Techno babble from an IT guy named Harry

I just read the InfoWorld review of the Macbook Air.  It’s a good review if you’re considering a MacBook Air.  Here’s the bottom line.  The MacBook Air is a great laptop for showing off at Starbucks and basic computing.  Otherwise, buy something more substantial.  Here’s the two quotes that should tell you if you should consider buying a MacBook Air.

“It’s unfair to classify the MacBook Air as a laptop. It’s not, unless you’re Mini Me. It’s an ultraportable, along the lines of the Sony Vaio TZ, though it has a larger screen than the Vaio. It’s also faster and cheaper.”

“I figured the best place to work with the Air would be a coffee shop, which is essentially its native environment.”

 Want one?  Apple Store

I went shopping yesterday at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island.  I stopped at the Apple Store to check prices and do a couple minutes worth of surfing.  I noticed a shared drive on the desktop, so I decided to look around.  One of the funny things I found was pictures people had taken themselves (probably using iChat).  The first picture I saw was by far the funniest.  Enjoy:

Tom Yager of InfoWorld did an exhaustive review of the Blackberry 8300 and 8800, as well as several alternatives.  This is a great resource for anyone considering an alternative to Blackberry.

This is a spectacular video of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs being interviewed together at the All Things Digital conference a couple weeks ago.  They talk about themselves, their history, technology, and the future.  I was extremely impressed with how engaging, down to earth, and obviously brilliant Bill Gates was.

 Make sure you watch all videos in order.  They are posted backwards on the site.  Start here: http://video.allthingsd.com/?bcpid=910498365&bctid=958475626

Apple released Safari 3 Beta for Windows today and the link got over 8000 Diggs.  I just can’t understand why.  Who cares if there is another browser for Windows?  Is it just BS Apple fanboy hype?  Is it Windows users that are excited to have another alternative?  Windows only users have no idea what Safari is.  I can’t imagine that they’d be so excited about it. 

I’m also wondering what this means for Apple, Windows, potential future browser wars. 

Apple must have learned that there is more money to be made where 90%+ of internet users reside rather than with their 5%.  I find it interesting that Apple created Safari for Windows.  It’s the first time that I remember (please correct me if I’m wrong) Apple creating an app for Windows that wasn’t either coupled with hardware (iPod) or required for compatability purposes (Quicktime).  Apple seams to be spreading out from their little closed world of Macs, iPods, etc.

And does Windows need another browser?  Maybe.  IE has been badly neglected by Microsoft.  IE7 is working fine for the sheeple, corporate environments, and MS fans.  Other than that, it’s lacking in innovation.  Firefox has been developed relentlesy and it has paid off (33.7% browser share in May).  Apple is a much bigger name than Firefox and they might be able to steal some browser share (currently at 1.5%).

So is this the first shot in the new browser war?  That’s up to Microsoft.  Do they want to develop IE anymore?  It doesn’t seem that way.  Is IE still important to Microsoft’s success?  I don’t think so unless Firefox and Safari intentionally don’t work with MS technologies.

Apple was recently criticized by Greenpeace for lack of openness and a poor environmental record in general.  Apple’s Steve Jobs just announced a change in policy that makes Apple more open and responsive to the environmental demands of it’s customers.

These days we must protect the environment as much as possible.  Nice job Apple.  I wish you the best with this new policy.

Last night I saw an article pop up on Digg titled: Vista sales propel Microsoft’s profits to almost $5 BILLION.  It states that “Microsoft Corp. posted a 65 percent rise in quarterly profit Thursday, topping Wall Street estimates thanks to better than expected demand for its new Windows Vista operating system.”

What?  This can’t be true.  Some guy on the Internet just announced that Microsoft Is Dead.  Then some more people got together, declared victory for Apple (Apple’s role in Microsoft’s downfall), and pissed on Microsoft’s grave (gotta love Slashdot).

The blogosphere loves bombastic, NY Post worthy headlines about Microsoft’s demise; especially where Apple fanboys hangout.  The fact of the matter is that Microsoft is flawed, but fine.  Microsoft isn’t going anywhere.

Here’s a prediction on the future of the home PC/OS.  Apple and Microsoft will both have a stake in it, and a large number of Mac buyers will kick in a few extra bucks to run Parallels/Fusion/Boot Camp/etc..  People will do this because they still want to run their Windows apps as seamlessly as possible while playing with their Apple toys.

The haughty Apple fanboys are throwing a hissy over the Leopard delay. Apple fanboys always act like Apple is perfect while Microsoft, Sony, and others delay products. Welcome to reality kids. It’s amusing watching Mac heads explode.

Read on: Apple hoi polloi annoyed at Leopard delay

 I was tipped off to this by InfoWorld.  Greenpeace just concluded their quarterly Toxic Tech rankings of the most environmentally friendly big electronics companies.  Lenovo finished in first place.  Who finished in last?  Apple!  Apple is more toxic than a sink full of dishes in the The Sims.  Check out the rankings and encourage Apple to clean up their act.

 BTW, Apple fanboys shouldn’t forget that Apple is the home of Trash as opposed to Microsoft’s Recycling Bin. 

Apple likes to think they are at the cutting edge of the tech industry and they are in many ways.  One way in which Apple falls short is in extended warranty support for the Xserve.  The Xserve is Apples 1U rack-able server.  They make an accompanying product called the Xserve RAID.  The Xserve RAID is a box of disks.  My company has an Xserve and the RAID box.  It is going out of warranty and Apple does not sell an extended warranty plan.  Our only option is per incident support, and/or to purchase spare parts and keep them on hand.  Other than that, we are on our own.

Servers these days are capable of running for more than 3 years without replacement.  There is nothing wrong with our box.  Apple wants to break into the server room, but they don’t provide the support to do it.

The second thing that Apple is missing is the ability to run OS X virtually, but that’s a whole other story.