Filed under: Hardware, Humor, Apple History
TUAW 2006
Motorola SLVR Verdict: It's no "i"Phone
Motorola recently launched the SLVR, the iTunes-compatible successor to last fall's failed ROKR. Like its predecessor, the ROKR is a great idea in theory, but it ends up as a disappointment.
On the plus side, the design is much more sleek than the ROKR -- think of it as a RAZR without the flip (and who doesn't love the RAZR? Best. Phone. Ever.). Even better, it has 512 MB of built-in memory, so you can store music with ease.
However, we still hate the proprietary headphone jack, the 2-year Cingular lock-in and the 100-song iTunes limit. We really don't see people spending $200 for a phone that they have to use with Cingular, with a proprietary headphone jack and with no ability to buy songs directly from the phone. Come on Apple/Motorola, that's just weak!
Here's hoping that a "real" iTunes phone appears from Apple sometime in the future.
Is Paying the "Black Tax" worth it?
The new MacBooks are here and they come in two tasty colors: classic iBook white and dark and sultry black. We polled our readers to see if the Black Tax was worthwhile, and while the comments seem to suggest that no one is really going to spend $150 more for a black MacBook, we're sure there will still be plenty of buyers out there.
So is paying a premium for a color really worth it? I'll go out on a limb and say, "yes, yes it is." The resale value will likely be higher (which will come in handy if those rumored Core 2 Duo chips arrive before Christmas) and come on, the economy is booming! Spend a little on yourself!
Motorola recently launched the SLVR, the iTunes-compatible successor to last fall's failed ROKR. Like its predecessor, the ROKR is a great idea in theory, but it ends up as a disappointment. On the plus side, the design is much more sleek than the ROKR -- think of it as a RAZR without the flip (and who doesn't love the RAZR? Best. Phone. Ever.). Even better, it has 512 MB of built-in memory, so you can store music with ease.
However, we still hate the proprietary headphone jack, the 2-year Cingular lock-in and the 100-song iTunes limit. We really don't see people spending $200 for a phone that they have to use with Cingular, with a proprietary headphone jack and with no ability to buy songs directly from the phone. Come on Apple/Motorola, that's just weak!
Here's hoping that a "real" iTunes phone appears from Apple sometime in the future.
Is Paying the "Black Tax" worth it?
The new MacBooks are here and they come in two tasty colors: classic iBook white and dark and sultry black. We polled our readers to see if the Black Tax was worthwhile, and while the comments seem to suggest that no one is really going to spend $150 more for a black MacBook, we're sure there will still be plenty of buyers out there.So is paying a premium for a color really worth it? I'll go out on a limb and say, "yes, yes it is." The resale value will likely be higher (which will come in handy if those rumored Core 2 Duo chips arrive before Christmas) and come on, the economy is booming! Spend a little on yourself!
Will Vista beat Leopard?
All the excitement over Boot Camp's introduction has plenty of Mac users doing the unthinkable: installing Windows on their precious Intel beauties. Although it's pretty neat to run Windows XP on your Mac,Vista is the future. Reports of users running preview versions of Vista via Boot Camp are starting to pile in, and while it might not be as speedy as XP, remember this isn't the final release of either Vista or Boot Camp.
Microsot's long-delayed next-gen OS should be shipping later this year, with a decidedly more OS X look. The next version of Apple's Mac OS X, Leopard, should be out later this year (early 2007 at the latest) too, but will it be able to compete?
Many business users use XP at work, but as we said, that's yesteryear's technology, Once PC users everywhere upgrade to Vista en masse, will Mac users need to dual-boot to keep up? I guess there is always the possibility that Vista could be a colossal failure and the PC world would remain in the 32-bit XP sphere for several more years, but come on, that's about as likely as a Microsoft-branded iPod competitor.
We'll just have to see if Leopard has the goods to compete with Vista.
Apple Stock: How high can it go?
Apple's stock (AAPL) is ON FIRE!! Closing in at nearly $90 a share, we have to ask, how high can it go? Is there any possible way Apple can end 2006 ABOVE $100 a share? The market in general is pretty good right now and tech stocks are on a tear, but $100 a share? Apple??!
