TidBITS#738/19-Jul-04
=====================
Along with our initial coverage of the new iPods, this issue
focuses on last week's Macworld Expo in Boston, complete with
Tonya's overview of the show, Adam's rating of how different
aspects of the conference stacked up, and our traditional list
of the most interesting products and events. In the news,
Stairways Software released Interarchy 7.2, and Apple posted
a $61 million profit and confirmed that the forthcoming iMacs
would use the PowerPC G5.
Topics:
MailBITS/19-Jul-04
Macworld Expo in Boston: Past, Present, and Future
Rating Macworld Expo Boston 2004
Macworld Expo Boston 2004 Superlatives
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/19-Jul-04
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Copyright 2004 TidBITS: Reuse governed by Creative Commons license
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MailBITS/19-Jul-04
------------------
**Apple Posts $61 million Q3 Profit, Confirms G5 iMacs** --
Despite problems meeting demand for its new iPod mini and
being forced to delay new iMacs until September, Apple Computer
announced a strong $61 million profit for its third fiscal quarter
of 2004, on revenue of $2.014 billion. An after-tax restructuring
charge took $6 million off the top; without it, the company's
quarterly profit would have been $67 million. Apple's gross
margin for the quarter was 27.8 percent, and international
sales represented 39 percent of the quarter's revenue. During
the quarter, Apple shipped 876,000 Macs along with 860,000
iPods; the iPod's sales growth is 183 percent higher than the
same quarter of 2003, and over six percent higher than Apple's
second quarter.
<http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07728>
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jul/14results.html>
Of special note to potential computer buyers in the months ahead,
Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer confirmed during Apple's financial
results conference call that new iMacs - now due in September -
will be based around the PowerPC G5 processor, and that delays
were due to the limited availability of the G5 itself,
manufactured by IBM in Fishkill, New York. [GD]
<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq304/>
**Interarchy 7.2 Sports Useful New Features** -- Stairways
Software's Interarchy is a venerable file transfer utility, but
two new features in the recently released Interarchy 7.2 are sure
to be helpful to many users. A new Bookmark bar makes it easier
to jump quickly to often-visited locations, and an Auto Uploads
feature makes it possible to match a local folder to a remote
destination, such that files dropped in the local folder
automatically upload to the destination. Among other smaller
changes, Stairways improved the contextual menu in Safari that
makes it possible to download files from the Web using Interarchy.
Interarchy 7 requires Mac OS X 10.2 or greater. If you already
own Interarchy 7.x, the upgrade is free. [TJE]
<http://www.interarchy.com/>
**TidBITS Goes Med Confusion** -- Apparently my previous
announcement of the week-long iPhoto workshops and photo safari
that Tonya and I are leading during November 7th to 13th of
this year on the Mediterranean island of Gozo caused a bit of
confusion. Some people thought it was a cruise, but other than
a short ferry ride, it's entirely on dry land, so there's no
worry about getting seasick. Others seemed to think that there
was some requirement to pass through the U.S., when in fact all
that's necessary is that you fly to the neighboring island of
Malta, located about 60 miles off the coast of Sicily. Malta is
easy to reach from Europe, of course, and from North America and
Asia via connections in major European cities (we just wish we
could take some extra time to visit whatever city we end up flying
through). Lastly, Malta (and thus Gozo) isn't part of Italy, as
Sicily and Sardinia are; it's an independent country counted among
the European Union member states.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07705>
Tonya and I are looking forward to meeting folks at this event,
particularly now that Apple has pushed Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger off
until 2005, so we won't be driving ourselves to update all the
Take Control ebooks for Tiger right then. A few spots are still
available, so if you'd like to join us for the workshops and a
laid-back week (with plenty of time for talking about the Mac) in
the Mediterranean, the $1,100 discounted price for TidBITS readers
is still good through 15-Aug-04. Spouses not attending the morning
workshops pay only $800, and the price includes six nights of
hotel and five days of photo safaris, plus ferry and museum
tickets, and transportation around the islands.
<http://techietours.com/MUG/>
Apple Introduces Click Wheel iPods
----------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Apple revamped its iPod lineup today, making the portable music
player more attractive to music lovers. Although still based
on the basic white iPod design, the new model incorporates a
"click wheel," the innovative controller introduced with the
iPod mini (see "iPod mini Joins Successful Music Player Line").
