Apple focuses on content

 
Computers Apple presented new products at Macworld Expo. How we use computers and where we get movies from will change. 
The key data of the MacBook Air, which Apple boss Steve Jobs presented at this year's Macworld Expo 2008 in San Francisco in mid-January as the last and probably most important innovation of his keynote speech, are easy to list: an ultra-light notebook and currently the thinnest notebook in the world at between 4 (at its thinnest point) and 19 mm. Apple makes hardly any compromises when it comes to features, as the 1360 gram lightweight computer has a specially developed Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a speed of either 1.6 or 1.8 GHz, a modern 13.3 inch wide-format LED display that lights up in a fraction of a second and a fully-fledged keyboard that even backlights the keys with sensor control as the ambient light decreases, just like the high-quality MacBook Pro.Laptop with compromisesEven before Apple entered the consumer market and caused a worldwide sensation with its iPod and iPhone products, various online services reported meticulously on the opening speeches known as keynote speeches - and since then, expectations of the company have grown from year to year. So when Product Marketing Director Oren Ziv presented the new flask to the daily and trade press in Zurich just one day after Macworld, all this was of course already known.
However, the aha moment about what has been presented often only comes when you look at the device and can take a closer look at the new features. It became obvious that Apple had also made compromises in terms of the laptop's features. In comparison with a "normal" laptop, two familiar components are missing, even if they can be supplemented with adapters or external devices: a CD or DVD drive and an Ethernet port.
The omission of these components only becomes understandable when you consider that Apple deliberately omitted these components because the MacBook Air was developed entirely with portability in mind. The optical drive in particular is not only relatively large and heavy, but also a power guzzler. This omission is, if you like, the price to be paid for the fact that the computer can be used as a fully-fledged laptop and for wireless communication for five hours, regardless of the power supply.
However, CD/DVD drives are no longer a luxury. In addition to playing movies (DVD), both CD and DVD data carriers are used for installing software and backing up data. How can a user with a MacBook Air install an application or even a new operating system and back up his data if, in addition to the missing drive, there is not even an Ethernet or Firewire connection to transfer software or data at least via server or target mode (this allows software to be installed from a second computer using a Firewire cable, for example)?
Consistent conceptIf you think back to when Apple tipped over the floppy disk drive or the consistent switch to USB ports and peripherals on Apple computers, you have to admit that Apple was usually right when making such decisions. What is needed for such a drastic approach is simply an appropriate and consistent concept. And Apple has developed precisely such a concept for the MacBook Air. The new computer relies uncompromisingly on wireless communication. Apple has solved the installation of software in such a way that it can be installed from a second WLAN-capable computer with a separately installed utility program - even from a Windows XP/Vista PC. If the software to be installed is placed in the drive there, it appears on the MacBook Air as a CD icon called "Remote Disc" in the Finder window, which can then be used to install the software - as if the CD/DVD were physically present in the device. If this is too unsafe for you or if you do not have access to another computer, you can purchase an external "SuperDrive" for reading and burning CDs/DVDs that can only be used on the MacBook Air.
The "TimeCapsule" product, also presented at Macworld, is recommended for expanding the MacBook Air into a complete system. This combined data backup solution and WLAN base station, which matches the "Time Machine" system component introduced with the Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) operating system (see "viscomprint & communication" 22/2007), is an ideal addition to the MacBook Air. The data storage integrated in the flat housing of the "time capsule", which is either 500 GB or 1 TB in size depending on the version, can be accessed wirelessly and can be used as a backup solution for one or more computers equipped with OS X 10.5. This means that data can also be backed up wirelessly, as wireless burning to a second Mac or PC is not possible.
After the CD, now the DVDFirst for the US market, Apple CEO Jobs has declared war on video stores and DVD rental companies with "iTunes Movie Rentals", although not yet directly on the DVD itself. As with the successful iTunes Store, feature films can soon be downloaded from Apple's significantly expanded portal in the USA and, according to Oren Ziv, "later this year outside the USA". From the end of February, the offer will initially include an additional 1,000 feature films plus 100 in the new high-definition format from all leading film studios for rental. New films will be available for 30 days after the DVD has been released. The rate: $ 2.99 (3.99 for HD) for a 30-day rental period and 24 hours to watch after the first start, after which the movie disappears from the iTunes library.
This once again underlines Apple's efforts outside of the pure hardware and software business. Apple has apparently once again succeeded in convincing important content providers - this time the film studios - of its concept. In order to further strengthen iTunes, an important and central platform for Apple, the company has reached an agreement with the film studio 20th Century Fox to include an "iTunes Digital Copy" in addition to the actual film on the DVD. This "digital copy" is suitable for playback on iPods and can also be transferred to the iTunes library. A step that could be the subject of discussion in the future.
Will Apple TV become the "iPod for movies"? It remains to be seen whether Apple will succeed in shaking up the movie market after the music market. In the music business, CD sales have halved in seven years: While 20 million CDs were sold in 2000, only around 10 million music CDs were sold last year. On the other hand, music downloads have increased significantly. The DVD could experience a similar development over the same period of time - especially as this data carrier is used much less (people generally only watch films a few times). The bandwidth of ADSL networks and the performance of the infrastructure are likely to increase accordingly during this period.
With the expansion of its offering and the new possibilities of Apple TV to transfer not only YouTube films but also photos from the photo portal "Flickr" and content from the ".Mac" galleries to the TV set at home, Apple is strengthening its "movie distribution station" Apple TV, which many circles previously thought would be a sales flop. Following a software update, it will now be able to receive the content in the newly casually named "Apple TV Take 2" version at a reduced price (existing users will achieve the same functionality via a software update) without the help of another wirelessly connected computer. The wirelessly transmitting computer becomes obsolete.
It will be interesting to see whether Apple will achieve anything like the same level of success as with the merger of iTunes and the iPod music player. However, it is clear that Apple will increasingly rely on wireless technologies in the future.
This is as certain as the fact that Apple devices are unlikely to contain a floppy disk drive.
Jürgen Franck