Apple Ware

MacBook Air made its debut with lots of hype. There was even a near arrest (okay – so the guy at the airport was only detained because security had NO IDEA what the contraption was). But even I – who am in no way a computer genius – guessed that the hype would be about all there was.

The starting price for the MacBook Air is way more than most people would ever consider spending on a notebook computer. To make it even more undesirable, the ones who WOULD spend that kind of money are going to be disappointed by the lack of features available.

This got me to thinking – is it really possible to put all the power into less space? There has to be a point when things just can’t get any smaller and still is able to retain their speed, memory and options. The MacBook Air may look cool and it may even be good for come tasks, but it just doesn’t have the power that its larger and heavier cousins offer.

The MacBook Air may be a great addition to some businesses, but for my own personal use I need more. If I’m going to pay more money, then I need something that will do more than fit into a smaller package.

It can’t be a shock to the techies out there. The fact that Apple is updating the iPhone AND at the same time crippling those phones that have been unlocked is just par for the course when it comes to the companies verses the users. Even though it was expected that Apple would respond, it still doesn’t make sense to me.

Apple gets most of its money when I buy my iPhone. It probably does get a piece of the action when I activate my phone with AT&T, but it can’t come near the initial investment. By choosing to find ways to block my ability to use MY iPhone in the way I want to use it, Apple runs the risk of losing whatever future business I would have taken its direction.

It is important for the companies in the tech industry to protect their products - at least to some extent. Apple has gone to the wrong extreme by trying to force owners to comply to its way of thinking. If the techies figured out how to unlock the iPhone in the first place, it is only a matter of time before they overcome the update snag. In the mean time, Apple looks like a bad guy in an industry where appearance is half the battle.

Dial up is getting me down. Because of my location (beautiful and great for the kids but not so hot for high-speed internet) my only choice is dial up or satellite. The household budget had dictated the choice for the most part. I did investigate satellite, but wasn’t impressed with the comments I found wandering the internet. My hope now lies in the government auction of the 700 MHz spectrum.

According to what I’ve read, the signals from these sites will be stronger and faster than anything available on the market right now. Rumor has it that Apple is eyeing the auction. Hope is that it will use the site to improve the industry and not just hijack it in order to protect the status quo.

Apple hasn’t yet committed to the auction, not because of a lack of money but because of the competition that is sure to come from the phone companies. There is also concern that entering into this market would pull valuable resource from the main purpose for the company - innovation.

As I wait for each and every page to slowly download, I dream of the day that access to the internet will be easy and painless. It will be interesting to see what January 2008 brings to the table.