The four touch-sensitive buttons found above the scroll wheel
on the previous iPod line are gone, replaced by the capability
to press the edges of the scroll wheel to play, rewind, fast-
forward, or access menus.
<http://www.apple.com/ipod/>
<http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07494>
The new iPod is also a millimeter thinner than previous models.
Perhaps more exciting is Apple's claim that the new models can
get up to 12 hours of playback time before the battery needs
recharging.
<http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html>
The software for the Click Wheel iPods has changed a bit, too.
A new top-level menu item called Music is the portal to your
tunes. Apple has also moved the Shuffle Songs option to the top
level for easy access, and you can now store multiple On-The-Go
playlists. For fans of audio books, the iPod software can play
back at different speeds (without sounding unintelligible). Apple
has also released iPod Updater 2004-07-15, which includes iPod
Software 3.0 for the Click Wheel iPod; iPod Software 1.1 for the
iPod mini; iPod Software 2.2 for third-generation iPods with the
dock connector; and iPod Software 1.4 for previous iPod models.
(Note that the software for all models prior to the Click Wheel
iPods hasn't changed since the last updates released for them.)
<http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/>
The new iPods come in two configurations. A 20 GB version, for
$300, weighs 5.6 ounces (159 grams) and includes earbud earphones,
an AC adapter, a FireWire cable, and a USB 2.0 cable (the latter
was previously available separately). For $400, the 40 GB model
weighs 6.2 ounces (176 grams) and also includes an iPod Dock. Both
prices reflect $100 off of similarly configured third-generation
models. Both configurations are available now.
In related news, HP announced that it would release its HP-branded
iPods, based on the new design, in September.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jul/19ipod.html>
Macworld Expo in Boston: Past, Present, and Future
--------------------------------------------------
by Tonya Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
It's been the better part of a decade since Boston hosted Macworld
Expo, and those of us who haven't been back since the early East
Coast expos in Boston were interested to see the massive changes
to the city: a huge freeway had been torn down and stuffed
underground in tunnels, the area around the World Trade Center
looks far less like an industrial wasteland (and more like a
city), and the huge new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
is so new that the carpet squeaked in places.
**Past** -- Macworld Expo on the East Coast - whether in Boston or
New York City - has been characterized by heat and humidity, a
loud and dynamic show floor, and a large and broad representation
of all that is Macintosh.
The recent Macworld Expo in Boston failed to deliver on any of
those items, but as Expo Conference Chair Paul Kent described it,
comparing this year's Expo to those in the past would be comparing
apples to oranges. This year's Boston weather hardly went into the
70s (I didn't even wear all the dresses I'd brought, since every
day called for pants and sometimes an umbrella), the show floor
stayed sufficiently calm that I didn't lose my voice talking over
the din, and some notable elements of past shows were missing,
though some new elements were introduced.
**Present** -- Mac users are good at beta testing, and for this
show we got to test drive the brand new Boston Convention &
Exhibition Center, which feels approximately the size of Vermont
and is officially the seventh largest conference facility in the
United States. With a predicted 9,000 to 10,000 attendees and
approximately 80 vendors, the entire show could have fit in just
a few of its hallways (by September, IDG World Expo will have
audited and - presumably be willing to share - the attendee
count). Despite its compact size, the show floor was usually
humming with activity, but when I strayed to the farther reaches
of the facility (such as the press room or the User Group lounge),
I felt like an insect, dwarfed by the lonely immensity of the
place.
I missed the presence and buzz typically generated by the larger
companies at the show. As expected, Apple was a no-show, but
everyone noticed and commented on the lack of booths from
stalwarts like Adobe, Aladdin, Dantz Development, and Microsoft.
(Equally noticeable was the atypical presence of Quark, which
hasn't appeared at a Macworld Expo in years.) Nonetheless, the
exhibitors I missed most were the small developers in Developer
Central who showcase the latest in interesting and oddball (but
often useful) ideas percolating at the cutting edge of what Macs
can do.
To fill the time I would have otherwise spent walking the floor,
I sampled the numerous presentations (such as those that were open
to all on the Geeks and Gadgets stage), along with the conference
sessions for those who paid extra. Some attendees were
disappointed with the small size of the show floor, but for
those who took this Expo for what it was and not what it used to
be, it was a genuinely enjoyable chance to hobnob with other Mac
users, pick up new tips and tricks, and check out a smattering of
interesting Mac products. Vendors I spoke with were universally
positive about the show, citing a more select pool of especially
interested customers and the opportunity to spend more time with
individual users.
