misc (cr)apple

it's no secret these days that the big cat "codenames" for apple operating systems are just marketing names, and apple is internally using wine varietals internally. give it up. the os is 10.x, the codenames don't need extra codenames, and I don't need to be pandered to with cutesy cat crap.

apple gets a +/- for their recent product announcements. the ipod hifi is a joke, and didn't need a day of 'press release' hype dedicated to it. bootcamp is much more compelling, and I like how it was quietly slipped out. I hope they continue heading in that direction.

having said that, though, I have recently had the opportunity to do some hardware maintenance on clunky pc hardware (mostly laptops), and I must say that apple still kills in the hardware department. here're a couple of features I take for granted:

-target disk mode (does this work via usb on newer machines? it should, since firewire is dying a slow and painful death)
-a hardware battery indicator on the _outside of the battery, so you can check w/o waking or powering down the machine
-relatively slim/light full-sized (15"+) laptops instead of gargantuan plastic monstrosities
-no distracting ultra-gloss lcds or ridiculous bright blue leds festooning the keyboard area
-no analogue volume dial a la 1986 walkman
-no physical wireless on/off switches. wtf is that for?
-dvi-i out standard on laptops since ~2003
-in their newer desktops, a pleasing absence of stamped sheet metal

now if only someone there would admit that two button pointing devices are essential, and the dedicated enter key is far less useful than a 2nd option key, the macbook pro would be a serious contender (for most ridiculous name of the year).