No love for Apple in HTF? (2 Viewers)

[Patrick Larkin]

Ipod actually works fine with a pc.

if you are fortunate enough to have a firewire card in the pc and don't mind paying for software to drive the thing....

 

[Demetri K]

I do have firewire card. I do not own a Ipod but my friend does. He also has software called xplay. Be brought it over one time cause he wanted some of my mp3's. It worked just fine. I personally would not pay 400 dollars for a mp3 player. But that is just me.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

i'd say the majority of PC users DON'T have a firewire port. and Xplay COSTS $30.

For $400 you get more than an MP3 player. It is a Firewire hard drive that can be written to like any other drive. And the fact that THIS mp3 player uses Firewire is the key selling point. The transfer is so fast that I'd be listening to a a ripped CD before a USB player finished loading the first 4 songs.

 

[Demetri K]

Still 400 dollars is silly no matter what features it has. I will continue to use my Minidisc with mp3 features.

And just to be clear I am not downing Macs, they have there uses and they are great at doing them. I am just not interested in paying 400 dollars for a mp3(main function) player. I have other ways of saving large amounts of data fast and easy and that is portable.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

I have other ways of saving large amounts of data fast and easy and that is portable.

SCSI? USB? Neither offers near the convenience. SCSI drives are too big, USB too slow. What else is there?

How much is a pocket sized firewire drive? I'd say its $400 well spent. (For the record, I got one for free, and I wouldn't buy one either only because I don't listen to music except in my car or through my stereo at home -- and have a Powerbook to tote files around.)

 

[Demetri K]

My DVD RW drive works fine for me. I get my dvd R and RW disk free at work. So I do not have to pay for those. To each his own I guess

 

[Peter Gizzi]

Firewire pci cards are very cheap and easy to pop into an available pci slot on a PC. I run a few external devices off of mine. A new higher speed version of firewire will be out soon. I can easily swap the card out (or leave it in with) for the new higher speed firewire2 one. You'll make do until you buy a new Imac. Of all the stupid things to gloat about having on your computer...geez...

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Of course Firewire boards are cheap. Did my post indicate they weren't? My post did imply its just another thing a PC guy has to worry about and hassle with...

I work with networks and servers all day. The last thing I want to worry about is a BOARD in my home machine. And by the time a new standard comes out, the rest of the machine (CPU/board/RAM) is nearing obselescence anyhow.

Thats like worrying that my TV needs to be upgraded. How absurd.

And for the record, my G4 has PCI slots just like any other PCs. I just don't need to USE them!

Think you are in the wrong thread, dude.

 

[Demetri K]

Patrick, as much as I am not a Mac fan(even though I have used them and I have owned them(even a dual g4 tower. I have to agree with you last post. We where just talking bout Ipod. As far as Firewire board though. I do not worry about installing one. It is easy to instal and I do not worry about it. I have many more pci slots to use. But I agree I think this is not a bashing thread!!

 

[Peter Kim]

Patrick, Michael...I'll be anxiously awaiting your additional insights from MacWorld on this forum. After using OSX for the last two months (switching over from 9.1), I'm full on board - I've not had one single crash or lockup in this entire time. Pure bliss.

Michael...I share your frustration with RealPlayer. I used to use it often on 9.1 - my wife listened to it everyday to pickup Japanese broadcasts. I just hate the idea of switching to 9.1 to hear these broadcasts. What the hell is Realplayer doing taking so long in adopting it to OSX? Arghhh...!

BTW...I've never upgraded OS before. Is it free? My current iMac is about 2 months old. If not free, will I be able to get a discount on the Jaguar?

 

[Michael*K]

Peter, considering that Jaguar is a major upgrade, there will definitely be a charge for it. Your iMac should have come with three proof-of-purchase coupons that allow you to buy future system upgrades at a substantial discount...probably about 20 bucks.
I assume Real's problem is that because they are competing with QuickTime for Internet streaming content, they figure there's no rush to get their product to market for Apple users.

 

[Peter Kim]

You're solid gold, Mike. Did a little digging and looked into a clear plastic bag that I hadn't looked at since I purchased my iMac - lo and behold, there was a single sheet with 3 coupons for system upgrades. $20 for Jaguar upgrade sounds fantastic.

By the way, as a beta tester, will you get a free copy of the final version of Jaguar? How have you liked Jaguar so far?

I assume Real's problem is that because they are competing with QuickTime for Internet streaming content, they figure there's no rush to get their product to market for Apple users.

