About this Author
Sandy McMurray is a long-time technology journalist whose work has appeared in Time, the Globe & Mail, the Toronto Sun, Report on Business, Profit, and other sources. Between 1995 - 2002, Sandy wrote a weekly column about technology for the Toronto Sun, and served as Technology Editor for five Sun Media newspapers. He has been publishing on the Web since 1996.
Contact: readme@mac.com
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Monthly Archives
June 30, 2004
Posted by Sandy
Would you trade in an old iPod to get $100 off a Dell DJ? "I think it's unlikely that iPod users are going to give up their old iPods," said Tim Deal, analyst at Technology Business Research, despite Dell's "innovative and aggressive marketing strategy."
There are more reasons, Deal said. The iPod "is not just about the hardware, it's about the entire experience. Apple still offers the best integrated experience, from using the iTunes music store and application to the (iPod) hardware. It's easy to use," Deal said. Deal said he has tried both the iPod and players based on Microsoft software, such as the DJ.
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| Category: Headlines
June 29, 2004
Posted by Sandy
Another "wow" moment from the WWDC keynote: Jobs shows that the System Preferences (control panel) in OS X Tiger knows that "wallpaper" means "desktop picture" and "WiFi" or "802.11" is the same as "Airport," and it highlights the proper Preference Pane to select based on the user's search.
That's smart, but it will be even smarter if Tiger uses this approach system-wide for context-sensitive Help. Users don't really want a good knowledge base to consult when things go wrong -- they want the problem to be instantly diagnosed and fixed for them. The closer a Help system can get to that, the better.
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| Category: Analysis
Posted by Sandy
It's interesting to watch the WWDC 2004 keynote and note when the audience of Mac developers applaud or gasp or groan.
During Jobs' presentation of the new metadata indexing feature in OS X Tiger, the burst of applause came not for the search itself, but when Jobs showed that searches can be saved as "Smart Folders" in the Finder and "Smart Groups" in Address Book. The technology itself isn't the story -- it's these amazing self-updating tools that use the Spotlight tech. Cool.
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| Category: Headlines
June 28, 2004
Posted by Sandy
 poach v. To take or appropriate something unfairly or illegally.
After introducing new Cinema Displays at WWDC today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs turned to Tiger -- the next version of Mac OS X, which will ship in 2005.
Jobs focused on ten of the new features promised in Tiger. Surprisingly, the biggest reaction was negative, and came in response to a feature that's very similar to a popular Mac shareware app.
...continue reading.
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| Category: Analysis
Posted by Sandy
 Apple introduced three all-new, redesigned Cinema Displays today at WWDC. Each display features built-in USB and FireWire ports in a new anodized aluminum enclosure that matches the G5 and PowerBook finish.
Apple has retired its proprietary ADC connectors in all three models, switching to the industry standard DVI connector. The 20-inch and 23-inch models, which are PC-compatible, will sell for $1,299 and $1,999 respectively.
The new 30-inch Cinema Display is a monster. It requires the two DVI video ports provided by a brand new customized NVIDIA video card . It also requires a second mortgage; the 30-inch model will sell for $3,299 (plus $599 for the video card).
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| Category: Gadgets
June 21, 2004
Posted by Sandy
David Munns of EMI Music says an iTunes store for Canada may be just around the corner. "I saw Steve Jobs [last week] and he is acutely aware the Canadian consumer is knocking on his door," Mr. Munns says. "I'd say it is very much on his radar now." Canadians music fans may consider this to be good news, but I'm not so sure. I thought negotiations were ongoing; now it appears that they're just about to start.
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| Category: Recommended Reading
June 09, 2004
Posted by Sandy
 The new Power Macs, which were announced today, feature dual G5 processors and high bandwidth -- up to a 1.25GHz frontside bus per processor. The new "best" Power Mac has two processors running at 2.5 GHz and features an advanced liquid cooling system.
The dual 1.8 GHz and dual 2.0 GHz models are available now, but the liquid-cooled model will not ship until July. (Perhaps the "advanced liquid cooling" is Aquafina water, provided by Pepsi.)
