I’ve been going without internet for a while now.. well.. actually I only have internet on my laptop, not my desktop.. which is all backwards… I went without any internet for about two days… and this apparently triggered a freak out online.. which is sorta mysterious.. and mystically my friend Greg PC showed up at my door to help matters… he’d never been to my door before.. and somehow the knocking at the somewhat late hour freaked me out and it took a while to regain my head.. so why not talk about this story?

It all started when I bought a certain microphone preamp.. Microphone preamps can be quite expensive.. I’ll likely make a post about this soon.. I got mine for a little less then half the list price.. well, it was used.. but Jesus, half off the list price? I would not have been able to afford this preamp other wise.. and it was a kind of preamp I REALLY wanted! So lots of excitement.. couldn’t wait to try it out.. but there was one problem..

The manual was more adamant then any manual I had ever seen.. on the importance of grounding.. which is to say.. the 3 prong plug thing.. blah blah blah.. and in the room that used to be my studio.. there was no such 3 pronged plug.. which meant.. if I wanted to play it safe.. I’d have to move the studio.. which.. was no small feat!

The biggest issue, of course, was the internet.. Version is my ISP.. it comes into my room via a drilled hole in the wall.. to this modem with wifi.. which I connected to via an ethernet cable but.. its not terribly mac friendly the way they’ve set it up.. so.. in order to ACTUALLY have wifi throughout the house.. and to actually be able to move files between computers.. via Wifi.. I can’t use there wifi..

I don’t really know what I’m doing.. so I wont go into all the gory details… but something funky was going on.. and I don’t get it.. where I couldn’t get my bass station and time capsule to get internet via the modem.. which is both why I had not internet for two days, and also why this laptop is my only internet connection.

I don’t really understand the networking thing today.. all the details..  Mac’s tend to simplify all the technical stuff.. but.. they simplify it to a point that.. if you have to go out of the simple zone.. you’re suddenly in this very disorientating world.. if you don’t know what your doing. Definitely painful!

But the good news is the studio is now mostly moved.. to the TV room.. which is sorta dramatically different, and has 2 dramatic implications.

1. Its a lot bigger.. which means I can bring parts of my studio into service which I’ve more or less had hidden away for ages… like say my 16 channel digital mixer
2. It’s a lot bigger.. which presents a different sorta acoustic situation.. the principle issue for acoustics in this situation is you don’t want the acoustics of the listening space interfering with the sound your ears are hearing.. and small spaces are notoriously hard to deal with… in the TV room.. there’s lots of space.. so.. by the time the audio bounces off a wall or something, and gets back to my ear.. it’s so low in volume.. that its not really coloring my impressions.. plus there are fairly sound absorbing surfaces in the space.. so.. I could finally make the move away from headphones to monitors.

I suppose this bears talking about. For a number of reasons it is considered a no no to mix on headphones.. but, given a choice between low end monitors and a terrible acoustic environment.. and higher end headphones.. take the headphones!!!

The jump to monitors, at least for me, is pretty mind blowing.. and yes… they are, at least in terms of price, low end monitors.. but I think they are quite nice.. as does Mr. BT.. and the guy at the store was like “yeah, if I had only this much to spend this is what I’d get.” Oh.. and not only are they relatively cheap.. but they were having a Thanksgiving weekend special deal on them!

Of course the only trouble is one of the monitors is defective.. so I have to go return it for another pair once they get them in.. hopefully tomorrow.. but.. what you find is a whole lot more detail.. you’re able to hear.

This is a somewhat odd thing.. you listen to.. well mostly I’ve been listening to the sound track of command and conquer.. which I’ve always regarded as a somewhat generic sound track.. but now that I can hear the details.. I’m actually quite impressed.. of course you can argue that they sure as hell should have made it sound better on lesser speakers.. but that’s sorta besides the point..

Anyway… yeah.. so I feel like I’m leveling up!

So I find myself debating participating in this here black friday stuff.. but.. I find there’s a couple problems.

1. What exactly is on sale? Its not real clear to me what is… or where I should go..
2. Much of what I’ve seen on sale, via the internet, is sorta like.. not really that big a deal.
3. Dealing with all the people who are out, waiting in lines, all the rest of it.. not really my idea of a good time.

One of  the rumors that was going on was about Apple having some pretty decent deals on computers. There’s one computer that I kinda sorta find myself looking at from Apple.. I don’t REALLY feel the need to upgrade accept.. well.. if I want to go out and do live shows.. and just cause of how Apple sorta sets up there line.. this forces me into there more expensive computers.. and um.. well.. they are offering around $100 off.. which.. is fine accept that I was thinking if I was going to buy said computer, I’d wait till Apple refreshed it.. and that $100 off.. I guess I just sorta feel like.. if you factor in the need for an upgrade.. it should perhaps be less then that anyway.

Other then that there is a thing going on at guitar center… which is not terribly huge.. but I do have stuff there thats on my to do list..

All and all, I’m against buying stuff that I wasn’t going to buy anyway. I tend to have a pretty broad range of things I’m thinking about for studio upgrades, or whatever.. which gives me flexibility where.. if I see something going cheap.. ok, maybe I’ll pick that thing up.. but if its not in that thought process.. its not a deal.. its getting you to spend money on something you  wouldn’t other wise spend money on.

I will say, from what I’ve heard.. that Wallmart is sorta the place to go.. and that they have sales on both Blue Ray players and HD TVs that are pretty remarkable. Also I’ve seen individual movies at Amazon that are quite well priced..

