Head in the Clouds

Cloud computing is the fancy buzzword flying around the Internet these days. In simple terms, it means taking your data and your media and putting it on a server somewhere so you can access it from multiple locations and with multiple devices.

I was pulled into this world in late 2007 when I purchased my iPod touch. Since it had a built-in email client, I started checking mail with it instead of my laptop, especially if it was closer at hand. That said, it was still on my same home network all the time, so the multiple locations facet of cloud computing was hardly served by doing this.

By the end of the following year, I purchased my first smartphone, a BlackBerry — I would have gone with an iPhone, but AT&T has no stores in Montana right now — and I naturally started using it for my email. I set it up with IMAP, a mode that keeps copies of the email on the server rather than on your local machine so that multiple-device syncing works a lot better. If I read an email on one machine, all other machines know this. If I send something from one machine, it appears in the Sent box of all others.

“I already do that, Mike,” you’re probably thinking. You probably do if you go to your email provider’s website to check your email manually. I use an email client to fetch it for me (specifically Apple Mail and BlackBerry Mail). I prefer this because a) I like native applications better than websites, and b) because I like being told when I have new mail rather than having to remember to check periodically.

The next step was signing up for Dropbox, which I highly recommend. We’ve started using it at my job (at my suggestion of course), and it’s really helped us out a lot. We share a lot of material between our four stores, including price tags, signage, etc., so rather than having to email each other every time something changes, or have multiple employees do the same job more than once, we share all these documents over one virtual folder. This folder, or Dropbox in the nomenclature of the service, lives on every computer we use (six or seven, I think), and has helped us maintain our sanity.

I use this in my personal life, too, by placing all the important pieces of writing I’ve done so I can reference them remotely.

That said, I only own the one laptop, but I have recently purchased an iPad. There’s a wonderful Dropbox application for that now, too, so I can see all of my work anywhere I go with either device.

But the biggest sea change that the iPad brought to me for how I interact with computers is RSS. RSS, or really simple syndication, is a method of displaying headlines and blurbs from different news sources in a streamlined format — this makes it very easy to aggregate all this information together in one place, so that you don’t have to visit multiple websites to get all the information you need.

I read from probably a dozen sources, but I hardly have the patience or time to visit each of those individually and periodically enough to matter.

I was using the Safari web browser’s built-in RSS reader to accomplish this. I simply told it what sites I wanted to see updates for, and it goes out and checks them for me. When changes happen, the browser displayed a number indicating how many changes had occurred since I last checked.

The trouble with this, however, was I had no way of telling other computers I had already read the previously displayed articles. This became an issue because I often use my iPad as a news reader, but I was continually confronted with duplicate information when I returned to my MacBook Pro.

Given that Safari has no built-in syncing capabilities for RSS, I finally broke down and went with a third-party RSS reader. Many reviewers have long said that these other applications were more featured anyway, but I’m sometimes slow to change.

I went with NetNewsWire on both my iPad and MacBook Pro. This application uses the Google Reader, a website which you can aggregate all those feeds you’re interested in, just like I used to do on Safari. Only, it’s saved remotely on some Google server instead of my equipment.

This is how NetNewWire syncs between all the clients.

I have to say that I love it, by and large. Perhaps several will find this surprising, but I actually prefer the RSS-reading experience on my iPad over the one that the desktop application provides. It just seems more elegant.

All of these devices and pieces of software, mostly created by several different companies, have come together for me to form a communications system coupled with content consumption/creation. While this is pretty geeky and probably a bit esoteric to many, I can’t recommend organizing your life with tools like this more.

In fact, my next step is cloud-based task management. I’m very excited for applications like Things for both the iPad and Mac, but this example only syncs over local WiFi. If they bring this capability to the actual cloud (i.e. the Internet), and I can actually sync tasks from any remote location, then I’ll happily pay the premium Cultured Code charges for those applications.

Let me feedback if you know of any great To-Do system that accomplishes this.

FedEx Followup

This followup is in reference to this post.

So FedEx called me (several times) to just reconfirm all the details I gave them.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to speak to the driver, which probably would have been confrontational.

In any case, all I had really wanted was for the local FedEx distribution center  to remind its employees that they cannot leave packages on doorsteps if they require a signature.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Hopefully that was accomplished.

An Unusual FedEx Experience

I have a lot of good luck with FedEx over the years.  Aside from not delivering on Saturdays, I’m pretty happy with them as a company.  Unfortunately, I had an unusual — shall we say — mishaps recently.

I had sent in my MacBook Pro for realignment, which is a story in itself but one I’ll leave alone for now.  Apple uses FedEx for these mail-ins, which is normally very cool.  Even out here in the Rockies, they’re very prompt with overnighting the box back and forth.  However, something unusual happened when Apple sent the MacBook Pro back to me.  Due to an unfortunate collision of circumstances, I was out of town the day it was supposed to arrive, so I figured I’d just get it the next day when the FedEx driver came back for another delivery attempt.  (Because it contained a laptop, it naturally had a signature required mark on the delivery.)

