While many Apple fans have rejoiced over Apple’s smashing success with the iPod, many of us have been worried. As unbelievable as it may have seemed to suggest, some of us just couldn’t keep the nagging concern down: Is Apple becoming an entertainment company, rather than a computer company? Fortunately, recent developments have quieted these concerns.

First, and least impressive (but still impressive nonetheless), is the release of Apple’s new iMac G5. Think about the evolution of the iMac. It changes processors and styles as frequently as Madonna’s music style changes, and just like Madonna, it seems to be successful every time it does so. From the original pod-like iMac G3, which was the catalyst to Apple’s renaissance, to the awesome LCD iMac G4, to the new, still flat, iMac G5, the iMac has experienced big changes, inside and out. The iMac G5 is no exception; like their website says, “Where did the computer go?” Indeed, now the entire computer is wrapped up in the monitor, making it practically a tablet made for the desktop. It is very reassuring to see that Apple’s innovation still exists in the Mac division.

Meanwhile, and more importantly, it is very encouraging to see that the iPod is actually helping Mac sales, especially iBook sales. How is that? Please take note of the USA Today article: Students crazy about iPod follow the music to Apple laptops. The article reports that many college campus stores have found that the success of the iPod has led many students to the Mac as their laptop of choice for the new school year. This brand recognition is exactly what we hope to see when a company so diverse in innovation as Apple has success in a new industry, even though we fear it will not happen. Because the potential is always there for the up-and-coming to kill the older, less exciting product line. So really all Apple fans can now rejoice as we see the brand recognition beginning to reap the dividends.

The snare that Apple still should astutely avoid is that of distraction and division from multiple focuses. It hurt Apple back in the day of the Newton MessagePad, but of course, that was without Apple’s wonderboy, Steve Jobs. Yet, Steve Jobs himself has acknowledged that his focus is sometimes split due to his heavy involvement with Pixar. Let’s hope Steve et al can multitask as well as Panther can. ;-D

I feel that Apple’s AirPort Express with AirTunes is one of the coolest things since sliced bread, despite the fact that I don’t even own one yet; over time I could see myself eventually owning numerous AirPort Expresses serving multiple purposes. But as I express my uber-excitement over this product, some people have voiced some concerns. In an attempt to avoid partiality caused by my own excitement, I’ve tried to answer these concerns from authoritative sources.

I’m sure some people out there may have some of the same concerns and aren’t quite sure where to get the answers to these concerns, so I’d like to share some of my findings. One blog at MacWorld had just the authoritative source I wanted, and actually answers many of the concerns: How AirTunes Works. Let’s consider some of the concerns people have expressed to me.

1. The sound quality of AirTunes will be poor. Wireless audio is always poorer quality.

It is true that wireless audio is poorer quality than wired audio. However, AirTunes isn’t transmitting audio wirelessly. It is transmitting the audio data wirelessly, decodes it, and then transmits the high-quality audio via analog audio wire, or even an optical audio wire, to your stereo or receiver. This is an important point to understand. The AirPort Express with AirTunes is a network device, not a wireless audio receiver. Indeed, if you’ve ever looked at such devices (for instance, check out the RCA® Lyra™ Wireless Audio Sender/Receiver from Radio Shack), you’ll notice they always require two components: a transmitter and a receiver. The reason AirTunes only needs the one receiving component is because it is receiving data transmitted by an existing computer on an existing wireless network. No transmission of actual audio ever occurs.

2. You can only use the AirPort Express with AirTunes if you have an AirPort Base Station or a computer with AirPort Extreme.

This is simply incorrect. According to the article linked above, which refers to the words of Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Vice President of Hardware Product Marketing, AirTunes does not require any AirPort technology, although it naturally works with those devices. A non-Apple 802.11b or 802.11g access point will suffice.

Sometimes a person might develop this concern by means of a lack of understanding as to how networking functions. For instance, a person might suppose that a wireless laptop and a wireless AirTunes will communicate directly when transmitting data. Although this very well may be possible, according to my understanding, it is not necessary. In theory, even a computer that has a WIRED connection to a wireless access point (such as a wireless router) can then communicate with the AirTunes through it’s connection to the wireless router. That’s just how networking works. Wireless devices don’t talk directly to each other, they all talk to the router or access point, and thus can speak to each other “vicariously” through their mutual connection to the wireless router. This “theory” is further solidified by the fact that any non-Apple 802.11b or 802.11g access point will allow such functionality.

Thus, if I’ve got an iMac (with no wireless functionality) physically plugged into my home network, it should be able to transmit music to my AirTunes just as well as my 802.11g wireless Gateway laptop, which should do just as well as a AirPort-enabled PowerBook.

Especially considering how obsessed Apple has been over proprietorship lately, I took this concern seriously. I was very worried that Apple would attempt to make AirTunes compatible only with an AirPort access point, which would have been very disappointing. But that just isn’t so.

3. One concern that I do have–and it’s really more of a disappointment in a missing feature–is that this device doesn’t support streaming of video as well. Before you think to criticize me for asking too much, please recognize that a device like this is already in existence! Please take a look at Elgato Systems’ EyeHome. This device is all the audio functionality of the AirTunes and much more. Really, though, the two devices are apples and oranges. Whereas EyeHome also has a user interface over the television and also allows you to display pictures, video, and browse the web from your TV, it does not provide a wireless bridge or printer sharing like the AirPort Express does. In short, the devices are very different. But the EyeHome is proof that streaming video to a network device is certainly feasible, and Elgato says the EyeHome even works wirelessly (whether that be by an AirPort Express or any other wireless access point). So apparently 802.11 provides enough bandwidth to transmit video.

Now, you get me an AirPort Express with AirMedia, and you’ve really got my attention!

For those of you still unaware of the news, Macromedia has highly publicized the impending release of its next major version of ColdFusion, which is codenamed “Blackstone”.

You can read more about it here: Macromedia ColdFusion to Get Feature-Rich Upgrade.

Upgrading from CF5 to CFMX might have been somewhat painful for some, due to the slight differences in behavior between those two versions of ColdFusion. Architecturally, you might compare the leap from CF5 to CFMX to the leap Apple recently made from OS 9 to OS X. With both technologies, considering that the new architecture is completely different from the old architecture, it truly is amazing that the new is as backward-compatible as it is. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still bumps and headaches along the way.

Now that that time has past, we can resume our normal schedule, where a major upgrade introduces lots of great new features without necessarily breaking existing code. This is exactly what Blackstone looks to do.

Many people are excited about the built-in support for enhanced HTML forms, PDF generation, and enhanced report graphics. I certainly am excited to see these new features and will undoubtedly use them extensively. However, I am much more excited about the newly-opened doors that the promised ColdFusion system gateways will provide. In Blackstone, you will be able to build apps that use more than just HTTP to communicate; you could use instant messages, text messaging, FTP, SSH, and more! This is particularly exciting since I’ve dabbled with such functionality in the past, but had to use really convoluted methods to accomplish it.

The continued enhancements to ColdFusion by Macromedia are making ColdFusion developers more and more capable of writing very powerful apps in a very short period of time, making ColdFusion a platform that is beginning to stand out from ASP, PHP, and others ever more as its development progresses.

Macromedia, you have my kudos.

First bears are stealing beer, now dogs are stealing euros. What’s this world coming to?

Read about it at: The Dog Ate My Euros. Yes, that’s really the news story headline.

This is just too funny. I don’t know which part is more funny: That the dog ate almost $500 worth of euros, or that the owner of the dog will actually be able to get the money back! This is a great story.