Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat

I’ve been very pleased by Apple’s integrated backup application in OS X, Time Machine.  It cleverly removes many of the barriers to backup, and makes restore both simple and fun.  But I’ve noticed that it’s not quite perfect out of the box.  Two default settings in particular bother me:  It is set to back up everything, including OS files and caches, and spotlight needlessly indexes your Time Machine drive.  Luckily, both are easy fixes.

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Have a Mac and a TiVo?  I was thinking of grabbing Roxio’s Toast 9 Titanium so I could use the TiVo To Go features anyway, and Amazon surprised me by putting it as a Gold Box item today.  It’s $49 with a $20 rebate, with free shipping!  Sweet deal!

As is traditionally the case, there has been some pretty wild speculation about what Apple plans to introduce at this year’s Macworld.  Some insist it’s 3G iPhone time, others look for a tablet/touch computer, and everyone sees Blu-ray everywhere.  But Apple upset the cart a bit this week by introducing new, faster Mac Pros and Xserves during CES, and a number of strong leaks point to iTunes movie rentals, updates for iPhone/iTouch, and the company has all but confirmed the SDK.

Let’s take a look at what we know and what we don’t, starting with the firmest information.  And read to the end to see my own wild speculation…

Very Likely 

• Further Mac Pro and Xserve updates are extremely unlikely.
• iTunes movie rentals are all but confirmed, but will it be version 8 or version 7.6? I bet on the latter.
• An update to the iPhone/iTouch (1.1.3) is in the wild and has received much press, plus it would be required to support those movie rentals, making a Macworld intro very likely.
• Leopard needs a rev, and 10.5.2 has been spotted (if you pardon the pun), so that’s a likely Macworld intro.
• Apple officially announced the iPhone/iTouch SDK back in October, and claimed it would be released in February, so it’s likely they’ll spend some time focusing on what it can and can’t do, and probably will introduce some third party apps, too.  Mac Rumors suggests a Sling Player app, at least, and I’m looking for some games.
• I expect a revved MacBook Pro, with the new Penryn CPUs, thinner and prettier, but nothing really amazing.

Maybe Yes, Maybe No

• I’ll bite on the long-talked-about subnote rumor, but it’s definitely not a sure thing.  I’m expecting a 12″ or 13″ subnote with flash storage (no internal hard disk or optical drive), and a super-thin aluminum and black (iPhone-type) case.  But I do not expect it will have a touch screen or tablet, though the funky touch pad might have some enhanced multi-touch capabilities.
• The early release of the big-box Macs suggests to me that we can expect updates to the portables, but the MacBook was just updated in November, so I expect it’ll be left alone for now.
• The Cinema Displays are getting long in the tooth, so they need a rev, and this would be a good time to do it.  I expect another aluminum and black look (like the newer iMacs), and would be shocked if iSight and an IR receiver wasn’t built in.  I’m also expecting expanded Windows compatibility, more aggressive pricing, and DisplayPort and HDCP, but all this might not be mentioned in the keynote.
• The demise of the Mac Mini has long been rumored, but I hope it isn’t true.  I’m looking instead for a new small desktop Mac with a new industrial design.  How about a PCI-Express slot, too?
• I’m definitely not expecting a 3G iPhone, though a 16 GB model and shuffled-down prices would be a good bet.

Wild Imaginings

• I don’t expect a big Blu-ray splash at this show.  The Warner Brothers announcement was too late to change product plans, and Apple was conspicuously waiting the HD war out on the sidelines.
• Something needs to be done with the Apple TV, and this might just be the big announcement.  I like the idea of this being Apple’s first Blu-ray product, and a Blu-ray Apple TV at a nice price to replace my DVD player might just get me off the couch and into the stores.  But I seriously doubt this Apple TV will have a tuner, let alone DVR capabilities.

The Big One

OK, that’s out of the way, that’s the show.  But wait, there’s one more wild imagining in my head…  As Jeremy Toeman pointed out, an enhanced Cinema Display could make a darn fine TV.  So let’s walk down this path a little…

Lots of folks were disappointed that Blu-ray drives remain unavailable, even on the new Mac Pro, and I just said I didn’t expect one in the revved MacBook Pro, either.  But what if Apple is ahead of us all on this one.  What if the update to the Cinema Display also included a Blu-ray drive?!?

Introduce a new line of displays - call them Home Cinema or something.  Put in an internal iMac-like Blu-ray drive that can both play standalone to the display or be connected to a computer (over FireWire or USB) and used as a computer drive.  Suddenly every Mac has a Blu-ray option, and those Cinema Displays start looking like a much better option than a Dell or ViewSonic at half the price.  Lots of folks would love a more-converged entertainment computer, and some might just buy the big Home Cinema as a standalone entertainment unit.

But let’s follow Jeremy’s suggestion a little further…  Roll the guts of an updated Apple TV (running full OS X) right into that Home Cinema and create a Macintosh Cinema.  It’ll have integrated iTunes movie rentals and Blu-ray, and could be used as a regular computer with the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

And roll out the guts of the Macintosh Cinema and you’ve got a worthy replacement for both the Apple TV and the Mac Mini.

And please, Apple, buy TiVo and integrate that, too!

Typically, this year’s CES was big, bland, and (reportedly) bad, but one item that caught my TiVo-loving eye was the introduction of the Seagate PipelineHD hard drive.  It’s a three-platter drive optimized for DVR use, like the earlier DB35 series, with quieter seeks and bearings, and an expanded thermal envelope.

The DB35 has been a huge hit in TiVo circles - it’s the go-to drive for HD expansion.  I expect that the PipelineHD line will be the next must-have.