Some of the visual effects I’m looking to do requires multiple video cameras.. so I was thinking if there were such things at a low enough price today, that picking one up might not be a bad idea.. plus to have HD for a multi cam shout would be desirable..

But over all? I think I’ll pass.

The one thing I will say is that.. this is the start of a time that’s pretty horrible if you want to go shopping for anything… I mean the mob scene at the stores… and this sorta makes me nervous in that.. I’m really feeling the need to update my wardrobe a little bit, and maybe my father’s to.. all I really have to ware, pants wise, is swet pants… and every single pair has ether a whole in the pockets, or along the legs.. plus.. not really the most fashionable thing, ha?

I was just in a conversation with a friend about what sorta computer she should buy.. or more to the point.. should she get this particular computer.. and.. well she didn’t have a lot of money and.. we couldn’t actually see what the price was.. but this triggered me to thinking about net books.. which I know is pretty well trotted ground in the blogosphere.. but I figure, what the hell.

The first thing you must know about me is that “I’m a Mac.” I’ve always been a Mac.. ever since there were Macs.. sure, I’ve owned 1 PC, played with Amega’s.. etc, but.. I’m a Mac.

The Trouble with Macs 

The trouble with Macs, or Apple, as I contemplate it now, is that they don’t make a netbook.. Well they make the Mac Air.. which is there idea of an ultra portable laptop computer.. The Mac Air is great except for 3 problems.. #1 Expensive.. like starting at $1500.. #2 Weak.. I think it barely has 2 GHz.. and #3 lacks a CD / DVD drive..

See, the thing of the matter is.. if I’m going to get a netbook type computer..  besides being tiny and ultra portable.. I expect it to be a secondary computer.. a kind of computer I can  take and use anywhere without really thinking too much about it.. For it to be this tiny it must have a tiny screen which makes it totally not capable of doing most of what I do on a computer.. thus.. I’m unwilling to spend a lot of money on it.. especially when you consider that it doesn’t have much in the way of power.. Thus.. $500 might be more then I really want to spend!

Not having a CD / DVD drive is not a deal killer.. but I do want a laptop that I can at least watch movies on… but that doesn’t have to be the netbook.

So the issue is, at least right now, if I want such a computer.. it’s not going to run the Apple operating system unless I hack it to run the Apple OS.. which is maybe something I should look at because.. well.. there is the question of what I would, in practice, want to do on a netbook.

Net Book Ideals 

To me the Net Book ideal is as follows: You have this computer that’s so small you can take it anywhere without thinking about it.. has great battery life.. one way or another you’re connected to the internet..In this kind of scenario.. I might like to have the ability to take images off my camera.. or a video camera.. and perhaps even edit them.. adjust them a bit, and quickly post to the internet. I want to check emails, write blog posts, maybe edit a podcast or do simple audio things… 

So one super basic reason I’d prefer to run the Apple OS is because then I can run the software I already own that does that stuff..  I don’t have to buy, or learn how to use new stuff.See, one of the issues I’m confronting is..

I do need “a better computer” then my current Mac Book. Well.. I really need firewire so I can have a decent audio interface for live shows… and currently.. it looks like I might need the 17″ Mac Book Pro for its expansion slot.. and a 17″ Mac Book Pro is not terribly portable.. but.. I can do live shows with what I have now, so I’m in no rush.. 

Do you see a Tablet in my Future? 

All of this said, there is the Rumor of an Apple tablet… which might very well meet my netbook needs.. accept.. well.. its just a rumor.. The rumor is that it’s like to have something like a 13″ screen, if that.. will run the iPhone version of the OS.. all touch screen.. This would mean I couldn’t run my current apps.. but if you look at the iPhone App Store.. I think some of these needs would be met pretty easily.. though who knows about the video thing! 

I don’t know how realistic my video ideas are, or what.. my feeling at this particular moment is.. probably the most important thing is simply to commit to them.. in a long term sorta way.

Ok, here’s the basic deal.. Video is like.. big these days on the internet.. you may have noticed? I’m basically looking at video as packaging for my music.. or as an extension of the experience of my music.. as a part of the art object. I’m really approaching video from a unique sorta aesthetic perspective… 99.9% of all video production today is produced inside of a certain set of conventions that don’t really get pushed all that much. Sure, there’s great video and film work made this way.. This isn’t a giant value judgement about that.. but its also not what I’m seeking to do.. What I’m seeking to do is approach video from a very ART perspective.

At the moment this means.. screwing around.. It’s a combination of exploring certain ideas as they come to you, and trying to learn the tools… At the moment the tool I’m working with is Apple’s Motion… which is a part of Final Cut Studio.. as an aside, its breaking news that a new version has just come out.. but we shant speak about that.

The project started on a sorta doodling branding adventure a few months back.. I was working in Photoshop and Illustrator.. trying to craft out a logo.. based on some sketches I had done.. This also included messing around with photography.. what follows is a part of that project.. as it looked at one moment in time…

 Motion is a motion graphics / animation program.. and one of the things you can do is import photoshop files.. complete with there individual layers.. I did some funky things.. and placed the different layers at different places in space.. to basically turn something like the above image into a 3D image that I could fly the camera around.. and play with various.. well.. ideas.

I’ve been working steadily on this for the last 3 or 4 days; creating these various little psychedelic video clips. The resulting clips seems to be about some kind of exploration of identity and personal branding… or at least that’s what they made me think of.

