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In densely populated urban areas where owning your own car isn't necessary and is quite expensive and parking is difficult to find, it's a great idea.

Gatchaman wrote:

jerwin wrote:

Gatchaman wrote:

But the iPhone can help you find a Zipcar!

Whatever the smurf that is.

It's no longer hip to own your own car.

That looks about as useful as a third tit.

Really? Zipcar is incredibly useful.  Have you ever lived in a city?

Mr. T wrote:

Bat wrote:

Mr. T wrote:

..Whereas Microsoft seems to be fixated with bloat, Apple seems to be doing the exact opposite.

Not keeping up?

The install process is also reportedly 45 percent faster and the OS consumes 6 GB less space, similar to the shrinking footprint of Windows 7 versus Vista.

I'm aware.  I even tried the Windows 7 beta.  Though a substantial improvement over Vista, it still didn't feel quite as lean as even regular Leo.  The footprint has certainly shrunk, but things like random HD activity and general responsiveness could use further improvement.  They still have all this technology like superfetch, .net caching (the list goes on and on...) all of which aim to optimize the machine's idle time, but it never seems to work out that way, at least in my experience.  Even if it did work, I doubt it would be worth the cost to battery life for notebook users.  So it's substantially better than before, but not quite there yet, imo.

You tried the beta. Try RC1, out some time now. Better, tho still has issues- squashing them is part of the public release. In any case, a goodly proportion of SL's smaller footprint is the elimination of PPC code... 7 improves support for older/ less capable hardware; SL obsoletes hardware from 8/06 (the last PPCs sold) on back. MS can't, shouldn't, wouldn't do that even if they made whole widgets.

Also missed is this golden opportunity to synergise that with a generic x86 release...

If Apple were to do that, then they would have to get rid of the imposed artificial distinctions in its product line.  Want an express card slot and OS X, without dropping an extra grand on a larger MBP?  Just buy a Dell!  The alternative would be too convenient.  As it stands, I believe that the vast majority of current Mac users would continue to pay more for Macs even if a generic OS X existed... but these games would have to stop.

One might be going away anyway...

You may have heard that the 13" MacBook got some feature improvements as well as a name change today at the WWDC keynote. What was once the 13" unibody MacBook is now the 13" unibody MacBook Pro, leaving the MacBook line void of any kind of aluminum enclosure. The white polycarbonate MacBook that saw a speed bump last week is the lone non-Pro, non-Air MacBook retailing at a price of $999, creating speculation that Apple may be going back to a single tiered laptop strategy.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/ … ts-new.ars

I too think they should have put an SD card slot in the 13" only, but kept the ExpressCard slot on the 15". Would have prevented complaints from the 15" users who will now have to either upgrade to a honking huge 17" or switch to a Windows laptop. Which is where it's gonna hurt the most.

I have no use for an ExpressCard slot myself, but I could use that SD card slot to store my MicroSD card adapter instead of having to use my Garmin 200w as a makeshift SD card reader. (I know what you're thinking. SC Card readers are like $10. Well, most of them have freaking huge bodies that cover up the remaining USB ports. Screw that crap. USB ports are a premium on my MacBook.


As for saving space by removing PPC code, I did that the other day with Monolingual. I saved 2GB of space by cutting my Universal apps down to Intel only.

I cut PhotoShop CS3 in half. IN HALF! And it STILL RUNS! Even after cutting it in half and deleting that useless Bridge and Device Center app as well as the samples.

iTunes lost 101MB. Which was weird because the original size was 136MB. Which means it lost 80% of its size by dropping PPC. How the hell was iTunes' PPC code 80% of its overall size? The app is 35MB now! And STILL RUNS FINE!

In fact, all my apps still run fine after being run through both the localization remover and the PPC remover parts of Monolingual. And I recovered a bunch of space to boot. Not only from Applications, but from Developer and my System and Library folders as well. And didn't lose a single app in the process. The only loss was space usage.

Jasoco wrote:

As for saving space by removing PPC code, I did that the other day with Monolingual. I saved 2GB of space by cutting my Universal apps down to Intel only.

That isn't really all that much in this current age.

