within 48 hours of purchase, a 20" intel iMac was delivered to my door direct from Cupertino, California. I upgraded to a 2.0 GHz intel dual-core processor from my 2.5 year-old 1.8 G5 Power PC processor.

The reasons for this purchase is multi-faceted, but I felt I could use a machine that could crunch all the audio processing I am using while recording DH's album -- and my 'archaic' G5 is barely keeping up with 24 tracks of audio.

The other reason for upgrading involved my folks. You see, their (current) computer is a Strawberry iMac they purchased in 1999. They have been long overdue for an upgrade, and they don't necessarily need "bleeding edge" technology. So I agreed to sell them my old iMac for a reduced price.

Speaking of "bleeding edge" technology, the iMac I purchased isn't brand new. It's been refurbished, and is approximately 1 year old. Nonetheless, it came with a 1-year warranty, and still packs double the processing power my old Mac could do. I had many reasons for choosing an older computer, versus a technology that is cutting-edge.

1. Technology such as computers depreciate in value at an alarming rate. If a person needs the latest and greatest gadget, the consumer is going to be taken (financially) to the cleaners. I saved a huge bundle of cash by buying a refurbished computer from Apple. Somewhere in the vicinity of $400-500, to be frank.
   
2. I didn't feel I could afford a brand-new machine. Two thousand bucks isn't petty cash. Spending 1400 bucks on an older machine lessened the sting.
3. I was specifically looking for a model with a larger screen. As much as I would have loved to buy a 24" iMac (the current Core 2 Duo model) just wasn't in the cards, and the price tag was well out of my range. The refurbished model won again in this category.
   
4. Buying an older model computer allows the manufacturers time to work out the bugs. My Macbook is the prime example of this. I have lost count how many times that laptop has been in the shop, and it still needs to go back for repairs.
   

I guess what they say about "bleeding edge" technology is right. It is a two-edged sword. Either you try to keep up with technology, spending many thousands of dollars on the latest and greatest, but what you pay for, doesn't always work the way you want it to.

The Intel transition is still occurring, and even though it has been a year since Apple released their first computer with an Intel chip, there are still many, many programs out there that do not run natively on the Intel architecture. This means that many of the programs I use (games fall victim to this problem more often than not) either work very slowly, or not at all.

Had my recording software not been Intel native, I would not have upgraded. Fortunately, GarageBand and Logic were two of the first programs ported to the new architecture. A lot of the third-party synths and effect plug-ins I use haven't released Universal binaries, so either I am forced to wait, for find other options.

With all that being said, I feel a lot more confident in myself, now that I have gained three inches.

MacWorld San Fransisco Drinking Game

In tribute to tomorrow's Apple keynote, here are the official rules for the MacWorld San Fransisco 2007 Drinking Game:

If the text is too small, clicking the image should enlarge it.

As Merlin Mann from 43 folders said: We'll be so drunk by 11:00AM tomorrow.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/70081891@N00/

Dear Santa, er Steve

As it is getting closer and closer to that special day, I figured I had better write Santa Claus a letter and tell him what I would like for Christmas.

Though contrary to popular belief, Santa does not live at the north pole. He lives in Cupertino, California. And his first name isn't Santa. It's Steve.

Dear Steve:

It's MC Fro, and I have been especially good this year. I have never strayed from the fruit company, and continue to believe in the wondrous Macs and iPods you produce. I would like to tell you what I would like to see announced at the MacWorld Expo in San Fransisco this January: An ultra-thin 12" Widescreen MacBook Pro.

I would like to to have Intel Core 2 Duo processors, hopefully with a speed bump. If not, I would be very pleased with 2.16 or 2.33 GHz clock speeds. Even though the screen is 1" smaller than the Original MacBook, I would hope to see the same 1280 x 800 resolution, with support for monitor spanning, thus I could greatly expand my work surface by attaching a large flat-screen montior. I am going to need a lot of workspace on my screen while I finish up DH's solo album.

