Running the googles map off the actual browswer doesn't work nearly as smoothly.

Given how Steve Jobs felt about Google, I'm surprised they didn't make the change earlier. I'm guessing they had to wait until their maps feature was up to a certain level. They'll catch up on the rest. But I agree, it's a shame that you lose some functionality in the short term just because of egos.

Given how Steve Jobs felt about Google, I'm surprised they didn't make the change earlier. I'm guessing they had to wait until their maps feature was up to a certain level. They'll catch up on the rest. But I agree, it's a shame that you lose some functionality in the short term just because of egos.

 

Will be interesting to see if there is integration with the available transit apps.  I believe this is Apple's goal, not to provide the information themselves but instead send you to a dedicated app.  Basically a giant fail by Apple.  TechCrunch and other tech sites have been harping about this for a while now. 

 

Supposedly Google will be releasing a stand alone Google Maps App.  Provided of course that Apple lets them into their playground.

Google relatively recently started charging for access to their Maps API, so you'll notice many sites switched to Bing!Maps, the open source mapping project, and of course Apple's in house maps.

 

Also, wtf is the problem with people being able to properly size their iPhone graphics. The iPhone is by and large the narrowest bodied smart phone on the market and gif makers across the internet somehow manage to make it look like a blackberry.

Apple scrambled to hire iOS 6 maps engineers DAYS before launch

It's almost as if Apple didn't plan this very well

Apple posted job adverts for six iOS map engineers within the past ten days, perhaps preempting the storm of criticism over the controversial new map app in iOS 6.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/21/apple_hiring_ios_maps_engineers/

I'm having a weird problem with my computer. It's a 2011 Mac Mini with 10.7.5. Every time I startup my computer, the keyboard doesn't work for at least five minutes. Both a wired G5 keyboard and a new wireless Mac keyboard exhibit the same problems. I repaired permissions, and nothing seems to fix this. Any idea why this would be?

I'm having a weird problem with my computer. It's a 2011 Mac Mini with 10.7.5. Every time I startup my computer, the keyboard doesn't work for at least five minutes. Both a wired G5 keyboard and a new wireless Mac keyboard exhibit the same problems. I repaired permissions, and nothing seems to fix this. Any idea why this would be?

 

Maybe all the man batter you've gotten on the keyboards finally has shorted them out!  HA!

I spilled beer and water over the old keyboard from the G5, but it worked solid for 7 years. The new keyboard is one of those extremely overpriced, tiny Mac wireless models since the cheaper ones at my local Radio Shack didn't work with 10.7. The keyboard works fine except at startup, and it also has to wait five minutes after logging out to work. It's a software issue of some sort I think. I've seen this with 2011 iMacs too. Lion sucks.

I spilled beer and water over the old keyboard from the G5, but it worked solid for 7 years. The new keyboard is one of those extremely overpriced, tiny Mac wireless models since the cheaper ones at my local Radio Shack didn't work with 10.7. The keyboard works fine except at startup, and it also has to wait five minutes after logging out to work. It's a software issue of some sort I think. I've seen this with 2011 iMacs too. Lion sucks.

 

Get a PC.  With the money you save, you can buy about 200 keyboards, and I bet they all will work with Windows 7.

 

^And you will probably need 200 as you continually pound on them every day in utter frustration.

This is the last Mac I'm going to buy. I originally bought a 2011 iMac and returned it due to the keyboard issue. When I first bought the Mac Mini, it worked fine, but now displays the same behavior. There is something seriously wrong with the newest Macs. This is ridiculous when you're already paying more than for a comparable Windows rig.

 

Now that Final Cut has been beaten by Premiere CS6, there is no longer any reason to overpay for a computer that underwhelms. CS6 does everything as well as Mac software. I'm switching to Windows for my next purchase. Apple has gotten too frustrating and the fact they keep cutting off third party hardware and dropping support for pretty recent rigs is insulting to their loyal customers. They're doing everything they can to keep you on the rapid upgrade cycle (I think they called this "planned obsolescence " in the 1960's).

 

Next thing I know, they'll probably try to sell me some $200 keyboard that will magically "fix" all of the problems. On Windows, I could get a $20 keyboard and it'd work fine.

C-Dawg, I have never heard of your problem & poking around, couldn't find anybody else with the same problem. It might be a hex on your house.

Somebody with a laptop had something like it.

