Apart from the multimedia goodies launched yesterday, Apple threw out two other non-surprises.

MacBook Air

Also known in this household as “Apple’s next marketing tool.” This notebook may well be the thinnest ever and it may well have incredible design, but the lack of a user replaceable hard drive could be a show stopper. Hard drives tend to fail more regularly and more catastrophically than they used to. I speak from experience. Are people really going to be happy with shipping the Air back to Apple for a replacement – and what becomes of that broken drive?

But really it’s a warning to other manufacturers (hello Sony!) Apple is saying – much like it did with the G4 Cube – “this is what can be built today. This is where we’re going with notebook technology and design.” Hence the expensive SSD option and the inclusion of your very own polishing cloth. It’s daring and risky. The G4 Cube failed and was later reborn as the Mac mini – a computer which Apple now seems intent on underselling. I expect the outcome for the MacBook Air to be different.

The G4 Cube was a solution looking for a problem that didn’t exist. Yesterday I thought the same about the MacBook Air. However, the MacBook Air targets a market that Apple hasn’t dabbled with for years: the sub-notebook market, last seen Apple-side with the Powerbook 2400c, or if you want to push it, with the Powerbook G4 12”. Except it isn’t a sub-notebook when it comes to the screen and keyboard and the number of ports are frighteningly limited: one micro-DVI, one USB2 and a stereo headphone socket. You can get an external SuperDrive for a mere £65, or use Remote Disc if you happen to have another Mac or PC lying around.

I have no doubt it will sell. The arrival of the MacBook Air is sure to win new or lapsed customers. It’s just not for me. If you need to think before getting a MacBook Air, then it’s not for you either.

I’d still like one though. Oh. Which reminds me, I must speak to my Dad about replacing his aging Sony sub-notebook.

With the re-launch of Apple TV and the introduction of Time Capsule and the MacBook Air, Apple is signalling something else other than the end of physical connections: the end of physical media. Here’s hoping that the next major release of Mac OS X comes as a download. What comes next is the Cloud.

iPhone Software 1.1.3

Within minutes of the keynote finishing, my iPhone was a-wiggling with new icons for its home page(s) and I’ve banished Settings to the second page. Worth noting are these facts:

By default, each Web Clip can be named and its icon becomes a scaled snapshot of the browser window. When you launch a new web page from such an icon, Safari loads up the page at the same zoom level and panning location. In this respect it acts as exactly like Web Clippings does on Mac OS X Leopard.

Web site owners can create their own icons and the iPhone will use this instead. More available over at the iPhone Dev Center.

The ‘locate me’ feature on Google Maps works in the UK, provided that you’re not connected to a WiFi network (otherwise you’ll get an endless spinner). It’s eerily accurate.

The keyboard now supports overlapping taps, i.e. pressing a second key before you’ve released the first key. Two thumb typers like me (occasionally) will be pleased.

The iPhone now supports manually managed music. I think this is a featured tied to iTunes 7.6 only.

What will Chris do?

Currently all my music (and video) is served from a first generation Mac mini. It’s very poorly and has never been quite the same since its hard disc failure: it now spends a lot of time thinking. Still it hobbles on, tending to my requirements much like the little drones from Silent Running.

This Mac mini holds all of its content on one 250GB drive (mostly full), backed up via Time Machine to another 250GB drive (which has now run out of backup space). I’m therefore on the lookout for a Mac mini replacement and two larger drives.

Yesterday’s keynote only throws the Time Capsule into the mix as a candidate for the backup drive. There’s still no compelling reason to get an Apple TV (especially since I can’t get my head around using my television to pick my music – that’s what Remote Buddy is for!)

Result: probably a new Mac mini, Time Capsule and some other drive. Everything else remains the same.

That’s what we got with yesterday’s Apple Macworld 2008 keynote speech. With few exceptions, a lot of baby steps in the direction of a genuinely integrated media lifestyle. Apple is publicly acknowledging that they now have the capabilities to create something revolutionary, but either the content providers or Apple themselves are too timid or not ready to deliver. It’s been over six years since the iPod was launched and we’re still not there. Here’s why:

iTunes Movie Rentals

It was quite an achievement to get all major film studios on board at launch for rental. Obviously they’ve seen where things are going with film (7 million sold to date), music (4 billion tracks sold to date) and probably TV shows too, but they’re still not ready to kill off physical media. Instead we get the 30 day wait between DVD release and rental release, probably to keep the physical stores happy and there’s the higher price of HD content. Quirkiness continues: you can only transfer movies to current generation iPods.

It’s worth noting that iTunes Plus (which has a higher quality audio encoding than the iTunes standard) was launched at a premium price. Only when Amazon launched its MP3 store did this premium magically disappear.

The 24 hour viewing window is a poor decision. Apple are selling convenience here, so shouldn’t it be as convenient to view as it is to buy?

All of this doesn’t matter if there is no content. I’ve witnessed the slow crawl of TV shows onto the international iTunes Stores. The selection of TV shows for the UK is poor and there are no movies. Apple wants to launch movie rentals later this year internationally. Time will tell.

Which leads me on to:

Apple TV Take 2

Yes, it’s identical to the Apple TV sold the day before. Except it has new software, embracing YouTube videos and podcasts, music, music video, TV shows and films. Yes, this software enables users to buy content direct from the iTunes Store and download it to their Apple TV. No computer required. It’s a pity then that the storage capacity still peaks at 160GB. And how do you back it up? Oh yeah, you synchronise content to a computer (which isn’t required).

Because the hardware is the same, Apple TV doesn’t deliver 1080 HD content. Just the usual 720p. Those HD movies can only be viewed on the Apple TV (probably because of HDCP support on its outputs). Other content can be moved elsewhere. Apple TV now supports (i.e. passes through) Dolby Digital 5.1 (but not DTS).

Don’t believe the hype: you still need a computer to get the most out of your Apple TV and your content. Only when the computer is out of the loop will the Apple TV become a media hub.

So, what of backups:

Time Capsule

Possibly the best thing that launched yesterday. Time Capsule is essentially a wireless hard drive (of server quality) with gigabit ethernet. It’s intended as a central repository of backups, across all your computers and works with Time Machine. Wouldn’t it be great if it had integrated support for Apple TV too?

Conclusion

Content providers need to get serious about what they’re doing in this digital age. If I could have a wide selection of films available for rental or purchase – and at the moment it appears that the studios prefer rental – in the UK at the time of the DVD release (or better still, the cinema release) then I’d grab it. At present the overall solution is a bit half-hearted from a technical and business viewpoint.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to offload content from the Apple TV onto another storage device (e.g. Time Capsule) for backup and extended storage space. If you wanted guaranteed data recovery you could have two external drives, and let a combination of Apple TV and an embedded version of Time Machine handle the backups. Frequently accessed content gets kept on the Apple TV; all the other content gets stored externally and stream-downloaded when its required. Apple TV decides what content to keep where – remember all that metadata that iTunes keeps?

As I said in my opening remark, all the components are available: Apple needs to package them up to make them consumer-friendly and usable.