chris . word

well, the stevenote at mac world expo is over. sadly, no “media center” mac mini or anything like that. however, we now have some pretty cool new things to play around with. and here they are:

the new MacBook Pro (say so long to the Powerbook name) which runs on Intel Dual Core processors and looks basically the same as the 15″ Powerbook. i’m sure a redesign of the casing is in the works. just not for today.

also, a new Intel based iMac with the same look as its G5 based brothers. also with Intel Dual Core processors. that’s cool. unless you just got an iMac last week.

and, osx 10.4.4 is out today. its for “old” macs as well as new Intel macs. runs on both. i’ve been using it for a few weeks now and it seems to work just fine. still, i might wait a few days for the initial early adopters to install it and have problems before i would rush out and get it. also, updated the iLife suite to iLife ’06 (catchy name, eh?) including the new iWeb app which lets you create web pages and share your photos, podcasts or blogs with the world at the touch of a button (or a mouse, as the case may be).

there is also an update to the rest of the iLife apps which take advantage of the new .mac features announced today. all in all a pretty cool package to get your stuff up and seen.

the mac book is a step in the right direction but still not enough to make me really want one. yet. i’m waiting for a 12″ version with all flash based hard drive that weighs 2.5 pounds. that would really be something.

as for the iMac i might pick one of those up to check out. but maybe after the first revision. i’m a little tired of being an apple beta tester after my experiences with my first dual 2ghz g5 tower. these macs are just the first step this year anyway so its not over by any means. by the end of the year, it will be all Intel all the time. i can wait. plus, my G5 tower is working just fine at the moment so what’s the rush?

it would have been nice to get a mac-mini based hd dvr that runs mac osx and allows you to stream audio and video and record it to dvd like tivo-to-go does for windows (maybe even for the mac soon). not yet though. i would bet money that its just around the corner. i guess i can put my amex away. for now.

for the rest of what’s hot (or not) from the stevenote, go to apple.

mmmm, this is an interesting development. who can blame them? thank you iPod (now with video). i know i love mine. even though i only got the 30gig, its still cool. i can even watch movies on it. its not so bad, really, the screen is a little small but it looks great. maybe santa steve will bring a horizontal iPod video with true 16×9 screen? commence breath holding.

also, not on a related note except that i’m writing this post and its about video (sort of), have been busy putting together a little horror film with some friends of mine. soon, i will allow the waiting masses to view the carefully crafted trailer. but for now, a photo will have to suffice. say hello to the bad guy.

great article on how to use your Mac Mini (mac mini not included) as a TiVo style device. of course, i still prefer tivo but this is pretty cool anyway. plus, and i don’t really want to talk politics right now, tom delay gets in trouble again. innocent until proven guilty but it does make you think. and its even in texas. that’s gotta sting.

and where will google go next? free wifi in san francisco and beyond? new set of microsoft office-like software? space? who knows but these guys sure know how to stir the speculation pot. they are almost as good at it as steve jobs. almost.

lastly, my work schedule seems to be getting a little better so i hope to be putting fingers to keys more often again. i like doing this and hopefully can with regularity. thanks for your patience and readership. its appreciated.

Yes, its that time again. The beginning of the week. Oh joy. Actually, today was a “pretty good day”(tm) and I got a lot of work done. I even managed to sell my old 12“ Powerbook to a very nice person who paid in cash. So, that was good. I hope she likes it. I think she will.

On the computer subject the saga continues with my G5 tower. Being the do-it-yourself kind of person I am, I pretty much tried everything i could think of to try to get it from doing the random freeze and kernel panic thing. Sadly, I had no luck. Also, the guys at Melrose Mac in Burbank were pretty much no help either. Although, they did manage to replace my power supply so it doesn’t make the annoying noise it was making, so that is a point in their favor.

Sadly, they dropped the ball on the rest of it and so will not become the preferred repair place for me and people that i work with. As the problem was so random and seemingly had no root cause that I could determine, I felt the only place to take it was to an Apple Store. Fortunately, in LA we have several. I, of course, went to my friends at the Glendale Galleria for help. Not only do I like Jenn and the rest of the gang at the Glendale Apple Store, but I am also a preferred consultant for them as well and they send business my way. So, of course, I like that too.