For assistance you might try the LEM lists.

http://lowendmac.com/lists/macintel.html

The mini didn't develop the problem until hooking up external hard drives on firewire 800. Unfortunately, unplugging them does not fix the problem. It also went away when I moved and first set up the computer again (both times I moved in the last couple of months temporarily "fixed" it). It's just weird that both a 2011 iMac and 2011 Mac Mini have the same problem. I think it's a weird bug in Lion related to firewire 800. There are also sleep issues with the hard drives that I never experienced before. They constantly cycle on and off when the computer sleeps. Now I just eject them and turn them off when I don't need them. I suspect there's a good reason Apple rushed to release Mountain Lion. Maybe Apple realized they had a Vista on their hands?

 

Also, when updating to 10.7.5, my computer crashed three times in a row when restarting. Now when it starts up, the login screen doesn't show up until I hit the power button a couple of times. This just keeps getting worse and worse...

 

I'd like to try a clean install (might as well buy 10.8 at this point), but don't have the time for it right now. I need the computer up and running until December.

Have you updated to 10.7.5?

^Yes, the upgrade was disastrous! Startup now takes twice as long, and I just get a blank screen instead of the login screen. Hitting the power button fixes it, but the keyboard still needs five minutes to work. The five minutes thing is what's really bugging me. Could it be related to the five minutes I have set for the screen saver?

 

*Also, I should note that once the computer is up and running, everything works fine except login and logout. I noticed last night that repair permissions is not working. The same permissions problems keep popping up.

Ahh, I see your update. Mountain Lion royally screwed with people's USB/WiFi, and it's plausible they also screwed stuff up with the companion update for Lion. However, your difficulties could be from that nasty install.

 

If you happen to have a Time Machine restore point from before that update that might help you out and be a quicker fix than the complete OS reinstall. However, take the same precautions with your files as you would if you were wiping the machine, including a restore point.

 

 

^And you will probably need 200 as you continually pound on them every day in utter frustration.

 

That's what Apple tells you at least.  I was way more frustrated with my Mac Mini in the two years I had it than the total of all the years I've owned a PC.  But obviously everyone's mileage must vary.

 

IMO, Windows 7 is (finally) a better OS than OSX.

 

Who knows if we'll be able to say the same about Windows 8, though.

On Windows, I could get a $20 keyboard and it'd work fine.

 

I bought a $5.99 keyboard on Newegg and love it (it was one of the highest rated keyboards).  A simple, no frills USB keyboard with a great feel to the keys.  I love it so much that I bought a second one for work to replace the fancy schmancy keyboard they gave me.  Best purchase(s) ever.

Despite that I own many Mac products, I have no problem criticizing where I find issues. 

 

I finally ditched that tiny mac keyboard for my IMac.  My company was replacing all the Dell keyboards at our office so I got to keep the old one which is only 2 years old.  hooked it up and I can finally do Delete and Backspace like in windows.  MacOS perfectly understands regular windows keyboard commands so it's annoying that they can't have their native keyboards do the same thing.  Why engineer MacOS to understand these for the products of your competitors, but not provide the keyboard capabilities in your manufactured hardware????

 

Next task is to upgrade from Leopard 10.5.6 to Mountain Lion.  The old version crapped out since security software I was running inadvertently blocked updates since 2009.  It gave up and locked me out, but I still have access to all my files in the DiskManager. 

 

That said, I was curious if anyone has used Microsoft exFAT format for hard drives on versions older than Mountain Lion.  Allegedly it works on Leopard 10.5.6.  Currently I'm formatting this new drive From NTSF to exFAT on my Windows partition, but as expected it takes 30 hours to do 3 TB.  Keep in mind, this is not Legacy FAT formatted drives.  I chose exFAT because it's most efficient, interchangeable and no file size limits.  I plan to dump the old hard drive onto the external.  I'll then merge directories back in windows, install mountain line, share common desktops between ML and Windows and then delete the old hard drive image.

 

 

My wife still hasn't bought her Mac, but now she is back to getting a Macbook Pro, is there any reason to get the retina display if most of the work she'll be doing is going to be on a larger external monitor (24" or 27")?

If she works in graphics and the tools she uses supports the "Retina" setup then sure. From people with that use case that I've heard from they end up doing more and more on their laptop than at their work station over time.

 

All other use cases it's a really pricey luxury with little benefit besides the wow factor at the beginning followed by awkward mental adjustments when you have to use lower pixel density displays.