**Future** -- Of course, the big question on everyone's mind is
whether there will be a Macworld Expo next July. The answer
certainly seems to be yes; the likely date and venue were printed
on the back of attendee name tags: 18-Jul-05 through 21-Jul-05
at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center. During a panel
session with several Expo organizers in the User Group Lounge,
I asked Warwick Davies, group vice president for IDG World Expo,
if those dates were solid and he gave me a three-part answer.
First, he pointed out that they are already signing exhibitors
up for next year. Second, he observed (and the folks in the User
Group Lounge seemed to agree) that attendees were having a good
time. Third, he noted that Macworld Expo is a business and that
they have to analyze the financial situation before they can be
sure about what's going to happen next year.
Overall, I'd count this Macworld Expo a success, at least on
its own terms, and if that means that these mid-year shows are
significantly different from both previous shows and Macworld Expo
in San Francisco in January, so be it. Count me in for next year.
Rating Macworld Expo Boston 2004
--------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
A few weeks ago I wrote an article proposing a way that industry
conferences could be rated (though it was also a subtle nudge to
conference organizers). Now that I've spent three days at Macworld
Expo in Boston, let's see how the rating system works, and how
Macworld Expo rated this year.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07732>
**Attendee Ratings** -- Obviously, I can't speak for everyone,
so my ratings here reflect my experiences and those of people
I talked with during the show.
* Cost/value. For the people who got in free (and plenty did,
through the tickets we helped Peachpit give away, and via other
approaches), I think it's safe to say that the cost and value were
entirely reasonable, despite the smaller show floor. Boston is on
the expensive side for travel and lodging costs, making the show
more attractive to locals who could hop on the subway and spend
a few hours. I can't evaluate how valuable the sessions were;
it undoubtedly depended on the specifics. +1 point.
* Time/place. Macworld Expo has held this mid-July time slot for
a number of years now, so it's not fair to subtract points for
being in the middle of conference hurricane season. (Starting in
late June, we saw Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, followed
by the small (but reportedly successful) Mac Networkers Retreat
in Santa Barbara, California. This week, I'm off to the ADHOC
(nee MacHack) conference in Dearborn, Michigan.) Since Boston
is a nice city that will be even nicer once they finish their
major construction, I'll give Macworld a point for this category.
+1 point.
<http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/>
<http://www.macretreats.com/mnr/>
<http://adhocconference.com/>
* Logistics. IDG World Expo did a pretty good job with the
logistics this year, with the only low point being the shuttle
buses from the hotel to the convention center. Registration was
easy and quick, and there were no hassles. +1 point.
* Breadth and depth of exhibitors. Although IDG World Expo claimed
80 exhibitors, only 71 were listed on the Web site, and whatever
the actual number, there's no question that this was the main
place Macworld fell down. Without stopping to talk, it was easy
to walk the entire floor in under an hour. -1 point.
* Product support. Although attendees are probably most likely to
want support from large vendors, most of whom weren't present, the
smaller companies that were exhibiting tended to have technical
staffers at their booths. +1 point.
* Session quality. I didn't attend any sessions other than my own,
but reports I heard from others were entirely positive. +1 point.
* Keynote. In lieu of a keynote, Macworld Expo featured a panel
discussion with four members of the original Mac team - Andy
Hertzfeld, Bill Atkinson, Jerry Mannock, and Jef Raskin -
moderated by David Pogue. Although a number of the anecdotes from
the panel were amusing, and David did a good job of keeping things
moving, the overall tenor was dragged down by Jef Raskin's claim
that he had invented the Macintosh and his disdain for today's
interfaces, though he wouldn't explain what his ideal interface
would be. There's no question that Jef Raskin played an important
role in the creation of the Macintosh, and even granting his claim
to have come up with the initial idea, the way he presents his
case feels denigrating to the other members of the Macintosh team,
particularly considering that he left Apple years before the Mac
even shipped. -1 point.