I took the G5 to them last Tuesday, July 5th. One of the Genius bar guys, Tim, took quite a bit of time with it and examined it very completely. Even though it took some time, i appreciated his effort. Fortunately, the machine exhibited the same behavior for him as it did for me and he checked it in for ”extended diagnostics“. Now, almost a week later, I got nothing. He did tell me it would be 7 to 10 days before I would know something so I am not upset or anything. Like many customers, I want to have my machine back with me and working like it used to.

Like doctors, I’m sure that computer consultants don’t make very good patients so I will try not to call Tim every day with more suggestions on how we might get my G5 back on its feet. I think he probably has it under control. So, I will give him the time he indicated, then I will see what’s what. I think Tim and the rest of the Glendale Apple Store crew will come through for me as they always have. Of course, being how I am, I am already pricing a replacement should this drag on too much longer (like another few weeks waiting for parts or something like that).

It may seem strange to be thinking about buying another computer from a company who already has one of yours in for repair. I don’t find it strange at all. I like Apple and the Mac. I will always be a Mac user and will always buy Apple products as long as they are around. I don’t necessarily want to buy another G5 right now, what with the Intel Macs coming. But, the G5 is a proven and tested product so getting another one isn’t so odd. I don’t want to be the first one to get an Intel based Mac anyway. Not the first but maybe the second or third. I might try to hold off a little to see how they work. Besides, i think we’ll see Intel Powerbooks before Intel Towers anyway so a new tower is still, in my opinion, at least 6 months off.

Whatever happens with my G5, I know Apple will make it right eventually. It will get fixed or they will give me a new one. As t has already had a video card problem and a power supply problem, it might be getting close to the replacement point. Or, I will just buy another one and when the current one is fixed, sell it. Whatever happens, I will stick with Apple. Besides, where will I plug in my three iPods if I don’t have a Mac? In my Windows box? Come one, be serious. Although, Half-Life 2 does kick ass. Can’t play that on a Mac, no matter how fast it is. I guess I need to keep my Windows machine too. Oh well.

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday because I’m not. A few days ago their was a power surge in our building and it fried my UPS. So, that’s a bummer. A day or so earlier my G5 started to act strange. It started to have problems remembering how windows were displayed, my passwords for e-mail accounts and lots of other symptoms and just strange things

Also, it has started emitting a rather annoying humming noise. Others have told me that it is probably the Power Supply going bad and I think that is probably what it is too. Whatever it is, its damn annoying on many levels. The main one is that the computer is only about eight months old (which I know is an eternity in computer world) and should not be having issues already but also because I am in the middle of so many other projects that this is not a great time to be without my main machine.

So I am spending my Sunday afternoon re-installing everything from scratch just to see if that has any effect on the noise. I can hear the Windows users in the crowd about to comment but I will save you the trouble. I decided to do this. Not because my computer would not work or because I had a blue screen of death but because I wanted to try and see if it made a difference.

I deal with computers every day and felt that I wanted to try everything I could think of before resorting to taking the computer in for service. It’s not that far to an Apple store. As we are in Los Angeles, there about five within a 30 minute drive. Really, it just comes down to disappointment.

I know, things break. Electronic gizmos fail. I never thought it would happen to Apple computer. I have had at least 10 Apple computers in the last 20 years and only recently did I have any trouble with them. I had an iBook that needed a new logic board about three years ago and now this. At least the computer still works in this case. With the iBook, nothing worked. On the other hand, I have a Mac Performa, purchased during the dark Gil Amelio years, that still works today.

And if it was just me I would not be so disappointed. Unfortunately, I work with people everyday who use macs and the trend seems to be towards more problems, not fewer. My mother-in-law for example had to have her G5 repaired after only owning it for a few months. She had to have one of her two processors replaced. Fun, huh?

I also work with several other people who have experienced problems that required repair. As a guess, I would have to say that at least 10% of the people that I know who use macs have had some kind of issue that required the computer to go in for service. A couple have had to go more than once.

Perhaps my experience is unique or perhaps I am just unlucky and know a bunch of unlucky people. I hope that’s the case. One of the main things that Apple is known for is quality. I would hate for that to change. If Apple starts making computers that are just average and fail with regularity than I may as well start using Dell all the time. At least they are cheaper.

Although, I really do like OSX and its many features and ease of use. And it only runs on Apple hardware. Damn you Apple!

I guess I’ll keep coming back after all. Oh well, happy Sunday anyway.

Later.