The idea originally was to simply put out a sorta complicated screen cast of my DAW.. put it on Youtube.. so that I could sorta share what I do in a certain way..  and I figured if I did that.. I’d at least need some sorta titling / motion graphic sequences.. to sorta.. make it look serious.. I may still do this.. I don’t know.. but now I’m thinking of it more like music video elements.. to be sorta remixed together latter on.

There’s a whole sorta visual language.. set of icons.. symbols.. whatever.. that make up the visual identity I plan on making for myself. [editors note: Matt has been working on this language since at least college] It’s something you are much more inclined to read as Fine Art then.. well communications / graphic design.. Though as I elluded to earlier.. I am thinking about this from something of a design perspective.

My kinda goal is to try and produce something that looks like a million bucks.. something that makes you go “wow, that’s fucking cool.” Make something that would seem to have the sorta production values you could expect from the music video of a major label artist.. way back when they had big budgets…. But something totally different.

The hard fact of the matter is I’m early in on learning to do this stuff.. and a great distance from where my ambition is aiming.. and it is not totally clear that I’ll be able to realize these goals I’ve set for myself…

Well.. whatever.. I actually don’t think those kinds of production values are all that important.. I mean they are for my vision.. but I also think if you just do good story telling.. and put together a number of good pieces… I think you really can have something.. so that’s really kinda what its about.. but.. why not aim high?

Apple announced new new Mac Laptops today at WWDC..  My story is I have last years MacBook.. which while I love it.. it’s #1 regulated to secondary status and #2 I’ve been feeling the need for firewire for audio work.. 

 Firewire and USB for audio

I don’t think firewire is as critical for audio work as many say.. but if you want to go high end in your audio interfaces… it really is. On this front.. for me, its all about focusrite or apogee… there is a now discontinued multichannel audio interface from MOTU.. which I understand is quite good.. but doesn’t really feel like an upgrade so much… from what I currently use.. and.. if you’re on a computer with only USB.. well it makes you wonder why MOTU would have discontinued it! In any event.. the cost of the MOTU interface.. is such that I couldn’t afford to do that, and get the sorta interface that I actually want.. so that my mobile interface is really relegated to.. well Kore or Zoom if I want XLRs.. not the best pres.. and I’m limited to stereo.

The difference.. with Apogee it’s the quality of the A/D conversion.. With Focusrite we have convolution based preamp modeling.. these issues are not inherent to the technology behind USB or Firewire.. the difference between USB and Firewire comes down to data rates.. and how much it effects over all performance. 

What’s up with the Brand Story?

The biggest thing I’m not getting with the new Mac’s is now every thing is a “MacBook Pro” accept for a new ancient model MacBook..  all be it updated..

To get what used to be the MacBook Pro.. you need to spend $2000.. at that point.. you get “the two graphics processors.” The deal here is one is nice to your battery life, and the other has significant performance.. The lower end MacBook Pro’s have the nice battery life processors… If you’re someone who needs the performance.. well.. you might want to go for the $2K models… or better yet the $2.3K model which now gives you 512 MB of view RAM, instead of 256 MB.. which really makes all the difference…  both of which are 15″ models. ..but none of this should miss lead you into thinking that the sub $2K models aren’t fine for video.. its more a question of if you plan to push things..

I couldn’t tell you where the line is exactly.. in terms of how you assess your needs relative to this..  But I’d say.. if you’re doing web video.. particularly that doesn’t need to be HD.. and effects and like.. motion stuff.. isn’t playing a significant roll in how you’re working.. I don’t think you need more power.. if you do that stuff it probably depends on how important that stuff is / how often you go there.

Now you get MacBooks Pros in the 13″ range.. but I’m not sure what the significants of it is.. as aren’t they just calling MacBook’s MacBook Pros now?

Speaking of smaller MacBooks

I think there’s always this trade off you make on size.. The negative of larger is.. costs more, less portable.. the plus is better productivity.. often more powerful.. you can somewhat mitigate the productivity issues by adding a monitor when your at home.. but not really while on the go.

For me..

I haven’t gotten into doing a lot of heavy production work on my 13″ MacBook…  long story… and its a secondary computer.. So the idea is “you can work on the go” which I haven’t fully even put together yet.. The main need.. in a sorta heavy production esk sorta way.. is for live performance.. for that, so far.. I’m actually pretty fine with the 13″…

If you look at the Maschine controller

You’ll note that you can see a certain amount of what’s going on just from Maschine screens.. and the software sequencer is fine on the 13.” 

And of course Kore is similar in this regard

This would seem to a theme for many a controller of this sorta ilk.. The new controllers coming to Ableton.. the Euphonix MC controllers…  

Where things get tricky is when you have to negotiate lots of windows.. which is typical for serious music production of the “studio sort” or.. you see it for video, animation… in design you sometimes see it.. but mainly its the size of the window you’re working in.. and its more of an issue if you’re working with bit map graphics then vectors.. I think..

Conclusions in the World of Matt 

For me.. the laptop is.. if I want to get untethered from this desk.. this room.. if.. say cause its nice out.. I want to do stuff on the go.. even if it just means working on the back porch.. It can be about trying to capture the vibe of an adventure.. how being someplace where things are happening.. can alter your consciousness in certain ways.. and thus later the sort of aesthetic choices you make.. There’s also.. if I were doing work for clients.. being able to show them what I’m doing on the laptop is big.. There’s live shows of course.. There’s having a computer when you’re on a trip somewhere.. being able to stay connected… I’d like to be able to go to a friends house and be like “hey, lets make some work,” and be able to do it all there… If you’re doing video or photography there’s the ability to assess things in the field.. 

