Last week was great- we saw a nice increase of traffic, a new podcast (finally) and began our affiliate program. This week ahead is going to be very interesting. I am leaving for New Orleans on Wednesday morning, and will not return until mid-day on Sunday. This may mean that I will not produce an article every day, but rest assured that I will do my best to get content out everyday. Sidney and I are going to record an audio podcast either today or tomorrow, as we are trying to increase the consistency of podcasts every week. It has been a relatively quiet week for Apple news, and probably will be similar this week. But who knows? Happy Monday y’all!

This week, a bunch of rumors have been circulating that Apple is preparing to offer an Unlimited subscription to iTunes on a yearly basis with hardware purchase.

Will we be clicking Subscribe anytime soon?

This past Tuesday, a report from Financial Times cited internal sources from within Apple claiming that the company is considering the option of subscription with a purchase of new hardware for the future. Similar to Nokia’s recent “Comes with Music”, a bundling of a one year subscription to their music store rolled into either hardware or service charges, thus appearing to the consumer as free. Theoretically, new iPod Touch or iPhone users could opt for this service for a premium charge- more likely free to iPhone purchasers and a fee for those who buy the iPod Touch. The idea would not only entice customers to use Apple’s iTunes but keep them with the Fair-Play DRM.

Now, this could be possible, but considering Jobs’ stance on subscription, it is probably unlikely. In April 2003, Apple introduced the iTunes Music Store, offering a pay-as-you go model- even allowing you to buy single tracks off an album. Steve Jobs has always been adamant against the subscription model. In the December 2003 issue of Rolling Stone, Jobs said:

While Jobs sometimes goes back on statements similar to these, besides the movie rentals, he has remained fairly consistent with the pay-as-you-go model in the 5 years since the introduction of the iTunes Store. With over 4 billion songs sold to date, the iTunes Store accounts for more than 70% of all digital music sales worldwide.

Even beyond the large success of the iTunes Store, while the Unlimited iTunes Music model might not be a bad idea both for Apple and iTunes, it will not happen- at least not in the near future. Until we see a successful subscription model come out, or even the success of the Nokia “Comes with Music” promotion, we can rest assured that Jobs and Co will remain selling tracks to own for years to come. Scratch this one off your rumor list.

The iLife Podcast – Epoisode #5: iPhone SDK

Show notes coming soon.

If you would like to subscribe to this podcast in iTunes, simply click on this link(iTunes Store)!

The MacBook Air is Apple’s smallest laptop ever- but where does it lie with other laptops?

Is there something hidden under the MacBook Air?

When Steve Jobs released the MacBook Air, the intention was to fill a gap in the existing Apple laptop lineup. Following the buzz of Macworld, many reviewers have ripped apart (literally) the MacBook Air and comparing it to the other ‘Ultra-Portable’ computers from other manufactures. From the non user-replaceable battery, to no Ethernet jack and only one USB port- people have poked at some of the cons of using the Air and since given it mixed reviews.

While the complaints are genuine, now more than 2 months since the release of the MacBook Air, I have found most of the reviewers are slightly biased. As the reviews came out I would always find myself saying- “Well, this is what someone tech savvy might say, but what about the others?”. The answer is usually: “they don’t really care”. Most people don’t care about taking advantage of all the features in their computers- both hardware and software. They just want to do whatever they want to do. Those who take full advantage are usually the more technically inclined- ie, the people writing the review!

While I am not refuting the claims made by reviewers of the MacBook Air, I feel that most people who are interested or buy the MacBook Air don’t really mind the tradeoffs associated with it. And while you can say that with virtually any product ever, the MacBook Air appears to be in strong demand. I think that the MacBook Air might prove to be a very successful laptop, but certainly never overthrow its big brother, the MacBook Pro. Currently residing on the number one spot on the Apple Online Store, seventh on Amazon Notebook section (joined with five other Apple laptops), one can assume it is selling with reasonable pace. Apple even keeps a MacBook Air availability badge for each one of it’s retail stores, updated daily at 9pm, much like the iPhone badge seen in June of last year.

