You may be able to get higher quality at YouTube’s site, or on the link I posted earlier to Creativity Online. This is pretty cool and a clever rundown of all the features in Leopard.

Interview with the filmmaker here. The woman in the movie is an actress, not the artist behind the song, which is Again & Again by The Bird and The Bee. Cool Song.

I’ve been waiting for an ultraportable from you for over a year. I’ve been holding my breath (figuratively) for days before your Keynotes, hoping I’ll be able to trade you my money for a new laptop. All I want is a small laptop, like my 12 inch Powerbook (although preferably it would be smaller).

Steve…this isn’t it. Not even close. There are three dimensions of size. You made the MacBook Air thinner and lighter, but the damned thing has exactly the same foot print as the 13 inch Macbook. In fact, it is a more expensive, fewer USB ports, no Firewire, non-replaceable battery, no optical drive, slower chip, same foot print as the 13 inch Macbook.

This does not replace my nicely compact 12 inch Powerbook. Not by a long shot.

I haven’t read what other people are saying about it Steve, but unless something magic happens in the next two weeks and suddenly I can’t lift 5 pounds, but can still lift 3, I don’t think the Macbook Air will be on my shopping list.

That’s the video I found on YouTube for that song. It’s a pretty good one, will have to check out her other stuff. Her stuff is on iTunes DRM Free:

Hilarious. Thanks, sis.

That’s 2008 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul rocking the iPhone. Wouldn’t have expected that combo in a million years.

Too damn funny!

Just a quick observation: Lost on iTunes isn’t widescreen. Heroes on iTunes is. Apple is making choices easy on the studios, but I wish the content was uniformly 16×9. It doesn’t matter on my computer, or on the iPod, but I don’t want to miss what’s happening on the edges. I know Lost, in particular, has put easter eggs and extra hints in the extra real estate.

Apparently, Apple’s market cap has surpassed Dell’s recently. The occasion has reminded a few folks about some choice Michael Dell comments. First, in 1997 he claimed that Apple should close up shop. One wonders where his firm would’ve gotten their design cues from, but whatever. In the comments over at MacSlash, we find an even a better set of quotes in this BusinessWeek article:

Q: What is the future of Apple Computer?
A: Silicon Graphics.

Q: That bad?
A: Maybe it’s a little bit different. But if you look at proprietary computer companies, whether it’s Digital or Silicon Graphics (SGI ) or Apple (AAPL ), I think the fates are all relatively similar. We know how the movie ends. It’s just a question of what happens in the middle. Apple has a very little customer base. If you look at the economics, it has been extremely hard for Apple to get a return on its R&D with a shrinking volume base. It’s not to say that Apple’s products aren’t innovative or cool, but the economic factors here are so overwhelming, it’s very hard for them to swim against that tide.

Q: If you were running Apple, is there anything you could do to change that?
A: I would never take that job.

Prescient, that guy.

Apparently Microsoft introduced more about Windows Vista at CES. That prompted a mac fan out there to create a couple of videos to demonstrate the great new features of Vista. You can watch Episode 1 on the innovative user interface and Episode 2 on search and parental controls. Good natured jab.

(Found at Crooked Timber)

…and I am unimpressed. Higher res screen is good. Longer battery life is also good, but still not comparible to Wintel machines. I can’t believe that there were no changes to the 12″ line, or at least a pricebreak. I, and others, are disappointed. I suspect that many will wait until the Intel based Powerbooks are released, unless something extraordinary happens.

The quad processor G5s are cool though.

For anyone who wasn’t aware, Apple has released new iPods with video capabilities. I’m not a huge fan of these new iPods personally; the screens are too small and I think that I can go out into the world for a few hours without video content. What I think is most interesting is that ABC is willing to sell some of their hit shows 24 hours after they air. Unfortunately, these aren’t shows that I want to watch, but I like the idea.

I like that the TV industry is starting to to look towards electronic distribution. TiVo has proven that people want and will embrace an easy way to watch their favorite shows when they can’t be home. Sure, I know that VCRs have been around for years, but I don’t think anyone thinks that DVRs and VCRs are in the same league. Electronic, on demand distribution is the wave of the future. The cable companies have recognized this and are starting to take advantage of it. Anyone who has used “On Demand” knows the simplicity and convenience of it: what you want, when you want it. I’m not home on a consistant schedule, so I like the ability to watch certain shows when I want them.

What I’m worried about is that as an experiment, the ABC-Apple partnership is going to fail. How many people who are “Lost” enthusiasts are going to miss an episode, or will miss recording that episode? Sure, there will be some, but I’m not sure how many will then pony up $2 to catch it. There will be a few, no doubt, but will it look like a good business model? And the network affiliates are resisting the concept. They pay huge bucks to get these shows and make their money off advertising. They will resist any move that risks reducing the number of eyeballs stuck to the screen. And a few shorts from Pixar does not a movie distributor make.

The real power in digital distribution is in all those millions of hours of video that is sitting in TV vaults. I’ve started to see a few of my favortie TV shows from childhood available on DVD, but those are few an far between. While some do get released, the runs aren’t big and they can become unavailable very quickly (such as “Transformers,” f.e.). With digital distribution, the marginal cost of making them available is almost nothing. There is no DVD costs, no inventory and no distribution costs.