I guess I am trying to wrap my head around that even at what ever resolution the screen is, it's still only 15". Great for displaying picture and graphics, but all the menus and buttons in CS5.5 are still tiny, although easier on the eyes. She does mostly layout work, not much actually graphic creation.

I can't claim to understand it either just second hand feedback I've heard in conversation. I'd also add that there isn't a complete lack of buyers remorse on the part of people I've talked to about it when considering what other cool things they could have with that $500 or so.

Plus you have to either buy or put together an external DVD solution.

 

Have you known anybody with a Henge dock for the MacBooks? (http://www.hengedocks.com/) They look like a pretty nice solution for integration a MacBookPro into a home workstation. I hate having to plug everything into a laptop when working at home. I used to have an old Compaq Evo with a docking station set up at home, that was great.

Is the new iMac 21.5" shipping this week?  It says "November" online, and we are running out of November. 

I don't, but it seems like a useful and practical solution. I just get anxious about sliding my electronic devices into tight sleeves, and making an entire side of my laptop into a plug interface. I'm sure after actually using one that my worries would be relieved, but that is what I think about when I see it. I've never liked iPod/iPhone docks either, so that tells you about how practical my worrying actually is.

 

I prefer the possibilities of the Thunderbolt docks. However, they are just that, possibilities; because they keep moving back the release dates and Belkin's one that actually does everything you'd want has been bumped up to $400 for a Q1 2013 release.

Hey Mac users - do you use external hard drives?  I have maxed out my macbook with pictures and now have zero room and my computer runs at a snails pace when I try to run Aperture.  I assume putting most of my pictures onto an external drive will help me.  I probably should just go and get something around 2 TBs.  What about wireless drives?  Any recommendations you guys can make?

I've got 4 external drives.  With a Mac they are much more convenient than PC because they mount on the desktop by themselves.  With a PC you have to spend time hunting around for them sort of like card readers or seemingly any peripheral device.  Also you can hook up two drives with two USB chords and backup one drive onto the others very easily. 

Are they apple external drives or a different brand?

I've got a Western Digital Passport (I think that's what it's called)

1TB

I had to format it but, big deal.

Need another

^^You need to format it to Apple. However if you plan on using it on either Macs or PCs it needs to be formatted to something both can read. FAT32 works but that is slow and limits your file size. Somebody up thread discussed the various options.

>Are they apple external drives

 

No, I can't remember what brands they are, but 1 or 2 are Maxtor.  When you get them you go to Disk Utility and format the drives.  It takes about 5 minutes.  There will be instructions in the box. 

 

I doubt you will need more than a 1tb drive unless you are shooting a lot of video, in which case just a few hours of footage might fill up a drive. 

 

Is the new iMac 21.5" shipping this week?  It says "November" online, and we are running out of November. 

 

Apple is apparently having some manufacturing difficulties which is delaying the new iMacs. I'd hang on just a bit.

My wife still hasn't bought her Mac, but now she is back to getting a Macbook Pro, is there any reason to get the retina display if most of the work she'll be doing is going to be on a larger external monitor (24" or 27")?

 

I'm using the 15" Retina MacBook Pro as my primary machine. The retina display makes a huge difference, IMO, as text is way more legible (especially at smaller sizes), and it's great for image editing. The majority of apps I use have been updated to take advantage of the higher pixel density. Most websites don't have retina support yet, though, so text is sharp while graphics seem fuzzy in comparison.

No doubt heads are rolling, even though the new laptops are apparently the Christmas gift that is going to make stockholders happy.  It's a bit stunning to see the extent to which desktop computers have shrunk to just a fraction of Apple's business. 

It's a bit stunning to see the extent to which desktop computers have shrunk to just a fraction of Apple's business. 

 

There's no better example of this than the Mac Pro. They haven't made any major changes to it in years, and only did a minor spec bump last year. It still doesn't have USB 3 or Thunderbolt ports, which have been on their laptops for some time now. They promised that there's something new coming in 2013, but we don't know if that means an updated Mac Pro or something different (like a more expandable iMac or something). I've been putting off buying a desktop machine until I figure out what's coming out next.

I probably won't be buying a new iMac for awhile.  When my warranty expired after 3 years I was finally able to open it up and upgrade alot of the hardware, despite that there were no performance issues with the existing hardware.  It should be set for another two years. 

