Airport Extreme Reviewed

Macworld reviewed the new Airport Extreme Base Station. This product is long overdue, but understandably delayed due to the whole 802.11n standard fiasco.

This is a welcome product for Mac and Windows users alike. The printer and external hard drive sharing feature is awesome. I however do expect Apple to quietly upgrade this product before the end of the year due to the glaring lack of Gigabit Ethernet (what the heck) and the possibility of the ratified n standard.

n-abler

The 802.11n enabler is ready for download. It's $1.99 due to some legal reason that I don't fully understand. It IS apparant that apple is not doing this for the money. First of all it's $1.99 and second, the site states:

Note: The software license for the 802.11n Enabler software allows you to install and use it on all computers under your ownership or control.

I don't think they could care less about who gets this and how. At any rate, it's worth $2.

The updater will enable the n standard on your Airport card if you have one of the following:

• MacBook Pro with Core 2 Duo
• MacBook with Core 2 Duo
• Mac Pro
• iMac with Core 2 Duo (not the 17-inch 1.83GHz model though)

Do not pay for this update if you have the n ability already enabled (this would be on very new Mac's, the download page tells you how to check), or if you plan on buying the new Airport Extreme which has the enabler included.

Apple Design

The iPhone and the new Airport Extreme got me thinking about the depth of Apple's design team. Particularly the new iPhone really is a testimite to the design capabilities of Apple Inc. (not Apple Computers Inc. as of yesterday). I thought I'd take a second to give some recognition to Jonathan Ive. He is one of my design heros and is commony overlooked or unknown behind the shadow of Steve Jobs and Apple itself. He is the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple and is the design visionary behind All of the iMacs, the iPod, Powerbook, iSub (awesome product), Cinema Displays, Mac Mini, G4 Cube and others. I read this quote from Philippe Spruch founder of LaCie yesterday and I thought of him specifically.

It's not that Apple design is better or worse than the design of the Sony Vaio. But you feel that it's part of the DNA. They are crazy about every detail, and you feel that. Today, many more companies invest in design, but they do it because they are forced to, not because they like it, and I think you can feel that in their products.

That's what many people can't put their finger on that makes Apple so cool.