There is, of course, the question of how working on a smaller computer impacts your work.. an equation that ultimately probably needs to be felt more then conceptualized.. I mean how often would I really want to lug around the extra weight of Kore or Maschine or even an audio interface?

Other things worth mentioning

1. Apple claims there’s better battery life to be had now.. like 7 hours.. but they are notoriously untrust worthy on this front.. but it’s probably safe to assume better battery life is here. The negative side of this would be.. it looks like you can’t change your battery.. though they say the life span is greatly increased
2. Now the only MacBook with an expansion slot is the 17,” which might be important if you want to connect up a fast hard drive.. or use the UAD type stuff for audio work
3. Now having a backlit keyboard is standard on all MacBook Pros.. which I had one on my MacBook!
4. There was a price drop.. of some significance.
5. Apple’s new laptops now come with SD card readers.. which is nice accept that I tend to use CF cards more these days.

What I might do.. If I was gong 13″ the model  that makes sense runs at $1.5K.. For that you get 2.53 GHz ( 270 more MHz on your processor.. so a total of $1.3K model which is.. I don’t know, doesn’t seem all that significant to me) more hard drive space.. 4GB of RAM instead of the 2 GB.. and the RAM is the main thing.. of course Apple gouges you for RAM and Hard Disk Space.. Apple charges $1000 if you want to go from 4GB to 8GB, where as the retail cost of the RAM looks  to be around $600? Perhaps the thing is to get the cheaper computer and buy and install your own RAM and a 500GB  hard drive.. just to spite them! Really.. I think for photography.. if you use Apples Aperture.. you probably want at least 4GB.. and I’m finding with music.. that I can never quite get enough RAM.. even at 6 GB… and I simply can’t use some of my software on 2GB… like Omnisphere.. But really.. I think I’m most likely to hold off doing anything… 

Chris Foresman did a recent post on this at Ars Technica.. which seems to be enough, to stimulate me enough, to get off of my ass and write a post on the subject. So..

Should Apple Lower its prices?

This strikes me as a complex question.. one that takes some level of expertise of the computer market to really make… I mean, where do you see things going?

Of Vista and XP 

I’d argue that one of the really big things driving Apple sales for quite sometime now is really.. Windows Vista.. and before that.. just how long it seems to take Microsoft to put out an XP follow up.. All of which has made the PC experience.. well.. awful as near as I can tell..

Of course a new version of windows is on the way.. and it sounds like it’s likely to be very good.. so how will this effect Apple’s position in the computer market?

Google fun

Google has been busy developing a mobile OS that now runs on a few of the smarty pants phones.. everyone seems pretty excited about it.. they give it away for free.. and  the idea that this could offer a significant threat to Microsoft in the OS department, particularly with respect to net books, is kind of a big deal.

This speaks to the Apple question on the “well, we could come out with more budget minded computers like net books.” Of course rummer has had it, for quite sometime, that Apple would come out with a kind of tablet computer.. somewhere between an iPhone and a Laptop.. which would offer something interesting to this market.. Perhaps they could redefine it as they have with the cell phone / smart phone market with there iPhone?

I’m of the opinion that Apple has to do something like this.. as computing is on a more mobile trajectory.. I think apple needs to focus more and more on mobile computing life style type stuff.. 

Obvious places to Make Macs cheaper

1. Dude, stop gouging us on the cost off hard drives
2. Dude, stop gouging us on the cost of RAM.
3. Apple has something like 30% profit margins on there stuff.. which is much higher then anyone else in the computer business… This could be cut into a bit.

Out side of all this.. I think the computer market has changed quite a bit over the years.. so much so that the life span of a computer is much better then it was a few years back.. Four years the average? It seems to be not entirely unreasonable  that you could put out computers that.. had a bit longer of a tooth, as they say.. was a little less powerful.. and at least got you into the sub $1000 computer world.. without compromising on user experience.

Not only that.. but currently each MacBook can be connected to an external monitor and work in duel monitor mode.. a feature I surely appreciate but.. I don’t think most computer users really do.. or certainly not at the lower end of the market… as just one example. 

 Oh yeah, Why Apple Might want to sell there computers for less

Apple’s Market share seems to have gone static.. so lowering the entry price is certainly one idea that offers them the opportunity to broaden there market share.. further.. I think it’s just the mood of the market.. with everyone tightening there belt over fears of the economy.. to the extent to which Apple is perceived as a kind luxury computer.. that’s probably working against them.

 Choosing Wisely 

At the very least.. the feeling that Macs can be on the over priced side.. is something to look at… in this economy..  The thing about the Apple product lines is.. It’s a bit like Apple is a dictator.. they don’t really give you choice.. if you’re in the market to buy a particular type of computer.. with a particular sorta price range.. you have a couple choices you can make.. from what Apple has decided to offer…

On the plus side Apple has very good taste, and… I think they choose for us well.. but.. clearly not always..  Currently the absence of firewire on Mac Books comes to mind.. but generally the choices they make.. are the choices of a more.. lets say luxury mind set.. I don’t know that I’d say Apple should change there ways.. but.. the idea of putting forward products that.. are smart compromises.. in there product lines.. I mean just simply baring in mind that people are more price conscious these days.. does sorta seem like a no brainer. 

On a Personal Note

I’ve been on the Mac since the beginning.. as someone studying graphic design during the desktop publishing revolution.. it was kinda the only choice.. I’ve never gone with Mac because of its industrial design.. though I’ve certain appreciated the design.. I often wish I could get a computer that was.. just what I wanted.. not paying extra for the design.. I’ve never been into it for the status symbol.. or the “I’m cool, I have a Mac” thing.