<http://www.folklore.org/>
<http://www.billatkinson.com/>
<http://www.jefraskin.com/>
* Free wireless Internet access. I can't complain about the
wireless coverage, since it seemed to be ubiquitous, but actually
connecting to the Internet was significantly flakier, such that
I and others had constant trouble. Add to that a useless captive
portal page at the Doubletree Bayside (one of the conference
hotels) that required me to spend 20 minutes talking to tech
support, and I'm removing any points that would otherwise have
been won. 0 points.
* Great deals. This category was again hurt by the number of
exhibitors, since although some of those in attendance did have
decent deals, ranging from 20 percent off books from Peachpit and
O'Reilly to 50 percent off anything from Belkin and significant
discounts on the Logitech Harmony universal remote controls,
there weren't that many vendors to offer deals. 0 points.
* Freebies. Some people had little tins of mints from Quark,
Audible.com gave out some cards for a free month's subscription,
Peachpit was unloading scads of red baseball hats, and IDG World
Expo gave out free t-shirts to the first 400 people to pick up
their badge holders each day, but that was about it. I didn't
see a single amusing freebie, and I just can't see my way clear
to awarding any points in this category. 0 points.
* Snacks. Macworld Expo is too big to provide snacks for everyone,
and although there was a food court, it clearly wasn't in full
operation yet. 0 points.
* Fun. In past years, Macworld Expo has been a pretty staid show,
but this year saw a reprise of the MacBrainiac Challenge, a trivia
game show with two teams of well-known Mac names competing. I was
a member of Andy Ihnatko's Copland Development Team this year,
along with Dan Frakes (Macworld and MacFixIt) and Rich Siegel
(Bare Bones). Facing off against us was the Genius Barred team of
Jason Snell (Macworld), Jim Dalrymple (MacCentral), Peter Cohen
(MacCentral), and Bryan Chaffin (the Mac Observer), and the whole
thing was ably moderated by Chris Breen (Macworld). Our goal was
to be entertaining above all else, and to judge from the audience
reaction, we succeeded. Our secondary goal of winning was less
successful, since although we took most of the multiple choice
questions, our worthy competitors were generally faster at the
tasks Chris set us, resulting in a tie and setting us all up for
a rematch in San Francisco this coming January. +1 points.
* Community. The smaller size of this year's show definitely
improved the sense of community, and the physical layout of the
convention center helped as well, since there were plenty of
tables and benches for people to congregate, chat, and hang out.
An added bonus was the Mardi Gras-themed party that IDG World Expo
threw for attendees, and although it wasn't free to get in,
everyone who went seemed to enjoy the party and listening the
Macintosh All Star Band. +1 points.
**Exhibitors** -- I can't legitimately rate Macworld Expo from the
point of an exhibitor, but if I were to go on hearsay, I'd rate
down somewhat for booth cost, since the prices were reportedly
near what companies paid in San Francisco for a much larger
audience. On the upside, even though there weren't that many
attendees compared to previous years, vendors I spoke with said
that people were much more interested than normal, and for those
exhibitors who were selling products, sales were good.
**Speakers** -- Roughly the same people speak at every Macworld
Expo, so over the years, the speaker room has acquired the
comfortable feel of a neighborhood watering hole. It doesn't
matter where the show is held, it's always the same round tables
with white tablecloths, and the wireless Internet access and food
are always welcome before dashing off to give a session.
* Payment. Speaking at Macworld Expo is one of those things one
does because it generally doesn't require extra travel or
particularly onerous preparation. That's good because Macworld
doesn't pay speakers for anything but the all-day sessions on the
day before the show floor opens. Nevertheless, attendance is free,
the food was extremely tasty this year, and the gift this year was
a tremendously welcome anorak that kept many of us dry after the
show on the first night. +1 points.
* Moderators. Macworld has never had moderators, and it would be
a welcome addition. On the positive side, the AV staff was
particularly eager to please this year. 0 points.
* Logistics. It may be more confusing for a first-time speaker,
but since the same group, headed by Paul Kent, has been organizing
the sessions for years, the logistics have become quite simple for
repeat speakers. +1 points.
**Press** -- It wasn't a great year to be a journalist at Macworld
Expo. Some ratings:
* Press registration. Although registering for Macworld Expo is a
bit fussy, what with having to fax a variety of Web page printouts
to IDG World Expo to prove one's bona fides, the process hasn't
changed for years, making it less of an annoyance. And without
a Steve Jobs keynote to wait for on the first morning, Tonya and
I had no trouble picking up our press badges. +1 points.