I require a minimum of 1 Gigabyte of RAM installed, because I will need to run Rosetta, and all the plugins I run while recording under Logic takes up a lot of RAM, so I would hope that RAM can be expanded to a high-capacity like 3-4 Gigs. I would like a high-capacity hard drive, perhaps 160 Gigabytes might be a good starting point. A dual-layer Superdrive would be acceptable to my needs.

A graphics card will absolutely be necessary, and I won't settle for the Intel-GMA 950 processor that steals my RAM. The ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB of RAM is the absolute minimum for my needs, but if you can fit 256 megabytes of RAM on it, I would be very pleased.

The built-in iSight camera is not necessary, but welcome. It is already included in all other MacBook models, so I would expect you would include one in this model as well.

Built-in Wireless technology is already included in all other MacBook models. I am looking forward to using Bluetooth 2.0 with an Apple Wireless Keyboard, and a wireless Mighty Mouse, then I wouldn't have to worry about using the 2 or 3 available USB 2.0 ports for my input peripherals. As for Airport-Extreme, I certainly hope it has the technology to support the 802.11n draft spec. The infra-red Front-Row remote is a cool gadget, and I would probably use it more than I think I normally would.

I know you will include at least Gigabit-Ethernet. I wouldn't expect any less, but it will certainly suit my needs when I need to hook up multiple computers to do all the heavy computer processing when I am mixing DH's album. This goes without saying, but I need firewire on this model. I know it might be a tall order, but if you can spare 2 firewire ports, It would make my life much easier.

The Magsafe power adapter is the coolest invention you have made for portable computers. Furthermore, I would hope all new form factors for your notebook computers will include a magnetic lid, which is present in your current MacBook. It's so much cleaner than having the hooks and release buttons. Furthermore, you do not have to worry about moving parts getting worn or breaking.

I would like to see a thin form factor, and an aluminum enclosure, a 3-speaker built-in sound system as which was present in the old 12" G4 Powerbooks. To keep things straight across the MacBook board, I would be ecstatic if it had that funky blue backlit keyboard.

I hope you can cram as much juice as possible into that thin battery, I sincerely hope I can get 6 hours of battery life out of this model. Weight is also an issue with me, as is portability. If this book could weight less than 5 pounds, I would be ecstatic.

A price point of about $1749 US.

I know I am being rather demanding about my specifications of this small, ultra-thin MacBook Pro. But I think if it were produced, everybody would drool over it. Anyone who had this book in a coffee shop would be the envy of everyone around. I know you and your elves are fantastic engineers, and I know you and your crew can produce something as wonderful as this. If I hear about this product this January at Macworld San Fransisco, my credit card will leap out of my wallet onto my desk like a spawning Salmon. I, of course, would have no objection to finding a pre-release model underneath the tree this Christmas morning.

Respectfully yours,

MC Fro

Everything Is Automatic

Over the past few days, I have been tinkering with one of OSX Tiger's most powerful new features: Automator. It can be described as "AppleScript on steroids", but this is a whole new way of programming altogether. For the uninitiated, what Automator allows you the user to do, is create "workflows" -- a series of repetitive commands, that you find yourself performing on a regular basis. The interface is 100% GUI, and you build your workflows by dragging and dropping them in the application. I say this again in different words: in contrast to AppleScript, there is no coding to be had.

What kind of workflows you design is up to the preferences of the programmer. There are already dozens of workflows available for those who use Photoshop a great deal. If you want to download a number of images from the web and upload them to your iPhoto, you can do it with one click with Automator. Say you want to email a bunch of files to a friend. Select the files, right-click, select the desired action, and you will have a mail message window open with a zip-compressed archive already attached. There are workflows for iTunes, Mail, Safari, and even Xcode programmers can benefit from Automator.

What makes this program even more powerful, is that it is built directly into the Tiger OS. This means the Automator program does not even have to be running for you to run your workflows. In fact, once you compile the workflow, you can set it to appear in the right-click contextual menu. Automator currently works seamlessly with all Apple applications, while third-parties are quickly jumping on the bandwagon. It is rumored that automator plugins for Firefox will be available shortly.

I have already built a few Automator workflows myself. I found it to be ridiculously easy. Within seconds, I had designed and implemented a new workflow for immediate and future use. With subsequent OSX updates, and once major third-parties jump on the Automator bandwagon, I highly suspect Automator is going to change the way Mac fanatics are going to use their computers.