Despite that being the case, the driver nevertheless actually left it on my doorstep and even went so far as to sign for me.  I’ve attached the signature-proof-of-delivery here.

The trouble is, I was in West Yellowstone, MT, when this was delivered, and there was NO ONE HOME to sign for me.  (I don’t know my neighbors well enough to do that for me, and the apartment manager would never have done that either.)

Fortunately, I saw that it was delivered with my BlackBerry before I drove into Yellowstone National Park (and inevitably lost service), so I was able to ask a friend to pick it up from my doorstep and hold onto it for me.

But could you imagine what might have happened if I hadn’t seen that it had been left?  What if it had rained?  Or what if it had been stolen?  The FedEx driver would have claimed indemnity because I had supposedly “signed for it.”

I reported the incident as a concern.  I don’t personally need anything from FedEx (i.e. compensation).  I just want them to post a memo in the office, as it were, about not doing things like that in the future.  In a weird way, I sort of understand the driver’s frustration with having to ascend the flights of stairs outside of my apartment over and over.  That said, there’s still no excuse because he or she is supposed to be a professional — whether that box was empty and worth nothing, or whether it was full and worth more than $2,000, as was the deal with my package.

Anyway, the FedEx phone representatives have been cool so far, but apparently they’re going to ask the driver what he was thinking tomorrow, and I might actually receive a call from him or her.  That should be interesting.

Updates to follow.

15″ MacBook Pro Review

Overview
This document will cover my overall impressions of the recent unibody MacBook Pro, released in October 2008.

Specs
2.53GHz Core 2 Duo (Penryn), 6MB cache, 1066MHz bus
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 RAM
nVidia GeForce 9400M / nVidia GeForce 9600M GT
320GB 5400rpm HDD
8x Superdrive

Body
The unibody design is a very cool process, as Apple has detailed on its site.  The idea of machining a product from a solid block of material (in this case, aluminum) isn’t entirely new, although this is the first time it’s been applied to a notebook computer — at least, that I’ve heard.  In fact, I’m unaware of any electronics product made this way, save for the new MacBook and MacBook Pros.

As Apple claims, the case does feel sturdier than one produced from multiple parts (that are often riveted together).  Torsion-wise, the MacBook Pro has very little give and seems like it could stand up to a beating before actually giving up the ghost.  That said, it is aluminum, and everyone should be aware that it is dent-able (compared to plastic notebook computers, which are crack-able).  Fortunately, I’ve protected this well so far, so that hasn’t happened to me.

Metal is a material I find easier to clean than the polycarbonate used by Apple for its earlier MacBook designs (which I owned one of, from 2006).  The polycarbonate required you to find a Mister Clean Magic Eraser, gently dampen it, and then apply it vigorously to the MacBook’s case.  Plastic, by its nature, seems to absorb dirt.

Aluminum, on the other hand, is easily wiped off with a cloth.  This is a great boon, especially on the palm rests — which is the part that gets messed up on most people’s notebooks (along with the trackpad and keyboard).

Aesthetically, the anodized aluminum also looks professional and, indeed, elegant.

Also impressive is its thinness and lightness, both afforded by that unibody design that doesn’t require extra reinforcements which make those features difficult to achieve.

Trackpad
One of the most touted features for these new notebooks is the glass trackpad.  Apple eliminated the discreet button, instead turning the entire trackpad itself into the button, freeing up more space.  Which is good in a way, since it affords more space for multitouch, which would appear to be one of the reasons it was constructed from glass.

One of the more important aspects of using glass, at least to me, is that it’s incredibly easier to maintain versus the old plastic ones.  Those inevitably get very shiny due to your finger removing the finish (and sullying it with oil).  Glass is immune to this.

Now, is glass a durable material to use?  Principally, yes.  The perception that glass is fragile is slightly wrongheaded.  Glass is actually incredibly hard, and can only be cut with material harder than it (such as quartz or diamond).  That’s actually the reason it can shatter (or snap): because it’s so rigid.  It has no give, and thus will not bend.  So, if an object impacts it hard enough (or if enough torsion is applied), the glass will crack.  However, I’m not remotely concerned about this, since plastic has so many other deficiencies, I’d rather take this one risk with the glass.  And of course, I don’t possess the habit of dropping heavy objects on my trackpad.  This opinion applies to the display as well, which I detail further below.

Regarding the trackpad click, I actually like this a lot.  I know there were problems initially with the click’s responsiveness, but that would appear to have been resolved by a firmware update.  The only criticism I have is that this kind of click is quite audible and not video conferencing friendly as a result, so I normally resort to touch-click.  (You can enable gentle taps on a trackpad to register as clicks.)