Further more.. good design, because of the nature of mass production, doesn’t have to be more expensive.. I want good design as it pertains to the user experience.. I simply don’t like the feel of PCs.. mainly because of windows..  There’s just something about it PCs where you feel almost like.. there’s a design philosophy behind them that’s sorta anti creativity.. more utilitarian or something.. or more interested in “the bottom line.” Not to mention that Windows is more designed to be maintained by an IT department.. where as the Mac is more for you to maintain..

So I guess my end statement on the personal thing is.. you could totally design a cheaper computer that was a quality computer, well designed.. That’s kind of what I want.. and I’ve been living where most people have been, with respect to how the economy changes people’s spending habits, forever… and so figure I’m probably not the only one. 

The race to the bottom issue.

I figure a conversation about if Apple should lower its prices, has to have the “race to the bottom” part.. Most computer makers are targeting the lower end of the computer market.. which means cutting costs at every turn, and doing all you can to bring down the cost.. Many of these compromises have historically been terrible.. the only person in there right mind who buys one of them is one who doesn’t know any better.. with few exceptions.

Apple’s built its brand on.. well.. the one company that doesn’t make those kind of compromises.. if anything they push the limits in the opposite direction.. which seems to be why they fair better.. while other PC manufacturers try and make there profits on volume.

This has created an expectation of cheaper PCs. Often Mac’s are not really as expensive as they are perceived.. often a comparably equipped PC would cost about the same as the Mac.. It’s just the Mac’s aren’t competing on the lower end of the computer market.

I don’t think anyone wants to see Mac’s compete in the race to the bottom.. but I do think you could make a cheaper Mac that would not cannibalize the better Macs, still embodied what we dig about Macs.. and yet was in the lower end Market.. it would probably be a little more expensive then comperably equipped PCs.. but this would be because it wasn’t cutting corners.. it was still the Mac experience… so this would  simply be how it differentiated its self in the lower end of the market.

Conclusion?

Yeah.. Apple should lower its prices, it should enter the lower end of the market.. to increase market share.. It just shouldn’t be stupid about it! 

[editors note: This post was started yesterday.. and Matt is actually feeling a bit better today] 

I’m feeling so sick, or have been, that rolling over has been difficult.. and now I have to venture forth to get some food.. some liquids, and what not.. to help me kinda survive… what a mess I am..

In other news I just got through watching the latest Apple Keynote at MacWorld.. which always seems like a worth while topic to blog on..  This year’s MacWorld Keynote was… a strange one as it is apparently the last one.. from now on Apple will be presenting there new stuff on there own..  not at MacWorld, which gives them the advantage of not having to always have something to show off at that particular time of year.. so they now have more flexibility.. which might be a good thing.. but.. it strikes me as the end of something that was an very important element of the Apple experience.. for those of us rabid Mac people..

The other interesting point of this keynote is it was not presented by Steve Jobs.. For a long time now.. there’s been a lot of speculation about Steve’s health.. and issues of succession plans.. People feel like “what would Apple be without Steve?” On rummers of Steve’s declining health.. Apple’s stock price plummets.. and so I suppose not having Steve do the keynote.. was in part a way of saying.. Apple has a lot of good people.. and to start lessoning the feeling that Steve Jobs is Apple.

Still.. Steve Jobs is perhaps one of the worlds best presenters.. he’s legendary.. and without Steve giving the presentation.. Apple’s reality distortion field.. isn’t what it otherwise would be.. which I suppose is fine with me.. but.. I also suppose this will be reflected in my comments.

Apple’s new announcements were of updates of there iLife and iWork suits.. as well as a new 17″ MacBook Pro.

iLife 

iLife.. of course, is basically a set of media production tools for the none professional.. They come free with new Macs and are under $100 if bought on there own..  What they allow you do to, without spending a lot of money, and without burdening you with all kinds of crazy technical stuff to have to wrap your brain around, has always been pretty astonishing..

The problem, however.. is that for me, iLife is sorta… “well why would I use that stuff?” I’m someone trying to operate on the pro level… so instead of using iMovie I use Final Cut Studio.. and hopefully After Effects soon.. instead of using Garage Band I use Digital Performer and a whole lot of other groovy stuff… instead of using iPhoto I use Aperture…

So a part of me feels like.. well that I want Apple to give me reasons to care about iLife.. which pretty comes down to “give me some sort of unique tools,” which of course it doesn’t really do.. 

As a social media person.. I love encouraging people to explore the new landscape.. and iLife is a great set of tools to do that.. of the “any one can make media” type of thing. The trouble is.. if you are a serious social media person.. some of the iLife tools aren’t quite right… and I feel as if.. what Apple ought to do.. is make them quite right for this kind of application.. and so this is my other disappointments. 

New Features

iPhoto now uses facial recognition tools.. along with geo tag stuff.. to help organize photos.. It’s some pretty cool stuff.. but… it’s so consumer orientated… that I’m like “yeah, ok.”

GarageBand now lets you down load tutorials to learn how to play guitar and keyboard. This was a big yawner to me.. not to mention that all the tutorials seemed pretty well orientated towards total beginners… which I actually am when it comes to keyboards… but I’d rather not learn the “simplified version of the song.”

iMovie’s feature set’s depths are now a little more… flushed out.. which is good.

iWork

I’m not totally sure how I feel about iWork.. and so won’t say too much about it.. however, I am thinking of buying a copy as it does feature there keynote program.. which is really good for giving presentations.. and I’d really like to make some sorta presentation on Podcamp this year.