While surfing the web for more Automator ideas, I came across Automator World. This is a site dedicated to promoting, designing and making available workflows for those who are a little fearful of doing a little programming themselves, or who just need a few more ideas before jumping in with both feet. Check it out, I bet you'll find an action that you would find indispensable.

I, also being a user of Windoze XP, have never seen anything in the Wintel world that comes close to Automator in its simple design, ease of use, or made available free to users of their operating system. I thought I was excited about Dashboard, but Automator is by far, the most riveting addition to the Mac Operating System since the release of OSX 10.0. Conversely, Win XP users have to wait more than a year before they can enjoy the new technologies of Longhorn, an many of us are speculative if Longhorn will come close to OSX's stability, security, ease of use, or new technology integration.

The Wheels Are Set In Motion

Today in the Blogosphere: Matt and Jen meet Tony in L.A. for some good times.

Elsewhere in web, the forums are heated with flame wars over Apple's switch to Intel. It's amazing the childish idiocy that are prevalent in these forums. It's not doomsday people; Apple will still be a leading innovator in the computing industry. They will still manufacture high-quality computers, and develop cutting-edge software that Micro$oft cannot touch. The news has only been out for two days, and I'm already getting sick of reading about it. I don't even have the energy to comment on it at this time. I'd rather wait until the smoke clears, and then I shall have a better idea about Apple's future, which I still believe is very bright.

Since I left Legacy in 2002, I decided that I was going to make music on my own terms and no one else's. I also sat around for many months, waiting for the phone to ring, as well as connect with the right people to put together an act of a caliber that no one in this town has seen. After waiting endless months of waiting for the gigs to come my way, it became apparent that I would have to be a little more proactive in securing my next gig. I have been lucky to dedicate my energies to a few side projects here and there, but I was never gigging as much as I would have liked, and I wasn't playing material I was necessarily passionate about. All this time, I have been dreaming of a new band, where I could hand-pick the musicians I would work with, and have a band that I could be proud of.

On Monday, and after three years, this dream was put into motion. RH, the bass player from the SK sessions, and MA from my past Grease experience, have both agreed to work with me on my new project. The timing is impeccable, as I will no longer be a contributing member of Mule Shoe in three days.

Monday was the first time RH and MA met, so Monday's practice was generally an icebreaker, we had barley pops, listened to music and did very little playing. We did however come up with a bit of a game plan, burned CD's of music to learn, and agreed to meet next week for the first practice. We plan on doing thing the right way from day one. There will be no high-volume practices in the foreseeable future. Our practices are going to center around acoustic guitars, working on vocal arrangements. Once gigging is in the foreseeable future, then we will move to full-instrumentation, and I have a feeling that those kinds of practices will be few and far between.

Both RH and MA are accomplished musicians who collectively have more than thirty years in the club scenes of Winnipeg and Vancouver. They have a lot of talent to contribute to this endeavor, and I have great faith that they will exceed my expectations. I expect we will be a force to be reckoned with in this city once we hit the scene -- and I hope that will happen before 2006.

I shouldn't have to mention that I am very excited about our next rehearsal on Monday.

Brave New World aka A Pact With The Devil?

This must be the biggest news in Apple's history since the introduction of the iMac. The rumors indeed have been true, that Apple is leaving Motorola and IBM for good, and future computers will be built using Intel processors.

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs made the announcement at the Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, I felt the Earth shake.

This is huge.

From a hardware standpoint, by 2007, all Apple computers will be virtually indistinguishable from Wintel boxes. This has been a long and painful progression for Apple, as the first Macintosh was built with components that were specially designed and incompatible with IBM PC architecture. Little by little, Apple has realized that their future would reside in components that would be compatible with the rest of the computing world. I remember the day that Apple began using PC compatible hard drives and RAM, which was likely one of the smartest moves they ever made. Now the transition will be complete by 2007.

