Elegant Technology

I was re-reading a book I have from 1996 called ‘London Minimum’ by Herbert Ypma when I came across the phrase ‘permitted intrusions’. This related to the objects found in a minimal living space but is equally applicable to other areas of a minimalist lifestyle.

The phrase has resonated in my mind ever since.

Everything I see around me, within the spaces I control, I permit.

I would be the first to agree that I permit too much.

My eye falls upon my MacBook Air and I think about that phrase, Permitted Intrusions. Now if I assume that a minimalist started out to design the purest laptop they could by stripping away all the unnecessary switches, sockets, latches, vents, screws, colour, and pattern they would arrive at the MacBook Air without the socket bay along the right hand lower edge. Then I imagine key decision makers calling for these features to be added back into the design.

With a strong will the Minimalist permits a few features to be added back but sees these really as intrusions to the overall form of the laptop. In order to mitigate against this, the Engineers and Designers at Apple came up with a clever storage bay to hide these intrusions away.

When I look at the interiors in the book I also see hidden storage used to hide away intrusions (those not permitted) in order to improve the form and clarity of the spaces.

The MacBook Air is truly a minimalist and beautiful object.

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For the past few weeks all I could think about is getting a MacBook Air.
I wanted to collect one from my local Apple Store and it took a while for stock to be available.

Last Saturday I collected an 80Gb model. The 24Hr period that followed turned out to be one of absolute highs to absolute lows.

Observations
My first observation was how heavy the box is that the Air comes in. The machine itself is very light but the packaging is made out of heavy cardboard. It’s like a larger iPod Touch box in design. The box comes inside a cute carrying bag. I think the weight of the box is a clever ploy to make us fully appreciate the lightness of the machine.
Not wanting to advertise my purchase I asked for another bag. I then struggled to carry it around for a few hours before heading home.

The Lows
As soon as I got home I unpacked the Air (whlist taking photos; sad I know), plugged in the power, and booted up. That’s when the ‘lows’ began. I worked through the, normally simple, setup process but after the final configuration, the screen settled to a blank shade of blue. Nothing else happened. I tried rebooting only to reach the blue screen again.

OK, I thought, a glitch. I would install the OS from the supplied disks. I had a MacBook and a wireless network. I installed the special software to share the ComboDrive and started the install. The ‘lows’ continued when the installation reported a greater than 5 hour install time. Not wanting to be up all night I looked for another approach.

Having bought a MacBook with a ComboDrive I found I needed a DVD writer for creating iDVD projects. So I connected it to the MacBook Air’s USB port and rebooted whilst holing down the ‘C’ key. I felt a high when the Air recognised the DVD writer and the install disk booted. I started the install again which now took about 2.5 hours.

I rebooted…

Another low. Back to the blank blue screen. “This isn’t right”, I thought, “this is Apple kit”. I tried the usual things; Hardware test – OK, Clear PRAM – No difference, Reset permissions – No difference, Checked the disk – No difference.

I had no alternative, I packaged up the Air ready for return to the Apple Store and went for a bath.

As usual my mind wandered and I thought of a couple other things;

• Reboot with a hard disk attached (In case of a Time Machine bug).
• Reinstall everything from scratch but this time wipe the disk clean before starting.

The hard disk option didn’t affect anything.

The Highs Begin
The clean install DID work and I was elated. At about 2am the following morning having installed the OS, Apps, iWork, and Bento, I left the Air backing up to Time Machine (again to an external Lacie device). I scheduled the Air to sleep at 4am and went to bed.
In the morning everything was fine. I finished my other application installations and got to appreciate the machine a little.

Positives

• The Air is light and thin.
• The screen is very bright and comes on instantly when opening the lid.
• The backlit keys are great in low light.
• The Air recognised my Lacie DVD writer and External HD. It allowed me to boot from the backup DVD.
• Compared to my MacBook (1.83Ghz Core Duo 1Mb RAM : 2006 model), the Air feels more responsive.