The MacBook Air availability checker.

So what is my point? The MacBook Air appeals to a certain type market of people. While this may not be everyone, it appears that a substantial amount of people are buying it. They feel that the other benefits the Air offers outweighs the non-user replaceable battery, one USB port or lack of Ethernet jack. While no product can ever be perfect, we shouldn’t forget that everyone sees things differently. This holds true not only with Apple, but the entire tech industry.

Starting a series of reviews, we will be looking at valuable pieces of software. Today’s review is about WhatSize.

I am often asked by people looking to clear out space on their Mac for the best strategies and techniques to free up those precious bytes. The answer I always give is to download WhatSize. WhatSize is a great utility for mapping out the depths of your hard drive and quickly finding large files. Often when tight on space, you want to files that are taking up the most room and decide what to do with them- in a timely manner. Without WhatSize, it can be a taunting task of cleaning up a cluttered harddrive through just the Finder and the Get Info pane. This is why WhatSize can prove valuable to make it easy to find these large files.

The main UI for WhatSize

When you run WhatSize, you see a tree of drives and folders in your home folder. Simply select one of these drives or folders, and it will start mapping out the selected destination. Once WhatSize is done, you can explore the contents of the selected destination. WhatSize will color code the files by size- those that are over one gigabyte, red, greater than one megabyte, blue and files that are greater than one byte green. You can then easily send items to the trash or open them in a Finder window all within the WhatSize browser. Earning 4/5 i’s for our first Application review, you can download a copy and try it out on your own. More about the developer, id-design inc here.

Sorting files by size, color coated.

i i i i (4/5)
WhatSize offers a nice user interface for finding large files, and at $12.99 is worth your money.

This commercial is the most recent Apple commercial. Playing on many primetime spots, it shows the various functions of the iPod touch. It has also been added to The Daily iLife podcast today, which you can subscribe to in iTunes or watch here.

The second iPod Touch commercial touting its various features from web browsing to music.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! We are continuing to keep content coming out on a regular basis. Even while on the road competing in Hartford last week, the other writers and I were able to get content out everyday. This week should be no different, and the podcast Sidney and I have been meaning to do will finally surface- I promise. The Apple news was fairly quiet besides the small rumblings of DVR patents, Intel SSD’s and 100,000 downloads of the SDK in four days. Maybe this week we will see more (AirPort Express with N?)- who knows?! Have a great day, and lets hope for an enjoyable week!

Sometimes, you wonder if some things could tell stories, what they might say. After explaining some of my laptops quarks to Sidney a few months ago, he suggested I write a story.

It was a fairly mild May day, May 23rd to be exact. The model iBook had been out for approximately a month when an Army solider decided to purchase his first Mac. He customized it to have 512MB of RAM and even opted for the Bluetooth wireless option. At the cost of approximately $1,200 it was a very respectable system- including AppleCare! After treating it like his baby, a little more than 2 months of owning it, he found out his was deployed to Iraq. Understanding that the computer wouldn’t get used very much while he was gone, he decided to sell it on eBay.

I was a sophomore in high school at the point, and was in the market for a new computer. After my iMac G3 was damaged by lightning in a recent storm, I wanted to get a laptop. The decision to get a new computer, as WWDC had recently taken place did require some thought into the future. I knew that I couldn’t stand another two years with my aging iMac G3, that I would have to live through the transition- I knew I would be getting a new computer by the end of my senior year. I originally thought to get a brand new computer from the Apple Store online, but had a whim to go on eBay and see if I couldn’t fetch a better deal there.

After much searching, I stumbled upon a few auctions that fit my needs. Being a good eBay buyer, I closely monitored the activity with these (three or so) auctions- looking for the right time to snatch my deal. Behold my connection with the Army solider. I won the auction, paying about $900 with shipping. I was amazed- I got a computer worth more than $1,200 retail at the time at a discount of almost $300. Not only did I save money, but I saved a computer from going to waste.