A lot of die-hard Apple fans feel like they have been abandoned. I have mixed feelings about the switch, as I think the effects of this transition will only be realized over the next year. I am sad to see Apple drop the IBM architecture, as I had good vibes about the next-generation Cell processor. I do believe the switch has saved Apple from an uncertain future. Switching to Intel is another step in the direction of convergence, where all computing platforms (OSX, Windoze, and *nix) will be able to interact with one another on an unprecedented level.

About an hour ago, I watched Steve Jobs' Keynote where he announced this incredible news. The crowd was eerily quiet by the announcement, likely due to mass shock. One of the most riveting statements Jobs made was that all versions of OSX have been developed on both PowerPC and Intel architectures. I think this was a precautionary measure, if Apple computer sales tanked, then they could release OSX to the PC platform, and still manage to stay alive in the software business. You cannot deny that when it comes to synergy in software development, integration, and ease of use, Apple is at the top of the heap.

I think it is going to be exciting to see Apple's next-generation machines. I particularly like the fact that I could run OSX, Linux and Windoze on one machine. This would be an ideal software development platform, as you could simultaneously develop software for all computing platforms on the fly. It was stated at the conference that future intel-based Macintosh computers would be able to run Windoze, but PC Clones would be incapable of running OSX. I am curious to see how they plan to accomplish this; I am sure some hacker will be able to make a crack so the rest of the computing world can use the world's most advanced operating system. You know as well as I do that there are countless PC users out there who are sick and tired of viruses and spyware. This might be the development they have been waiting for to take the plunge and switch to a more robust and secure operating system.

Over the past day, I have been reading a large number of forums who are discussing this very subject. The general consensus is not very optimistic. Many feel that the transition is going to be a bumpy one, and will hurt Apple in the short run. From what I saw from the keynote, the transition from PowerPC to Intel is going to be seamless, and transparent. Developers are encouraged to develop cross-platform binaries from this point forward, a new version of XCode -- Apple's software development package -- was released yesterday that allows developers to port their software to Intel platforms with little headache. In fact, they claimed Mathematica was ported in approximately two hours.

It is Rosetta that will allow backward-compatibility for PowerPC developed software to run seamlessly on future Intel machines. It is an amazing translation / emulation technology that Apple developed, which is incredibly fast, and superior in every way to Classic emulation. With all these developments, I doubt we will even see a hiccup in the migration from one platform to another.

On a slightly different tangent, I guess Apple's old slogan Think different no longer applies.

The Last-Ditch Effort

Longtime readers of this weblog will know the tragic tale of my laptop, its' benign and naive early days, and its quick fall from grace.

Hindsight tells me I purchased a lemon. It was an "eBay special", and I originally thought I got a good deal. I sank a fair amount of money into extra peripherals and software, though the efforts may as well have been in vain.

A little more than a year ago, I spilled my highball on the display and fried it. I was heartbroken. I had sunk well over a thousand dollars into that machine, and it barely lasted me six months. It was imperative that I repair the machine, since I could not afford a new one. Since the computer was fully operational (besides the display), it could likely be repaired, provided I could find the necessary parts on eBay.

After I consulted my computer-savvy friends, it was brought to my attention that it was likely the inverter board that blew. It is a small circuit board that provides high-voltage to power the LCD screen. My friends almost unanimously agreed that this was likely the culprit, and it could be easily replaced.

All the while, I was still using my computer. Apple was ingenious for developing the A/V port on laptops, that not only worked as a headphone jack, but also could provide video as well. Using the A/V Cable, I plugged my computer into the television set and managed to get a picture. The resolution was atrocious; it was difficult to read text without changing the resolution of the screen to 640 x 480, but I managed while I waited for my replacement part to arrive in the mail.

When my inverter board arrived, I spent more than a few hours carefully performing open-heart surgery on my precious laptop. It was a much more delicate endeavor than I had imagined. I had serviced desktop computers before, but the laptop was a challenge, since there is next to no free space within. When I finally had the machine assembled (with no leftover parts remaining), I held my breath, and pressed the power button.

I heard the start-up chime, which was a good thing, and I patiently waited to see the screen light up. All I got was a brief flicker, then a blank screen. Was I heartbroken. I had spent all this extra money on a part that didn't help my predicament. At least I could still run the computer from the television, I could listen to music or play a few of the games. I could still use the computer for the time being, though it was crippled, and I imagined another solution would eventually present itself. I still believed my machine could be repaired.