The problem is that I’ve heard this all before. The same things were said about the music industry. From what I have heard, less than 10% of what record labels actually have is available for distribution. Digital distribution systems like iTunes were supposed to fix that and increase choice. As far as I can tell, the vaults haven’t been opened. Instead, the RIAA has fought digital tooth and nail. I’m not sure the Motion Picture and Television industry are going to be any better. Without a clear reason to buy TV shows, I’m not sure that people will pay for what is available for free.

Then again, I could be wrong. People have been buying the complete seasons of TV programs when they come out. Star Trek: TNG was a fairly large seller and it is still in reruns on Spike!. So it might work. Time will tell. The next question is will they really watch them on their iPod? That is a whole ‘nother question.

One more thing: anyone notice that there was no mention of Powerbooks? It has been 8 months since the last update. Mine is over 2 years old and the current models don’t offer that much over what I have. There is an Apple event next month and I hope that they have some good update, for the last few have been lack luster. I’m not expecting G5s or anything, but I’d like to see something that offers a really serious performance improvement (like dual core G4s). Or super long battery life, like the Intel mobiles. Frankly, for Job’s recognition of “The Year of the Laptop,” their product line is starting to stifle. Come on Apple. I sure hope that we don’t have to wait until Apple goes to Intel for that bump. (BTW Apple, I really want a computer the size of the tiny Sony Vio, but running OS X. Can we work on that?). There is a new annoucement this coming week…I hope it is good.

I’ll have more thoughts about this later, but Apple just released the very slick and unbelievably small iPod Nano. 2 and 4GB sizes, thin as a pencil, with a screen. Damn. Car integration… out today with BMW, Mercedes, Scion, Volvo, and Mini cars (no Toyota, dammit!).

Must. Remember. Wedding. Coming.

Update: Imagine the Motorola Razr glued onto this… hmmm.

My Mighty Mouse finally arrived in the mail today. I’ve been using it for the past hour or so and have a couple of quick thoughts.

First, the mouse is cool looking and much easier to get used to than I originally imagined. When I tried the mouse out at the Apple Store, the mouse felt a little bit awkward, like my hand was not in quite the right spot. Based on my use now, though, I think that may have been caused by the fact that I was standing up when I first used it and now I’m sitting down in my normal position (slouched, leaning back in my chair). It is a bit trippy not actually feeling the buttons, but after about 30 seconds, you really don’t think about it much.

Couple of problems have come up right away. I sometimes miss on my right-clicks and end up getting a left click. Not that big a deal for my work computer, but I’m thinking I don’t want to play games with this mouse. It could really suck to get the wrong click at the wrong moment in an FPS, for example.

Second problem is that the scroll wheel equivalent (which is essentially a little trackball) doesn’t give me the response I was expecting. It sometimes seems to skip and miss scroll events, but I think I may not be putting enough downward pressure on the thing (I’m afraid that I might click it). When I push down a bit more, I get a more consistent response, so I’ll play around with this some more.

The side buttons seem kinda useless because I don’t really drive things like Exposé or Dashboard from the mouse (the keyboard just seems more natural to me for those things…). I need to think of a better thing to map to it.

I’ll write more once I use it some more, but those are my quick impressions.

Bram passed along a video detailing the latest in Apple innovation. I almost want one. And, I think that Apple should prototype one of that size that’s functional just for kicks.

It’s pretty clear that my dream of cheap Dells running OS X isn’t going to happen:

After Jobs’ presentation, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller addressed the issue of running Windows on Macs, saying there are no plans to sell or support Windows on an Intel-based Mac. “That doesn’t preclude someone from running it on a Mac. They probably will,” he said. “We won’t do anything to preclude that.”

However, Schiller said the company does not plan to let people run Mac OS X on other computer makers’ hardware. “We will not allow running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple Mac,” he said.

So, damn you Apple. Damn you all to heck.

I’m on a mac small business list, one that was started to share tips and information on running a Macintosh small business (think shareware developer, etc.). The consternation being expressed there is downright amazing to me. In part, I understand where most of them are coming from. They’re small shops, usually one or two developers only, and some have spent a lot of time optimizing code using Altivec or some other PPC specific code. Others are really concerned about the perception of the boxes and the lack of a clear differentiator on a technical level than a PC. Others point to the confusion that this move will create in the marketplace until all software is shipping as universal binaries. Finally, there’s the time and cost involved in supporting two very similar but slightly different platforms. This means having access to both platforms as necessary in case of driver conflicts or other issues.

There’s also a lot of hand wringing over the difference in performance. Aside from the power consumption issues, the G5 is technically a superior chip than the Pentium 4. I can’t argue with that much, either. My G5 rocks compared to anything in the office here up to and including the monster machines in the server room. So, after all of this marketing telling us how great the G5 is, Mac users are essentially being told, well, we were wrong.

