This week?s hosts included:
Chuck Joiner: MacVoices
David Sparks: macsparky.com
Tim Verpoorten: Mac Reviewcast
Jonathan Cost: Mac Tips Daily
Steve Stanger: The Mac Attack
This weeks topics:
The latest iTunes update breaks Palm Pre syncing. Did this really surprise anyone? This conversation then leads to an iPhone “love-in”. Next we talk about the rumors of a new touchscreen device from apple. Tim then raises the question “Are we seeing the death of the Apple desktop?” David recently upgraded his MacBook with a SSD hard drive and he shares his interesting findings with us. We also discuss our experiences so far with the 3.0 iphone / iPod touch upgrade.
Our Picks this week were:
Chuck – Pandora One
David – Prowl (itunes link)
Jonathan – Funbooth
Steve – Topaz Adjust (Steve during the show called it Aztec Adjust)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Wow, it’s hard to believe that such a tech-savvy panel could miss the point on netbooks so completely. A netbook is about small size AND light weight AND low price AND great battery life (better than a laptop’s). They are powerful enough to run most tasks (apps, even some games). Mine runs OS X with four spaces open just fine. Windows 7 also runs quite well. The keyboard took me about 2 days to adjust to, and it is hard for me to imagine that ANYONE who would ever type on an iPhone would have an issue with a netbook keyboard, In my case, one of my favorite computers ever was a Toshiba Libretto which was far smaller.
A Macbook Air has problems besides cost. It is not small. Light, yes, but not small. It also has only one USB port, overheats, and has a non-removable battery. The ability to put a 9 cell battery in my netbook and carry a spare is a huge plus.
I carry my Macbook only when the netbook won’t do the job. I carry the netbook only when the iPod Touch won’t be powerful enough. I always carry the Touch. Size and weight matter.
If Apple puts out an $800 large iPod Touch, it will bomb. I think it has to run OS X at that price point, or be priced much lower – $500-600 for a larger iPod Touch. I suspect that the $999 Macbook will be $849-899 before long to stimulate sales.
Comment by Bob DeGrande — July 17, 2009 @ 7:46 pm
Hi, Sorry for the confusion with my pick, but when I looked at the episode of Bitnapping.tv closer,
(http://bitnapping.tv/episodes/2009/7/13/bitnappingtv-028-free-studio-suite.html), I saw that the application was opening in virtualized Windows. Although they presented it on a Mac it’s a Windows only suite, so I apologize for the confusion. Thank you.
Tim
Comment by macroundtable — July 18, 2009 @ 6:50 am
Bob, i see all of your points, and think they are good ones. I still think price is the #1 factor among most consumers. With that said, all netbooks aren’t created equal. I remember the first Acer I looked at when walking through the store one day. It felt like a piece of junk, especially the mouse buttons. Like a cheap toy. For those that do purchase netbooks, I think it’s very important to put your hands on it, feel the construction, check out the keyboard, etc. Some of the HPs & Dells I have looked at have been pretty nice and I certainly have considered picking one up — solely for the price; but that’s just me.
Comment by MacTipsDaily — July 18, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
Hi guys thanks for mentioning BitnappingTV. True, free studio is a windows app but we have tons of mac tips and tricks and there are many more to come. So keep tuned and check out our website 🙂
If you guys ever need a bitnapper on you panel, contact me 🙂
Comment by Bastian — July 19, 2009 @ 6:01 am
What a pity they don’t do a Mac version of that amazing conversion software. Will they ever?
Comment by Kate — July 19, 2009 @ 5:07 pm
I am a computer geek, but new to Mac (6 mos). It seems that every Mac podcast takes hits at anything not an iPhone. I have a Palm Pre that will my need as a smart phone. I use this phone because I WILL NOT go to AT&T and Sprint has done good by me. I do have an Ipod touch that does most everything I need. Also I find the Mac Mini as the perfect home computer for Surfing the net, email, iMovie, etc. The Mac Book with fill the other need.
Aloha From Hawaii
Comment by Randy Botti — July 20, 2009 @ 10:14 pm