Yahoo’s 10 worst IT products

Yahoo article via TUAW:  I agree with putting the Apple TV on a “under-achiever” list, but is it really as bad as Vista?  Apple TV does what it is supposed to do, and even if you wanted it to do more at least it lives up to its description.  Putting the Apple TV on the same list as Vista is akin to saying that an MCSE that can’t find the network settings in Debian is just as much a charlatan as a auto mechanic that can’t change your spark plugs without breaking your oil pan.

Vista is so far from what it is advertised as, it should be the subject of a lawsuit.  The Apple TV?  While I wouldn’t buy it and think that it has little purpose, it is every part the overgrown iPod that it says it is.

iTunes Movie Rentals

via Financial Times article & NYT article:  I have bought a few shows & movies on iTunes, but not nearly in proportion to the amount of music that I’ve purchased.  Renting movies and TV shows makes so much more sense than music, after all isn’t that why there is a Blockbuster and not a Platinum Album Store?

MacWorld Predictions

1.  thin, tiny, subnotebook

2.  new display styles and better resolutions

3.  new macbook or macbook pro form factor (reflecting #1)

4.  show off the dev kit for the iPhone

5.  brand new software package (they already revised ilife, iwork, and the OS)

6.  itunes subscriptions for video

7.  upgraded Apple TV

In a couple of days I will give them a probability of happening.

Why I Love Apple Products…

I was going to just post my predictions for MacWorld, but I thought that I’d better quantify where I stand.

I’m a cultist.  I’m obsessed.  I’m a fanboi.  But not of Apple (necessarily)…   I think that everything that I use should be three things:   consistent, simple, and beautiful.  I crave consistency, I feel that “less is more,” and I think that beauty can be defined.  I also want a product that does what it is supposed to do.

Those four principles are why I use Apple’s hardware and software.  It fits those four qualifications the best.  Apple has made poor products, but I said “the best” not “perfectly.”

So if an obsession with a consistent, simple, and beautiful UI that does what it is supposed to do (and doesn’t get in my way) has made me an Apple ‘fanboi’  …  I’ll take it as a compliment.

And…if in three years, Geindour (a fictional linux distro) can support a better UI, I’ll give it a try.  Because Apple and the Mac OS isn’t perfect.

Apple Needs a Nikon

Daring Fireball Article :  “Canon’s cameras are better because there’s Nikon — and vice-versa. Canon-vs.-Nikon arguments can get ugly, but in the end, they’re arguments about two companies that make great cameras and great lenses. Apple has no such rival.”

I totally agree; a company to challenge Apple to continue to set the bar higher would benefit anyone who uses an iPod, iTunes, or OS X (Macs, iPhones, Apple TVs, etc.)

Winclone

via TUAW:  Backup your Boot Camp partition with Winclone.