Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Bioshock for Mac? Be still my beating heart

Another day, another rumour. This one says that Bioshock might be coming to Mac.

You know. Bioshock. That's the game that came out August 2007 for the X-Box 360, and in July of last year for the PC. 

Colour me jaded, but I really don't think that it's gonna sell. I mean, by the time it comes out, the game will be two years old. Anyone who has any interest in playing the game will have played it already on either of those platforms. Or on Playstation 3, which it is also on. 

The Mac crowd has a reputation for not being big into games, but I think here's a perfect example of why it appears that we're not gamers. Here's an A-list game, making its way to the Mac two years after it was first released. Those of us who are into Macs and gaming gave up in frustration 18 months ago and bought a copy for our X-Box 360, or in my case, for my Brother in Law's X-Box 360. 

When the game comes out, the truly hardcore mac gamers will buy it, but the rest of us will be standing in line waiting for Bioshock II: Sea of Dreams. 

I mean, seriously, how do you expect the Mac to be considered a serious gaming platform when the serious games arrive two years late?

Movie rentals and the north

So, I finally decided that, since I've got the kids tonight, might as well download a movie. I mean, I was excited when movies came to the iTunes store, but I've just been so busy, I haven't been able to pull together the time to watch one. 

But the wife is away, and I can't work and watch the kids, so lets watch a movie. 

Horton Hears a Who, how bout?

I just hit rent and....

Seven hours remaining to download. 

Yay!

I love life up north sometimes. 

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Chaching

Remember that bit about iTunes going DRM free? Turns out that it'll cost you $0.40 for each song you want the DRM stripped from. 

That's $0.10 more than it costs in the states. 

I still haven't come across any music that costs more than $0.99. Or less than, for that matter. If you do, please let me know what it costs, and if it is more than the American store. 

Rogers sucks. Wait, I mean Roger's iPhone sales suck

The Globe and Mail's Report on Business says that iPhone sales dropped by 50% last quarter, despite the fact that overall, the business is doing better than expected. And, as expected, it got crushed in the stock market. Why? Because even though they did better than expected, they should have done unexpectedly better or some fool thing.

Me? I think it might have something to do with the fact that there are about 20 people who are covered by Rogers 3G network, so the paying a premium for the whole 3G thing doesn't appeal to most people.

As always, I'd love to get an iPhone, but Rogers doesn't even offer coverage where I live, let alone 3G coverage, so don't expect me to get hands on with an iPhone any time soon. 

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Oh, and two more one more things.

17 inch MBP with 8 hours of battery life.

iTunes goes DRM free, but tiered pricing.

I'm still not sure what I feel about the whole thing. Give me a day or two to process.

I think I was really looking forward to Snow Leopard, and wouldn't it have been nice to have come out sooner rather than later. 

But DRM iTunes. That's nice. And I bet most of what I listen to would be 69 or 99. Will the prices for the Canadian store change? We'll have to see. I'm not seeing any change yet. 

Three things...

iLife 09.

iWork 09.

iWork.com.

iDisappointed.

Oh. One more thing. 17 inch notebook. 

Macrumours feed hacked

Macrumours live feed from the Ste...Phil Shiller keynote has been hacked. 

Steve is not dead.

Sorry. 

Oops. There goes the feed. 

Oh, yeah, right, and Phil is announcing a bunch of stuff. iLife 09 right now. 

Monday, January 5, 2009

Oh, come on

Cnet has taken Steve's letter and turned it into...well, I'm not sure. Something bad. Something evil. Something wicked and nasty. 

For some reason, Steve coming out and saying "I aten't dead yet" is seen as some sort of stonewalling from the company. Really? Is this some sort of way for Apple to screw us over? Because the way I see it is there was enough people crying about Job's health that they finally said "yes, Steve's health is a private matter, but since you all have been speculating and rumour mongering and digging graves left right and centre, let us set you straight."


On matters of health

While CNET is using words like "shocking" and "unexpected", the truth is often less shocking than the rumours and speculations. 

You see, Steve Jobs wrote a letter today, explaining what was up with his health. A hormonal imbalance that has been "robbing" him of proteins. While there has been breathless speculation about his health online, and this will surely fuel the fires, at the same time it is pretty mild. No Steve not being able to do his job, no Steve on death's door. 

Of course, as the conspiracy nuts will be quick to point out, the letter doesn't go so far as to say this is the only thing wrong with Steve, but I'll take the news on face value.