* News events. Macworld simply wasn't that kind of show this year
and nothing much happened. 0 points.
* Press room. Although there was a press room, complete with
tables and couches and even some iMacs for journalists without
laptops, the press room itself was located in Outer Mongolia, thus
ensuring that I spent my free time in the bustling speaker room
instead. 0 points.
* Food. Honestly, I'm not sure if there was food in the press room
or not, since I didn't see any the one time I trekked down to it,
but I never ventured that far again. 0 points.
**Totals** -- As I work through this rating system for real,
rather than purely as a thought exercise, the more it seems
to me that totals don't make sense. In large part that's
because I can't see the totals being a legitimate way to compare
completely different conferences; I think the scores are more
useful as a way of evaluating how successful any given conference
was, perhaps in comparison to previous instances of the same
conference.
I also hope the ratings in different categories will help people
decide if attending some conference in the future is worthwhile.
The fact that Macworld picked up points for fun and community
might be irrelevant if your desire was to see as many Mac vendors
as possible, and that in turn would be irrelevant if you were more
interested in attending presentations than traipsing around the
show floor.
Macworld Expo Boston 2004 Superlatives
--------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Despite Macworld Expo's small number of exhibitors and reduced
attendance, there was no lack of superlatives, both interesting
products and notable observations.
**Don't Try This While Driving** -- Apple Specialist Tech
Superpowers ended up with a bigger booth than they'd expected,
so they decided to have some fun filling the space. They outfitted
a four-door Lexus sedan with a complete Macintosh-based video
editing hardware suite, complete with multiple monitors and
control devices (for the passenger only!) hooked to a rack-mounted
Xserve and Xserve RAID in the trunk. It was pure stunt, of course,
but it was worth it to see people trying to figure out if the
setup was meant to be serious.
<http://www.techsuperpowers.com/pages/geekmyride.html>
**Inconsistent Bus Drivers** -- Taking the shuttle bus from the
hotel to the show every day proved wildly variable. The bus was
fine on the first day, but on the second day, our bus went around
the back of the hotel, pulled up on the side, and after waiting
for less than a minute, left before those of us staying dry in the
lobby could dash out. Luckily, Tonya and I were able to grab a cab
quickly, so I wasn't late for one of my talks, but everyone was
flabbergasted that the driver would have been so inconsiderate.
On the flip side, our driver the last day was not only amiable and
helpful, he was a savvy Macintosh user who was jazzed when we were
able to give him and his partner free passes to the exhibit floor.
**No Catering Weasels at BCEC** -- Macworld Expo was among the
first trade shows in Boston's new Convention & Exhibition Center
(BCEC), and although aspects of the venue were clearly unfinished,
the staff was less jaded than at other more established venues.
Nowhere was that more notable than with the catering staff, which
provided food for the speaker room that was unusual, tasty, and
even healthy, such as a corn and feta salad one day and a shrimp
salad another. It was a welcome change from the usual uninspired
and overly sweetened food at other events.
**Chairs to Die For** -- Perhaps I over-enthuse, but the standard
chairs at the BCEC were the most comfortable institutional chairs
I've ever used. Being a runner, I'm not exactly well-padded, and
sitting through a two-hour keynote address is usually an exercise
in fidgeting followed by an extremely sore bum. BCEC's chairs
used the same kind of black mesh that you'll find in expensive
desk chairs like the Herman Miller Aeron, and they even had
lumbar support for your lower back. Now I just have to find
the manufacturer - I've been looking for classy folding chairs
for dinner parties.
**Put Your iPod On Stage** -- You can hook your iPod to any
speakers or audio gear that offers an audio-in port, but Harman
Multimedia's JBL division has gone further with On Stage, a
frisbee-sized ring that holds four small speakers and provides
a docking port for any iPod or iPod mini. The sound seemed good,
though it was impossible for me to tell for sure because of
the overall noise level on the show floor. The iPod/On Stage
combination would also make a great clock radio, thanks to the
iPod's clock features. JBL was also showing On Tour, a portable
speaker that can run for 24 hours on 4 AAA batteries (it also
includes a universal power adapter). On Stage's price will
reportedly be $200 when it ships in September; the On Tour
will be available in August for $100.