A few months had passed, while no solution had presented itself (that is to say, no cheap replacement parts were available on eBay), an act of dog sent my laptop flying five feet from the top of television to the floor. The machine had been on at the time, and I feared the worst. The A/V cable that connected the computer to the television had been severed, the jack still embedded in the computer. The display was damaged further, hinges were bent, and it was obvious that I would have to replace the entire screen if this machine was to return to its' former glory. Clouds formed overhead, and I heard the rumble of distant thunder. Zeus was not pleased.

Generally speaking, with respect to laptops, if the screen is damaged, you may as well buy a new computer, since the cost to replace the screen is likely more than the value of the laptop. This point also holds true if the logic board is damaged.

I counted my lucky stars that the computer would still boot. I still managed to run the machine via a replacement A/V cable, and I moved the setup to a corner downstairs where the dog would not likely give my laptop an aeronautics lesson.

All the while, I had been searching forums on the web searching for repair solutions for my little iBook. I soon discovered that I was not alone, and many iBook owners reported having problems with their display. Many users reported their troubles were due to a faulty logic board. In fact, the problem was so severe, that Apple implemented an iBook display replacement program as part of their warranty. Since I bought the iBook second-hand, and due to the fact that the iBook was three years old, I did not qualify for the free maintenance.

Last summer, my iBook finally died. It just happened one day, the laptop would not boot. I managed to get a startup chime, but there was no screen on the television, nor did I hear the hard drive spin up and load the operating system. In a panic, I thought the hard drive might be corrupted somewhere in the boot sector, so I tried to boot the computer from my OSX install CD, but that attempt proved fruitless. My laptop had become a very expensive paperweight.

To make things worse, I could not boot into single user mode, nor could I boot into open firmware. I had an Apple Hardware test CD that runs diagnostics on the computer hardware, but I couldn't even get that to load. All signs were pointing to a logic board failure, and that meant my laptop was beyond repair.

The hard drive on that laptop was the keeper of a great many files that were very important to me. I had a backup of my original webpage that resided at Yahoo! GeoCities. There were hundreds of emails, jpegs, and documents that I could not afford to lose. There had to be a way that I could rescue those documents and transfer them to my iMac.

My computer-geek friends had advised me that we could dissect the computer, and place the hard drive into an external firewire hard drive enclosure. This seemed like the best option, though I didn't like the idea of spending a number of hours ripping apart the laptop to disconnect the hard drive. The online iBook service schematics showed that you had to virtually disassemble the entire laptop in order to remove the hard drive. It has also been six months since I purchased my replacement computer, and my friends hadn't been able to find the necessary time to assist me in the surgery.

Last night, I could wait no longer, as I needed those files that were sitting idly on my laptop. It was a longshot, but there was one more thing I could attempt in order to rescue all my coveted files. I bought a firewire cable and directly connected the two machines. I was hoping that I might be able to boot my laptop into firewire target disk mode, and then copy the files directly to my new computer. I hit the power key on my laptop, held down the 'T' key and prayed.

I had nearly given up all hope, and then I saw a second hard drive icon appear on the desktop of my iMac. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and I proceeded to copy the files I had so missed to my iMac. I even ran disk first aid on the laptop to repair any corrupt sectors of the hard drive. I have not attempted to boot the laptop, but I imagine I will attempt this tonight, and see if the laptop will boot, or if it is indeed the logic board that is dysfunctional.

Now that I have rescued all my webpage documents from ages past, I highly anticipate that my Tour Journal from 1999 will be updated frequently.

Yesterday, the sun was shining, and Zeus was well-pleased.

Countdown Update

MC Fro's Top 5 Tunes is a feature on this site that I particularly enjoy, and a feature I update when time permits (but also when there is a noticeable change in the rankings). I enjoy discussing the music that I am currently listening to, so this is a very easy way for me to let you all know my musical tastes and influences.

Since I use iTunes exclusively when I am listening to music, it is relatively easy to research what music is most popular in my music player. The Smart Playlist feature is likely the strongest feature of said program, which allows me to create playlists to accommodate my mood entirely on the fly.

