The Modern Materialist : Macs

iFurniture: Throw Pillows For Mac Users

Shaun Seneviratne — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:28:00 GMT

I always had a feeling that one day Apple would take over the world. It really is only a matter of time when cars, toilets, and pants are iCars, iToilets, and iPants. And I honestly don't have a problem with that. I think I'll start with my throw pillows:

This is the perfect gift for the Mac-lete in your life. Throwboy (a company that fellow Modern Materialist Alex Zalben reported on here) offers an assortment of nerdy pillows from RSS Feeds to Apple icons to internet abbreviations.

[photo via]

[$29, Throwboy]

[Via Missbehave]

New! Turn Your MacBook into a Tablet Mac

Diana Vilibert — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:02:00 GMT

Draw and write directly on the screen of your MacBook without buying a new laptop--Axiotron now lets you convert your existing MacBook into an Axiotron Modbook, and is about half the price of a new Modbook. Just a word of warning: if your laptop hasn't already fused to your hands, this is probably what'll do it for good.

[$1,299 and up, Axiotron]

Halloween Tip: The Spookiest Geek Pillows

Alex Zalben — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:02:00 GMT

It's Halloween week here at the Modern Boo-terialist (I know, it's a stretch), and there may perhaps be nothing geekier than Halloween pillows that look like the Mac OS icon. Some more versions:

[$39, Etsy]

[Via Nerd Approved]

Liveblog: Apple Notebook Event!

Alex Zalben — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:03:00 GMT

Today sees a new Apple event, focusing, we believe, entirely on updated MacBooks. While these sorts of announcements aren't as far reaching as, say, the WWDC Keynote, there's still usually some fun stuff that comes out of them.

Current rumors have a cheaply priced notebook (doubtful), a new, iPhone like trackpad (possible), and upgraded specs (definitely). The event starts at 1pm EST (10AM PST), and as it happens, I'll "live-blog" the info on this post. So be sure to bookmark, and refresh!

For clarities sake, I'll be posting the most recent updates at the bottom, so scroll down for the latest info:

12:03pm - Want to know what one of these looks like? Check out the last live-blog, while you're waiting.

12:16pm - Checking out a couple more rumors... Personally, I'd buy a large, HDTV display with built in Apple TV in a second, if the price was right. The other rumor is this possible mock-up of the new MacBook:

We'll certainly know how close that comes in about an hour...

12:39pm - Only twenty minutes to go! Apple Store is down, and so, curiously, is the Best Buy store. Hmmm...

12:58pm - We're about to start...

1:00pm - Steve is alive and well! The reports of his death have been greatly iXaggerated.

1:02pm - "Today is all about notebooks, which are teh awesome." I'm paraphrasing.

1:05pm - "Vista is teh haXX0r." I may be paraphrasing again.

1:07pm - Point is, they're spending a good amount of time talking about how awesome Macs are, and how much PCs suck. I assume this is leading into something like, "That's why we're in perfect position to take over the notebook market with..."

1:10pm - Macs are now 17.6% of the market, when a few years ago, they were 3-4%. Which is A) impressive, and B) Attributed to Leopard (positive) and Vista (negative). Anyone else think they're ignoring the rather more obvious, "People like iPods?"

1:12pm - Tim Cook, done with presenting these awesome facts, drops the mic and backs off the stage. Anyway, Steve Jobs is back, and talking about ways of reinventing Notebooks. Bring it.

1:14pm - ...Or not. Jony Ive will talk about how they currently make MacBooks, and then point out what they've learned. Currently, they're made out of chewing gum by goats. Now, they will be made out of magic.

1:17pm - Ive is talking about machine stamping and anodizing aluminum. I think I actually fell asleep and died for a second, not sure.

1:20pm - Shock surprise twist: they'll be using the method they were just describing, which makes the MacBook Air so light, on some more notebooks. Jobs is back and talking about graphics cards. The chip he's introducing is 5x faster than a similar Intel chip.