Keyboard
I loved the chicklit keyboard on my original MacBook, and I’m glad to see that Apple has maintained this style through the line.  The action on this keyboard feels slightly better than my previous Mac, and I do greatly appreciate the the illuminated keys.  My only complaint is that they are plastic and are doomed to eventually becoming worn.  I try to stave this off by cleaning it every night, and I’ve actually ordered a product called iKlear to help with this prevention.

Ports
Here is an overview of the major ports on the MacBook Pro (not counting the audio jacks).

MagSafe – I think this is one of the most brilliant innovations I’ve ever seen for portable computers.  For the uninitiated, the power cable is held in magnetically — so, if you trip over the cord, it pops off effortlessly from the MacBook Pro rather than jerking it down to the ground and, you know, breaking it.  This feature is across all MacBooks, going back to 2006.

Gigabit Ethernet – Great if you’re hardwiring yourself to the Internet.  If you have a router that supports Gigabit speeds, then transfers across the network can be very fast.  Should be standard across all computers made by all manufacturers, but this is surprisingly not the case.

FireWire 800 – I’m of mixed feelings about this port.  I love the speeds it affords (unbelievable faster than USB), as well as the CPU pressure it alleviates — USB is actually fairly processor intensive, believe it or not.  That said, I can’t help but wonder if it would have been better to give us an eSATA port, since I’m beginning to believe more and more that this is the future.  Indeed, since FireWire is now more or less the domain of premium hard drives, supporting eSATA makes even more sense.  Alas, I nevertheless appreciate it.  (FireWire, incidentally, has been discontinued on the consumer MacBook line; this signals its eventual death to me.)

USB (2) – I find two USB ports to be plenty, though many notebooks of this class feature three or four.  I believe Apple is minimizing the port coverage here in favor of a smaller case, realizing that USB is daisy-chain ready anyway.  My only true complaint is that the two ports are very close together.  This works fine in most cases, but my USB flash drive is a bit wide, and so it makes plugging in an additional USB device a little difficult.

Mini-DisplayPort – This is the new standard across all Macintoshes, replacing DVI and mini-DVI.  Why?  Well, the DVI wasn’t giving them the power they wanted, and indeed, Apple claims you’ll be able to run two displays off one of these DisplayPorts.  Impressive.  I guess they didn’t turn to HDMI because of the copyright licensing and all that, but I know this will frustrate some who want to hook up their notebooks to their HDTVs.  (This can still be accomplished, but with an adaptor.  I’ve done this and it works well.)

Speakers
Much better than my old MacBook.  I find these to be some of the best I’ve heard on a portable computer, but I’ve never done a side-by-side before.  I will say this much: they are more than serviceable.  And I dig that the speaker holes are made with lasers.

Display
Stunning.  The LED-backlit display is absolutely the finest I’ve ever seen.  We own a 42” Sharp Aquos and a 24” iMac (both of which use a fluorescent lamp), and the richness and brightness of this display blows them both out of the water.  Some will criticize the glossiness factor (which you can mitigate with aftermarket screen protectors), but I like it.  This is entirely a matter of taste, though, so each person will need to make his or her own determination.  Lastly, the glass is awesome.  It’s so much easier to clean, and it will be difficult to scratch.  Enough said.

Software
I love Mac OS X Leopard, which I find to be a lot snappier, lighter weight, and more reliable than a certain competing OS.  The big addition that most consumers will love is the iLife suite.  I think the best applications in Life are iPhoto and iMovie, with a special nod to GarageBand.  There are a bevy of great features in all these, but let me just say this: content creation is so much easier with iLife than it is with anything else I’ve used.

Performance
Powerful.  Video rendering is pretty quick, especially for a portable, and it’s completely unfazed by most other things.  That said, Flash has run like crap on the Mac for a long time, and by that I mean that it pegs the processors hard — which results in extra heat.  Generally speaking, this MacBook Pro runs so much cooler than my 2006 MacBook — on the order of 40 degrees or so.  (Processors run hot: this MacBook Pro usually sits 109〫- 120〫Fahrenheit.  That may seem high to someone who doesn’t look at the processor temperature a lot, but it’s very much not the case.  The 2006 MacBook routinely ran in the 160s.)  The surface of the MacBook Pro still feels pretty cool regardless of the temperature, so I don’t expect it to ever burn me or anything.

In any case, I look forward to the day that Adobe writes a Cocoa version of Flash, which I would expect to run very well.

Battery life is good, considering how powerful the processor is and size of the display.  You can even sacrifice some of the battery life for even more performance by using the discreet video card (the 9400M GT) instead of the integrated one (the 9400M).  Yes, that’s right: you get two video cards to choose from depending on your need at any given moment.  That’s rocking.  (Compare this to the consumer MacBook, which only has the 9400M integrated video.)