That being said, the technology isn't entirely perfect. To reflect my current musical tastes, and to have frequent changes in the playlist, I have had to edit the parameters of the playlist more than a few times. Now, the Top 5 feature reflects popular music that has been played in the last two weeks. Now I expect the Top 5 Feature to change frequently.

I hope you all enjoy this feature of the website. You might glance over that feature entirely. By the way, if you aren't using iTunes as your primary digital music player, what's stopping you? It is by far the most advanced (and easy to use) music management program out there.

Tiger Stripes

As fully expected, at 18:00 hours yesterday, I found myself at the neighborhood computer shop, greedily purchasing Apple's next-generation operating system, Tiger. My computer had been fully upgraded within an hour.

This recent post clearly indicates a few of the new technologies I was excited to obtain for my use, therefore I don't feel like being redundant; you may read about the technologies in my post, or navigate here. Spotlight and Dashboard are incredible new technologies; and the new version of Mail is very impressive. I was also impressed with Quicktime 7, soon to be available for Windows, which includes the new High-definition codec H.264. I watched a few special HD features available on Apple's Website, and I was blown away. The H.264 codec is better, I mean, way better then DVD video!

I also got a nice performance boost from Tiger, as the operating system is optimized for the 64-bit G5 processor. My computer is fully operational in under 20 seconds from a cold-start-up. I consider that pretty amazing given the immense size of this operating system.

The one technology that didn't end up meeting my expectations was Safari. It is very fast, but a few of the technologies could have been engineered better. The built-in RSS reader isn't as robust as Firefox's, and I don't particularity care how Safari manages bookmarks. The final straw occurred when I realized that many of the Blogger features were not present. If I were to add hyperlinks, or change the formatting of my text, I would have to code them manually. I like "push-button publishing". I already waste too much time writing and editing my posts. I can't be bothered to waste more time fretting over html tags. I did that six years ago with my first attempts at designing websites. It appears that Firefox will continue to be my default browser.

I have noted a few glitches with Tiger, but they all centered around third-party software. The glitches are very minor, and my computer has not yet frozen, nor have I experienced a kernel panic (I experienced about 4 kernel panics while using Panther). I fully expect that these glitches will be ironed out in the coming weeks as more Mac users upgrade their operating systems.

[Ed. note: My Windoze computer at work manages to freeze and suffer a kernel panic about 4 or 5 times per week. Friday was particularly bad, and I finally had enough and re-installed the operating system. Needless to say, I was rather perturbed by the time I left work.]

Overall, OSX Tiger is getting rave reviews from critics all over the world. I must concur that this upgrade is worthwhile for any Mac user. Spotlight and Dashboard are worth the price of admission alone.

Warp Drive

This morning, as anticipated, Apple announced the immediate availability of the new line of Power Mac computers. Though this is not a groundbreaking release, all the models show an improvement in processor speed, file storage, and in the base level of installed RAM. Most noteworthy of mention, these computers have dual-layer DVD-ROMs included in their architecture. This essentially doubles the amount of information you can burn on one DVD.

Apple's flagship model now clocks in at 2.7 gigahertz on each processor. That's an incredible amount of number-crunching power. With power comes price. These towers are designed for research, graphic design, and multimedia production. Designed for professionals, the dual-processor models start at $2499.00 CDN.

Advocates of the Intel platform will tell you time and time again that the Pentium-4 chips clock much faster than the IBM Power PC chips that Apple utilizes. Don't be misled by their arguments. Apple is climbing the ranks of number-crunching power. The latest results by Apple state that their towers out-perform the competition in almost every computing task. I will not hesitate to mention that Apple may (or may not) have skewed the results in their favor.

This release comes in anticipation of the release of Apple's next-generation operating system, Tiger, due Friday. The average computer user will soon know what it means to have a next-generation interface at their fingertips. And yes, I expect to be one of the first people in my city to own this operating system.

Hobbes on April 29

Today Apple announced the release of OSX Tiger, which will be available to the public on April 29.