1:22pm - Hmm... This chip is 55% faster on 3-D graphics. This is clearly addressing the "games for Mac" problem, which is "games don't come out for the Mac," in case you don't know.

1:23pm - Here we go: new trackpad, as expected, is one big glass button with multi-touch. Essentially, imagine instead of a mousepad, you have an iPod Touch sitting in your notebook. Pretty rad, up until I smash it with my heavy metal fingers.

1:25pm - Want to know what the new MacBooks look like? Look above... The mock-up is 100% spot-on.

1:27pm - More specifically, it's the new MacBook Pro, with, "precision aluminum unibody enclosure, LED backlit display, next-gen graphics, multitouch glass trackpad, mini display port connector (putting on all new macs), and environmentally responsible."

1:30pm - They're talking about the two graphics cards in the MacBook Pros, which allow "Turbo" mode. Yup, this is a gaming notebook.

1:31pm - 5 hours of battery on the non-Turbo setting; 4 hours otherwise. Plus, the battery indicator is on the side of the machine, instead of the bottom, which is pretty rad.

1:32pm - Full access to the drive, which is new, right? I mean, that way, you can actually upgrade your laptop's drive, like you can with the Mac Pro?

1:34pm - Two models: Both 15.4", both 250GB hard drives; superdrives; $1999 for 2.4Gh, $2499 for 2.53GHz. In stores tomorrow, available for order today!

1:36pm - MacBook Air gets an upgrade, too, with 50% more storage space standard (120GB), plus the same basic graphics chip as the Pro.

1:37pm - $1799 for the basic MacBook Air; $2499 for a slightly faster model, both available in November.

1:38pm - New $899 Cinema Display, 24", also available in November.

1:39pm - ONE MORE THING!!

1:40pm - Updating the whole MacBook line, as well. Reducing the price to $999 to start and spec-wise, it's just like the Pro, but smaller.

1:42pm - This is just my untrained opinion, but right now, doesn't seem to be much difference between the MacBook Air, the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro, other than a few different chips, and general speediness.

1:44pm - Oops, correction: the current, White MacBooks, with updated specs will sell for $999. There'll be new, metal MacBooks selling starting at $1299 for the 13"; $1599 for the 15". Both are available tomorrow.

1:49pm - Okay, they're showing a video about how awesome Macs are. Anyway, for those of you who like reiteration: all MacBooks will be made from the MacBook Air process (except for dinky white MacBooks), meaning much lighter bodies. They'll also have massively updated graphics, hard drives, etc. Basically, MacBook Airs are upgraded to MacBook specs; MacBooks are upgraded to MacBook Pro specs; and MacBook Pros are basically sentient A.I. monsters that will eventually take over the world.

1:53pm - Ha. They're taking questions from the audience, but Steve pre-empts the obvious: "110/70, that's my blood pressure, and that's all we're talking about my health today."

2:03pm - In case you're wondering about the lack of updates, it's because there's nothing super interesting going on. The end!

2:05pm - ...and they're up at the Store. So what did you think? Excited? Bored?

Apple Keynote LiveBlog

Alex Zalben — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

You know what time it is, Materialistas? It's Apple Time! Time for Steve Jobs' World-Wide Developer Conference Keynote, that is. Though I'm not in San Fran for the announcment, I will be updating this very post in a semi-live-blog, as the announcements of amazing, god-like devices roll out. So bookmark this page, and keep refreshin', because the updating should begin shortly (say, around 1pm EST).

Oh, and for clarities sake, I'll be posting the most recent updates at the bottom, so scroll down for the latest info.

12:00pm - Nuthin' yet. There's been a lot of rumors swirling about what, exactly, they'll be announcing today. My guess is that the iPhone 2 (whatever the specs) is a lock. I also wouldn't be surprised to find out the Touch has replaced a few more iPods (Touch Nano, maybe?). Finally, my fingers are crossed... I'm hoping... I'm praying... That John Mayer plays a song at the end. That would be so awesome.