Why would Pro users feel screwed (again) when if they wanted a card reader they could use their ExpressCard slot and get a Extreme Adapter 24 in 1 card reader for it instead? (It even sits totally flush in the slot and can't be seen.) I mean a Pro user wants/NEED options not roadblocks. Maybe a few more Firewire ports, add some eSATA ports, some USB 2 ports, the list goes on and on. This is stupid. And the card sticks out in Apples implementation of this card reader - it's not spring loaded like it should be. Everything about this regarding the 15" is completely stupid anyway. I think I'll order that card reader in spite, having never used my ExpressCard slot, especially when it certainly is pretty cheap now (wow, didn't realize how prices have dropped for adaptors!) and extremely convenient.

My 2nd gen MBP now seems more functional than the new 15". Especially with a relatively new and better than Apple's battery.

jerwin wrote:

I cut PhotoShop CS3 in half. IN HALF! And it STILL RUNS! Even after cutting it in half and deleting that useless Bridge and Device Center app as well as the samples.

Donnie always uses Bridge.

I launched it once. It was a glorified browser. I never even use the Open dialog in Photoshop. That's what the Finder is for. Double-clicking. Dragging files into the Dock icon. And PhotoShop runs fine without it.

Jason don't need no stinking Bridge! It's just bloat! More files on my HD for Carbon Copy Cloner to count every day. Plus, goddamn Adobe finds it smart to throw all their apps into arrays of folders at the root of the Applications folder instead of making them more simple like placing them all in a single "Adobe Applications" folder, or you know, maybe making it so you only need the single Application file and not a folder full of crap.

2GB may not be a lot, but it makes me feel better. Gives me a sense that my HD is lighter. Let me have my fun! Huge cheap HD's is no excuse for overbloated applications. And keeping PPC binaries in there when I will never use them is just wasted bits and bytes.

MB38 wrote:

It just eliminated an entire range of products used daily by thousands of professionals.

smurfing astonishing.

Not astonishing at all.
Apple has made it abundantly clear that you should NEVER count on using the stuff you use now with your next Mac.
And Apple only panders to "Pros" when it suits them.

wellfleation wrote:

Why would Pro users feel screwed (again) when if they wanted a card reader they could use their ExpressCard slot and get a Extreme Adapter 24 in 1 card reader for it instead? (It even sits totally flush in the slot and can't be seen.) I mean a Pro user wants/NEED options not roadblocks. Maybe a few more Firewire ports, add some eSATA ports, some USB 2 ports, the list goes on and on. This is stupid. And the card sticks out in Apples implementation of this card reader - it's not spring loaded like it should be. Everything about this regarding the 15" is completely stupid anyway. I think I'll order that card reader in spite, having never used my ExpressCard slot, especially when it certainly is pretty cheap now (wow, didn't realize how prices have dropped for adaptors!) and extremely convenient.

My 2nd gen MBP now seems more functional than the new 15". Especially with a relatively new and better than Apple's battery.

Putting "pro" on any of these notebooks is a joke.  These notebooks place style over function every time.  Yes, they're very pretty, but pretty doesn't pay the bills.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid … mp;cat=RDM

ScifiterX wrote:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-CR-SDMMC&cat=RDM

Ummm, that sticks out (got to take it out before tossing it in a bag) and uses a precious usb port. ExpressCard slot is inside, always ready. Better solution and not much more money ($18.00!)

ScifiterX wrote:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-CR-SDMMC&cat=RDM

Those things are too big! Not only would it take a USB slot, but also covers up the second slot and on my MacBook either the FireWire port or the Microphone port.

Who do they design them for? Can't they make them thinner? Narrower? Something! Put a small flexible USB cable on it or something.

You gotta love a lowest common denominator design philosophy.

The thing is that there is no justification to complain about stuff like this. Apple has made it very clear for several years that if you have a niche use, such as a Pro Audio interface, (for one example) you should not expect to use it on anything but the Mac you have now.
You want consistent, ongoing support for a given piece of add-on hardware you need to stick to Windows because as often as not that "critical" bit of kit you bought this year will not work with next years Macs.
Heck, look back over the last 8 years at the Apple Branded stuff that won't work with any current Mac, Displays, speakers, etc.
Using a Mac requires the acceptance of a very accelerated obsolescence cycle. Get used to the idea. The outrage that happens every time Apple yanks a feature is getting tedious.
It's what they do.
Apple used to be a niche platform that made it's bread and butter serving niche players in various "pro" niches. Apple is still a niche platform but now their largest niche is failed Windows users and those folks do not come to Apple with much expectation that their old stuff will still work on their new computer. Pros are not much of a concern for Apple anymore.

Last edited by Pariah (2009-06-12 5:16 am)