New 17″ MacBook Pro 

The long and the short of it is Apple’s saying the new 17″ MacBook Pro features up to 8 hours of battery life.. and they will last up to 1000 recharges.. which works out to about 5 years.. Of course Apple’s estimates of battery life are notoriously untrue.. so who knows..  but one still imagines it will be pretty groovy…  

Removing the battery pretty much takes a technician.. so.. that’s kind of an issue, though Apple says by not allowing you to remove the battery they can save space and make a better battery.. so, I guess its a trade off.. and if it does last 5 years.. the battery issue isn’t so bad.

Other interesting points is that it comes, by default, with 4GB of RAM, it’s processors are.. I wanna say 2.9 GHz… of its fastest processor option is.. though they do make you really pay for it..  making it a faster processor then what we find in my Mac Pro.. and finally we have option for both glossy and flat screens.

A few other things to note.

In working out how fast a computer is, it doesn’t all come down to speed of processors.. there’s many components to our computers, and it depends on all those components mixed with how the software we are using uses those components.. And.. the RAM speed of the new Mac Book Pros is now 1066 Mhz… SO-DIMM…  DDR3… which is very fast… So RAM intensive apps out to run extra groovy.

Another fun note is that Apple was sued.. not all that long ago… by photographers.. who were doing color critical work.. when Apple had said there laptop monitors gave you millions of colors when they did not… Now Apple is claiming there monitors have “a greater color range” so.. I suspect this is sorta an answer that bit of PR…  

Personally

If my studio didn’t mainly center around a Mac Pro.. if I had to be on a laptop.. the 17″ MacBook Pro is the one I’d go with… and there is a part of me that wishes I had gone with a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook… for the simple reason of Firewire.. and the sorts of things I’d like to do with it.. but…  I also feel like.. given the kinds of things I’m trying to do with my Computers.. even the 17″ Mac Pro.. doesn’t quite have enough power… ( High end 3D graphics )

Why You’d want a 17″ MacBook Pro:

More screen space equals more productivity… this is made particularly true when it comes to pro apps that generally have a tun of pallets and what not.. that can take up much space. Further.. God forbid you ever do something like music production where.. on many a software’s box it list “2 monitors” under preferred system specs. Of course you can attach that second monitor to your MacBook while in your home office type situation…

Matt’s top Apps for Duel Monitors:

1. Flash: Having a timeline take up one monitor, and the stage another.. rocks.. 
2. Digital Performer: Having MIDI Editors and mixing windows on different monitors… or if you find your self messing with automation of an effect or synths parameters.. duel monitors is just the way to go
3. Final Cut Studio: Having your stage views on one monitor and time line / sequence bin on the other.. makes me happy when I’m feeling blue
4. After Effects: Again.. timeline on one monitor, stage view of other.

There are apps that don’t seem to benefit from duel monitors.. Ableton Live is one of the first that comes to mind.. however.. should yo want to use Live in ReWire Mode.. which means its audio is being routed into another program, or another program’s audio is being routed into it.. having the two programs on two different monitors is always a nice thing… 

And if all that weren’t enough.. 

For us social media folks.. don’t we always want to have twitter up somewhere? Or how about our email program? A browser? Well that’s how I like to roll.. it’s sorta like having little conversations in the office while working…  

Notes on Matt’s Studio 

I bought my Mac Pro a year ago.. and I went with a Mac Pro.. not because it was so bad ass.. but because it had just been updated.. and I like to have the longest product life cycle possible before the new version comes out.. it’s kinda a get the most value idea.. I had actually wanted a 17″ MacBook Pro..

So of course I had to take advantage of what a Mac Pro has to offer.. which is why I decided to enter the wonderful world of 3D graphics.. I started out with 1 24″ HD display

But of course had to move on to a second 24 HD display.. of course you’ll take special note of how neat I am as a person..

I’m not even sure what was supposed to be in focus in that shot!

Back to why the 17″ MacBook Pro

Power 

Well.. the 17″ is the most powerful of the MacBook Pros.. and if you’re like me power means a lot.. My sense is that most people don’t really need a Mac Pro.. but on the level of the MacBook Pro.. well.. the benefits are probably more apparent right off the bat.. 

If you’re doing video, effects often have to render.. doing sound.. how many effects / instruments instances can you handle? More sophisticated instruments and effects often require more power.. If you’re just surfing the web.. power probably isn’t all that important..

Most modern computer.. are actually pretty powerful, even the budget ones..  so I think it’s more then reasonable to ask if paying close to $3000 for a computer is necessary.. Hell.. you could get a couple mid ranged computers for that! Further.. if you’re apps that need the power the most… can take advantage of a network of computers.. perhaps getting a couple mid range computers is actually the smarter way to go! Of course.. if you’re computing on the go, what good is that going to do you?

Matt’s Philosophy concerning this sorta thing:

For me.. I wanted a mobile studio option.. that’s why I got a laptop.. I got a MacBook.. and a mid range MacBook at that.. which is to say one that doesn’t really have that much power…  It has enough power to do whatever I’d want to do with it.. well.. mostly.. but perhaps not do it as well as might be ideal.. and seeing as it only has a 13″ screen.. the productivity isn’t really that great… but.. being a 13 inch-er does make it more portable.. and on a price versus performance level.. it maybe the sweet spot in the Mac laptop range.