Oh, and cause I'm a shameless self-promoter:

12:41pm - Apple Stores worldwide are DOWN. There's been some rumors that iPhone 2 wouldn't go on sale until next month. Those may be true, but at the very least, something is getting add to the Apple Store. My guess? iPuppies.

12:48pm - Okay, here's what I love about Apple Announcement Day... A picture of people going up an escalator!!!OMG! I kid, I actually did get excited about this.

12:53pm - I've updated the top picture with a pic of the hall, courtesy of Engadget, who's actually in San Fran. Perhaps I should start a live-blog about live-blogging this live-blog? Just a few more minutes until real info hits, and I can stop making stuff up to talk about...

12:56pm - Okay, MacRumors wins for craziest amount of over-information:

1:00pm - It's go time. Let's do this, Jobs.

1:03pm - Al Gore is in the crowd! Insert your own "inventing the internet" joke here. Although I suppose he'll insert his own joke in a little bit.

1:06pm - I think the above statement came out wrong... I meant I'm sure he'll make some sort of self-effacing joke about it, not "Al Gore is going to have sex on stage, and I'm referring to his penis as a joke." On second thought, I'm sure none of you thought that, and now I'm all embarassed. Anyway, they're still seating people.

1:08pm - Lights have dimmed. Steve is on stage. The crowd goes nuts. Only in San Francisco, people. Only in San Francisco.

1:09pm - 52,000 people at World Wide Developers Conference, massively successful, blah, blah, blah... Okay, "this morning we're talking about iPhone." Here we go.

1:10pm - New Mac OSX - named Snow Leopard, to be debuted after lunch. Snow Leopard, huh? I assume the next update will be code-named Happy Kitty, or something?

1:13pm - Finally, iPhone 2 talk... Though it's boring stuff about Enterprising features. This will be followed by SDK, and then we'll get to end-user features. Meaning, another few minutes until the stuff YOU care about. Also, me.

1:17pm - Okay! On to SDK. Still boring.

1:19pm - They're still talking about the Software Developer Kit (SDK). What is this, a developers conference?

1:23pm - Since this is really boring; possibly even more boring than you can imagine if you're not following the discussion in real-time (they're talking about how to build a User Interface), I'm going to take a moment and plug SketchFest NYC, a national sketch comedy festival happening this weekend in NYC. Three days of stuff that's fun. No discussion of User Interfaces. Okay, plug over!

1:27pm - Still displaying the Interface Builder. I'm going to take another moment, more on topic this time, to pose the following question/statement, that I've been thinking about the past few days: Apple is the technology leader, right? Using the example of the iPhone, before it was released, touch-screen tech was used for museum displays, and that's about it. Now, every phone maker is scrambling to make a touch screen phone. Look back further to the mouse, CD drives, iPods, and basically any innovation Appple has made. The other part of this is, because Apple is the leader, other companies scramble to copy them, but bend over backwards to make something that is, essentially, different. Which defeats the purpose of copying them. Anyway, looks like they're finishing the developer talk, so we're back on.

1:30pm - Sega is demoing Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone, featuring tilt-controls. I realize this sentence makes it sound like I'm insane if you don't know what I'm talking about.

1:33pm - Aha! Here we go...Super Monkey Ball, and other games, will be available at the launch of the iPhone App Store for $9.99. Not bad, for a game with 110 levels and motion controls. Picture below is from Gizmodo, if you couldn't figure that out:

1:35pm - eBay has created an iPhone app called Auctions that let's you do exactly what you think it does. It's a simplified version of eBay that let's you view and bid on auctions in real-time from the iPhone, without having to access the Safari browser. Honestly? I think this is going to be f-ing huge. Why would you use eBay on your computer, when you could just use it on the go?

1:37pm - Next up is Loopt, a social network app that lets you see, on a map, where your friends are. I expect this will shortly be used in a horror movie. "Oh my god, the killer... He's following us on Loopt!" Scary.

1:41pm - Other apps: TypePad, a free piece of software for blogging or sending photos; and Associated Press, for, you know, AP News?