<http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.asp?ProdId=ONSTAGE>
<http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.asp?ProdId=ONTOUR>
**iPod Goes Bluetooth** -- I was sitting in the hallway, chatting
with Irina Nazarova of the Ukrainian developer BeLight Software
when this guy came over and asked us if we'd like to try a
Bluetooth headphone for the iPod. I've always hated cords dangling
from headphones, and although I fully admit that the iPod's white
cables have become almost iconic, I still find them annoying,
fussy, and constantly tangled. But the i-Phono Bluetooth dongle
and headphone that Bluetake's Clement Wen showed us worked
flawlessly and with decent sound. Apparently, the devices can pair
with multiple Bluetooth devices, so if you have a Bluetooth cell
phone, it automatically cuts the music and switches to the call
(the headphone includes a built-in foldable microphone). It's
not entirely clear if the i-Phono devices are shipping, or what
they cost, and Clement said they are working on a dongle that
fits on top of the iPod rather than connecting via a short cable.
I'm eager to test a production unit in the real world.
<http://www.bluetake.com/products/BT420EX.htm>
**PhoneValet Takes Messages** -- I reviewed Parliant's PhoneValet
in TidBITS-699_, but since then Parliant has enhanced the product
with answering machine (including multiple voice mailboxes) and
call recording features. What's particularly cool is that
AppleScript integration enables you to forward messages to your
cell phone or via email. It looks like a great solution for small
offices without a receptionist, since PhoneValet can verbally
announce callers using Caller ID so everyone knows which calls
to answer, and if the person who's being called isn't available,
it can take a message and if necessary forward it appropriately.
PhoneValet costs $200 per line, and it's also worth noting that
it now works with Now Software's Now Up-to-Date & Contact to
provide automatic call logging, a remote activity list, and
(soon) automated dialing. Now Software also currently discounts
PhoneValet for existing customers and those who want a bundle
of their software with PhoneValet.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07380>
<http://www.parliant.com/phonevalet/>
<http://www.nowsoftware.com/Phonevalet.html>
**Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mac** -- If you're in charge of
Macs that are in constant use by the public, you know how people
manage to fiddle with configurations, delete files, and install
new software. With MacShield from Centurion Technologies, fixing
each Mac manually becomes a task of the past. When the Mac
reboots, MacShield eradicates all user changes and restores the
Mac to the initial state you set. MacShield doesn't place any
restrictions on what users do during a session, and it writes all
user changes to a temporary buffer space, thus ensuring that the
Mac's original files are never modified and eliminating the need
for a lengthy restore process. Centurion Technologies doesn't
publish a price, leading me to believe it's a sliding scale based
on the number of licenses you want.
<http://www.centuriontech.com/dsms-about.htm>
**Photos on the iPod** -- Belkin's Media Reader allows you to copy
your camera's media card to your iPod, which reportedly works well
for cards under 256 MB in size (large cards suffer from unusually
long download times). Belkin has now expanded the product line
with the Digital Camera Link, which enables you to download photos
to your iPod by connecting your camera's USB cable to the Digital
Camera Link, which then plugs into the iPod. According to Belkin,
the Digital Camera Link is faster than the Media Reader. Like
the Media Reader, the Digital Camera Link requires batteries,
since Apple is adamant that these devices not rely on the iPod's
internal battery. Unfortunately, neither is compatible with the
iPod mini. At $90, the Digital Camera Link is $20 cheaper than
the Media Reader, but check to make sure your camera is compatible
before buying.
