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Metallic MacBooks Spotted on Apple Campus
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Aluminum is far superior to black / white plastic.
1. The palm rests aren't going to discolor as easily
2. the keys on the keyboard aren't going to fade as easily
3. Aluminum build quality is sexy and light
4. Aluminum is better.
In Conclusion, I could care less about what they do with the MacBook line, because I feel there will always be a cheaper alternative to distinguish the Pro line, and hopefully come MacWorld Apple will treat us with an new epic laptop and we can all squeal like little girls. ( with credit cards in hand )
1. The palm rests aren't going to discolor as easily
2. the keys on the keyboard aren't going to fade as easily
3. Aluminum build quality is sexy and light
4. Aluminum is better.
In Conclusion, I could care less about what they do with the MacBook line, because I feel there will always be a cheaper alternative to distinguish the Pro line, and hopefully come MacWorld Apple will treat us with an new epic laptop and we can all squeal like little girls. ( with credit cards in hand )
I know Apple wasn't the first out with USB, I said (or meant to say, if it wasn't clear) they were the first to popularize it. I remember when USB first came out, all the magazines were saying things like "It's a pretty cool technology, it's got potential, but right now nobody's really using it and there are not many USB devices out there". Most PC's didn't come with USB, but you could buy a PCI add-on card if you really wanted, and most keyboards and mice were still PS/2.
It was really a chicken and egg problem. Nobody had USB so nobody wanted to make devices for it; nobody wanted to install USB because there were no real devices to buy.
Then along came Apple who took the plunge and USB was standard equipment on every Mac and both the keyboard and mouse were USB. Wasn't long after that before everyone started doing that.
The same story exists today with Firewire. Every Mac's had it standard for years, and most PC's still don't come with it at all. More laptops are, now, finally.
Actually, a much more valid reason why Apple included USB on the iMac was because before that, it was using crap proprietary ports like Apple Serial Bus and what not. And of course Apple would have Firewire on its computers before anyone else, they invented the technology.
And the reason most PCs don't include Firewire ports in the first place is because few things use Firewire, and even the ones that do use it will almost always have a USB alternative.
The whole computing industry was awash with crap ports at the time. USB provided a potential hot swappable cross platform standard that was taking an age to adopt by 'natural' market forces. It was in Apples interest to push the technology and they took the bold moving of including it into their whole product range.
It's incredible to see how people can put an negative spin on some of Apples crowning achievements .
Like they dropped the floppy, I can see Apple being the first major computing company to drop the optical drive from its entire range. They are going to seriously piss some potential customers off, but the move will drive technology forward.
Other than installing the OS I honestly cant remember the last time I used an optical drive.
Apple have the guts and the foresight to recognize when bold steps have to be taken, and that is why I respect them as a company.
I think some people on here need to sup more cool aid.
The internet. (wifi, ethernet)
Memory sticks. and bluetooth
This is how i have bought/downloaded/exchanged ALL my software for many years now.
Not to mention the fact that downloading software full stop will become less and less common as web apps take hold.
Downloading large software, like CS3, and even full operating systems, still won't be as fast or as practical as installing from an optical drive until extremely fast broadband connections are available for the masses. Optical drives are far from dead, and it wouldn't be in Apple's best interest to begin abandoning them.
What is to stop Adobe from supplying CS3 on memory stick? 8GB has gotta be sufficient or nearly sufficient. They may have to hike the price up by 20$ to absorb but thats not really a problem.
Same goes for the OS. Apple could pre-instal or supply USB memory stick.
This really is no different a scenario than with the floppy drive, in-fact this time there are many more options available.
And for those that have difficulty keeping up with the times, you could always buy an external optical drive!
Vast majority of software is already downloaded. Broadband penetration around the 75% mark. And many phones are 3G.
