Comments on: Stealing Macworld's thunder

Do Windows users sit idly by while Mac aficionados rouse themselves into a frenzy over thinner computers and streaming video? Har!

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by seanmagn January 15, 2008 6:50 PM PST

I personally dislike MacWorld and Apple in general.

It seems that every time Apple has a conference, they release some new, overpriced, impracticable tech-toy. Take the MacBook Air. Yes, it is thin and portable. But a now archaic 1.6 ghz processor and one, yes I said ONE USB port, how can one expect to do anything useful with it? Even with all of the new wireless capabilities, you're probably not going to be running around all day. Once in awhile you'll want to plug it in and use it at home. And whatever happened to a CD-ROM drive? I didn't see one in the screen shots. And top that with a price of $1,799, it's just becomes ludacris that anybody would want to buy one. And don't forget the new "movie-renting" feature for the iPod and iPhone. If you actually had enough time to watch a two hour movie, you'd be at home on the couch in front of the T.V, not watching a tiny screen on your phone.

I will admit that Apple has nice user interfaces, and the integration of all of their software is amazing. But with all of the stupid ideas of theirs, they still aren't a credible rival to Microsoft or Windows. And with the decline of popularity in Vista and Office 2007 and people downgrading to XP and Office 2003 (or going to Linux and free software, like the Ubuntu and Openoffice.org), it will be interesting how this situation plays out.

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by wmyinzer January 16, 2008 12:19 AM PST: very true. i completely agree, but I myself am a fan of Vista and the new Microsoft software.; Like this


by rameeti--2008 January 16, 2008 9:59 AM PST: Do you really think anyone cares about your 'personal' opinion. How about something meaningful?

>But with all of the stupid ideas of theirs,<
Ya, all of their ideas are pretty stupid and that is why they are valued more than Dell & IBM. Seems like it is time to take those chips off of your shoulder and see that there is life after Microsoft.; Like this


by chustar January 15, 2008 7:45 PM PST: Rubber Ducky? Is that really necessary? Did you really have to dredge that up to make the point of how little goes on for Windows? I only know of one person who has found any use for that application, and he works at CNet.
And the air. The thing has a 13" screen. Sure its super thin, but I'd rather have smaller than thinner. anyway, I would like to have one if it were a reasonable price...$800. But then no Macs sell for under a thousand (except for Mac mini which is just a super expensive cheap desktop).; Like this Reply to this comment

by idbar January 15, 2008 8:56 PM PST

I must tell, I don't like Apple marketing practices. They sell old things as revolutionary ideas. I must admit it's amazing how they can convince you about not needing a DVD player on your laptop, but rather have another computer to do something "amazing"... share it through the wireless.

There are several points about this last ultra-thin laptop that should be pointed out. First, Apple users appeared to be forgotten with no firewire port. Only one USB and that's it. If the wireless doesn't work (as happened with their release of Leopard and several problems with EAP support in general), there is no way back, no ethernet. No replaceable batteries (in case yours fail, you'll have to send all your laptop and hopefor the best).
Last, the main concern about ultra-portable PCs is, normally, weight. However, after designing an ultra thin laptop, turned out hat it could be too fragile and so, they decided to use aluminum and make it heavier. Toshiba has done pretty good job as well as lenovo and Sony making ultra low weight laptops. They already have good products, and I hope they don't start crippling ports out of their computers to look more like this new laptop.

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by rameeti--2008 January 16, 2008 10:02 AM PST: Have you not noticed that most tablets and such do not have Ethernet ports nor CD drives?

Apple was also the first to convince us that we didn't need Serial ports, floppy drives, and such. Seems that we did learn to live without them quit well didn't we? Or did Apple force the Windows users to stop using them?; Like this

by nmharleyrider January 15, 2008 8:59 PM PST

Personally I'd rather have the highest quality and have the DVD in hand rather than downloading movies whose quality may vary. Netflix's service is so quick these days that I order one day and get it the next day. I'm not particularly an impulse renter as I've already made up a list of over 100 items for my queue so the appeal of downloading movies has even less appeal to me.

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by jp.adam January 21, 2008 3:02 AM PST: A DAAAAY???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? iTues movie rentals takes 30 secondes to download a good quality movie and about 15 minutes to download an HD!; Like this


by gee.chaos January 16, 2008 2:17 AM PST: thxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Like this Reply to this comment

by bound4doom January 16, 2008 5:29 AM PST

You know all this hoopla, everyone forgets about TiVo and Amazon Unbox. I personally love this. I mean to me a PC is a PC, I am typically working on the PC while the TV plays a movie. Back in 95 I had TV Tuner card and could watch TV on my PC. This was pretty much unacceptable. Sure watching a short YouTube clip or something is fine but I do not want to watch full length movies on my PC. I also do not want to invest in another entire PC just to hook it up to my TV. TiVo works fine. It might take a couple hours to get a movie downloaded so it is not instant gratification, but if I want to watch a movie at lunch I hit amazons site browse through movies, and rent one. They often have 99 cent specials on new releases. Personally this is all I need. Cable and so on also have on demand movies and things like that so really is there really a huge demand for this? Sometimes I wonder if this is trying to reinvent the wheel.

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by rameeti--2008 January 16, 2008 10:04 AM PST: While Amazon might be good for what it does, it doesn't allow me to transfer the movies to my iPod or my iPhone. I'm stuck at home if I want to watch them.; Like this


by jp.adam January 21, 2008 3:04 AM PST: A couple of hours? iTunes Movie Renatls takes 30 secondes to download; Like this


by rsonnenberg January 16, 2008 6:23 AM PST: The Netflix Watch Instantly service is great, especially for watching episodes of TV series that you skipped while they were on. One big problem is that the new DRM scheme Netflix is using makes it impossible to use the service on a computer that is attached to a hi-def TV. Netflix tech support blames Microsoft and the studios. However, the Amazon Unbox service works on that same home entertainment PC, and their content is also protected by DRM.; Like this Reply to this comment


by ragreene January 16, 2008 10:25 AM PST: The Netflix Watch Instantly service works well, the only problem is that the list of available movies is terrible. I don't know about TV shows or whatever else it offers, because I don't care about them. I have the service (it came with the snail mail movie rental option I purchased) and I have used it a couple of times. The VAST majority of times that I wanted to use it, the title was NOT available. I haven't checked to see what iTunes has to offer, so I can't give a comparison there. It's nice that it is included in the monthly fee - they just need to make more movies available.; Like this Reply to this comment


by firkle January 16, 2008 12:09 PM PST: I'm a Windows user but I always pay attention to what happens in the Apple world. Their products are well designed and innovative, but I always find a way not to purchase from them. Apple has a way of tying a pretty little bow around the whole computing experience, which I find annoying. Microsoft tries to do this but fortunately they fail. I much prefer the messy, more egalitarian, Windows world.
(I think the only Apple product I've ever purchased is a Quicktime Pro license, and I hardly ever use that.); Like this Reply to this comment


by firkle January 16, 2008 12:09 PM PST: I'm a Windows user but I always pay attention to what happens in the Apple world. Their products are well designed and innovative, but I always find a way not to purchase from them. Apple has a way of tying a pretty little bow around the whole computing experience, which I find annoying. Microsoft tries to do this but fortunately they fail. I much prefer the messy, more egalitarian, Windows world.
(I think the only Apple product I've ever purchased is a Quicktime Pro license, and I hardly ever use that.); Like this Reply to this comment