Thin is in ag'in, umm's the word
The new MacBook air, the worlds smallest notebook computer (shown above) is wicked cool. But, some of the most exciting news to me is how they enabled their other smaller, cheaper and more portable thin machine: the Ultra Mobile Mac (UMM, also known as the iPhone/iPod Touch platform.)
Now they are putting a couple of much needed apps on UMM and Google has enabled their apps to work with the UMM. With locally cached Email this little gem starts to shine and is starting to break free of the chains that had held it down. What I call the UMM platform, consisting of the iPhone and iPod touch, has huge potential. I don't mind the $20 early adopter tax. Teamed with Web apps (that work) the UMM has the potential to be a great thin client! But, we are not yet always connected to the Internet. Even where there is WiFi sometimes it does not work well with devices such as these. For example, SJSU's wireless network is almost useless with this. So, given we are not always be connected, what are the next few things UMM needs?
- A real RSS client that enables me to take my RSS feeds to go
I mean this seems too obvious, but then so did Email and they left that out at launch. - A text editor
We need to be able to take notes in the field and then word process them later, either after we sync the UMM to the mother ship or can use a web app like Google Docs when we have WiFi reach. - A PDF Client/E-Book Reader Client
Hey, this can be a great book reader platform! It has a very readable screen. With paperback book chapters delivered in an RSS feed, who needs that Amazon thing...
But, I am happy. My UMM (aka iPod Touch) is an ideal portable thin client tablet Mac platform to build upon. I hope they continue. The upcoming release of a software development kit should encourage new apps. Thanks Android, er, I mean Apple, for making this happen.
Today I am off to MacWorld. To me this is like Christmas, my birthday and Winterail all rolled into one! This year Apple got thin in a big way! I think I can safely leave my MacBook at home. I do believe my UMM can do almost everything I need to do. I can use a reporter pad to do the rest, at least until I get that text editor. Ciao!!!
Technorati Tags: apple, UMPC, Thin Client, Ipod Touch, MacBook Air, MacWorld, Tablet Mac, ssloansjca
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