There are dozens of new exciting technologies that have been developed, and will be included in this major upgrade to the Mac operating system. This release of OSX has been coded for optimum performance on a 64-bit G5 processor, so my computer will fly. Some of the more exciting features is Dashboard, which is a handy way to use widgets -- small programs designed to make the gathering of desireble information very quick and easy. Some of the widgets developed for Tiger include a Calculator, Sticky Notes, a Dictionary, real-time stock quotes, among many others.

Also noteworthy of mention is the integration of Spotlight, a new searching technology that will make finding files on your computer incredibly fast. Spotlight is going to revolutionize the way we store and retrieve information on our computers. There will be no more waiting for the computer to scan the hard drive.

Major upgrades to standard Mac applications such as Mail, Safari and Quicktime are also bundled in Tiger. The inclusion of RSS technology in Safari will mean that I can dump Firefox and exclusively use one browser. Nothing against Firefox, I think it is currently the best browser out there... For PC's. Safari is a faster browser for Mac though.

Us Mac users can enjoy another major upgrade to our operating system, which includes many new technologies that may revolutionize the way we use our computers. Conversely, the PC world continues to wait for the release of Longhorn, which appears like it won't make its debut until 2006 at the very earliest.

It's The Eye of The _____

In my spare time today, I took a few moments to watch the Macworld 2005 keynote speech of a few weeks past. I am not going to go into the major details of what was all discussed, but if you like, you can view the keynote speech here.

After watching the two-hour presentation, I was blown away by the features of Apple's newest applications, including Apple's next-generation operating system, OSX Tiger. The new technologies integrated into this release of OSX will make file management incredibly fast and simple. The improvements and integration of all of Apple's software is so fast, slick, and seamless, it is downright scary.

It's all about synergy. People want their computer programs to interact seamlessly with one another. They all want a familiar interface, they want it simple, and they want to manually manipulate objects, instead of using commands, dialog boxes, and drop-down menus. Apple has done it again by releasing state-of-the-art software. But don't take my word for it; see for yourself.

It may seem like I have been plugging Apple a lot recently, but I would like to add that many software developers are pushing the envelope, developing new technologies to make our life easier, even Micro$oft.

From the Garage to the Studio

One thing I did not mention about last week's keynote speech at the Macworld Expo, was the release of iLife '05, Apple's software suite that includes upgraded versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iTunes, and Garageband. Many of the upgraded versions sport some very exciting features, including Garageband, which is growing from a low-end audio production suite to a powerful application.

Apple is borrowing technology from their high-end production suite Logic, and offering it in Garageband. The most impressive feature with the new version is the ability to multitrack record (record up to 9 inputs at one time), music notation and transcription (most audio production suites shy away from notation), and automatic tuning features for less-than-stellar vocals. For these features alone, it might be worth the $99 upgrade fee.

One thing that makes Garageband worth more than it's weight in gold is the bundle of software instruments and effect plug-ins that come with the program. I discovered (accidentally) that Apple allows the ability to use Audio Units, which are plug-ins designed specifically for Logic. Once I discovered this, I knew that Garageband could be expanded well beyond it's limits. Strangely enough, Apple doesn't tell you how to go about installing these extra packages (likely because they want the user to purchase their Jam Packs instead). I had to resort to finding the answer to my query on the web. I tried using the Audio Units provided in my Garageband package, and I was blown away by the sound quality. My tracks sounded sparkling and full of life. I knew I had to have more.

Last night I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who happens to be a very serious recording engineer. He owns his own recording studio and over the years has probably invested well over six figures into his recording equipment arsenal. He also happens to be a big-time Apple nut. We were talking about the latest releases from Apple, when he suggested I visit a site called KVR Audio. What I found was a site dedicated to the distribution of open-source audio plug-ins for all the major audio-production suites, including Pro Tools, Cubase VST, Logic, and Garageband. I downloaded a couple freeware Audio Units to see if they would work in Garageband. After some fiddling (and a little prayer) I managed to install these plug-ins and had them working in Garageband. Needless to say, I was electrified, and impressed by the sound coming out of my speakers.

