Why I Am Close To Getting The New MacBook Pro

I am not 100% there yet but I am very close to getting the new MacBook Pro that was introduced to us today. And I cannot settle on the 15" or the 17". And just yesterday, I was still waiting to see when the Air will move to Sandy Bridge.

Here is are a couple reasons and why if you're in the market for a new laptop, you want to consider Apple's new mobile lineup.

Thunderbolt, the new tech offered that will serve as the future port for all accessories. And this is leap and bounds what is available - USB 2, FireWire, and what is not even out yet, USB 3.

And the CPU upgrade aside, which believe me is a big deal, we are talking a whole new dynamic of way to work.

So far, the benchmarks are showing Mac Pro like power. That means we are talking about a mobile workstation that lets you go away and do anything.

Whether this is about video work, coding the next Angry Bird, and writing that next great American novel, the freedom this power we are getting is really something to marvel.

I am at the end of my Macbook's battery life. And it is about time I look at upgrading my hard drive. In all, we are talking about $450-500 in upgrades.

I might as well spend that on a new MacBook.

Nothing has been made about this decision yet. I really want to see which size screen will work better for me. The 17" MBP is awesome but I am gonna see if I can do with a 15".

Who knows, with the economy the way it is, I can totally see this as wishful thinking and maybe I'll just hold off a bit longer.




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Are We Hours Away From New MacBooks?

I am on the west coast and that means as of the start of the writing of this post, I am two hours away from Thursday and, if the speculations hold, hours away from new MacBooks using Intel's latest and greatest mobile CPUs.

I got the first unibody Macbook when it came out the first time in late-2008. It's still chugging along and I've got no real complaints about it though I would like it to have a longer battery life.

So I eager wait and see if the newest mobile Macs what I need - speed and longer battery life than the current line of MacBooks.

And if things don't pan out, I will probably look to getting a new battery and a faster hard drive. Of course, I'll be getting Lion this summer.

Hmmm...that sounds like a lot of money already. The new MacBooks are beginning to look even better.


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Apple Verus Those Who Would Sell Our Information "To Serve" Us

Here is a good post on what the real issue, like I've been saying, is about with respect to Apple's subscription plan. Again, it's not about the 30% cut which Amazon and Google (the 10% cut is from Web subscribers, not in-app purchases - as far as I know, Apple doesn't plan to charge publishers for Web access) all fully plan on partaking.

At first, I was perplexed by the lack of defense from Apple and its defenders. I think as Apple stayed silent through much of the firestorm about nothing (which was absolutely brilliant), Apple gave folks nothing new to write about.

And many Apple supporters probably thought Apple's rates were harsh as well. That would explain the silence at the start. But as time passed, I started to see posts that genuinely examine the issue and many began to realized that Apple was not unfair. If anything, it was once again change how things were done.

No longer would publishers freely acquire user information and sell it to the highest bidders. And that is what all the angst is about.

And again, this post explains everything in plain English.

More at Counter Notions.


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Hey, Apple, How's iWork Coming Along

Though there is no official word from Apple, but it does seem like everyone is assuming that the MacBook updates will happen tomorrow. Let's assume that to be the case. Hey, Apple, where's iWork?

I passed on the last update but I am so ready for this one. There are a couple of features that I can sure use that are available in the current version but I like to see if the next one makes it even better.

One I am interested in very much is publication to iBooks and/or other ebook stores through Pages or another app. I am talking more that just ePub.

Also, I am hoping for a simple app dev program that I hope Apple release. You know, a fun sort of App-making for dummies.

Regardless, I eagerly await the next update. Hopefully, this will happen soon. Oh, and some tie-in with MobileMe would be great too.


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Mobile Payment Is Coming In A Big Way

The mainstream media has not caught on to it yet and I've talked about it here from time to time. But be prepared to be bombarded with tons of media reports, blogs, tweets, and e-mails about it in the coming weeks or months.

At week at the Mobile World Congress, near field communication, NFC, was being talked about as if it is the next holy grail of mobile. And to a follower of mobile happenings like myself, this is a big thing. In as few words as possible, NFC allows payments be made through mobile devices.