Having the mobile studio… in conjunction with the home studio..  means anything I do while out and about.. can be brought home for more serious heavy lifting work.

Top Jobs for which a Laptop is the way to go (at least in the land of Matt)

1. Working with clients: Lets say I’m doing your web design.. being able to go hang out with my client at a Starbucks and show you the work I’m doing for you on the laptop.. well, that’s really the way to go.. and this is probably more or less true for any sorta work I might do for a client.
2. New Media stuff: I can go anywhere… shoot some video, do some audio work.. take some pictures and whatever.. and put it together on the go.. 
3. Recording: Not having firewire is an issue but.. I could go to any environment and record.. where the band is, or where there might be an interesting acoustic space.
4. I could be a live sound engineer: I could probably invest in a few more plugs but.. I can have all the audio ins from the band coming into the laptop.. have them recorded.. and mix them live.. adjust EQ live.. and all the rest of it.. and give the band the live mix..
5. I can play out: I play guitar.. and um, can at least press down the keys of a keyboard. On my computer are all my effects, and what not.. for my guitar playing… plus all my digital instruments.
6. I could DJ: DJ-ing is, apparently, a big part of electronic music culture. The music I normally make is a studio construction.. not really something I can do live.. but.. playing live is an important part of how the music industry works.. that’s how you promote you’re stuff.. so developing a live act.. where DJ-ing plays a roll.. could make a fair bit of sense.
7. Make art from nature: Artist who do a lot with sketchbooks are often drawing from nature.. but digital artists are usually stuck in the studio.. and the closest we get to working from nature is often working from photographs..  So this is sorta a big deal.
8. Get the vibe of the situation: When you’re out and about.. doing whatever.. there’s often a vibe, and energy.. and being able to work with that vibe and energy.. having that effect you’re creative flow.. is a very cool thing indeed.

 Ok.. so this post has probably gone on for too long.. so time to post!

[Editors note: This was written yesterday.. and seeing as Matt bought the MacBook, its likely he may start posting endlessly on the subject, and thus asks me to apologize on his behalf.] 

I’m sitting here thinking “hmm, I wonder if they’re in stores yet?” Should I race out and buy one? I’m so frightened.. yet in a rather Mark Hanser-ish way, tingly…. Ok.. so let this be an entry to help rationalize the damage I’m about to do to my fiscal situation…I don’t know if I can rationalize it, really.  Do I even need a laptop? I mean.. hell yeah, I want one, but do I need it?

I have a crapy laptop.. the sort a self respecting person refuses to take out in public.. Plus it has no hard disk space… and I can’t really do anything with it. Right now it rests by my bed side as a DVD player.. and even for that it sucks.. cause of the screen.. depending on the angle of view.. you can’t see things.. and you certainly can’t do design work on it.. plus it’s a PC so half my software won’t run on the damn thing.

Yeah.. there’s lots of reasons to want a new laptop…  and yes.. I do believe in the notion of having both a laptop and a desktop.. ether that or just a really powerful laptop.. but seeing as I have a monster of a desktop.. the laptop need seems less.. is it just for computing when I’m not sitting in this chair? 

I wonder how such a laptop could change my life. When I got the cheesy laptop.. I thought “oh cool, I’ll be able to work anywhere,” and I fantasized about the meaning and implications of this. But the reality was.. I was lucky if I got 2 hours of battery life out of it.. you could barely watch a whole movie on battery.. I certainly couldn’t do design work on it.. and lets face it.. it’s a pc, and who likes PCs? And there was the issue that it was rather heavy to have to lug around.

It did become my main computer for a time… My G4 PowerMac was so much more wimpy.. all it had going for it was hard drive space.. 

Latter that night, having picked up a new MacBook

Yup, I got the MacBook. How is it? It’s pretty awesome.. I have a video review I hope to put together..

There’s some technical issues.. I’m planing on replacing the hard drive.. which means I can’t really install any software that’s copy protection scheme ties it to the disk.. So.. so far about all I got on there is DP and Reason.. none of the Native Instruments stuff, Liquid Mix can’t run on it cause it has no hard drive..  

I suppose I could put some of that stuff on there in demo mode but.. thing is it literally takes about a day to install all my software.. and I’m not even sure that it would all totally fit.. and what if, in the interest in disk space.. if I should want to not put certain types of stuff on the laptop.. how should I divide my stuff up?

So yeah.. long story short.. I have limited software on there for now.. as I wait for a new drive to arrive.. once I get around to buying the thing…

I will say that battery life is way better then my old Dell… it’s also lighter, better constructed, less bulky, better designed, better OS, significantly more power all around… better features.. and.. well, costs a good deal more. (The old one was free after all) 

So.. I’m already feeling like the experience will be substantially different then what my experience was before.. We’ll see. 

So, if you haven’t heard.. a couple hours ago from this writing, Apple announced new laptops.. revisions from the MacBook Air to MacBook’s to MacBook Pros.. I’m not feeling totally up to speed on things… but I’ll give you where I’m coming from.. But I’ll give you the basics of what’s new, and follow it up from there.

What’s the hubbub about?

First off, what’s new and exciting?

