the air

Photo courtesy of Apple

I think by now, almost everyone should have heard about Apple’s new computer called “MacBook Air” (MBA). And many of us have been given a major sticker shock when we heard how much it would cost. The MBA starts at around $1800 and can easily go beyond $3100. The major fervor around blogs concerning Apple products is the fact that it is overpriced for the gadgets it offers. Rather than discuss its technological benefits or hardware specifications, I want to offer my own thoughts on this product from a very different angle.

The MBA represents a whole new direction for personal computing. Rather than toting around a machine that does everything, the new concept focuses on what I call “complemented personal computing” (CPC). CPC is concerned with supplementing your current computing with a device that gives you increased flexible opportunities. In my opinion, CPC is a concept that can be seen more with mobile professionals rather than the mass population. However, I do believe that today’s society is increasingly becoming more mobile and technologically savvy. For instance, some college students use their cellular phone or iPod as a tool to replace their datebooks. I think that slowly, society is moving towards a realm in which we will have continuous access to our digital data through numerous synchronized electronic devices.

I think of CPC as a server and client type of approach to computing. Suppose you have a desktop and want to take notes at a meeting or a lecture. Unless your desktop is tiny and easy to “assemble,” you will most likely opt for a portable computing machine. This would be a great time to have a laptop, wouldn’t you agree? So why would you need a laptop and a desktop? Let me ask you this: why would you need two laptops? This is where my CPC concept begins. While one of your machines can be considered the primary computer with all the data, the other devices act as “clients” which can access your personal data on the primary machine on demand. This allows you to maintain your personal information at your fingertips no matter which machine you use.

The MBA is not designed to replace any desktop or laptop offering from Apple. Rather, it is designed for the mobile individual who demands portability over power. I think the MBA will prove to be successful amongst those who need a laptop to complement their primary computer, those who are in need of an extremely portable and mobile machine, and tech-savvy “geeks.”

I think that Apple has identified the new trend in computing and is encouraging the development of this trend. Since the machine is new and the manufacturing processes behind making such a portable machine are new, cost will undoubtedly remain high. I would not be surprised if the price for the MBA is reduced by the end of 2008 and it would certainly seem plausible that the MBA may have performance boosts by the end of the year as well.

CPC is a new concept and I, myself, sometimes have a hard time justifying it. However, CPC is a concept that I think people are aware of and probably have different names for it. Nevertheless, CPC is a new direction in personal computing and I strongly believe that Apple along with Dell, HP, and Microsoft are engaged in exploring this new trend.

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Earlier last year, in May, I decided to leave the Windows mother-ship and join the party in MacLand. Although the transition was virtually pain-free and did not interrupt my day to day activities, I realized that there was a need to continue to maintain a Windows machine nearby. Certain software, such as Arena, do not have Mac OS versions. Such software is sometimes required for college students, so it makes sense to have a Windows-based PC or access to a Windows machine. For a time, I did have an old Dell laptop that I used specifically for Arena. However, it really is a pain in the ass to deal with two machines.

Now that a new semester is about to start, luck has it, the old Dell laptop finally decided to call it quits and pass away. I tried to resuscitate it, and I was partially successful. Unfortunately, I could not get the wireless internet to operate. So I was at a dilemma, either find another laptop or attempt to use virtualization software. After doing some light investigation, I came across this software, Parallels, which allows Mac users to run Windows XP or Vista simultaneously with OS X.

Boot Camp, a software included with Leopard, allows you to install and boot into Windows when your Mac machine starts up. Here’s the problem I have with dual booting my machine; if I need to use Microsoft Word while working on an Arena file, I have to have Word for Windows installed along with Word for Mac. Now I’m just wasting hard drive space for two of the same applications for different systems. With Parallels, I can run Arena with Windows running along with Leopard. Now I don’t need multiple versions of the same application installed. However, there is a need to remember one key thing with any virtualization software that can run Windows: You need to have an anti-virus application installed.

The main thing to remember with Parallels is:

1. plenty of ram (I have 2 GB)
2. plenty of free hard drive space (I had 42 GB free)
3. install anti-virus application (I used Avira Anti-vir)
4. practice good habits

Good Practices and Good Lives

So what do I mean by good practices?