Think of this as what you can already do at Starbucks. You can order and pay through the app. Well, this will happen in a much much better way. There are a couple of devices on the market with NFC capability, specifically, Google's Nexus S. But as with some technology, being first doesn't mean much.

However, it is largely expected that Apple's next iOS hardware updates, including the next iPhone, will support mobile payment. And I expect an explosion of next generation Android devices to support this as well.

I really recommend reading up on it because just about everyone from your bank, credit card, wireless providers, and hardware companies will be getting in on this lucrative new business. Oh, and retailers would love this as well.

Also, there are also security concerns you'll need to be aware of.

So get ready media and ad blitz coming our way. I'll be devoting much much more attention than I have in the past. I started talking about almost two years ago, pointing the ease that the Japanese users have been able to enjoy with paying through their cell phones for years.

It'll be our turn soon.

It's Official: iPad 2 Announcement Coming on March 2nd

Here it is folks. The moment you've been waiting for. Apple is due to officially unveil iPad 2 next week, March 2nd.




Here is one bit of speculation on my part. There has been talk that Apple has already shipped some crates of new merchandise to its stores and retailers. The speculation is that they are new updated MacBooks.

But what if they're not? Could they be iPad 2 units instead?

More at World of Apple.


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Bloggers Just Refuse To Face Facts About Apple's Subscription Plans - Trashing Apple Better For Business

This is my comment response to another uninformed post with a click-bait headline.  This time, it's from one of my favorite site about ebook and publishing, Teleread. Their headline is "Steve Jobs muddies Apple subscription waters further with 'clarification'". 

I've been reading a lot about the Apple subscription issue so I can gain a better understanding of what Apple is trying to do and where the grievances are.  After all, isn't that the best way to go about getting a handle on things?  

When I first read that Apple would take 30% of all subscriptions, I was flabbergasted.  30%!  Piracy!  As it turned out, this is way below Amazon's 70% cut on Kindle subscriptions.  Publishers are not concerned about that.  What they are not happy about is that Apple still will not share with them the vast and rich treasure trove that is the iTunes ecosystem that Apple spent the better part of the last decade creating.

Here goes:

How did Steve Jobs' e-mail muddying things up?  I thought it was exceptionally clear.  This is especially tru ewith respect to Readability.

Readability became a publisher of sort when it decided to become an aggregator of published media, posts, columns, articles and it sells them as a subscription.  If instapaper, Evernote, or anyone else tries to become active participants in distribution of content, their apps will be coming publishing apps.  Dropbox can eventually enter in their service as well and the Dropbox app will too become a publishing app.

And yes, if Twitter or Facebook starts to charge for tweets/posts/articles, they'll need to fork over 30% of their subscription revenues and it would be a pretty good biz for them and gladly give Apple its cut because they're not even doing it now.  As a matter of fact, all the above mentioned companies with apps should maybe think about getting into this business because it's a revenue stream they currently do not have.  

And there will not be any antitrust issues beyond preliminary probes - Readability needs to get a lawyer and he or she will tell them they've got no case.  Basically, Readability tried to game the system and failed

Bottomline: Publishers aren't complaining about the 30% cut (Amazon takes/took 70% cut from publishers - where's the outrage?).  Bloggers are (see note below for why that is).  What publishers are not happy about is the opt-in part about subscribers sharing personal information so they can sell that information and spam their subscribers. Readability came up with a biz plan that doesn't not work within the framework and going public in this manner is their last resort.

What's not clear is what this means for Netflix, Hulu, and other music subscriptions.  But I hope they are exempted.  I'm sure Best Buy, Amazon, and the few other smart service providers who aren't going around trying to trash Apple in public are trying to work things out with Apple.  

Here is the original Macrumors about the Steve Jobs e-mail.

Note:  Here's the thing, my fellow mobile warriors.  Trashing Apple is a good way for bloggers to get folks to click onto their sites.  It gets people fired up on both sides of the issue.  Writing about the facts doesn't bring in the clicks but it doesn't require leaving the moral compass at home.  So if and when Apple screws over Netflix or the music apps, I'll be back to vilify Steve and company.  Now, that would help me gain readers!