There has been lots of talk about the Data Robotics (aka Drobo) SOHO “storage robot”
- whoever they have doing their marketing deserves a raise! When I first heard about it, I was pretty puzzled - Why care about yet another storage enclosure, especially an overly expensive one that doesn’t even have NAS features? On closer examination, I have become a believer in the potential of the device and the company. Drobo offers some key ingredients that promise future success to me: a clear focus on usability, novel thinking to solve a real-world problem, and that great marketing I mentioned earlier. Click through for the full story… Continue Reading »

Meet the Maxtor Personal Storage 3200. It’s a cheap, quick, and dirty way to add storage to your PC, and it’s ilk is becoming the surprise hit of the holiday season, lifting the stock of Seagate and Western Digital, and making Hitachi, LaCie and others fight for a piece of the market.

I’ve bought two 3200’s and a Western Digital MyBook (500 GB each) over the last 9 months, adding 1.5 TB to my home environment without opening a computer case or spending a fortune. The MyBook (which has eSATA) is connected to the Series 3 TiVo, one of the 3200’s is connected to my NSLU2 for home server duty, and the other is doing backup duty.

And, yeah, the most recent 3200 had that Chinese virus problem, but Avira’s AntiVir blocked it and a quick reformat wiped it clean… It’s kind of amusing to be personally affected by a tech meme, isn’t it?

With the advent of “quick enough” USB 2.0 and blazing fast eSATA, I wouldn’t be surprised if these external drives change the face of the PC. I already know of a few folks who have switched to the Mac Mini and are hanging these drives outside instead of buying a big empty case to house internal storage. And the laptop market is booming, threatening to replace the traditional desktop PC. Perhaps the idea of a Lego brick PC wasn’t a bad one after all - it was just waiting for USB to ramp up the speed…

TiVo finally turned on the power of the HD platforms (the Series 3 and HD) with the 9.2 upgrade this week.  This enables sharing of video between TiVos (even between standard-def and high-def units) as well as allowing uploads and downloads from PCs.

So now we can all enjoy our video away from the house.  This is super sweet with the Desktop Plus’ support of the iPod (and thus iPhone)!

And one more thing - it you want to watch that embarrassing Ford ad blunder, I just uploaded it to YouTube!

I spotted this on a Ford commercial last night. Their new(ish) Edge SUV sure is fast! I imagine no other vehicle in any class even comes close to this top speed! Someone tell Bugatti and Pagani!

Update: Because I’ve been asked, here are the answers you seek:

• The ad aired on the local educational access channel last night (10/17) around 10 PM
• It was the “Ilissa swapped her Murano” ad
• It was very polished and professional - a national ad not just some local botch
• I recorded it on the TiVo, but since it’s a Series 3 I can’t download it until they enable TiVo ToGo next month…

And one more thing:  The Edge has a 265 horsepower V6 engine, in case you were wondering what they thought they were saying!

On Wednesday, Apple dropped the price of the iPhone from $599 to $399. Predictably, many people went wild, complaining that they got ripped off by this 33% price cut after just 10 weeks of sales, while others defended the move, comparing it to price cuts by Sony (PS3), Microsoft (XBox), and even Apple itself (Mac Mini).

For me, this brought up recent memories of TiVo’s (late) price cutting on the Series 3 high definition DVR. Introduced at $800 in September, it was available for around $650 in the Spring and dropped to $400 with a special rebate for Fathers’ Day. Then, in July, TiVo released the TiVo HD, priced at $300 and including most of the features of the Series 3. Again, recent buyers went nuts, complaining that their “investment” was wasted as prices effectively dropped by over 70% in just 9 months.

I was present for both of these storms. I bought a $600 TiVo Series 3 and my wife bought me a $600 iPhone. Of course I wish I hadn’t “had to” pay so much, but I’m not angry. That’s how things go in the fast-moving electronics space. This is doubly true of mobile phones - how many people who spent $500 or even $800 on a Motorola RAZR spite my mother in law for the one she just got for free?

Both the Series 3 and iPhone are “insanely great” products, and I am as happy with them today as when I first unboxed them. In fact, these price drops have made me seriously consider buying a TiVo HD and second TV. And I just ordered a $399 iPhone for my wife. What goes around comes around, truly!

And, by the way, if you bought a $599 iPhone on August 21 or later, Apple will give you a $200 credit, and if you bought one at any time, Apple will give you a $100 credit! Why didn’t Motorola do this for RAZR buyers!?!

Next time someone trots out the old argument that “only pirates hate digital rights management (DRM),” just point out what just happened at the old Googleplex. They just canceled their pay-per-download Google Video site and locked everyone out of the content that they legally paid for. We all knew this could happen with DRM, and now it has.

Buyers have a grand total of 2 days to enjoy their downloaded video before losing access to it forever. Not that I used this source, and not that they really had much content, but it should put the fear in anyone who does buy DRM-ed content online.

I personally use Apple’s iTunes Store and Amazon Unbox on TiVo fairly frequently, and both could easily lock me out of my purchases if they so desired. I’ve already been bitten by the handcuffs put on Amazon by content providers - new releases can’t be re-downloaded within so many days (usually 90 from the looks of it) even if you didn’t watch them yet. I’ve so far paid for 3 rental movies that I didn’t get to see because they were deleted off the TiVo before I could watch them. At least they were $.99 sale items…

By the way, being the “do no evil” company (and probably lacking customers for this service) Google has decided to refund 100% of Video purchase cost in the form of Google Checkout credits. At least they are being nice-ish…