Conclusions
I don’t believe this product is perfect for everyone, even people looking to get a Mac.  It’s expensive for one (more than $2,000), and I think it’s way more powerful than most people need.  I think the standard MacBook will run iLife very well, and that it’ll take care of the people who only want to do stuff casually.  If email and the Internet is your primary use of the computer, then you most likely don’t need a MacBook Pro.

Heck, you can get a more powerful iMac for less money, with a much larger screen (though not LED backlit, which is actually a deal-breaker for me).

That said, if the price isn’t a concern, and you like the idea of a large screen and a lot of power, then this machine might be just right for you.  I don’t see myself ever wanting to go back to anything else, save the possibility of my adding an iMac in the future when Apple implements LEDs in those.

If the MacBook Pro was something you were seriously leaning towards anyway, then get it.  You won’t be disappointed.

Incase Neoprene Sleeve Plus

I decided to pick up an Incase Neoprene Sleeve Plus notebook case for my 15″ MacBook Pro.  Some thoughts:

1. Very minimalist.  I like its sleekness and its utter lack of clutter.

2. Caveat: its slimness precludes carrying much else besides the laptop itself.  Yes, you can shove a power adapter in either of the two pockets (which are hidden where the handles are — clever), but it bulges out quite noticeably.  This bugs me and makes me wish all the more that Apple would redesign the brick to be a lot slimmer (and made from something besides polycarbonate).

3. The neoprene is very thick and actually feels like it would offer some protection.  This is further bolstered by the cottony interior, which actually kind of polishes the MacBook as it’s pulled in and out of the case.

4.  Despite the durable nature of the case, I still wouldn’t drop a MacBook Pro (or any computer) intentionally.  But it’s nice to know that if I do this accidentally, I feel moderately confidant that it’ll be undamaged.

Anyway, I really like it. We’ll see what comes down the pipe with the power adapter situation.

I may or may not do a video detailing both the machine and the case.  We’ll see how ambitious I feel tomorrow.

UPDATE: Whoa, I actually had the gumption to follow through with that.

MacBook Pro Impressions

I don’t want to get into an overly long review, so I’ll just say a few things:

It’s prettier in person than even the pictures themselves can do justice.  The aluminum unibody, the LED-backlit display, the glass trackpad — in a word, beautiful.  Jony Ive and co. have really outdone themselves this time.

What I Love: the display, the backlit keyboard, the speed, the ports, the lightness of it given its size

What I Don’t: the slow recharge time (see note below)

There’s probably a lot more I can say, but I’m going to leave it at that for now.  I’m super happy with it right now.

Note: I’ve read that the battery recharge issue actually improves through use, though I have no experience with that to say for sure.  The reason it’s slow at all, I’m told, is because it uses a “smart” technology to reduce power consumption.  Thus, you trade recharge time for a longer battery.  So saith the Internet people, anyway.

MacBook Pro

15" MacBook Pro

So, I’m crazy.  I just got done cleaning up my old MacBook, and I just went and ordered a MacBook Pro.

(The good news is, I’ll be able to hook the two up via FireWire and transfer all my settings, accounts, and data between the two.  There’s a great migration wizard in Mac OS X.)

Why did I go and purchase such an expensive, albeit beautiful, piece of hardware?  Power.  I’ve pushed this old MacBook now close to three years, and it’s served me well.  Very well, in fact.  And it’s still in great condition.  But truth be told, it chokes on processor intensive stuff, and I do like to play around with high definition video and high resolution photography.

And I can’t forget that I’m going to invest into an HD camcorder before too long, which, with its 24Mbps and 1080p resolution, would wreck this old notebook.

That, and it’s pretty.  And LED-backlit display and a unibody aluminum enclosure.  Sold.

I took the Pro over the standard new MacBook because of the higher power video card, as well as the extra screen real estate (13.3″ vs. 15.4″).  Trying to future proof myself a bit and get another 3 years (or more) from this next machine.

Specs
2.53GHz Core 2 Duo (Penryn) with 6MB (!!!) L2 cache on a 1066MHz bus, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 320GB HDD, 8x Dual-layer Superdrive, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M 512MB GDDR3, Wireless N, Bluetooth 2.1, Gigabit Ethernet, multi-touch glass trackpad.

I feel pretty set.  I might bump the hard drive to 500GB or more later, but for now, this makes me pretty happy.  Can’t wait until it arrives on Friday.

What happens to this 2006 MacBook?  Haven’t decided.  I might sell it, but my brother could use a portable computer, and I might give it to him to use for school.  (He has an impressive 3.06GHz 24″ iMac, but that’s obviously stationary.