<http://www.belkin.com/ipod/cameralink/>
<http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=158350>
**Rock On in High Def with Roku** -- TiVo's Home Media Option (see
Alex Hoffman's review in TidBITS-698_; note that the Home Media
Option is now free) gives you TV-based controls to play music
from iTunes through your stereo and view photos from iPhoto on
your television, but in an unfortunate lapse, it can't do both
simultaneously so that your photos act as a screensaver while
your music plays. You probably wouldn't buy a TiVo for the Home
Media Option alone, but if music and photos is all you want, look
instead at Roku's $300 HD1000 High-Def Digital Media Player. Like
other digital media players, it streams MP3s from iTunes to your
stereo, and it can also display images on a high-definition
television screen at the same time. It can load images from
a media card or from your computer over the network, though it
doesn't integrate with iPhoto. By default it uses wired Ethernet,
though a wireless adapter is an optional add-on. You're not
limited to still images; the HD1000 can also display MPEG2
movies, and Roku says that third-party applications are available
to support additional formats. And if you need images (still and
moving) to display, Roku sells four different $70 high-definition
image packs.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07366>
<http://www.tivo.com/1.2.13.asp>
<http://www.rokulabs.com/products/hd1000/>
**The Ultimate Picture Frame** -- What if your TV isn't where
you'd prefer to display your pictures? For the ultimate picture
frame, check out PhotoVu's PV1910 Digital Picture Frame. It's
a nicely framed, 19-inch LCD display with a wide viewing angle
powered by embedded Linux and networked via wired Ethernet or
Wi-Fi. It does integrate with iPhoto, although you can also load
images by plugging in a USB drive (a popular option with stores
that use them for display). You control what displays on the
screen using a Web interface; options let you turn the display
on and off at different times, pick which images to display, and
more. My main disappointment was that it doesn't currently support
the Ken Burns Effect that Apple uses with the Mac OS X screen
saver; the PhotoVu guys said they're working on it. It's also
worth noting that the PV1910 doesn't scale photos up: too-small
photos will appear with borders. $1,200 might seem expensive
for such a device, but it's actually not too bad once you consider
the cost of a high-quality LCD monitor, a CPU running embedded
Linux, wired and wireless network interfaces, a custom Web
interface, and a real picture frame with heavy-duty hangers.
You could (and I may still) hack something together for less
using old Mac hardware, but it wouldn't be nearly as elegant.
<http://www.photovu.com/>
**Spymac Reinvents the Wheel** -- The Macintosh site Spymac hasn't
particularly appeared on my radar, so I was surprised to see them
occupying a large, slick booth and showing off Wheel, a collection
of Internet services designed to compete with Apple's .Mac. Wheel
includes 3 GB of space for email (accessible via POP, IMAP, and
the Web) and 250 MB of WebDAV and FTP-accessible drive space for
Web page hosting, iCal sharing, and backup via a simple program
(like Apple's Backup) called WheelGuard. Wheel costs $40 per year;
an account that offers only 1 GB of email space and shows ads
in Web mail is free. While talking with Spymac's amiable and
enthusiastic staffers I had a major moment of dot-com deja vu;
the network pipes and redundant servers that such a service
entails don't come cheap, and it seems questionable that the
combination of access fees, advertising, and sales of Spymac
gear would be sufficient. Despite retaining its name, Spymac has
reportedly pulled back from its origins as a rumor site to focus
on news and community; Wheel is a major change in direction.
<http://www.spymac.com/>
<http://www.spymac.com/wheel/>
**Best Freebie for Education** -- Massachusetts-based
iScienceProject came to Macworld Expo to spread the word about
their HOBO data loggers, educator loaner program, and free access
to over 100 developed labs. iScienceProject's battery-powered data
loggers are about the size of a deck of cards, and they record
data such as humidity, light, and temperature. To work with the
data, students plug the devices into Macs running OS X (via USB)
or PCs running Windows versions as old as Windows 98 (via serial
or USB), download the data, and then use either Onset's software
or a spreadsheet for analysis. Although a variety of HOBO loggers
are for sale from iScienceProject's sponsoring company, Onset
Computer Corporation, teachers in K-12 can borrow one for two
months for free. Teachers who develop their own labs for use
with the loggers can enter the labs in the HOBO Project Contest;
iScienceProject plans to reward winning labs with more HOBO
hardware. The loaner program and contest are available to U.S.
customers only. [TJE]
<http://www.onsetcomp.com/>
<http://iscienceproject.com/>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/19-Jul-04
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The second URL below each thread description points to the
discussion on our Web Crossing server, which will be much
faster, though it doesn't yet use our preferred design.
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/>
**Adding Ethernet to a Power Mac** -- Following Adam's article
about replacing the Ethernet card in his Power Mac G4, readers
discuss adding gigabit Ethernet to older machines. (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2274>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/138>
**Using Webstractor** -- Readers report their experiences after
Matt Neuburg's review of the unusual Web page collection and
editing program. (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2276>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/140>
**Web collection tools** -- Webstractor's primary feature
isn't new or unique, as readers point out similar applications
(and patents). (4 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2275>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/139>
**Initial AirPort Express experiences** -- Apple's new wireless
wonder started shipping last week, and one reader offers his
first impressions. (1 message)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2277>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/141>
$$
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