My, how times have changed.
All the excitement over Boot Camp's introduction has plenty of Mac users doing the unthinkable: installing Windows on their precious Intel beauties. Although it's pretty neat to run Windows XP on your Mac,Vista is the future. Reports of users running preview versions of Vista via Boot Camp are starting to pile in, and while it might not be as speedy as XP, remember this isn't the final release of either Vista or Boot Camp.
Microsot's long-delayed next-gen OS should be shipping later this year, with a decidedly more OS X look. The next version of Apple's Mac OS X, Leopard, should be out later this year (early 2007 at the latest) too, but will it be able to compete?
Many business users use XP at work, but as we said, that's yesteryear's technology, Once PC users everywhere upgrade to Vista en masse, will Mac users need to dual-boot to keep up? I guess there is always the possibility that Vista could be a colossal failure and the PC world would remain in the 32-bit XP sphere for several more years, but come on, that's about as likely as a Microsoft-branded iPod competitor.
We'll just have to see if Leopard has the goods to compete with Vista.
Apple Stock: How high can it go?
Apple's stock (AAPL) is ON FIRE!! Closing in at nearly $90 a share, we have to ask, how high can it go? Is there any possible way Apple can end 2006 ABOVE $100 a share? The market in general is pretty good right now and tech stocks are on a tear, but $100 a share? Apple??! My, how times have changed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
YodaMac said 2:34PM on 4-01-2009
Please do a TUAW 2016!!!!!!! :)
Reply
Jozso said 2:41PM on 4-01-2009
Yeah. I second that. This is a great series. A 2016 story would be cool.
Johnny said 5:25PM on 4-01-2009
That would be fun. What will be more fun is reading it again in 2016!
Adam said 2:48PM on 4-01-2009
wow, this was a funny one, its so ironic-ish
wishing for an "iphone"
the economy is great go splurge
people actually thinking vista was going to be decent... (which it is better with sp1)
apple stock
funny stuff - just like it said "my, how times have changed"
Reply
iron9iant said 2:57PM on 4-01-2009
can we go back to that old logo. please.
Reply
Aron Trimble said 3:14PM on 4-01-2009
"We really don't see people spending $200 for a phone that they have to use with Cingular, with a proprietary headphone jack..."
Kind of similar to what the first iPhone was, only I think it sold for a little bit more ;-)
Reply
Grgry said 3:16PM on 4-01-2009
I actually loved my SLVR. Other than my iPhone, it has been my most favored handset. I used to upgrade handsets at the least every 6 months and for a while was upgrading every 4... UNTIL the SLVR. I even switched from Verizon to Cingular at the time.
That was definitely a fun read!
Reply
conigs said 3:58PM on 4-01-2009
Agreed on the SLVR. For a basic phone, that was one nicely built handset. It actually felt like there was something to it. And I dropped it enough times to know that it was sturdy.
Is it odd or fitting that I went from the SLVR to the iPhone?
Dave T. said 4:04PM on 4-01-2009
Another lover of the SLVR my best phone ever. Simple, great reception, something I can't say for my iPhone (reception).
Christina Warren said 4:10PM on 4-01-2009
I can believe it! My RAZR (which had the same internals, sans the memory chip and iTunes stuff) as the SLVR was my favorite non-Smart Phone ever -- with the possible exception of my Nokia 8290.
Patriks7 said 5:10PM on 4-01-2009
"and come on, the economy is booming! Spend a little on yourself!"
Haha. Too bad we can't say that today.
Reply
Benjamin said 7:37PM on 4-01-2009
Why so much love for the RAZR? I don't know if there was much difference between the Australian and US versions, but mine absolutely sucked. The interface was terrible, almost as if it was all done at the last minute.
Reply
SHAPIRO2 said 2:45AM on 4-02-2009
2006?
Reply
Andrew said 4:34AM on 4-02-2009
"...I guess there is always the possibility that Vista could be a colossal failure and the PC world would remain in the 32-bit XP sphere for several more years, but come on, that's about as likely as a Microsoft-branded iPod competitor."
...aaaahahahahaah
Reply