I personally regularly download/upload files of up to 1gb. The way i see it, if i am going to buy a CD/DVD with software on it, Im either going to have to get in my car drive to town and find a company that has what i want in stock, OR wait a day or so for it to arrive by post. Neither of the two options is appealing for me, so within a similar timeframe i can have 1gb downloaded and not have to leave the house.
I believe Apples first step towards its removal will come from a new device that will hook up to your existing computer.
IMO the only reason apple have not ALREADY taken steps to remove it is due to the iPod, many people have vast collections of CD's on shelves which still need to be transfered onto their iPod or future iPod. Though it could drive online sales, only Apple have the information at hand to make that decision.
What does the consumer/apple get out of this? Smaller, less noisy, battery efficient , more reliable computers @ lower prices (or same price, but improved technology elsewhere).
Forgot to mention in my earlier post: There is one other way to download software, now and more so in the future.... 3G/4G and not just for mobile phones.
In-fact Apple's very first optical drive free computer is already here... its called the iPhone.
What is so "bull" about that statement??
Are you suggesting web apps are going to become less and less common!!! ha
Among other things I am an OSX developer and a web developer, I personally cant stand much of web tech in its current form. its a disorganized mess in comparison to objective c and cocoa.
I agree there are a ton of apps which dont work best on the desktop, for now, but slowly over time, a large chunk will be web based. No doubt about it.
CS3 You only have to install ONCE, a bit strange to carry around an optical drive all the time for such rare occasions. I do most file transfers with email/usb-sticks. Just an external optical drive would be fine for most people I am sure.
It will come with bluetooth powered magic wand.
lol... or it'll just be a nice little white Apple you can place on your desktop and every time there's an update it'll glow and you just hover all your devices nearby while it streams updates to them.
Actually, when the Bondi Imac was introduced USB ports *were* standard on all but the cheapest PCs. The Intel and other chipsets had USB standard, and most systems had a pair of USB ports on the back bulkhead.
They also had PS2 ports, since Win95 didn't have good USB support.
Not by coincidence, Win98 with builtin USB support also arrived at about the same time - so "everybody" started doing it when Windows supported USB, not because Apple made the Imac.
Optical drives are far from dead. And if Blue Ray finally becomes a standard (a big "if") then optical drives will be alive more then ever.
Strange enough. I don't even see one post about the possibility of Blue Ray into Apples new super laptop.
With kind regards,
Bas
Strange enough. I don't even see one post about the possibility of Blue Ray into Apples new super laptop.
With kind regards,
Bas
about the wifi thing:
i could get wifi in my disconnected garage while having garage sales with my old macbook.
with my old macbook pro i couldnt get range when up in my room! (where my desk was, on the other side on my bed you could)
anyways, i have about 1300 in the bank, if i dont get an LCD tv this is what im getting!!!
i could get wifi in my disconnected garage while having garage sales with my old macbook.
with my old macbook pro i couldnt get range when up in my room! (where my desk was, on the other side on my bed you could)
anyways, i have about 1300 in the bank, if i dont get an LCD tv this is what im getting!!!
I dont see blue ray taking off that well personally, i think people will chose convenience over mass physical storage and download from the net at lower quality until broadband speed pick up.
I'm not suggesting it will be a total disaster, and im not at this point suggesting apple wont include into future devices. But you do have to ask the question, is it really necessary? if the price of the a blue ray drive can be bought down just shy of a DVD drive, then maybe there is a future.
If you say so
Let's say I'm hoping that Apple will finally release a laptop that will make me want to buy one (and that I can thn afford it). I don't care for aluminum material or the looks of it, I already said so. I don't care for the larger size because I have already a large desktop machine for my work and I need a portable machine to be portable, so I can take it and use it on a photo shoot or anywhere else. And I don't care for a glossy screen and onboard slow graphics card. So where's the laptop for the rest of us? I really hope it's not going to be a tiny notebook. In the meantime, I'm saving up.
Let it go man, Apple is not going to release a case made from carbon fiber. They are just as likely to start making the case out of the same material found in the crashed UFO at Roswell.