The problem is, QuickTime lags far behind Real and WMP in terms of available streaming content. As a result, without an OSX version of RP, there's a gaping hole in terms of content for OSX users. I know for the big Japanese news broadcasters, they use primarily, and in most cases, exlusively, RP as their streamer.

 

[Michael*K]

The $20 was just an estimate. Could be more. Guess we'll find out soon. We'll get copies of Jaguar for each of our Apple Developers. When we install it firm-wide, we'll have to buy additional licenses for existing machines and new equipment that will be purchased in the next few months will probably come with it pre-installed.

I've been busy with some other projects so I haven't been able to play with it for several builds back (the beta releases are not upgradable, so I never would install it at home.) There was a speed boost, markedly so on newer equipment that can take advantage of the new Quartz rendering (your iMac should do very well) and Rendezvous is going to be awesome. From what I've heard, the most recent builds of Jaguar are as big a speed improvement from 10.1.5 that 10.1 was from the original OS X release. That's almost unbelievable and I'm really looking forward to trying the finished product.

 

[MikeM]

Those upgrade coupons are funny. It's usually listed as a Free* upgrade, with the "*" being shipping/handling/sales tax that adds up to about $20 bucks. The funny thing is that when you see the actual postage on the package, it's about $3.
Hey, I'll take it though! I just got QT6 installed last night...woo hoo!

 

[Michael*K]

Mike, are you using QT6 Pro? I've heard some reports of faulty upgrade keys and I'm not going to d/l QT6 until they get the issues with Pro straightened out.

 

[Joseph S]

The wake was yesterday and the funeral is NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm DOWNLOADING THE MYTHICAL REALONE PLAYER FOR OS X RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUD SELIG.COM WILL SEE A NEW CLIENT THURSDAY.
Link Removed
Yes, Mac OS 9 is now officially DEAD for my purposes at least. I'm pulling a 3 hr nap and a later trip so that I can catch part of the keynote. ".Mac," "iDVD 3," and a fully scriptable "iDVD 2.1" are leaking now in addition to the wonderful world of .rm in OS X.
I also obtained a copy of the .92 jaguar edition for testing purposes. To try over the weekend.

 

[Peter Kim]

Joseph, when the hell did this happen?!! Ah, who cares...RealPlayer for OSX - woohoo!!!

You're right - OS 9 is now dead.

 

[Michael*K]

Yeah, RealOne for OS X is pretty sweet. Supposedly, later this summer Mac users will be able to use the SuperPass subscription service to get content from ABC news, CNN and others.

As for today's keynote, it was nice to finally get a release date for Jaguar: August 24th. Cost will be $129, but you'll get it for the cost of shipping, Peter.

Some of the other news...a new SuperDrive iMac with a 17" display for $2K. The price of the 15" SuperDrive iMac drops by $100.

•There's a new 20GB iPod for $499, with the original 5 and 10GB models dropping in price by $100 each. There is also a wired remote available (comes included with new 10 and 20 GB models) that can be purchased.

•A Windoze version of the iPod is available utilizing MusicMatch software to transfer playlists

•iTunes 3 is now available for download

•A new calendar application (iCal) is slated to come out in September as a free download.

•iSync, which will allow you to use Bluetooth to sync calendar and address data with new Palm handhelds and new cell phones.

•iTools is going away effective September 30 and is being replaced by new fee-based Internet services called .Mac The new services include software for file backups and virus protection through Virex. Additionally, file space available on iDisk will increase from 20MB to 100MB and e-mail storage will increase from 5MB to 15MB. The cost: $99/year, with current iTools members given the first year at $49/year.

The last item is sure to be the most controversial, with Apple abandoning any free e-mail solution. For people with multiple accounts, it will be expensive...$10 for each additional e-mail account on top of the $99 annual fee. I expect Apple to catch a ton of heat for adopting this strategy.

 

[Peter Kim]

Mike, I think you addressed my worst fear - I wasn't sure whether my mac.com email addresses would still work for free. So, there is no free email? This is bad.

Also, I just got off the phone with my nearest Apple Authorized Dealer. They told me that my software coupons don't work. I will have to pay the full $129 to upgrade from OS X.1.2 to Jaguar. This is despite the fact that I purchased my iMac just 2 months ago.

Not so good news. Especially the mac.com accounts.

 

[Michael*K]

You bought a flat panel iMac two months ago and your dealer told you the Up-To-Date coupons won't work? It's a lie. Jobs even mentioned the upgrade program in his keynote. You'll need to get Jaguar directly through Apple.