Top 10 Apple Core Stories of 2006
It's almost the end of the year so I thought that it would be a good time to recap your favorite stories from The Apple Core in 2006.
10. Apple partners with Nike on iPod for runners
The Nike+ iPod kit is a boon for runners and one of the tightest and most technical iPod integrations yet. The partnership between Apple and Nike was also significant because they're two of the most influential brands on the planet. Too bad it doesn't work on bicycles...
9. Sony rips off MacBook design
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Sony's VAIO N10-Series is practically a dead ringer for a white MacBook. Maybe Apple should get them back by cloning the VAIO VGN-UX280P 4.5" notebook PC.
8. Silent recall on MacBook Pro batteries
Probably the most serious story of 2006 is the massive battery recalls from Dell, Apple and almost every other notebook computer manufacturer. Since defective batteries can explode and cause fire, it's essential that you check your iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 battery serial numbers immediately.
7. MacBook Pro Photoshop benchmarks
If Apple's move to Intel processors is the biggest hardware story of the year, then the release of the Intel-native build of Photoshop CS3 has to be the biggest software story. So what if it's a beta.
Six more after the jump...
6. More details on Macworld plasmas and Mac mini
I posted a story that Apple will introduce new 42 and 50-inch plasma displays at Macworld Expo 2006 last January, and it turned out to be a fake. Most likely a carefully planted decoy, like the iPhone?
5. MacBook Pro's crazy new LEDs
One of the interesting little things about the MacBook Pro is its solar-bright keyboard backlight. It has to be ten time brighter than the PowerBook G4's keyboard backlight. Apple also intensified the green shift lock and num lock LEDs.
4. Report: Islamic site finds Apple store offensive
A Middle East research organization reported that Apple's flagship retail store on 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan is offensive to Muslims because the cube-shaped building resembles the Ka'ba in Mecca.
3. Apple vs. Me
On December 13, 2005 I got a Christmas card from Apple: a subpoena to The PowerPage for the names of the "Does" who allegedly leaked information about a FireWire breakout box for GarageBand code-named "Asteroid." Apple eventually lost the case and didn't appeal. Everyone who enjoys reading blogs and the thinks that the press should be free should send a donation to the EFF or minimally, educate yourself about what they're doing. Without them the PowerPage and AppleInsider probably wouldn't be around and the blogosphere would be a different place.
2. Top 10 things Apple could announce at Macworld Expo
Some of them were right some were wrong, but it's always fun to speculate about what Apple's going to release at The Big Dance in Moscone. I will be releasing my 2007 Expo predictions some time next week.
1. Exclusive: MacBook Pro unboxing pics
People were so anxious to see pictures of the new Intel-based MacBook Pro that this story got linked far and wide. People were actually messaging me to "hurry up" and post them faster, because posting them in real time apparently wasn't fast enough. The Globe and Mail's Matthew Ingram wins with the best comment about the pix:
What the post gives you is 28 -- yes, 28 -- close-up shots of the box with the MacBook Pro inside it, then a shot of the box after it has been opened, and then a shot of the styrofoam insert that protects the MacBook, and so on. After the picture of the styrofoam insert, there is a caption that says "The Styrofoam inside the case has a cool circular cutout pattern." (Note: I am not making this up). In order to see the coolness of the styrofoam up close, there is a second shot from a different angle. Then there are shots of the MacBook in its anti-static bag, then another foam insert, then shots of the power supply (up close) and so on.
Merry Christmas!