 

When I'm at home, I personally like editing photos on a really big screen and it's nice not having to manage a laptop connected to a TV or another monitor (even wirelessly)  At this point, moving my iMac around the apartment is no different than moving one of those really bulky souped up laptops from 2004  It's a big screen with a plug.

 

When i'm around town, a tablet would meet my needs, but using my phone to do simple tasks is enough for now.

Hey Mac users - do you use external hard drives?  I have maxed out my macbook with pictures and now have zero room and my computer runs at a snails pace when I try to run Aperture.  I assume putting most of my pictures onto an external drive will help me.  I probably should just go and get something around 2 TBs.  What about wireless drives?  Any recommendations you guys can make?

 

All external drives are capable of working between Mac and Windows.  They could be formatted in one of the following:

 

FAT32 Legacy format.  No longer available but still supported.  No operating system released since 2008 will permit you to format to this.

exFAT.  Modernized interchange format between MacOS and Windows that allows read write capabilities between both

NTFS native windows format.  Updated MacOS can read but not write.  You can configure MacOS to read and write just like Windows but that's your own decision.

Journaled native MacOS format.  Windows can be configured to read Journaled just like in MacOS but that's your own decision.

 

If you are using your external drive on your Mac almost all the time and don't ever plan on connecting it to a PC (like at work), format it to Journaled.  In the event of an emergency where you must plug it into a PC, you could always configure Windows to read / write in Journaled format even though it does not natively do so.

 

If you are using your external drive on a Mac most of the time but plan to occasionally plug it into a PC, use exFAT.  There's no file size limit like there was with FAT32 format.  Slightly slower performance than Journaled, but I found it barely noticeable  unless copy and pasting files is all you do all day lol.

 

Please note that it can take up to 32 hours to format a NTFS drive to exFAT in Windows.  It may only take 5-10 minutes to format that same drive to Journaled.

 

 

There's some comfort to me using Western Digital Drives.  Haven't had one fail (YET) but I've owned many.  Plus i upgraded the internal HD in my iMac to Western Digital. 

 

 

As usage of the web has steadily shifted over the past 10 years to entertainment rather than nerdy pursuits it has become increasingly passive, with fewer people as a percentage generating their own content other than facebook posts and photo uploads.  Tablets for sure and to some extent laptops aren't as nice as a desktop computer for "traditional" tasks.  Pretty much everyone needs a laptop computer these days and having a desktop in addition is a bit of a luxury.  But I have to wonder how much the cramped up nature of laptops has discouraged people from doing "traditional" things with computers.  Editing photos and video and doing web design and writing is definitely a lot more comfortable on desktops. 

Definitely agree with your thoughts on how usage of computers has changed.

 

I could totally be wrong on this, but I envision an emerging market of super compact desktop computers.  Essentially a massive high quality screen combined with a slimmer casework for all the hardware.  Though Apple has been well into these pursuits, no one has come out with a comparable product that is popular.  Apple tries to make it difficult to upgrade iMac hardware despite that the average person could manage it if careful.  They want people to buy new products every couple of years when an iMac could still be serviceable after 6 or 7 years. 

 

If a competitor came along and built a similar model that was easily customizable with an accessible enclosure I think a ton of people would buy into it: firms involved in design and engineering or people in serious gaming.  Everyone else would be fine with tablets that will allow an ever increasing number of tasks that were exclusive to laptops and desktops.

 

I think that 10 years into the future, people will look at laptops as these sort of novelty items where people can do hardware intensive work in a coffee shop.  But as tablets improve, the roster of supported software is growing and essentially the tablet will accomplish the lion's share of non-internet tasks that were once dominated by laptops.

If you aren't going to be carting something around, the need for it to be compact is greatly diminished. The advantages of having a desktop are complemented by having a larger form factor. You can fit in more graphics cards, more hard drives, more memory, more processing power, more everything. Plus, you can get more bang for your buck on things that are bigger. There is a price premium for compactness on everything. For these reasons, I don't see compact desktops picking up a great deal of steam.

 

Now, the exception to that might come when we get to the point of having processing power outsourced into the cloud. Then all of our computers -- desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones -- might get much smaller since they just serve as I/O interfaces. Still, as technology advances, I expect that at the point we are capable of outsourcing all our current computation needs to the cloud, there will probably be new applications which become commonplace which would be too bandwidth heavy for cloud computation. In this way, cloud computation will be like the tablet/ultrabook of the future: fine for casual use, but insufficient for many applications.