1:43pm - Oh, you know what? The AP thing is actually a pretty forward thinking application: you can send first hand reports on news, with pictures, directly to the AP. This is either awesome, or terrible, depending on how you feel about mass production of the news. I recommend reading this for more info on the subject. That's an actual recommendation, btw, not a snarky "check" "this" "out."

1:47pm - More games, including a physics based game called Enigmo, and a caveman racing game called Cro-Mag Rally, which uses the iPhone as a steering wheel. Because when you're driving a car, the windshield is 3.5" wide. And also, you're a caveman.

1:51pm - More Apps, including Band, a virtual music creator and player; and At Bat, for checking baseball stats and scores in real time. Hey, do you think Apple is launching an App Store or something?

1:56pm - In case you're wondering, they're now demoing two medical apps. Which is nice, except I'm starting to get bored. This better get awesome, quickly.

2:00pm - So... What's everybody up to right now? Doing anything fun?

2:05pm - Okay, Steve is back. I swear to god, if he doesn't announce something good soon, I'm going to... Keep watching this. Sigh.

2:07pm - New features on iPhone 2.0: Full iWork and Office integration; ability to save images you get e-mailed; parental controls; language support.

2:10pm - iPhone 2.0 software in early July. Free for iPhone owners, $9.99 for iPod Touch owners. Yeah, but what about iPhone 2? You know, the phone, and not just the software?

2:13pm - And now, something entirely new.

2:15pm - MobileMe! The rumors were true... .Mac is turning into MobileMe, or as they're calling it, "Exchange for the rest of us." Oh snap.

2:17pm - Mobile Me works for Macs, PCs, and the iPhone. If you update a contact, a calendar item, or a mail message, it'll update on any device you have connected to MobileMe. Macs, it works with iCal, Address Book, and Mail. With PCs, Microsoft Outlook.

2:18pm - It'll be at Me.com, which isn't quite live yet.

2:23pm - Nice! You can also use the iDisk app native in MobileMe to wirelessly send files... Not that shocking, but considering I've had insane problems sending files from phone to phone before, this is pretty helpful.

2:27pm - Side thought, since I'm now going to be very late for a meeting: is this keynote really going to be two hours long?

2:28pm - 60 Day free trial available with iPhone 2.0 software, starting in July. $99 for a yearly subscription. Now, Steve's back again.

2:30pm - Steve sez: "The iPhone is very popular." $10 says this ends in, "so we're remaking it from the ground up," and everybody goes nuts.

2:32pm - Next challenges: 3G, 3rd party app support, more affordable. Here it comes...

2:33pm - Introducing iPhone 3G.

2:35pm - Thinner, black plastic back, solid metal buttons, same display, camera, flush headphone jack, and improved audio.

2:36pm - Also, 3G (duh). Faster than Nokia and Treo. Oh snap, again! Almost as fast as wi-fi (17 second download for wi-fi, versus 21 for iPhone 3G).

2:38pm - Battery life is 300 hours standby, 2G talk-time is 10 hours (double the previous version). 3G talk-time is 5 hours. Also: GPS now integrated in the iPhone. Wow, those rumors are right on the money so far.

2:43pm - More countries for iPhone service. Okay.

2:44pm - Wow, I am going to be super late for that meeting.

2:45pm - Pricing: $199 for an 8GB!

2:46pm - $299 for the 16GB, with a white version available for this size. Wow. These things are going to sell like... Well, like iPhones.

2:47pm - That's the maximum price, world-wide, by the way. They're showing an ad now. You can't see it.

2:50pm - Well, that's it! Steve's gone. iPhone available on July 11th, no other announcements, no One More Thing. Ummm... Hope that was worth it for you guys, and thanks for playing along! And post your impressions in the comments below.

Product Porn: Macs Rule, Vista Drools

Alex Zalben — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Posting a video of an embedded ad from the New York Times might just be the dorkiest thing I've ever put on this blog:

[Via Mac Daily News]