Time Capsule Up and Running

I found some time this weekend to unpack the Time Capsule, set it up and perform my first back up.  I was going to provide the “unboxing” post I mentioned in a previous post but lost interest.  I am sure there are a ton of those types of posts out there if someone wants to search for them.  One thing I was surprised by was the size of the device.  It is a lot smaller than I expected and almost completely silent.

 

Setting up the Time Capsule

The first thing I needed to do to install and configure the Time Capsule was to install the Airport utility off of the included Time Capsule CD.  Once installed I ran the Airport Utility from the Applications->Utilities folder. 

I chose to setup Time Capsule wirelessly since it is the easiest, if it works.  It is pretty interesting that my MacBook Pro disconnected from my local wireless network and connected to the Time Capsule.  I probably shouldn’t be surprised, but I was.

The overall configuration was very easy, just stepping me through the configuration using a wizard.  I have an existing wireless network so I just added the Time Capsule to use that network.  I could have just as easily replaced the current network with the Time Capsule since it is a full Airport base station.  I may end up doing that at some point to take advantage of the 802.11n capabilities, but for now I just wanted to keep it simple.

Once I stepped through using the wizard the Time Capsule rebooted and my MacBook Pro was back on my original wireless network.   The amber light experienced on the Time Capsule during setup was now a nice green color, indicating all was well.

The First Time Machine Backup

I took my MacBook Pro and ran Time Machine for the first time and was delighted to see it find my Time Capsule right away and told me it would be starting a backup in 2 minutes.   I told Time Machine to skip my VMware Fusion virtual machines so it wouldn’t be backing those up all the time.

The backup started right on time and found 45g to backup.  The backup seemed to run very slow, taking about 16 hours to complete.  I am on a 802.11g network but I just figured it would take a lot less.  I didn’t try to figure out how long it should take but it was a lot longer for this initial setup.  I will be monitoring this in the future so I can determine if I need to change some things to get better performance.

Connecting with Windows Clients

I bought a Time Capsule so I would have Time Machine natively recognize it but also to backup my Windows clients too.  I was a little concerned with Apple’s support for Windows clients but was pleasantly surprised by the experience.  The key is to make sure File Sharing is turned on as seen in this screen shot.

Notice also the Workgroup is the Windows Workgroup on your network.  Once I set this and performed an Update the Time Capsule appeared in the list of my network devices in my workgroup.  Bringing up Windows Explorer shows the Time Capsule named Backup in the list:

 

When selecting Backup in the tree the user is prompted for credentials.  I was not sure of the user name so I chose the name of the device, Backup, and the password is the one chosen during the initial setup.   I was able to connect right away and create a new folder for my Windows files.

You can see the folder Time Machine created for my MacBook Pro backup.

Conclusion

I am really happy with the experience of setting this device up, it was easy and just worked.  I will follow-up later once I use it for a while both from my MacBook Pro and from Windows.   The only downside to the experience was how long it took to perform the initial 45g backup, which was a long time.  I may not have had my expectations set correctly.

The status back in Time Machine only tells the user how many files it is backing up, how much data needs to be backed up in total and a running status of the amount of data backed up.  I would like to see an estimated time to completion and more importantly, my current data transfer rate.

Technorati Tags: Apple,Time Capsule,Time Machine

Apple Time Capsule is Delivered

Today was a great day when the Fed Ex driver showed up two days early with my Apple Time Capsule.  This is the best I can show right now:

 

I am going to be on the road for a couple days so I can’t do the unboxing photos just yet but I will get to them when I get back.  It will be a great moment getting it setup and running my first Time Machine backup.

Technorati Tags: Apple,Time Capsule

Apple’s Time Capsule Cometh

Well, after placing my order on January 20, 2008 my 1 TB Time Capsule has shipped today!

I am very anxious to get this little toy and be able to have Time Machine backup to my Time Capsule without me even thinking about it.  I am planning to take a few pics of the unboxing, not because I really have to but because I have never done one of those lame unboxing posts.

