Like so many other tech journalists I tuned in to watch the Back to the Mac conference on Wednesday. This was the first live Apple conference I’ve ever watched, and I initially tried to view it on my Windows machine in Chrome – only to find that, in classic Apple tradition, the stream was blocked. Frustrated and amused, I booted up my MacBook instead.
The closed nature of the live stream was itself a good analogy for the Back to the Mac event. As you can probably guess from that statement, I wasn’t entirely happy about what Steve Jobs had to say. Not everything was negative, however – so let’s analyze the conference point by point.
New iLife Software
Hey, guys! iLife 11 is now out! You can make movie trailers with iMovie, jam out terribly and then edit out your awfulness with Garageband and, perhaps most hilarious of all, you can now create photobooks, wedding invitations in iPhoto, send it to Apple, and receive a printed copy shipped to your doorstep! For a price, of course.
You can also blah blah blah. Whatever – to be honest, I couldn’t care less. The iLife software is all very good, and the new features make the software better, but I don’t think the new functionality is going to suddenly make you a convert. If you like these programs already, these new versions are better – buy them. If you don’t use them, or you don’t have a Mac, the new iLife probably isn’t going to make you start using them or make you convert.
Mac OS X Lion
A few months ago, while listening to Cnet’s Buzz Out Loud podcast, the crew started to talk about their belief that Apple doesn’t really care about OS X and would prefer if Mac computers could run a more closed operating system like the iPad. I thought it was a load of crap at that time – I really don’t think it is the right move. But alas, greed does a number on even brilliant minds, and so we had the pleasure of watching Steve Jobs happily outline Apple’s desire to turn OS X into a walled garden.
Yes, the App Store is coming to OS X. It will make browsing and installing programs easier. It also gives Apple a 30% cut of all software sold through the new App Store. To be clear, though, these two issues are not my problem. I think ease of use is a good thing and I think that most developers will easily make back the 30% cut in increased volume. My problem with the App Store for OS X is that it will transform Mac software development into a race to the bottom. For every decent app on the iPhone there is twenty that are crap and twenty more that are decent but don’t make back their development costs. Up until now, OS X has been defined by a tightly knit constellation of applications. Converting it to a platform surrounded by a universe of mostly dim stars may be painful and is likely to make the lack of quality software available for OS X more apparent.
The bigger problem, however, is the fact that OS X is falling behind Windows overall. I use both Windows 7 and OS X, and through my experience I’ve come to the conclusion that Windows 7 is a superior operating system, and by no small margin. OS X is easier for those people who have absolutely no desire to learn anything about computers at all, but Windows is superior for all other users. It is easier to navigate, feels slightly quicker, has a better taskbar, has a better system tray, and offers more robust functionality. It’s at least equally stable – indeed, my MacBook has crashed several times in the last few months while my Windows machine has only crashed once in recent memory.
Perhaps Steve Jobs simply decided to leave the boring technical details out, but as it stands OS X Lion is disappointing. The OS X dock, combined with Finder, sucks. I want a better finder, and file structure that makes sense, and a dock that is more functional and flexible. Oh, and can we have some decent scroll bars, please?
The MacBook Air
For the last few months there have been many rumors surrounding both 11.6” and 13.3” MacBook Airs. As it turns out, both sides were correct. The debut of the 11.6” inch model was surprising, because I think it is hard to argue at this point that this format isn’t a netbook in terms of size. The 13.3” MacBook, on the other hand, was about what could be expected.
Before I go too far into these products, I need to rant for a moment about the processors in these laptops – or, rather, what people having been saying about them. There seems to be two camps – one that hates the processors and says that they’re “not modern” and another that compares the processors to the Intel Atom and then acts stunned and amazed that an 11.6” laptop is being built by Apple with a Core 2 Duo.
To the haters – shut up. Any statement that contends that the Core 2 Duo isn’t a modern processor is nothing more than retarded bile. There are many laptops on the market still using the Core 2 Duo. Why? Because it is a good processor. No, it isn’t as fast a Core i3, but the Core i3 tends to consume more power. Besides, I’ve tested a 1.33 GHz Core i3 CULV processor and I can tell you that it isn’t meaningfully quicker than the 1.4 GHz Core 2 Duo CULV that will be in the MacBook Air 11.
To the Jobs fanatics – shut up. Comparing the MacBook Air 11 to an Intel Atom based netbook is dishonest and/or stupid. There are multiple 11.6” laptops similar to the MacBook Air 11 with Core 2 Duo, Core i3 CULV or AMD Neo processors. These laptops are as quick as the MacBook Air 11 and generally cost between $400 and $600.
Also, wipe that smug grin about the 1366×768 resolution on the MacBook Air 11. Every 11.6” laptop on the market has that display resolution.
I’m surprised how quickly folks swallowed the Apple BS about the laptop having a “fully sized keyboard.” Oh, okay. That’s great. Except that all Apple laptop keyboard are already on the small size, so managing to cram one in isn’t a big surprise. In addition, the full size keyboard doesn’t do anything for the fact that the laptop has a reduced trackpad and palmrest size. I’m sure the keyboard will be comfortable – as well it must be to keep up with $400 to $600 competitors – but keyboard comfort is partially determined by the palmrest as well.
Overall, $999 for a MacBook Air 11 is a hard pill to swallow. I can’t identify anything that makes the laptop better than its Window competition. The quoted 5 hours of battery life isn’t great, and the 64GB of hard drive space is laughably bad. It’s also hard to see why this offers over the MacBook. Yes, the MacBook Air is thinner, but it also has a far slower processor, less battery life and a smaller display.
I’m more excited about the MacBook Air 13. Starting at $1300 for a 1.86 GHz processor and a 128GB flash hard drive, the MacBook Air 13 certainly is no better a value than its smaller sibling. However, the MacBook Air 13 actual fills a space in the market that is empty. The display resolution of 1440×900 is great, and the 128GB of hard drive space should prove fast and useable. The MacBook Air 13 is a super-light, high-resolution system that should prove great for travelers who need to get things done. It’s only clear competition is the Sony Vaio Z, which is better in almost every way but carries a pricetag that makes the MacBook Air 13 look like a clearance special.
The Future of the Mac
Steve Jobs said it himself – he wants to bring the iPad and the iPhone and Mac OS X. The Back to the Mac conference ironically proved that Apple is far more concerned with making OS X similar to iOS rather than the other way around.
What does this mean for Apple? Well, it means that Mac computers are going to evolve into something that is distinctly different from a modern PC. This is bold, but also risky. Mac OS X has, up until now, existed in a sort of symbiotic relationship with Windows. Mac OS X was different, but also similar – you could do the same things in about the same ways. It will be difficult for Apple to proceed down this path without sacrificing functionality.
Execution will be an important part of this story, so I’m going to hold back from making any grand predictions. I will only say that I am leery about where Apple is headed and skeptical that the company’s love of simplicity can truly do no harm.
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