Search for the name on the app store.

When the Air launched opinion was devided; Many praised the refreshing lightweight design. Others complained about the lack of features (many argue that these features are never, if hardly, used – including myself).

I purchased the Macbook Air at launch and have used it at home ever since. At the time I reasoned that my main usage was internet browsing and email and this has been the case ever since. I have fired up Front Row a couple of times and used iWork occaisionally. Of course I store my pictures and music on the Air and sync to the iPhone and iPod units I own.

I often think of how Apple products can be improved, “what can they possibly do to improve this or make it more desirable?”

A year ago I wrote “The Air is so pure – so esential that everything else seems excessive” and yet I consider the iPad  to be the next evolutionary step for the Air.

Apple have minimised the Air hardware further to the point where the physical keyboard has gone along with the USB port, and the video out port. In terms of aesthetics the iPad represents an improvement over the Air being effectively the screen and enclosure with minimal switches and ports.

For the things I do with my Macbook Air the iPad would meet 80% of my needs. The only reason I cannot get rid of the Air is that I need to be able to sync the iPad with something. If I could backup the iPad to, say, a time capsule I could just get by with that. Once sync’d I could download music directly and transfer photos directly to it.

In it’s current spec the iPad will be a companion device. Perhaps in the future via the cloud or some other storage solution I could use the iPad as my only computer with a sync system over the air to my iPod etc..

I have been using a pair of Nike Aero headphones for the last few days. I really like these. My initial interest was aesthetic; I liked the look of the headphones in the packaging. I also saw that Philips had made these exclusively for Nike.

In use they fit comfortably over the ear and deliver good sound. One feature I like is that they stay in place when my head moves whereas the in-ear ones supplied with my iPod nano tend to pop out (especially my right ear). A soft gel-like coated band connects the two ear speakers and the cable is routed to the back of the head to minimise interference.

The cable manager is useful depending on where you store your iPod when in use. This is also designed along the lines of the ear covers which are white shiny plastic discs with the Nike swoosh logo set dead centre.

Whilst these headphones are designed for sports use I think they work equally well whilst walking around the metropolis.

Technical Details

• Nike-branded headphones by Philips for use in active sports
• A 1.2 m long cable that is ideal for outdoor use
• 30 mm speaker driver delivers big sound performance
• Nike AirPad cushions ensure excellent sporting comfort
• Nike cable manager brings you easy cable management
• Headphone weight is only 300g

When I saw the new Apple Magic Mouse it immediately struck a cord. Just from the pictures I knew it was a beautiful product. The functionality was of interest but it was the design that appealed most.

In reality the mouse is even better. The picture above shows the mouse in its clear plastic case. Yes this is really how it comes. Once out of its case and on the desk it looks like a building of the future.

It is comfortable and the multi touch features work really well.

As I type I keep casting a sideways glance at the mouse. I imagine if a car our house were designed like this.

I first became aware of the documentary “Objectified” after I saw a related poster in the Design Museum, London.

I never actually got to see the documentary in a movie theatre as the showing was very selective. Recently, however, I noticed that the documentary would be released as a DVD.

In “Objectified” Gary Hustwit explores the subject of product design through interviews with some of the most recognized and, in my opinion, cutting edge designers today.

All of the DVD is interesting but I especially like the sections with Alice Rawsthorn, Jonathan Ive, Karim Rashid, and Chris Bangle.

Chris Bangle envisages that in the future we will manufacture our own products with through rapid prototyping type technologies. Perhaps in the future all we will buy is the ‘Design’.

Rashid is very interesting. He questions why we are obsessed with re-visiting archetypes and singles out today’s digital cameras as an example.

I also enjoyed the extras that come on the DVD where specific projects are also discussed.

Having recently carried out a Time Machine backup all I needed to do was to connect an Apple DVD drive to my MacBook Air and start the installation.

The software installed in about 40 minutes.

As the whole point of Snow Leopard is refinement and performance improvement, I took some measurements before and after upgrade.

On my MacBook Air 1.6GHz Rev A (Standard) laptop I saw improvements of up to 80% in some of the more common tasks. Just as important was the disk space I recovered – in my case nearly 4Gb (9%).

Using Snow Leopard I am noticing lots of small improvements and aesthetic changes. One example is when I took a screen-shot of the table below and cropped it in Preview – I saw size details as I selected the area to crop to.

This upgrade is like having a Porsche tuned and upgraded with modern materials.

Highly recommend for all Intel Macs.

Like many, I queued at my local Apple store to pickup a new iPhone 3 GS. This device is well worth the upgrade. The new features work well and the speed bump is terrific.

When you spend time and take in all the changes Apple makes you will notice what I call Incremental Beauty.

Look at the picture above. This is of the wall charger that now comes with the iPhone 3GS. If you were to compare this with the previous versions you would see how much more beautiful  it is. One piece instead of two. Smaller. Neater.

These are the changes that make Apple great.

LAMY noto pen in grey

As a long standing fan of the Lamy pen company I regularly take a look at their web-site to see what new products are available.

I was recently taken with the new noto pen designed by Naoto Fukasawa. This pen is an exercise in restraint from the uniform colour, in this case matt grey, the discrete branding, through to the simple triangular body for easier grip.

I quickly looked into where I could get one and found a very reasonably priced version on eBay.

From the Lamy web-site;

LAMY noto

The LAMY noto is a design product from the Japanese star designer Naoto Fukasawa. The name Fukasawa stands for the reduction of form to the absolutely essential. The LAMY noto is a ballpoint pen whose design is restricted to the absolutely essential functions and good writing…
…Ballpoint pen in the new, functional design. With triangularbody and impressive clip solution.

Netbooks have cramped keyboards, small screens, “junky” hardware and bad software, said Tim Cook, chief operating officer of Apple, during a fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday 22 April 2009. They don’t offer the “consumer experience” that Apple wants to offer through its Macintosh hardware.

Via Macworld UK.

… I think they have forgotten that they already make the best Netbook available.

I am proposing that the MacBook Air is that machine.

For those who don’t already know the MacBook Air is designed as a wireless ultra-mobile computer. Like a Netbook, it does not have an internal DVD drive. Apart from that it functions like any other Laptop.

If you compare one Netbook; the Samsung NC10, with the Air you will see many similarities but the Air scores higher in the areas that count i.e. Screen size, RAM, and Aesthetics.

The only positive for the NC10 would be it’s cheap price, but then a Peugeot is cheaper than a Porsche.