Some of the titles for this have been hilarious: Impalin' Palin, Sarah Bare A Cooter, Erection Day, Veep Throat, Oval Orifice, Not Without My Daughter, Drilling the Alaskan Pipeline, Drill Here Drill Now, Nailin' Palin .... You get the picture. ;) - Kevin Hessel
Here's the biggest reason I think might influence Apple to build a netbook:
There are TONS of loyal Mac users and fans (like me!) who are intrigued by, interested in, buying, and hacking on these little Atom based computers. But we can't run our favorite OS (Mac OS X) and Mac applications on them! We're forced to use Linux or Windows or make a Hackintosh.
Who knows if the market reasons (not enough profit) and other excuses an MBA might come up with will prevent them from doing it, but I know there are a ton of people like me who are Mac lovers who REALLY REALLY WANT an Apple netbook.
Pretty please, Uncle Steve? - Josh Bancroft
I doubt it's going to happen. First of all, Apple likes making money and I don't see them pulling in a lot mass producing cheap netbooks. I don't see them using the Atom processor yet. They have gone with Core2Duo's as the minimum speed for their current lineup. Anything slower will not work well with their installed software. Last, resolution. I don't see them going below 1280x800 on a 12" screen. Anything less would be hard to read and the installed base of apps aren't expected to run at a lower res. - Rodfather
Well, there is a possibility they could announce something netbook-ish next week. The Mac laptop line *is* due for a refresh. . . . - bob corrigan
They already decided to go "thin" instead of "small" by giving us the Air when people really wanted them to bring back the 12" PB. I'd love to be wrong but I'm not holding my breath. Maybe they'll roll it out with the Mac Tablet and sign up Bigfoot & The Lochness Monster for the ad campaign featuring Beatles music. - Bill Miranda
I'm betting Apple may make a bigger iPod touch. Maybe w/ 5" screen using Intel Moorestown chip for 2009/2010. - Rodfather
I already gave up on Apple and bought an eee pc. From my standpoint, that pretty much guarantees Apple will announce a Apple-brand netbook any second now. - thepete
If they are going to release something netbook-like, I'd guess a thin/light 12" going for $800-1200. Basically a Mac version of the Lenovo x200. - Rodfather
For what it's worth I'd buy an Apple netbook as soon as it was made available. - Joe Perrin
Don't forget about Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). No new features, concentrating on making optimizations - making the OS smaller and faster. It's Intel only (no more PPC), so that means no more big Universal Binary files. That alone will probably reduce OS X's disk footprint by half. Hard drives are big and cheap, and are only getting bigger and cheaper. Why would they spend effort to make OS X smaller, if not for smaller devices like a netbook? - Josh Bancroft
My basic complaint is this: the "cloud" lets me slide effortlessly between computers, and my state follows me. But it's jarring to go from my MacBook Pro to a netbook running XP to my iPhone. I want more consistency when sliding from device to device! :-) - Josh Bancroft
And to the point that the Atom processor isn't fast enough to run OS X and its apps, go watch some videos of it running on hacked netbooks. I saw my friend Brian's in person, and was AMAZED at how fast it is. More than adequate. As to screen size, the HP Mini Note 2133 has a 10" 1280x768 screen. The 1024x600 limit on current netbooks is a stupid Microsoft restriction. They won't sell XP on devices with higher than 1024x600, 1GB RAM, etc. What they call ULCPCs (Ultra Low Cost PCs). Doesn't apply to Apple. - Josh Bancroft
I agree with everything you said. I'm sure it runs fine on an Atom, but I doubt it's fast enough for the standards Apple set for themselves. Don't forget the user experience too. I'm perfectly fine using a 10" screen at 1280x768, but the pixels are way too small for the masses. - Rodfather
Of course, I'd buy one if they make one, but they'll only make one if they think they can dominate the field. They're not a me-too company when it comes to new products. - Bill Miranda
Well, if you're going to be all logical and everything, then SURE they'll never make one. ;-) - Josh Bancroft
Wouldn't it be easier if Apple just allowed OSX to be installed on any machine? Maybe manufacturers will start providing OSX drivers for their devices then. Then maybe I can build my own OSX netbook or a workstation cheaper than a $3K Mac Pro. - Rodfather
I still want one. Apple likes to surprise people. I'm going on the record to say that I don't think they will make a netbook. So, surprise me! - Bill Miranda
Re: letting OS X install on any hardware, I don't think this will ever happen. OS X would turn into Windows, in a bad way, and inherit all of Windows' problems. I attribute a huge about of the instability and frustration that people have with Windows to the HUGE array of drivers, hardware, and other weird crap that it has to try to support. Apple can perfect OS X because they always know EXACTLY what hardware it's going to run on, and it's a short list. - Josh Bancroft
Yep it's not going to happen. But.. Apple doesn't really care for running legacy software so the OS can remain light in that respect. - Rodfather
This one stopped me in my tracks. The Abbot said he was going to get his sleeping bag dry-cleaned, and I thought “mine could really do with cleaning too”.
