News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
It was one of those days. There's a maxim that to err is human, butto really stuff things up you need a computer. Robbie Burns also oncesaid (in my imagination) that "the best-laid plans of mice and men haveno chance againt modern technology". We had planned our coverage of the keynote so well. We had rehearsed, tested and run through. Nothing could go wrong.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 16, 2008
January each year sees Apple observers focusing on Macworld San Francisco but just down the road in Anaheim, one of the biggest music product trade shows in the world kicks off at nearly the same time as Macworld. NAMM is the show that any gear-obsessed musician would love to attend at least once in their lifetime – I know it’s on my to-do list. Well over eighty thousand attendees are expected this year and there’s plenty ofnew music gear being announced.
David Holloway | Jan 15, 2008
The world has been rocked this week with the news that Apple has added Andrea Jung to its board of directors. That's right, that Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon. That's right, that Avon, the door-to-door cosmetics company. Clearly this indicates a radical new direction in Apple's retail strategy: as well as mass-market retailers, specialised independent resellers, company-owned stores and of course online, Apple is now going to recruit an army of enthusiastic salespeople hoofing it from house to house with sample cases.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 11, 2008
The timing of the announcement is a curious tactic for Apple. Announcing a refresh of a major product line six days out from theMacworld Expo is a little weird; I can't think why Steve Jobs wouldn'thave wanted to pull a big blue sheet off a Mac Pro (the Xserve marketis pretty specialised when you come to it) and startle the world withit. Then again, perhaps he's got something even snazzier in mind; aFlash-based MacBook Pro that costs $300, reads your mind, does yourironing and has a Time Machine that works with any wireless networkconnection.
Alex Kidman | Jan 10, 2008
Bill Gates has given his last Consumer Electronics Show keynote address. It was, it must be said, much like all of them: big on promise, low on delivery -- but at least it was funny. The question now is: what does he leave behind?
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 9, 2008
With Warner Brothers' announcement that it would be dropping support for Toshiba's HD-DVD disc format in favour of the Sony-developed Blu-ray Disc, many have declared the format war over with BD the winner. There are reasons to be happy about this, and reasons to be unhappy. And reasons not to care either way.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 8, 2008
The MacBook range is second-rate for internet access, and it’s high time Apple did something about it. OK, perhaps that’s a bit unfair. On WiFi or Ethernet, the MacBook is a fine internet access device -- Draft 802.11n and all that -- but what if you’re out on the road? In an era when just about every notebook manufacturer offers several models with inbuilt mobile broadband capabilities, Apple’s notebooks are notably devoid of this handy option.
Dan Warne | Jan 7, 2008
Microsoft has had a change of heart about the non-disclosure period for beta-testers of its Office 2008 for Mac. So it's time to spill some beans.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 4, 2008
America Online and Netscape once forged an unlikely alliance against Microsoft. Unfortunately their choice of pet names let them down, and the rest is history.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 2, 2008
America’s presidential election is over, and we can all be grateful for that. But in politics, the race never really ends. I think that’s the metaphor at work in Freedom Run by Spiralstorm Games. The game’s imagery is ripe with symbolism: Republicans and Democrats are bound to each other, struggling to achieve a common good just out of reach. One cannot succeed without the other. And the run, just like the ever-expanding quest for freedom, is endless. There is no finish line. And if you fall down, you get up and try again.
