Time Capsule works with both Macs and PCs. You don't need Leopard to use it, either. You'll only need Leopard if you want to use Time Capsule with Time Machine. If you don't have Leopard or if you're on a PC, Time Capsule will still be detected as a wireless external hard drive.

Now Phil, mr strong supporter of Apple products.. What exactly was wrong with the first 4 or 5 generations of the iPod?? What did Apple need to 'get right'? Werent people out looking for music players?? Funny Ive owned the original and now have a fifth generation, its always done just that, PLAY MUSIC. Only now I can look at my iPhoto library and watch videos as well. Technology had to catch up with Apple before they could afford to give you that nice little color display remember?

And the dock connector changing with every revision? Im pretty sure you have no clue what youre talking about after that. The dock connector, has never changed. The only thing that did was whether it connected via Firewire or USB, which ANY computer has nowadays so its a moot point which end your cable has on it. The ones previous to the 5th generation, which only use USB, used either one.

Previous to the this it was a simple Firewire cable on top, there was no dock connector.

Theres two kinds of iPod accessories, ones that work without the dock connector and ones that do. And the ones that do include 5 generations of iPod products.

Last I read (it's been several months), Apple was the 3rd largest computer retailer that makes their own machines. Hmmm, sounds like they're doing horrible.

Apple TV: it's not for everyone, but I don't do netflix anymore because I have to plan 3 or 4 days in advance. On demand??? Sounds nice. Any 'puter content to my TV, sounds nice also.

Time Machine: There is a growing demand for consumer data backup. More folks, doing more important stuff on their machines means more crashes and loses. Companies are realizing this and beginning to offer consumer online bckup services where this was once the domain of business continuity types. Apple's ahead on the curve. Hooking a $150 hard disk to a $75 'g' router, making them work together, finding enough plug-in's, etc. or buying a 'n' time capsule and never having to mess with it again? That's my choice. Not having to depend on a broadband ISP to bakcup or recover my data? Excellent.

Airbook: Optical drives are going away. I haven't had an internal for 3 years-thought I'd miss it and I don't. Dell is selling stuff without them also. As for the 1.6 ghz issue, it's better then a number of bigger machines out there, plus everyone forgets that it's not having to chug through Vista or XP. It's not for everyone, but for those who truly want a small and thin for constant travel use it is great.

Ipod softtware for $20? Users tend to forget the difference between upgrade and update. Update is what my Windows Mobile phone has to do to fix constant crashes, etc. Upgrade is something that windows never does for free. No one does. It's a new product for a reduced price. As for the Microsoft hardware question, MSFT has, actually, made hardware. Xbox. Anyone hear what their profit is in that division? Thought so.

Stop trying to drag down folks/companies that provide a solid product and manages to STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE. In fact, I'd say they help create the curve. How often do you hear someone talk about a song (or movie) that they'e got on their Zune? I'm not wealthy. Not a Apple stock owner, but do find it worth a few extra bucks to buy something that they make because it will work all the time, every time.

"Bought Apple shares at $65 now they are near $300.

Sounds like credible innovation to me…

Posted By Mike, Houston, TX : January 17, 2008 11:11 am"

When did Apple Shares ever hit near $300? They topped out at $202 late last year. I do see the recent drop as a bargain though. Picked up shares at $130 yesterday and am rather happy about it. The Macs may not appeal to all, but that is not what makes this company great. It's the rest of the innovative things they do that will continue to put this company at the top. Just because a big product didn't hit this year, doesn't mean it's not right around the corner.

"-You can not compare an end product with an accessory. Not only that, look back at the wondrous track record of the iPod… how many versions has it taken for Apple to get it right? And don’t forget that they change the dock connector each variation so that people have to repurchase the accessories for each model."

While I agree that you cannot compare an end product with an accessory, your question as to how many times it took Apple to get the iPod right… are you kidding? It took one. I'm not saying it hasn't been improved, but the iPod was a commercial and technical success from the get-go. The Zune (v.1) was not. And the Zune (v.2) isn't looking any better.

"-Are you mad?! Even more to the point, you are trying to compare a product that Apple has no comparable product for! Where is their console system? XBox is by far the best console system made for the targeted audience."

I applaud your enthusiasm for the XBox. I respectfully disagree (and, indeed, the market seems to as well since the Wii is thoroughly throttling it). In any event, it might be better to support the statement that the XBox is king with something more just your personal assertion of it.

"-Wow, I remember when we were all saying the same thing about XP in its infancy… give Vista a chance to be patched and perfected and it will take the place of XP. Hmm, didn’t OSX go through its major woes too?!"

Erm… no… not really. It wasn't perfect, but to compare the problems of Vista/XP with OSX as if they belong in the same relative sphere? Your statement implies a similar level of consumer dissatisfaction or technical malfeasance between the two. Consumer response and company issued patches belie that implication.

"To wrap up, I do not hate Apple products."

