Listen to today’s show here! 
MC20060308.mp3 [29.8mb 01:05:06 64kbps]
A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 125. Video iPod rumors get “Bigger”. Apple movie store research uncovered. UK Retailer to add “Apple Zones” and Apple Retail Germany. Rumor of UK iTunes TV downloads soon? Apple Retail Store in Dallas opens this weekend. Apple releases software and security updates. Mac Mini Hacked in 30 minutes (maybe). The Pope gets an iPod Nano. Apple releases another firmware update for 1.8 single G5s. Apple files trademark for ‘MacBook’. Discussion of Intel Mac Mini benchmarks and opinion on integrated graphics. Review of Crystal Film CoverSets. Open Firmware correction and follow-up. Countering the “Macs are more expensive” argument. Getting better FrontRow performance.
New music, Not on the Radio by Geoff Smith
Promos from the Math Grad Podcast, Peter’s Mac Tips and ScreenCasts Online.
People eat fish, Grogan. Fish don’t eat people.
Shownotes: HTML or OPML
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Adam,
I laughed when you posited that PC users averaged 2-3 years between system upgrades. When I was a PC user, my average replacement cycle was 9 months per system.
As for XP upgrades/updates slowing things down – absolutely. Ever notice how a fresh installation of XP Pro starts out at 25-30% fragmentation and only gets worse from there? Each update seems to confound and compound.
I love how OSX seems to speed up every time there’s an update, and there’s never any added complexity. Hooray.
My software update is saying their is no updates, anyone having this problem?
Adam, Am I missing something about your excitement about a DVR recorder? I’m love my Eye TV 500 HD that I use with a G4 dual 1.2 ghz on a 20″ Cinema Display. I do have a HDTV so would a Mac MiniVR make it that much better, maybe using the 5.1 sound?
I got the Crystal Film CoverSet for my nano too, and I love it. A word of note though: at first it was a real pain to apply. I got airbubbles, even when I was being very careful. Eventually, I gave up, and went to sleep, but when I woke up the next morning, the airbubbles had disappeared, and the nano looked as though there were no case on it at all!
i have not heard it yet,, but I know itll be good because its about an hour long. I think I’ll be getting the True Video iPod 6th Gen the day it comes out because my iPod broke and I need one and that one looks amazing… only thing I’m worried about is the price. > $500.00 I hope
HEY, how LONG would it take to DOWNLOAD full-length MOVIES!! Psshhhhh… at least 5 hours for me
The 30 minute hack!
All I have to say is that there are mac zealots and windows zealots.
It looks like the windows zealots are getting jealous, maybe…possibly?
I tend to be believe the University experiment.
Hmm…and how did the 30 minute experiment get a root account made?
Macs vs PSs
Back in the OS9 and OSXv1.0 I worked with a colleague whose boyfriend was a total pc fan, he really hated the PC. He use to say; Macintosh – Machine Always Crashes If Not, The System Hangs. To the point: after working at our mac only company, she fell in love with the mac and at first she very resistant and would insist that she would never switch over to the Mac.
I wonder what she is using today :)
About the Integrated graphics, I’m OK with mac minis having them, but I sure hope the the new ibooks (MacBooks) don’t have integrated graphics. I’m planning to buy one, and that would possibly annoy me.
Adam and company,
Regarding core duo motherboards on PC platform, they
don’t really have this available yet. Below is a
Tom’s Hardware review of the AOpen core duo mobo:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/03/07/aopen_releases_core_duo_to_the_desktop/
This is a niche market and appeals to people who
build their own systems. It ain’t cheap, either.
The motherboard alone is at a premium. So, when
you start doing price compares, you’ll see that
the mini is actually a bargain…
Also check out AOpen’s website. They have a box
that looks amazingly like a mini. ;-)
http://www.aopen.com.tw/
So far, AOpen is the only mobo company that
caters to Intel mobile processors for the desktop
although it looks like Asus will soon follow.
I bought a 1st generation AOpen i915GMm-HFS
(Pentium M) motherboard because I wanted to replace
my noisy desktop motherboard that sucked a lot of
power and heat! The Pentium M 1.6G is not the
fastest CPU, but it was quiet and ran cool even
at full speed. It also had decent graphics
performance although I could install a PCI Express
graphics card in it as well. I am using the
integrated graphics for it though. The 3D performance
is quite good IMO. I installed Ghost Recon just
to see how it performed. In addition, I used it
as my test system for Nintendo 64 emulation. I
also use it as my media center HTPC (Home Theater
PC).