Negatives

• The install ‘out-of-the-box’ failed.
• The install via wi-fi is painfully slow.

For me the MacBook Air is a revolutionary device bringing the concept of an iPod to the world of computers. It’s lean but not mean. It’s the most beautifully designed computer ever (even better than the Apple G4 Cube).

As I work with the MacBook Air I have decided to use the opportunity to exercise restraint. I am only loading essential Apps. I will only store beautiful pictures and beautiful music.

Above all I will use it to develop plans to refine and lighten my life.

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As a fan of Elegant Technology, I waited patiently for the announcements from the Macworld — San Francisco 2008 show. I wasn’t disappointed.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the new MacBook Air - the way he unveiled it - made me grin from ear to ear with delight. It reminded me of the first time I saw the G4 Cube computer. Although I hope the MacBook Air is more of a commercial success.

Like the Cube, the Air is a computing appliance. Not really meant for upgrade.

Currently I use a basic MacBook which I specifically chose because for me it was the ‘least’ complete computer I could get. It was simple, understated, and beautiful. However I find I do not use many of its features.

My MacBook has the following ‘exterior connections’;

• Combo Drive
• Ethernet
• FireWire
• 2 x USB
• Headphone
• MIC
• iSight
• MagSafe Power
• Airport
• Bluetooth

On a day to day basis I actually use;

• 1 USB for camera, iPod, and printing connection
• Bluetooth for my Mighty Mouse
• MagSafe to charge the battery
• Airport for internet connection

The rest I basically do not use. I think I have used them at least once. The Combo drive has been used to RIP my CD collection.

I believe that there are many people like me who do not need all these unnecessary additions or who make the decision to go without for aesthetic reasons. Personally I cannot stand cables plugged into my MacBook (perhaps that’s the reason I only plug one USB device at a time).

My new motto will be…

Simplify life – Ditch the peripherals

Will I be buying a MacBook Air? Definitely.

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I came across a rather impressive table today. The design is called Thinner and the designer is Tobias Berneth.

As you can see this table is made from a very thin white laminate and in order to engineer it, principles from the aircraft industry were used.

More on the designer can be found here.

From the web-site;

The table Thinner creates the Illusion of a thin, weightless surface. It is the result of numerous prototypes, calculations and material tests to manage 6mm material thickness.
To gain the required stability the table was constructed like the wing of an aeroplane.

And;

Tobias Berneth, born 1977 in Würzburg served an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker and studied industrial design at the State Academy of applied arts in Stuttgart. He collected work experience as an industrial designer in different design offices in Germany, Finland, Italy and Sweden. In 2005 he founded Tobias Berneth Industrial Design.
His works were honoured with several design prices and exhibitions.

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I just totted up how much I have spent on Apple stuff this year and it works out at £749 ($1400). The breakdown is;

• £179.00 iPod Video 30GB Classic
• £199.00 iPod Touch 8GB
• £129.00 iPod nano 8GB
• £55.00 iWork
• £89.00 Leopard
• £49.00 Wireless Aluminium Keyboard
• £49.00 Wireless Mighty Mouse

In addition, I also spent £249 on an Bose Sound Dock, c£80 on an external DVD Writer because my MacBook doesn’t have a superdrive, and c£80 on an external 250GB hard disk for backups (Time Machine anyone?).

Add to this the music purchased on CD and from iTunes and I reckon a total spend of c.£1250 ($2300).

Apart from the money spent I also ‘acquired’ many boxes, power supplied, and cables.

Whilst each purchase has been a joy, OR has solved a problem, I do feel that I am drowning in technology AND running out of money. Is there such a thing as an Apple Inc. addiction?

No wonder Apple Inc. is the highest valued computer company out there.

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NEWS SNIPPET

via GeekPouch

I just wanted to let you know about GeekPouch.