 

The line between tablet and ultrabook and laptop is already thinning quite a bit. I think that will continue, and so your coffee shop example will kind of be incoherent. Everything will soon have a touch screen, but with cloud processing we won't have these tablet/laptop devices as we know them. If the internet does not become super-reliable, I could see there being local (LAN) cloud computers -- basically desktop PCs that you interface through a router. No one wants to lose their ability to do everything computer-related just because the internet crashes.

 

It's hard to predict future technology. ;) Oh yeah, Apple. :shoot:

Sony has been selling just such an upgradeable all-in-one computer for years. When I sold computers I never pushed them (They're probably discontinued by now given the changes in the iMac). They either sold themselves once the customer saw it, or they had no interest in them. They never make economic or performance sense, and now with Apple's throw away models they'll never look as sleek and cool. The competing product is a micro-ATX box and a separate monitor. Cheaper, more power, upgradeable/serviceable, and if you don't have a transparent/see-thru desk setup just as, if not more sleek looking.

I've got 4 external drives.  With a Mac they are much more convenient than PC because they mount on the desktop by themselves.  With a PC you have to spend time hunting around for them sort of like card readers or seemingly any peripheral device.

 

When's the last time you used a PC?  Ever since about Windows 98, a file explorer already navigated to the drive opens up automatically when the drive is plugged in.

 

Even if that is turned off (I actually find it annoying), it's not really that hard to double click the My Computer icon (or click Computer in the start menu) and see all of the drives on your system.

I use a PC about once or twice a year, usually while trying to hook up one of those hard drives or a card reader at a family member's house, for example a grandparent who bought a $220 computer at Sam's Club 8 years ago.  It's always a ridiculous struggle to get the files off.  I definitely have had situations where I absolutely could not get such a ridiculously simple task to work. 

 

 

Windows should auto-connect.  Even older versions of Windows will connect to Mac formatted drives...they'll just tell you some disk volume information but won't let you read write.

 

The likely reason you couldn't connect to your grandparent's cheaper computer is because most of the low voltage USB ports were insufficient for either powering or transmitting data from the external.  When I worked in a print shop this was typically the problem when students would come in complaining that the HD wouldn't connect to their computer.  I tested it on higher voltage ports and it worked.  I then told them we sold copies and pizzas, and not an IT help desk lol.

Ooh.  Didn't think of that. 

Will Apple follow suit? I'm super tired of tech companies trying to force changes in the market. Especially with planned/artificial obsolescence.

 

Intel to kill off desktop as we know it, reports claim

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57555305-92/intel-to-kill-off-desktop-as-we-know-it-reports-claim/

 

And on the small-desktop topic:

 

Intel's tiny desktop PC for DIYers coming this month

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57547955-75/intels-tiny-desktop-pc-for-diyers-coming-this-month/

Well, yeah, we all know that as smartphones and tablets are becoming more popular, the market for desktops and laptops is shrinking. The question is what will happen to Intel. They have the most advanced manufacturing abilities, but have yet to design chips that work well for mobile devices (where the biggest concern is low power consumption). At the same time, Apple is pushing Intel to design more powerful chips for their laptops and desktops -- the graphics integrated into the Intel processor can barely power the screen on the 15" Retina MacBook Pro.

 

There have been rumors going in both directions --- that Apple will move to Intel chips for all of its products (both Mac and iPhones/iPads), and that Apple will move completely away from Intel and go with custom processors in all of its products.

I have a tablet, and I have to say that, other than reading during my commute, there are very few things it is decently good at. The web browser crashes a lot, especially when watching video. All these damn mobile websites are atrocious. The apps water down my computing experience: the YouTube app has no comments, the Google Chat app will not let me send SMS messages.

 

I've had it for about a year, so I guess the newer models might be better. But I'm sure those needless software limitations are still there. And this is an Android device. Maybe an iPad has less trouble with some things, like crashing, but the software lock-down problem would be even worse.

 

I would not buy one of these suckers to just use around the house. Not worth it. Not in their current state. Way too limited versus the fully computer experience. Mice are nice, too. Though I know some tablets (like Microsoft Surface) have a touch-mouse on their keyboard peripherals. Not sure about the iPad.

 

Tablets have some serious growing-up to do. I'm surprised they are as popular as they are. It's a luxury item complete with a healthy dose of frustration.