Lasting Value – On the Future of Our Older Macs

There is no denying that the world of Mac is changing. The dramatic success of iOS first had a significant impact on Mac OS X back in the days of Snow Leopard.

Snowy was always billed as a release not focused on features, but on stability, and it took a little while longer to arrive than was originally announced. We waited 22 months for it to grace the Apple Store shelves, but at the time, this made a lot of sense — we accepted that Apple’s teams were working hard on their iOS products. Snow Leopard may not have brought us ‘shiny’, but I for one was quite happy to settle with ‘stable’.

Since that time, that narrow focus on iOS has broadened back out. Lion brought some iOS concepts back to the Mac, as well as introduced iCloud. We now await OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion. Scheduled to be released a mere year after Lion, we are promised even more features ‘inspired by iPad’.

Wait a second. What was that? It is due to arrive this summer. Just one year after Lion was released.

A new release of OS X hasn’t come so quickly since the operating system was very young and was still being established and stabilised.

This strikes me as quite a shift, and it brings me to an important issue — how does this affect the lifespans of the Apple products we buy?

[Read more…]

For Mac Eyes Only – The iPads of March

Episode #254

This week on For Mac Eyes Only: Mike Quizzes Gary about his new iPad, Foxconn Hires to Help Workers, Slimmer MacBook Pros?, iPad Killing TVs, Shooting Video RAW, Using Spaces in Lion.
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FMEO.TV – Part One: How To Create a Lion Install DVD

FMEO.TV Episode #004

In this episode of FMEO.TV, Mike shows how to create an installation DVD from the Mac OS X Lion Installer.

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Running Time: 4:56

FMEO Quick Tip Weekly – Securely Erase Old Drives

Quick Tip #135

Looking to sell your Mac or pass along an old external hard drive but want to be sure your data is completely wiped before you do? Well, this week’s Quick Tip tells you how.

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Running Time: 3:23

FMEO Quick Tip Weekly – Expanded AirPort Radio Modes

Quick Tip #133

If you’d like to get more choices for the WiFi bands your AirPort router can offer, this week’s Quick Tip tells you how.

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Running Time: 3:05

Review: JAMBOX (by Jawbone)

Seems the ALL CAPS naming convention of the JAMBOX was meant to convey a message: these portable speakers are LOUD. Jawbone has released a line of Bluetooth enabled portable speakers entitled the JAMBOX.

As I travel a fair amount, a good pair of speakers has become a necessity to enhance life on the road. I have tried a fair number of solutions: Internal speakers, headphones, USB and line-out-based portable speakers, even headphone out to a TV. Each of these are adequate, and in some cases can be fine.

However, I don’t live in the world of ‘fine’ (or I would be running Windows).

I needed something that produced excellent sound, could be loud and was as portable as possible. [Read more…]

FMEO.TV – “A First Look at Apple’s Magic Mouse”

FMEO.TV Episode #001

In this episode of FMEO.TV, Mike compares the new Apple Magic Mouse to the Mighty Mouse, takes a look at the options available for the new mouse, and steps through a few quick demos to show you what it can do for you as well as what it can’t.

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Running Time: 25:08