If you are into computer-assisted audio recording, you have to check out the KVR Audio site. I have placed a weblink to the site on the sidebar. Once there, you will find links to almost any plug-in imaginable and software is available for nearly every suite, as well as any platform you use (PC, Mac, OSX).

The Next [Small] Things From Apple

[Ed Note: apparently, I cannot upload images at this time, so I will have to write this entry sans graphics. If you want to see images of the products I am talking about, visit Apple's homepage.]

Today was a big day for Apple. During the keynote speech, CEO Steve Jobs unveiled new software and new products. Noteworthy of mention was the release of the most affordable iPod ever, the iPod Shuffle.

Using flash memory, weighing less than an ounce and about the size of a pack of gum (think Juicy Fruit), the two new versions of the iPod can hold 120 or 240 songs, for the price of $99 US or $149 respectively. Also worthy of mention is the iPod's 12-hour battery life. If I didn't own an iPod already, I would not hesitate to buy one myself. I can't believe the price. I predict these little pieces of 21st century fashion are going to fly off the shelves. Once again, Apple is securing is domination of the digital music market.

On second thought, I could probably have use for an iPod Shuffle. I'd use the little one for music, and my 15-gigger as an external hard drive and backup utility.

Apple's second major release today blew me away. Apple released the most affordable Mac computer ever today, in an attempt to lure PC users (and iPod owners) away from the Windoze platform. The Mac Mini is about the size of 5 CD cases (about 6 inches by 6 inches by 2 inches in height), weighs in at about 3 pounds, contains a CD-RW and a DVD-ROM drive, and a 32-megabyte ATI graphics card. If you are a wireless type person, the Mac Mini is capable of 802.11g wireless technology, and able to use Bluetooth peripherals. It only comes stock with 256 megabytes of RAM (expandable to 1 Gigabyte) and a 40-gig hard drive, but what floored me was the price point: $499 US!

When I first saw images of the Mac Mini, my first thought was "The Cube has returned"! It has been widely speculated the main reason why the Cube miserably failed was that the price point was far too high. Now, Apple has introduced a machine that is reminiscent of the Cube, but at the lowest price point in Apple's history (not to mention, many times more powerful than the original Cube).

The initial response from the on-line community has been staggering. The servers at The Apple Store has been overloaded, as on-line discussion forums. From what I have read, the majority of readers are blown away by this new machine. This could very well become the most successful Mac ever -- even if it is (comparatively) not as powerful as other Mac models.

The Next [Big] Things From Apple

I imagine the small size of the Mac Mini (and low price point) may be attractive to cluster-computing enthusiasts. For the uninitiated, a cluster is a supercomputer that is made up of a number of computers networked together in such a way to "act" as one brain. You could stack seven Mac Minis on top of one another, and it would be approximately the same size as a PC tower -- but its computing performance would be considerably greater than a PC of the same physical dimensions. Better yet, Apple has created Xgrid, a program that manages supercomputing clusters, making the job easier for the programmer. Surely, the Mac Mini is not powerful enough for massive supercomputing institutions, but might prove to be an affordable alternative for supercomputing enthusiasts and smaller outfits.

When I first became interested in the possibility of cluster supercomputing, Apple had not reseased OSX, nor Xgrid. Supercomputing (I had found through a few small experiments) was not for the faint of heart. Today, it is easier to be a programmer, or researcher and use Apple technology for the world's supercomputing needs. In fact in recent years, some of the world's most powerful supercomputers have been using Apple computers and OSX for their supercomputing needs. When Apple released the G5 computer last year, it was found that by using Apple computers (and technology) researchers could build supercomputers for a fraction of the cost using Intel architecture and Linux operating systems. Virginia Tech was the first institution to build a supercomputer using the G5 architecture. 1100 nodes later, they had created the 3rd fastest computer in the world. The price tag was only about $5 million (similar machines cost in the ballpark of $100-250 million). Since then, many institutions have followed suit and opted to use Apple technology.

I really wish people wouldn't patronize Apple. People may like their Wintel boxes better, but Apple always comes up with an innovate idea that keeps them from disappearing into obscurity. These could be famous last words, but as long as Steve Jobs remains in the Apple picture, I expect them to remain in business -- even if they hold 5 percent of the market.