• Do not install any application that has a mac version available
• Windows is a Guest OS, which means that it probably won’t be as fast if it were installed natively
• Do as much work as you can on OS X and just the bare minimum using Parallel

Parallels is quite fast and setup is a breeze. The key thing to remember is that Parallels could and probably will slow your machine down. Parallels is a great way to have a machine that can operate Windows along with OS X simultaneously. However, I do not think that Parallels is a great solution for gaming or CPU intensive applications such as Adobe CS suites, graphic & video animation/rendering.

Great For College Student?

If you are a college student and a Mac user, I would highly recommend using Parallels. It comes in two versions, Regular or Premium for $79 or $99 respectively. I’m not sure if they offer educational discounts for students, but it is definitely worth asking them. I bought the $99 version and it was practically free for me since I had enough Apple store gift cards. It is definitely not cheap and I’m not very thrilled either because I’m a huge supporter of free software. However, if you need Windows (and many college students will), this is a small investment to make. Try it out and see how you like it. There is also VMware Fusion, which I did not use because I saw Parallels in action and I was inclined to use that instead. Let me know how they both work out for you if you do try it. I’d like to also hear your thoughts and experiences as well.

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Since Apple’s announcement of the iPod Touch earlier this month, numerous people have been touting the wireless iTunes store. No longer do you need to have your computer by your side to purchase music. With the iPod Touch and the iPhone, you can purchase your music wirelessly. To add further value to this experience, Apple teamed up with Starbuck’s to reach even more customers. Unfortunately, it will not be until early 2009 when almost all Starbuck’s stores will allow consumers to connect to the “special” Starbuck’s iTunes store for free.

On that note, Starbuck’s is preparing to offer 1.5 million song downloads per day starting October 2, 2007 and ending on November 7, 2007 for free. In order to take advantage of this, you have to have an iPod Touch or the iPhone. Fortunately, every Starbuck’s store will be giving away free music even though only a select few stores will offer wireless transactions. To put it frankly, if you don’t have an iPod Touch or an iPhone, you might be in luck. I still can’t determine how you’ll be able to take advantage of this offer in stores that do not have wireless iTunes capabilities.

Source: ArsTechnica

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As you can clearly see, my blog has absolutely no advertising of any kind. If you perceive anything as advertising, please note that my blog also generates absolutely no money of any kind for me. Honestly, I like it that way because I am strong supporter of anti-web advertising. It’s not that I feel web advertising is wrong. Rather, I feel that most ad publishers and networks use ads that are obtrusive and not fluid with the overall site. Advertising on the web should be designed in such a way that the visitor can clearly see the content and the ads do not distract from the content. It is my belief that a user should fall upon advertising and view it if they like, not that advertising tries to grab their attention.

Firefox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer, Camino, and many more have tools that can prevent you from viewing any type of advertising on any website while you are surfing the web. As of now, none of this is illegal. However, an article over at News.com suggests that the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the lobbying arm for advertisers, may consider legal action in the future. Popular bloggers such as John Chow have been neutral in voicing their opinions, but they too feel that those who block their ads do hurt their revenue. When you block an ad, the site running the ad does not make any money. In addition, if the ad is blocked, you cannot click on an ad and therefore the site cannot make any money. Since the web is able to connect millions from across the globe, that inability to make revenue can quickly add up to several thousand dollars for popular sites.

If a lawsuit were to become existent, I don’t think it would be very successful because most of the anti-advertising software is released as open-source. This would allow programmers in other countries to develop variants even though it may become illegal to use in the US. In a way, anybody in the US would be able to download the software and use it. The biggest problem would lie in enforcing such a judgment against anti-advertising software users. You can easily shut down all progress within the US, but you cannot shut down an individual user. The proof of that lies with all the lawsuits RIAA has been filing against users. They have sued over 1000 people and yet, music piracy is flourishing.

I think it is far more important for a website to be educated and focused on how they want to deliver advertising. They need to focus on ensuring that content is laid out correctly and that all the advertising is not obtrusive. In addition, they need to work hard to ensure that the content is what the visitor is looking at more, not the advertising. My philosophy is that if I want to “click” on an advertisement, I will do so only when I feel like it. I don’t need an ad with flashing text and pointless graphics. I’ve noticed that some ad-servers are slow to load ads and thus prevent me from viewing the site’s content until the advertisements have been loaded. That is completely unacceptable. I visit a website for the content, not the advertising.