I don’t actually think this is the real message being sent, but Jobs tried so hard to put a positive spin on the Intel move that this is how it came out. Bottom line is that Apple is going to be building more machines like the Mac Mini that require lower power consumption and heat generation. When you look at what the G5 gives you, it’s a boat load of processing horsepower with a boatload of heat, too. Heck, back when I was at the G5 unveiling at WWDC, I noticed the amount of heat pouring out the fans in the back. I don’t think this is a model that Apple is going to be focusing on for growth going forward. Mark my words: we’ll have a Mac Mini style box intended for your entertainment center or TV. Or some other small factor box that I haven’t thought of a use for yet. The power consumption question is going to be much bigger on those boxes, so this move allows them to grow in ways that aren’t in their traditional markets.

It also gives them a boost in the laptop space, though I think the lack of a technical differentiator is more significant here.

I still wish they would open it up and go for it heads up with Microsoft on the PC platform. Schiller makes it clear they’re not trying to be a software company but I swear, if anyone could do it, it’s Apple. OS X is just that much better than Windows.

Take a look: About This Mac on Intel

MacCentral is keeping a live update of the keynote at today’s WWDC. The last entry as of right now was this tantalizing header:

The rumors are true: Intel will be inside

Oh, baby.

Update: The link above has the full rundown, best I’ve seen. Apple is truly going x86 Intel starting with one or two models next year. The question still remains whether they will do this similar to how they did clones back 7-10 years ago where Apple had strict licensing standards and a proprietary part required to get the OS to install or whether they’ll truly try to be Microsoft. I hope they choose the more open path.

What’s clear to me after thinking about this is that Apple is in a much better position now to take a chance on open clones: they have other revenue streams, good ones at that, that allows them to take some chances with their hardware revenue. I also think they’ll be able to maintain most, if not all, of their market in hardware. OS X is what makes Apple cool, and their hardware design is recognized as the best now by anyone and everyone even on the PC side of the world. So, they can still be BMW or Mercedes of computers while getting more and more revenue from their software and media divisions. I can install OS X for my mom without having her buy a computer with Firewire 800 and USB 2.0 and Gigabit ethernet. She’s less worried about spam and spyware but doesn’t have to buy a “luxury computer” to get the benefits.

I am trying to wrap up and get to bed, but daaamn, we have the Wall Street Journal confirming the Apple/Intel announcement for Monday according to Om Malik. I need to spend some time really wrapping my head around this one, but it really looks like it might actually happen. This is a good thing all around, as long as it can be executed well. I’ll trust Jobs on that front. As a software developer, I’m excited. As a fan of Apple and OS X, I’m even more excited. As a long time critic of Windows (I haven’t bought or run it on my home machines in, gosh, nearly 5 or 6 years), I’m excited to see the possibility of an OS my mom can use that can work on machines that are extraordinarily inexpensive that doesn’t suck. I’ve always believed that Apple machines represented a good value for the features. Problem is that my mom doesn’t need Gigabit ethernet built in with Firewire 800. Heck, even I don’t on all but one box. So, bring on the Intel boxes and let’s get a mobile laptop running on faster chips than the aging G4. Granted, there won’t be the cachet of the dual G5 sitting on my desk at work (nor will the Intel desktops perform as well), but daaamn, it’s about freaking time.

I hope that Jobs doesn’t do something dumb like require a custom chipset. This was the stranglehold that kept their last attempt at clones from taking off.

PS. Think about this: the day that an Intel-ready OS X operating system appears, what do you think first day sales will be? Are there enough geeky Windows users to, in effect, double the number of OS X users in the U.S.? Worldwide? Anyone want to guess (or do the research that I can’t do now)?

(thanks Jason Calacanis for the pointer)

Update: Jason Kottke points out that the chips might not be x86 compatible chips. I’m about 50/50 on this one… I believe that Apple wouldn’t risk their hardware business… but maybe, just maybe, they realize what’s sitting tantalizingly close for the first time in our computer revolution: real convergence with real hardware and real tools. The Mac Mini is a start in this direction and I’m thinking that we’re going to see more consumer products from Apple than we have in the past. Or, Jobs is smarter than me and has another good reason to go x86. Besides, part of this for me is just wishful thinking… I want commodity OS X boxes. Yesterday.

The best of all worlds coming soon?

CNet reports that Apple is going to announce at least a partial switch to Intel processors on Monday.

I’m torn on this particular issue. I actually like the design of the PowerPC processor and I think that a viable alternative to Intel is a good thing for all of us. Ditching the x86 line is a better thing for all of us. 64-bit CPUs are better too. Thing is that Intel has gotten something like 64-bit out now, and the cheaper stuff is coming. They’re bigger, their chips run more places and I’d love to be able to buy a cheap Dell or whatever and install OS X on it.

The switch should be relatively pain free for OS X application vendors. The biggest hit will be to the more complicated applications. Games and perhaps things like Photoshop or Flash might have some optimizations that are processor specific, but in the end there’s so much abstraction between the hardware and the top layer (Cocoa/Java/etc.) that the smaller vendors especially should be able to take their source code, select the x86 target, and hit compile. Voila, out comes an x86 OS X binary. At least, in theory that would be the case… I’ll have to do some looking to see what might break. Won’t be much.

Go NetNewsWire… wow, that’s pretty fortunate placement.