So I asked him “could we get my sleeping bag dry-cleaned as well?”
I really wanted him to say “Yes, sure…”
But I feared he would say “No, sorry, not possible…” ….
I was a young monk, and he was the Abbot. And he was the one with the power say yes or no - in regards to just about anything I wanted.
What threw me was his reply “Let me think about it.” And he walked away. - Lindsey Smith
via Mento
That reminds me of a story: Four monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks. By nightfall on the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out.
The first monk said, "Oh, no! The candle is out."
The second monk said, "Aren't we not supposed to talk?"
The third monk said, "Will you two mooks shut the *$#! up?"
The fourth monk laughed and said, "Ha, suckers! I'm the only one who didn't speak."
So they piled into the first monk's Vega and went out for sushi. - bob corrigan
I would make such a shitty monk. The abbot would get about halfway through his bullshit answer before I'd be giving him the finger and walking off, muttering about tree huggers and navel watching. - Soup
"The problem is, what happens when someone breaks into your home and steals all your hardware? Or your house burns down? I'm not saying "Just trust Google!" but if you're paying for a service you should know their policy and hopefully rest at ease." - Jason Brennan
Four reasons to love the cloud: computers fail, hard drives fail, back-up habits fail, and you want to access your email (without a lot of fuss) from different places and using different platforms. - bob corrigan
I'm sure it will return, I would like to go to the British GP (if we have one). I remember there was talk of talking Silverstone off the F1 calendar. :-( - Kol Tregaskes
Yes...I think 2009 is the last one. Or maybe the one I watched this summer was the last one? Either way....no more Silverstone :( - Jaemi Kehoe
Brands Hatch is the best alternative, so fingers crossed it moves there - Kol Tregaskes
the system shall. . . the system shall. . . the preferred embodiment is. . . now I know why I prefer agile and scrum, all I have to do is write problem statements, user personas and stories. - bob corrigan
I envy you -- and despise you all at the same time for making this statement :) - Adam Bullied
Easy champ - that's what I *prefer*, but I still live in the same world you're in. Sigh. - bob corrigan
"There is no profit to be had from arguing with the convinced, utahnkid. I respect your point of view, even if I disagree with it, and I won't insult you by trying to change your mind. I will however agree with the good captainproton that the selection of an "inexperienced idealogue" takes the "experience" argument off the table for this election. I will argue that given Mr. McCain's advanced years, it would have been more responsible to select a VP who was at least nominally more prepared. So objectively, it was a poor decision; she doesn't move any more voters to the red column than would have already been there, as her positions on abortion, gun control and other core republican planks are not substantively different than Mr. McCain's. The idea that adding her to the ticket will sway female voters "just because she's a girl and girls stick together" is quaint, but unconvincing given the laissez-faire approach of the republican party to equal pay and it's trenchant rejection of..." - bob corrigan
"He met her once. Once. Didn't campaign with her, didn't spend significant time with her. After months on the road with Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman, and months battling Romney and others, and years in the Senate where he got to know other VP candidates, he picked someone he had met once. It is obvious that he is not interested in a counselor, a partner or someone to confide in. This was crass, cold calculation. Poorly done, sir." - bob corrigan