• New “unibody:”  Stronger, lighter, thiner, nicer design
• Multi Touch Track Pad supporting gestures
• New Screen: Better color
• All Around more speed: processor, RAM speed, bus speed
• New Graphics system.. Apple claims up to 5 times the speed of the old laptops (Adobe CS4 stuff ought to really take advantage of this)

Ok, so that’s really about it..  Contrasts between MacBook and Mac Book Pro

• MacBook Pro offers two graphics processors.. one that consumes less power, the other is more powerful.. where as the MacBook only has one. 
• 13″ versus 15″
• 4.5 pounds for the MacBook, 5 pounds for the Mac Book Pro
• MacBook has 2 USB 2.0 ports, where as the MacBook Pro has 2 USB 1.0 ports plus a Firewire 800 port.. and oh yeah.. the MacBook Pro has a ExpressCard/34 slot.. 
• MacBook Pros have faster processors.. though not by large margins
• The new MacBooks Start at $1300, the Pros at $2000.

Out side of all that.. you do get more hard disk space on the pros.. and blah blah blah… but its all custom configureable from Apple’s website. There’s a New MacBook Air on the way.. which is significantly more attractive to me then there first model..  so.. What computer makes sense for you, of course, has to do with what your needs are.. to illustrate this concept, I’ll give you what I’m looking at. 

Matt’s Laptop Needs

I own a Mac Pro.. and an outdated cheesy pc laptop. In a new laptop I’m really looking for a secondary sorta Mac.. so for this reason “cheap” is good… There’s been roomers that Apple would announce super cheap ultra portables.. If they did, the question for me would be “is it the right mix of stuff?” This didn’t happen, though might still happen in the future.. one would think this could have a huge effect on Mac market share if it did.. so one assumes there’s some likely hood to it.. but even in a secondary laptop I do want “some power.”

I do everything from video to sound to animation to graphics to web stuff.. and who knows what I’m forgetting to mention.. all of which like power.. but um.. ok, here’s what I’m really looking at:

• To be able to do presentations
• I’m thinking of looking at doing work as a live sound engineer, and to have a system for making those live recordings.. and latency willing.. possibly effects processing.. where I can use my effects as a pose to what a house system has on offer..  Along with this goes a making multitrack recording of live performances that then can be mixed and potentially done any number of things with.
• Live Rig as musician.. use my synths and effects.. this can be my rig.
• The usual not being tethered to a desktop stuff.
• Some software allows you to connect multiple computers in order to increase your power.. like render farms for 3D graphics.. this kind of thing.
• If I were doing web work.. I could show you right from my computer.. what I was working on for you.. This is really ideal.
• Being able to watch movies portably.

Because I have a Mac Pro.. this laptop being secondary.. power not being so important and portability being more important then power or other considerations..

I find myself looking at the 13″ MacBooks  

Size matters 

The first issue is screen space.. 13″ is not happy time for pro apps… productivity is an issue.. but you can connect up a second monitor.. and I happen to own a 17″ monitor that’s not getting to much play these days.. so instant duel monitor at home.. and 13″ does have a portability advantage over larger laptops. And we’re only talking about 4.5 pounds.

But I want my Firewire Port!

Currently my studio features 2 pieces of Firewire Gear.. an audio interface and Liquid Mix 16. The latter is a DPS processor that, do to how it connects to your computer.. has huge latency issues making it useless for live applications.. Still.. not being able to use it with a 13″ laptop is still an issue. 

On the interface side of things.. stuffs a little more complex. My current interface would like to be updated.. the trouble is that, generally speaking, firewire interfaces are better then there USB brethren: USB 2.0 doesn’t have the same data rates.. not to mention requires more processing power… so in USB interfaces you don’t get the same number of ins and outs, and or sample rates.. as you can get over firewire. Things like MicPres are more important to actual sound quality.. but the better Pres are often limited to more high end gear.. and that gear is on the Firewire side.. it’s sort of suggestive that I might have to buy 2 interfaces.

Of course, as it turns out, my studio does have 2 USB interfaces: a Kore 1 controller plus an H4 Portable recorder.. the latter featuring phantom power even.. So really the only reason I would need to invest in a new interface is for live applications where I had a band going into the laptop.. and it turns out there are fairly cheap interfaces that can handle the mount ins I’d likely be wanting to handle.

I suppose the other issue is most video cameras want the firewire port… and Firewire drives are surely preferable.

So those are really my only complaints / Issues

There maybe more issues when I look more closely at the subject.. we’ll see.

The model I’m likely to go with probably runs $1400 plus a kind of extended warranty deal. In addition to that I’m thinking of getting a Mobile Me account and a $500 1 TB Time Capsule.. and a $50 AirPort Extreme Card for my Mac Pro..

Of course the trouble is.. I have limited money till a CD matures in a few months.. so I don’t know but..

And the other thing is a social media friend is looking to sell his old Mac Pro.. I was feeling pretty serious about buying that.. till Apple announced the new MacBooks..

Later that night: 

Well, I just discovered that hard drives are super cheap for this sorta computer.. we’re talking $80 for 500GB.. which means Matt’s going to go for a cheaper laptop and buy a drive to swap in there.. So.. anybody wanna buy a lap top drive? 

If you haven’t seen these videos, or heard about them, perhaps its time you have? The iPhone is turning into a pretty interesting little music making platform.. today we highlight to programs.

Beat Maker 

Ok, tell me this isn’t uber cool!? 

Did I mention it was only 20 bucks? 

iDrum

Guess how much this one will set you back? Try like $5. 

I thought the following was just fun.. an example of someone doing something with iDrum: 

lol, guess that’s what happens when you bring music making technology to the unwashed masses! 

Well I personally haven’t gotten a chance to check these out yet but.. you can expect a full report in the not to distant future, I’m guessing. And so thus end todays journey into music production on your iPhone.. dig it!