The seller was extremely nice, and sent me an email wishing me good luck with the computer, and to take care of it- because he would miss it. I tried contacting him upon compiling this story, but haven’t yet received a response. Not only have I taken care of this computer, I have put it to good use. I almost see it as a physical representation of my high school career- it has been with me for these past 4 years reliably and has seen a lot.

I couldn’t even begin to count the miles I have put on it- but I can estimate that it is at least 10,000. Where did I get this number? Well, in the past 4 years, I’ve taken my laptop with me to Amsterdam, San Francisco, Denver, Florida, Canada, North Carolina, St. Louis, Atlanta- to name a few. In fact, I’m writing this story on it currently en-route to Hartford, Connecticut. I also have been in and out of New York City, New York State, Connecticut, Massachusetts on a monthly basis. I bring my laptop with me virtually everywhere- from trips to the Diner with my family, to the mall, friends houses and often to school. Even with the excessive amount of traveling and milage put on it, it has stood up well.

Stood up well… for the most part: It has made a few trips to the repair center, for numerous issues, nothing too serious. I have had the battery replaced, new bottom case installed, gone through more rubber ‘feet’ than I can care to remember, had the hard drive swapped out and the bezel changed. Otherwise, my computer (which is now out of AppleCare) has remained solid. Even through in this time of Intel processors ‘screaming’, the G4 has kept me running fairly well- I’ve been on Leopard since it came out, and besides intensive media work (mainly Final Cut, or rendering of any kind) it can keep me up to speed. Sadly, I have to admit that even with my love for it, I will have to replace it with a new MacBook Pro for college in June. I won’t abandon it- it will stick with me and I will never forget the service it has given me.

I would be interested- what is the story behind your computer? Let us know!

Last week Trent Reznor released a collection of instrumental tracks independently, in a surprise move even his fans couldn’t anticipate. The collection, called Ghosts I-IV, was done in a ten week period last fall, produced mostly by himself and a few of his friends. The album’s first 9 tracks can be downloaded on Bittorrent officially for free, while users can also choose to download just the music and a 40 page PDF for $5. If listeners really want a physical product, they can pay $10 for two CDs, $75 for a deluxe edition, or $300 for a limited edition with vinyl, CDs, and even a data DVD of all the multitracks.

Astoundingly, the download site was hit with so many requests that it had to be shutdown for several hours so it could handle all the traffic. Thankfully for some, the album was still available on Amazon, where this author was happily able to download 36 high quality tracks for the very low price of $5. Most people would see this as just an attempt to copy Radiohead and gain free publicity; however, by looking deeper into the way the idea was executed, it is clear that Trent Reznor takes it one step, if not three steps, into the future of the music industry.

Read more…

Often times, people request features for the iPhone. What about features found on the iPhone but not the Mac?

With the release of the iPhone firmware version 2.0, Apple has launched a set of enterprise features aimed at companies with mobile cell phones- support for Exchange servers, Cisco IPSec VPN and more. While this may be great for the iPhone, and help gain support from large companies and professionals alike- what about the Mac? If Apple supports these features for the iPhone, why can’t they give native support in OS X?

The initiative from Apple to open up the iPhone to developers and natively support a wide host of enterprise features is welcomed by all, as this is something Apple usually stays away from. In the past, Apple has typically made anyone wishing to use such enterprise features found in the iPhone firmware 2.0 relay on 3rd party developers such as Microsoft or Cisco. Why can’t Mail have Exchange support?! If Apple is going to continue to add features to the iPhone, will the Mac be left in the dark?

There is a long standing rumor that Leopard was delayed because of the June iPhone release date. This wouldn’t be the first time that Apple has neglected the Mac over the iPhone- but with good reason. The iPhone marks a new chapter of Apple, one that is showing a more mature Apple- and could become extremely successful over the coarse of the next few months. All I ask from Apple is- can we have all the iPhone features on the Mac?