That was before I bought my PPC based mini last
year. I basically use my mini as my desktop now.
Small footprint and quiet. I just love it. I plan
to get a core duo based mini. I like the front
row feature. This will replace the media center
functionality of my Pentium M mobo, too.
In addition to media center, I think the mini
will appeal to Windows user looking to migrate
to Mac. Adam cited several GOOD reasons for using
a Mac. I just wish there was a way to run
Windows app native on the Mac. Going with Intel
chip should close that gap. How hard can it
be to port Virtual PC for Mac on an Intel box?
I’m thinking all it requires is to replace the
low level hardware dependent primitives and do
a recompile. Maybe VMWare will beat Microsoft
to the punch.
If I could set up the mini to dual boot, that would
be an acceptable solution also.
I purchased the Crystal Film for my 5G iPod, and couldn’t get it installed to my satisfaction. I think that if the Crystal Film came in sets of two (which for the price seems reasonable), I might have managed a successful installation.
On the bright side, I returned it and received a full refund of the purchase price (which included shipping).
M.
The idea of Apple partnering with Tesco here in the UK is absolutely huge. Adam eluded to the fact that Tesco are a large retailer but that’s something of an understatement. Tesco were the world’s most profitable supermarket retailer last year, beating WalMart in the US, who also own the UK’s second biggest supermarket chain ASDA, by some considerable margin. There’s also talk of Tesco entering the US market to compete alongside stores like Target.
In the run up to Christmas stores all over the UK ran out of iPod’s – I was lucky enough to get the very last one in stock for my son from my local Tesco.
There are no Apple retail stores in the north of England (if you ignore the fact that people think Manchester is up north but really it’s in the middle of the country), so I hope Apple consider trailing this idea up here, if only because I live so close to a Tesco EXTRA, which differs from a regular Tesco in that it’s the size of four football fields and is open 24 x 7.
I am a new listener to this podcast so maybe you have answered this. In iTunes I get two feeds, Maccast and eMaccast (Enhanced AAC) but the latter is not working.
Addex
TESCO is a Supermarket. It sells mainly food like ASDA or Sainsbury’s. I doubt Apple will expand into TESCO because it isn’t very stylish and they will more likely open their own stores or open up in PC world/Tesco/Currys/Dixons/Comet etc.
StEvE.
There is a simpler reason Apple went with Intel integrated graphics…they’ve partnered with Intel and are probably required by intel to use their graphics solution in order to save money.
It is known by everyone on the pc side that Intel integrated graphics are extremely LOW END. ATi’s current run of integrated graphics chips are far better and are not much more expensive.
Integrated graphics are a last choice required only by the wallet or the form factor and Intel is usually last on the list. That Apple would choose Intel (consistently the worst of the bunch) has nothing to do with feature support.
It’s all about money. Intel got their foot firmly in the door providing apple a sweetheart deal. Apple’s choice over cpu’s, graphics chipsets, etc. have made it clear that it’s cost not performance currently driving the company’s offerings.
Thanks for playing my review. Could you change the shownotes to say Kevin from the The Frat Pack Tribute Podcast, not Terrance? I’ve had a couple air bubbles with the film cover, but it’s a small price to pay.
Tesco in the UK – there are some that are just regular grocery stores
Others are giant hypermarkets – I mean HUGE. They are open 24 hours and even have their own hairdressers, cafe etc.
They are called ‘Tesco Extra’
Adam,
Even though I subscribe via iTunes, I went and voted for you at Podcast Alley. While you said you’d be eternally grateful if we voted for you, I have a strange feeling that as far as Podcast Alley voting is concerned, eternity = 1 month for you! ;-)
Hi Adam,
I use both a Mac and a PC and just wanted to comment on one thing. You were mentioning how Macs come with all of the great free software etc. There is one nice free app for Windows that is free and made available by Google – called Picasa. It’s an excellent app for photo management.
Kevin,
I updated the show notes, sorry about that.
Hey Adam,
Just wanted to let you know that the root account is accessible even if it is not enabled on a mac. To prove this just open up the Terminal.app and type the following frm an Administrator account.
$ sudo -s
You will be prompted for your current users account. Enter the password and viola, you are at root.
Much like any UNIX, disabling the account doesn’t mean it is inaccessible.