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| Category: Headlines
June 08, 2004
Posted by Sandy
The Beatles' music is not available for online purchase. Not yet, anyway. But you can bet that every online music store would love to make a deal; preferably, an exclusive deal to sell Beatles songs online.
If you've ever wondered what tough business negotiations are like, here's a small sample. The following is a partial transcript of secret, behind-the-scenes negotiations between Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs, Apple Corps, the public face of the Beatles, and EMI, the group's record label.
...continue reading.
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| Category: Headlines
Posted by Sandy
Greg Narain's thoughtful response to my post about Pocket Rendezvous misses one critical point: I was comparing portable Macs to other portable devices.
As for the "unique traits of portable devices" Greg mentions, I think they also apply to iBooks and PowerBooks.
...continue reading.
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| Category: Analysis
June 07, 2004
Posted by Sandy
from a MacWorld editor's note by Jason Snell: iTunes does the heavy lifting. When iTunes plays back standard audio content (AAC, MP3, audiobooks, music streams), it decompresses those file formats and creates what's essentially a raw, uncompressed audio stream. That stream is compressed on the fly using Apple's Lossless Compression, encrypted, and sent to the AirPort Express. AirPort Express decrypts the stream, decodes it, and outputs it in either analog format (if you plug in a standard analog mini jack) or as a digital PCM stream (if you plug in a mini-sized optical cable, which you can get from most major cable suppliers or straight from Apple for $39).
If iTunes is playing back a digital multichannel file format like AC3 (Dolby Digital) or DTS, those bitstreams are wrapped in Apple's compression and encryption, and then decoded at the other end. In those cases, AirPort Express would end up streaming the raw AC3 or DTS stream via an optical cable to your home theater receiver for decoding. more here
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| Category: Recommended Reading
Posted by Sandy
 As noted here: Apple has released a new security update for Mac OS X. After this update, every new application will require user approval to run for the first time. This solution should reduce the risk of running a program that comes disguised as another type of file.
Use Software Update to get the fix or use one of these links:
- for Mac OS X 10.3.4
- for Mac OS X 10.2.8
...continue reading.
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| Category: Headlines
Posted by Sandy
 AirPort Express, announced today, is brilliant in its simplicity.
In addition to wireless Internet and print sharing, AirPort Express users gain the ability to send music to any stereo from iTunes. (It's also going to come in handy for travel, when you want to be wireless in your hotel room, for example. rather than tethered to a desk.)
...continue reading.
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| Category: Headlines
June 05, 2004
Posted by Sandy
I bow, once again, to the insight and wisdom of John Gruber. His latest essay, "Broken Windows," attacks the persistent idea that Macs are more secure only because they do not have a higher market share. So, let’s concede the point, just for the sake of argument: OK, fine, if the Mac had the same market share as Windows, the tables would be turned and there’d be just as many Mac security exploits as there are Windows exploits today.
Now what? Given that the Mac is never going to attain a monopoly share of the operating systems market — that merely expanding its share to, say, 10 percent would be universally hailed as an almost-too-good-to-be-true success — isn’t it thus only logical to conclude that the Mac is forever "doomed" to be significantly more secure than Windows? I'm glad to have Daring Fireball in my neighborhood.
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| Category: Recommended Reading
June 04, 2004
Posted by Sandy
 Stowe Boyd Greg Narain notes the exciting potential of Pocket Rendezvous -- a system that would help handheld devices to "discover" each other so they can share data.
What struck me as I read this item is that most of the things he's dreaming about are things I take for granted on the Mac. I don't need a Rendezvous-enabled Palm; I have a PowerBook!
...continue reading.
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| Category: Recommended Reading
June 03, 2004
Posted by Sandy
McDonalds and Sony have announced a promotion that will bundle free songs with Big Macs.
Starting June 8, U.S. customers who buy a Big Mac Extra Value meal will get a code good for one free song from the Connect music store. The deal will be offered in Europe as well several weeks later.
Details here.
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| Category: Headlines
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