BuckSlater81

Briefly: iPod mini, 5G iPod, PowerBooks

2005-01-26T11:02:00.000-08:00

Apple is close to finishing up work on the next revision of its iPod mini, Think Secret sources reveal. Also currently in development is Apple's fifth-generation iPod.

Panic Attack

Closures for anonymous storage

2005-01-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

Via The 80/20 Solution I saw a piece of Python code by John Lam, which he calls elegant. Now he is right to call it elegant — he is comparing it with his experience to implement the same in C++. But he uses a technique which you see a lot in scripting, but which I find rather unelegant: creation of property names (or attribute names) with string manipulations. …

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Don't Mention the C-Word

2005-01-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

Apple staffers working the booth on the Macworld show floor must have been instructed to deflect comparisons between the new Mac mini and the Cube.

I talked to two staffers showing off the new machine, and both pooh-poohed any likeness between the new Mac mini and the defunct Cube, The Cube, of course, was the stylish but pricey "headless" Mac of yore, which wowed critics but had one of the shortest life-spans in the Apple's product history.

"Oh, don't damn it by calling it that," scolded one staffer when the c-word cropped up.

"It's nothing like the Cube," snapped another a little later. He paused. There was some uncomfortable shuffling. And then, "It has a totally different price point."

And that's why the mini will be a hit. The Mac mini has all the Cube's virtues -- it's small, quiet and stylish -- without the sticker shock.

But will it be a smash? I think so, but for the weirdest reason.

In Steve Jobs' keynote, when he held it up for the first time, I had the oddest sensation of being in a dream. The mini is so implausibly small, it made my head spin -- literally. I thought I was asleep, dreaming of this weird little box. I almost pinched myself, but burst out laughing instead.

Later, looking at the machine up close, I was impressed, but no weird mind tricks. I wonder if others, seeing it on TV or in a store, have a similar reaction? Probably not.

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2005-01-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

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