New Apple Lust Objects

Although something good is coming out at WWDC for sure, since they did the MacBook Pros today to clear the way. I'm still holding out for touchscreen jazz.

I hate docking my notebook

stet, I don't want to get all bitchy, but wtf is the point of touchscreen on a desktop

milo z, save the money. Or just get a cheaper PC. You can get a refurbished Thinkpad for about $400 online.

But it won't run OS X. ('twas a joke, though, sadly. I have a year-old Mac Pro that should last me forever and I'm not about to buy a notebook unless it's confirmed that I am getting reimbursed fully)

The point of a desktop touchscreen, as I noted, is to make you look like a complete ass when you go to poke a normal monitor.

Can anyone recommend a (non-Apple, cheaper) display to go with my MacBook? About 20 or 21" should do it.

Dell has a good 20" LCD, at ~$200 less than the Apple

stet, I don't want to get all bitchy, but wtf is the point of touchscreen on a desktop

Graphics, mainly. Have you seen the demos that have been kicking about for ages of that guy showing off his touchscreen desktop? It's brilliant for two-hand manipulation of artwork -- one Apple's core markets -- and will be miles better than either tablets or combined tablet/displays, especially if it also has the sensitivity for stylus use.

but aye, not much use for codin

I worked at a company that made a touch screen product and even if the resolution was improved a ton, I would never ever ever want to use one for day to day use:

:gorilla arm: /n./ The side-effect that destroyed touch-screens
as a mainstream input technology despite a promising start in the
early 1980s. It seems the designers of all those spiffy
touch-menu systems failed to notice that humans aren't designed to
hold their arms in front of their faces making small motions.
After more than a very few selections, the arm begins to feel sore,
cramped, and oversized -- the operator looks like a gorilla while
using the touch screen and feels like one afterwards. This is now
considered a classic cautionary tale to human-factors designers;
"Remember the gorilla arm!" is shorthand for "How is this going
to fly in *real* use?".

I am all in favour of my colleagues at work all doing gorilla impressions.

I'm still disappointed at how poor the execution of the concept, "pressure-sensitive", has been carried out in the oughts.

ask your mom about pressure sensitive.

My ma says she's sensitive to the fact that yr hose never has any pressure.

She's so demanding. The names she calls me ;_;

Alba, check out http://www.trustedreviews.co.uk/

Alba, I've got the Dell 2005FPW 20", and it's really pretty nice -- it's the same panel as in the Cinema Display, but £300 cheaper. Also has lots of other inputs.

Jon, that's a really fucking good point. All the people I've seen with the combined tablet/displays do use them at really weird angles, and I can't see that working with an iMac. Damn.

These are that guy's demos. He gets a bit overheated, but I know of folks who would eat this shit up for fucking about with 3d models:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q77Cuau28I0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QLnNG9ketr4

It's brilliant for two-hand manipulation of artwork

touchscreengoatse.cx

the latest OS X update makes speakers pop loudly before sounds (I think it's sending the sound channels to sleep when they're idle for a while)

drunkenly listening to stuff on headphones from the PB, i'm hearing poppage (noooooooooooo) if i stop/start in iTunes (10.4.9, iTunes 7.1.1 ... there's an update i haven't done yet, isn't there? fuck it).

This poppage shit is tedious.

OK, so I'm buying a Samsung 205BW 20in display for my MacBook (thanks for advice upthread).

I have a cable question. I need the Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, I know.

But after that, I need an actual DVI cable to connect it to display, right, because the Samsung only comes with a free VGA cable. Should I get a "dual link" or "single link" one? And will a cheap Belkin one costing about a tenner do the job, or is it worth paying more?

get a cheap single link cable, dual link is for huge displays 30" etc and digital is digital.

Be careful with which mini-DVI to DVI cable you get. They make particular ones for each laptop (e.g. the MacBook one is different from the Titanium version, which is different from the old PowerBook ones).

I got the run around from apple as to which cable I needed and how to actually go with an apple shop with my laptop to find the right one.

But in terms of that hook up question I have no clue.

Hmmm... Apple don't seem to sell one that actually says it's for a MacBook. I assumed the one that says it's for Intel iMac and 12" Powerbook was OK since no other is available.

I ordered mine from Apple store with the Macbook, so they do at least sell something that does the job. I know the iBook mini->VGA they sell doesn't work, though.

(the UK store, that is. The US one seems to sell what I assume is the same thing but it says it's for Intel iMac, 12" Powerbook and MacBook.)

xpost - can you link the one you bought, just so I can be sure?

What rumors are flying through the air right now at Moscone?

I've heard something about a new Finder. Appears to be called "Mighty Finder" this is from "a reliable source" but I think it's just a crazy rumor. I don't have any inside information!

I hope there is some kind of sub notebook/tablet/wee mac device. Not holding out much hope though as the iPhone is still the wee device du jour.

i'm sort of hoping for the tablet, too, but i think chances are very slim indeed.

Steve Jobs has bought controlling share in Nintendo

Opera for Wii to be replaced by Safari; Big Brain Academy for iPhone due in November

Serious question: If I own and like the Treo 750, is there a compelling reason to look at an iPhone?

No

here we go

http://www.macrumorslive.com/

Assuming they don't make a tit of themselves like they did on the Final Cut launch.

<I>Serious question: If I own and like the Treo 750, is there a compelling reason to look at an iPhone?</I>

how about if one owns but is getting slightly tired of an HTC Wizard, and is moving to the US next week (so has no phone contract)? i guess a lot of my decision may come down to the contract pricing.

Anyone out there have experience buying refurbished Macs? I'm thinking of picking up a MacBook (or possibly a G4 Powerbook if the price is right) the next time one pops up on their site... Pros? Cons? Am I just asking for trouble?

("asking for trouble" after buying a first-gen G4 iBook and replacing 2 motherboards... now the HD has gone)

A couple of guys here bought them, were very happy. They get fixed and cleaned up, you just don't get a nice box.

3D Dock? Stacks? ooo

apple store is down, so they're gonna be flogging something new at least ...

i don't have a clear mental image of these stacks, but anything that helps me keep organised will be a good thing...

It's hard to picture from the descriptions, but sounds handy

Jobs also noted that a new folder has been added to the dock called Downloads. By and large, users clutter their desktops by adding downloaded files to them -- this helps clear the average desktop of much of its clutter.

uh, it took them this long to do this?

Either this stuff is complicated, or the writing on macrumors is pish, but I've no idea what "back to my mac" is supposed to do.

it took me about 30seconds to come up with that

"back to my mac" let's you remote access files from a local computer, unlike .mac storage which is a network storage thingy

still not enough to get me to renew my recently expired .mac