A custom fit, handmade pouch for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod Classic, 3rd gen Nano, and 5th gen iPod Video. These are available now in three colour choices, a classic black corduroy pouch, a funky Leopard Print soft fur, and a really nice red faux suede.

The pouches have been so popular that the tan faux suede is limited stock and available for the iPod touch only.

The GeekPouch is available in the UK for £5.99 including shipping, international £10.99 including shipping. With a little savings to be had if you buy more than one.

They are available at: http://www.geekpouch.co.uk

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The new Apple Aluminium Bluetooth Keyboard is an absolute masterpiece in the execution of minimalist design. It goes without saying that it functions beautifully. At this point in the evolution of computer design it represents the simplest way to provide the essential functionality needed in a separate keyboard (as opposed to one built-in like on a MacBook).

For that reason I think it represents the spiritual successor to the original 128k Mac keyboard which itself was an exercise in minimalism. Often criticised for not having a separate numeric keypad, the original Mac keyboard provided all the essential functionality needed at the time.

Back to todays version and its design; there are touches that are sublime. Turn the keyboard on an watch the status light flash through the aluminium!. Remove the battery compartment plug and marvel at its exquisite engineering.

Yes, this is the spiritual successor only with over 20 years of refined craftsmanship and engineering applied.

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Apple today have published an addition to it’s website that collects together some of the first Web 2.0 applications developed for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. I particularly like the Weather and Soduku applications. The new web page can be found Here. Best of all; they are free.

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In the year 2000 I discovered Newsgroups. I came across a group called alt.lifestyle.simplicity and briefly posted and commented on the simple life. I thought I would share with you some of my posts here.

on the 7 Oct 2000, 08:00 I wrote;

My understanding of the term ’simplicity’ when applied to lifestyle is one of self inflicted poverty. This comes about when practitioners ‘give-up’ ‘things’ in order to be free. In effect the freedom ‘costs’.

Whoa!, I hear you say, just what is it I am giving up if I choose this lifestyle? More often than not things of little value that were acquired as part of living the ‘normal’ life.

Things of little value, things and people that cause us to waste time, things to worry about unnecessarily, things never used, etc, etc.

All of this can be jettisoned by adopting the simple life.

BUT my argument is this, quality of life is important. Under the Minimalist ethos, the way we live is very pared-down: pared down possessions, pared down homes, and on.

It demands effort.

All of the positives of simplicity are there but the minimalist lifestyle is enhanced by virtue of the fact that what remains in our lives has the highest possible aesthetic qualities.

Imagine a fine, pure, simple, and understated life which is based upon discreet wealth. A clean & light existence with a minimum of possessions which are exquisitely crafted and often, perversely, look less than the sum of their parts.

Modest homes with simply beautiful interiors, uncluttered, almost bare to the casual observer, with all the ‘tools’ of life hidden away when not in use.

Minimalism is about questions like ‘What shade of white should I paint my walls?’. It takes great effort for what appears to be little gain.

Here’s to enhanced simplicity or, as I prefer to call it, minimalism.

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In the year 2000 I discovered Newsgroups. I came across a group called alt.lifestyle.simplicity and briefly posted and commented on the simple life. I thought I would share with you some of my posts here.

on the 18 Sep 2000, 08:00 I wrote;

minimalism is a type of life-simplicity based upon the aesthetic, but pared-down.

At its core is the precept of “A few good things”. In this way we can satisfy our human need to ‘own’ and at the same time appreciate true beauty, which is always simple and understated.

Because ‘things’ that are outwardly simple take additional effort to achieve and more consideration in execution they invariably cost more (in time, manpower, and materials used). The offshoot of all this is additional cost.

I think we should seek to live our lives discreetly. By that I mean live well, but simply. We should not promote wealth through tacky
ostentatiousness.

minimalism is about the lean use of resources, light construction, purity of form, clean lines, and appropriateness of materials. High quality = long lifecycles.

‘Out your face’ living.

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