I realize that advertising is what keeps most of the content free for me. However, is it too much to ask the site owner/developer to ensure that ads are not obtrusive and detract from the content?

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When I moved into my apartment in late August, my roommate asked me why I bought an Apple MacBook. I told him that a MacBook made sense for me because it was a compact machine that allowed me to be mobile and I had access to the applications I used most. The reason why I didn’t buy a Windows laptop was because I was fed up with Windows’ stability issues (i.e., I had to reformat at least once a year) and all the damn viruses that were running around. Moreover, the fact that my Apple did not need an anti-virus software was in itself a huge selling point. In case you have not experienced, most anti-virus software tends to slow down your Windows PC.

My roommate wasn’t convinced, but he accepted my answer. He suggested that the fact that I can also have Windows on my MacBook was a great option, but I did end up paying a premium for this machine. In hindsight, I would have to disagree with him, but at the time, I could not respond. Rather than comparing the technical specifications of my MacBook and a comparable Windows-powered laptop, I want to look at the other, more “important” issues. The fact is that Apple can present its products better than any of its competitors, gives the customer the feeling of luxury, and provides a great service and experience throughout the entire process.

It’s Just Better

I will concede the fact that Mac OSX, the brain behind Apple products, is not as popular as Windows in terms of market share. However, you have to admit that by having an operating system based on UNIX is a strong selling point. Now that Linux, another competing operating system also based off of UNIX, is becoming popular, more and more open source (and free) applications are being developed that are cross-platform. Additionally, most products developed for Windows also work with Apple computers. For instance, my external USB sound-card that I used with my Windows desktop PC worked seamlessly with my MacBook. The best part was that I did not even have to install a single driver or software. Rather, as soon as I plugged it in via USB, my MacBook recognized it and automatically began using it. The only downside is that I cannot use the IR remote that came with the sound-card, but that is a very small price to pay.

easy installation

With Mac OSX, installing software has never been easier. I simply drag the application into my application folder and that’s it. The software is ready to be used. With Windows, I had to install and wait for minutes while the software installed. Often, I had to restart my computer after the installation was complete. I’ve noticed that with Mac OSX, you generally do not need to restart unless the installation makes system changes, and that is usually very rare. All the restarts I have had to do is because of security updates released by Apple themselves. Uninstalling is a breeze too because I just have to drag the icon from the Applications folder to the Trash. You can’t get any easier than that.

Open Your Present

Whenever you buy an Apple product, it is clearly evident that Apple has spent significant amount of time ensuring that the opening process is one of value. Rather than using ordinary brown boxes filled with styrofoam and plain labeling, Apple opts for a very luxurious experience. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling I had when I opened the box for my MacBook. The products are packaged carefully with meticulous attention to presentation. It is not like opening a simple toy, but rather a masterpiece. No matter how much money you spend on an Apple product, Apple ensures that the experience of opening the product is one that will leave a lasting memory. I’m so cheesy that I have kept every single Apple product packaging because it is just too hard to throw away something so precious. However, many will argue that this raises costs which the consumer is ultimately responsible for. I digress with that argument because when I open any product, I want to have the feeling that I just opened a masterpiece, not some garbage.

Speak Easy

With Apple, your experience does not stop at the point-of-sale. Rather, Apple has been known to have great customer service both before, during, and after the sale. With a truly all-around excellent service, Apple provides greater value for the consumer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the real Apple experience, you have to visit an Apple store. You cannot simply walk into Best Buy to experience an Apple product. At an Apple store, the primary objective is not to simply sell you a product. The employees at the Apple store want to ensure that you purchase the right product with the right experience and knowledge. Moreover, these employees are trained extensively and can answer almost any question you might have. The Genius Bar is designed to introduce you to your product further and train you with quite a few tasks. Try getting that at your local Best Buy.

You Pay For All This

Here’s the downside, you are paying for all the value-added services that Apple is providing. The important thing to remember is that Apple is no longer a conventional computer manufacturer like Dell or HP. Rather, Apple is a boutique shop that provides excellent products and services. When you buy an Apple, you can liken that to buying a Mercedes. Not only are you buying a phenomenal product, you are paying more for a great experience. Pundits and detractors will argue for and against what I have just said. In my defense, I am not suggesting that Apple is the best, but they are the best at understanding what a customer wants and expects. I’d like to see Dell and HP offer the same experience or a better one.

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