Maybe not, but at least twice you put up implied comparisons with straw man arguments that were clearly in error. "Apples to apples, not oranges." Indeed, be sure to practice what you preach.

Steve in L.A. I agree with some of what you stated, but have to point out some differences in opinion that I can not go without saying.

"It’s actually kind of funny to read this article and think, what would MSoft get from their version of MacWorld if they had one. F for Zune (which was outsold this and last Christmas on Amazon.com by the iPod power adapter)"

-You can not compare an end product with an accessory. Not only that, look back at the wondrous track record of the iPod… how many versions has it taken for Apple to get it right? And don't forget that they change the dock connector each variation so that people have to repurchase the accessories for each model.

"C+ for Xbox"

-Are you mad?! Even more to the point, you are trying to compare a product that Apple has no comparable product for! Where is their console system? XBox is by far the best console system made for the targeted audience.

"F for Vista (all 7 versions)"

-Wow, I remember when we were all saying the same thing about XP in its infancy… give Vista a chance to be patched and perfected and it will take the place of XP. Hmm, didn't OSX go through its major woes too?!

"Isn’t it smarter to pay to download what you want when you want and pay only for that, not the right ot have 3 movies out for 2 years and still never sent those back costing well over $800."

-I would like to meet ONE person who has done what your are implying here. That is absolutely absurd that you would use this as a comparison to back your admiration of iTunes Movie Rental. I personally don't use Netflix anymore, but when I did have it, it was awesome. Apple is trying to get into a market a bit late and I give them credit for trying, but their product is still a far cry from competitors.

To wrap up, I do not hate Apple products. I own many, and think they do the job I need them to do very well. But I refuse to post one sided, biased opinions without having good side-by-side comparisons to back up my claim. Apples to apples, not oranges.

1. The MacBook Air is the laptop you buy when you are spending other people's money, not your own. By this I mean executives, style-driven presentation people (you know the ones, with the elongated rectangular glasses and the black-dyed microbeards), and tech-geeks engaged in contests of oneupsmanship. It's an image leader; it's the Corvette that sells the Malibu. The people who will buy this are not price-sensitive.

2. The battery in the MacBook Air has a very long life (5 hours), which is about twice as long as my MacBook Pro. Much less need to swap it for a fresh one.

3. The battery for the Air will have to be very thin. This means that it will be fragile. Batteries do not like being flexed; if you get cracks in the internal structure you get fires, and we all know that tech-reviewers jump on laptop battery fire hysteria like a liability lawyer to tainted meat. It's not replaceable because Apple doesn't want you to burn up.

4. The Air is technological fashion-jewelry. By the time the built-in battery starts to lose its oomph, the target demographic will be wanting something entirely new. In that respect, the Air has more to do with an iPod than a MacBook.

5. The true road warrior salesman will not want one of these. Why? Oddly enough, the weight doesn't matter. The MacBook Pro is more sturdy, has all the replaceable goodies like batteries, has all the hardware options like the DVD and Express slot… yes, it's 3 pounds more. But when you consider all the crap that a road warrior carries WITH his laptop (power bricks, video cables, ethernet cables, external mouse, USB microhub, ruggedized laptop case), the laptop itself is the smaller part of the equation. It's not 3 pounds vs. 6, it's 13 pounds vs. 16. Much less of a difference percentage-wise, much less noticeable.

6. There is no point 6.

7. The subnotebook market is not what the Air is aimed at. Apples and um… okey, bananas and oranges. And yeah, I want a 10" MacBook too. (I also own one of those 7" Asus EEE-PC microlaptops, and I'm loving it! Add a 2gb memory module and a 16gb SD flash card, and you're in business. I have XP on mine and it works just fine.)

8. The Time Capsule acts as ordinary network-attached storage too. You don't HAVE to have Leopard. You don't even have to have a Mac. And if you look at the price of other combined print server/wireless access point/network-attached storage devices from other manufacturers, you'll realize the Apple solution is also among the cheapest. When's the last time THAT happened?

9. If the traditional NetFlix DVD-by-mail model is so unassailable, why is NetFlix moving in that direction? Maybe NetFlix knows something that we don't. In any event, the terms Apple offers for downloaded movies (price, viewing period, longevity until expire) are among the best in the industry. Compare to download rentals via Microsoft's XBox Live service, Blockbuster, NetFlix, etc. and you'll see Apple is very competitive.

10. Complaints about Apple charging for apps for the iPod Touch? What, you think that 3rd party folks who develop professional-grade applets are going to give their applets away for free? (yeah, a few do, but Apple isn't a software welfare office, they're a business)

11. Funny, I've been getting a lot of use from my Apple TV (well, my roommate's, actually) for the last year. We've bought full series runs of several TV series, and it gets used every day. Horrible failure, eh? It's been a niche product… which is fine… and now Apple wants to move it into the mainstream now that movie downloads are becoming a reality and all the major studios have decided to play ball. No surprise at all.

It has been my experience that most Apple pundits are wrong more often than right. Me, I just buy the stuff.