The Lance J. Technoweb

I purchased my Apple TV on its release day, in October 2015.  It continues to serve me perfectly, after nearly 10 years of active use. Although it is decidedly not the newest model of Apple TV, it does 100% of the things I want it to do without any issues.  Sure, I'd love a more modern SoC, gigabit Ethernet, Thread support, 4k video support, etc, but honestly I am not missing any of those features, so "upgrading" it today would be a waste of money.  I did sell the original Siri remote in 2023 and upgrade to the 3rd generation (USB-C) Siri remote. The original Siri remote was working great, but I figured after 7.5 years of use, it was time to get a new remote with a new battery.  I will likely upgrade my Apple TV in the future, but I can't predict when that will be.   Due to a quirk of its release strategy, this Apple TV was discontinued in late 2022, and so it is likely to be supported for several more years. A new device would have to be a leap ahead, because m...

For the past 7+ years I have been running the same class of WiFi equipment: The Apple Airport Express N v2. I have been exceedingly successful of running these routers.  They are rock-solid devices, and they support many more channels than the typical expensive "prosumer" routers, since the Airport Express supports DFS.  Why did the tech press slam the Airport Express as being "overpriced and under-powered"?  Because the tech press is filled with idiots. How awesome is DFS?  Let me tell you. I live in the city where there are 40+ visible WiFi access points in my vicinity.  Each of these routers are all trying to scream over one another to be heard. There are only really 6 or so non-overlapping WiFi channels (2.4GHz and 5 GHz).  Each of the standard channels have at least 5 visible access points. Except the DFS channels, which no one seems to use. So when I boot up MY Airport Express, it lands on Channel 52, where there is literally no competition.  My ...

I'm a Computer guy at the end of the day.  I started writing assembler code many years ago, and so I'm always interested in what is happening in the CPU industry. This year, Apple decided to quit Intel and move to its own microprocessors, the processors it has been using for the iPhone and iPad. Many thought this was a ridiculous idea.  Losing the ability of Intel x86 virtualization and competing against the most famous microprocessor company ever seems nuts. I was wrong. Apple knocked it out of the park with their new M1 SoC.  The M1 is Apple's low-end processor, but it literally leaves Intel's high end CPUs in the dust.  And I imagine that the power and capability of Apple's desktop/workstation CPUs will be even more capable. If this is just the beginning, then we have a whole new "performance war" in the microprocessor industry.  Intel and AMD will need to amp it up, because suddenly they look far behind in performance, price, and efficiency.  The only ...

Today it was reported that Apple's Self-Driving Car project is going through some significant challenges - with some layoffs, reorganization, and perhaps a change in focus. But let's be realistic here: Self-driving cars are very hard, on the order of magnitude of the Manhattan project... or maybe harder.  An incredible amount of new science, AI, and associated engineering needs to be solved.  It isn't a "simple" hardware/software engineering exercise like creating the first iPhone, or implementing the Android OS from scratch, or implementing Twitter. It took about 40 years for the helicopter to go from concept to production, as a lot of science and engineering had to happen before a helicopter could be a reasonably safe way to travel. The idea that a self-driving car project wouldn't go through significant struggles and major changes in direction is fantasy, as that even happens with simple projects, such as the creation of another new fighter air...

Repairing and upgrading an older 12-inch Apple iBook G4 laptop. A great friend of mine had a 12-inch iBook laptop from 2005 - with a broken keyboard.  She asked me to help her shop for a new Mac to replace her old tried-but-true laptop. Whenever anyone asks me for computer advice, I ask them what they want to do with a new computer. She told me that she used her computer for basic email and surfing the web - she said the old iBook was great for many years, but that now, with a broken (and dirty and gross) keyboard, it was time to move on. After thinking about it for 15 minutes with her, we concluded that the best approach was to fix her old laptop.  A little upgrade is a LOT easier than going out and buying a new machine, and then migrating 6 years of data and apps.  Also, the price is a lot less than a new machine. We went on-line and bought two things: A replacement iBook keyboard , for around $40, and A 1 GB memory stick , for under $20. The ...

Yes, you read the headline. Apple's next big event, to be held on September 9th, is called "Let's Rock". And the image included within their invite seems to show a silhouette of an iPod listener jumping off of a rock. So what's this all about? Clearly it is about an iPod with new GPS capabilities. Take an iPod, add a GPS receiver chip (like the iPhone), and install a few hundred megabytes of map data (like most handheld GPS units have) and you have a fully capable Apple-branded handheld GPS. The GPS market has quickly turned into a HUGE market, and it would be silly for Apple to ignore this market. And there is no doubt that Jobs thinks that he can do a much better job than Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom. Couple that with the fact that virtually all of the GPS devices out there leave much to be desired in terms of usability, extensibility, and update-ability. An iPod-style device will address all these issues, and can undoubtably be priced to radically change ...