 

Technorati Tags: Apple,Time Capsule,Time Machine

The iPhone and iTunes surprise me with a cool feature

I have been using an iPhone for about 5 months now and love the thing, it is the single greatest gadget I have ever bought.  One reason I bought it was to  replace my aging iPod Mini.  I listen to as many podcasts as I can on my commute to client sites but also listen to the same podcasts on my PC when I am working at home.

One feature of iTunes and the iPhone I totally stumbled upon is one of its syncing features;  When I am home listening to a podcast and then take to the road I always sync my iPhone so I have the latest podcasts from my subscriptions.  I get in my car and finish the podcast I was listening to in my home office and viola…it starts in the same place I left off.  How cool is this??   Sure, it’s a small thing but it’s one feature that makes me glad I own an iPhone.  Topping it all off is when I come back home and sync the iPhone again, it updates the spot in the podcast I left off at in my car.   Two-way book marking, very cool indeed.

My old iPod did not do this, but either the iPhone or the latest iTunes has added this great little feature. 

Technorati Tags: iPhone,Apple,iTunes

37Signals – Holding the future in your hand

A recent post over at the 37Signals blog by David about how new products from Apple make you feel like you are holding the future in your hands, reminded me of some of the thoughts I have had over the past year or so since I bought my first iPod.  David accurately explains:

Apple has an uncanny ability to infuse their products with that nebulous sense of futurism. When I first held the iPhone, the one word that immediately came to mind was just that: This is the future. It’s that unadorned look, the nobody-else-is-doing-just-this feeling.

When my MacBook Air arrived this morning, I felt exactly the same thing. Even the packaging feels future. It’s so tiny. It doesn’t look like any other packaging out there. The box opens as a board game and it’s really solid and sturdy.

David (DHH) purchased a new Apple MacBook Air and he explains the experience of working with the Air for the first time, equating it to seeing how other companies products will be influenced by what Apple creates. 

The machine itself is without a doubt the prettiest laptop I’ve ever seen. The proportions feel so right. Impossibly thin, lighter than the ~3 pounds would lead you to believe. And yet it’s a full-blown computer with no sacrifices in the interaction. The keyboard is a slight bit more klackity-click than the new standalones, but still awesome. The screen is very bright and instantly at full strength (go LEDs).

I have to agree 100% with David, Apple is the marquis product company, creating great products which will be imitated and duplicated by others.  Apple has really been the leader in the business of creating unique product designs since the early days of the Mac.  It has always been clear when looking at an Apple product that it was an Apple product.

Shouldn’t companies creating the next car, laptop or piece of software strive to have the same reaction to their product as David has with his new MacBook Air?  I don’t think we spend enough time working out the small details, we are too often pressured to just get the product out-the-door.

Why aren’t other companies as design innovative?  I think this is part of the culture bestowed in a company by its founders.  Steve Jobs is a master designer, influencing great designs by thinking out-of-the-box and not imitating other companies.  I am pretty sure Steve’s team of hardware designers are picked based on a criteria that is a reflection of Steve himself. 

Apple is not alone with great design and usability.  37Signals is also, in my opinion, one of these companies with their well-thought-out products Basecamp, Highrise and Campfire.

I own an iPod, an iPhone and a MacBook Pro but I am not an Apple fanboy.  I don’t buy Apple products the day they come out just because it is an Apple product.  I own a Dell D820 laptop as well as an older Toshiba laptop, neither design comes even close to the elegance of the MacBook Pro.  

The future products from companies like Dell and Toshiba will have design in them from what Apple does with the MacBook Pro and the Air.  We will see thinner and lighter sub-notebooks like the Air from these companies.  The iPhone will lead to better phones from other companies such as Verizon, who already has a touch-screen device.

I am not shouting the praises of Apple as if Apple is the only company but pointing out how the great innovation coming from Apple leads to great products from other companies, hence we see the future when we look at products from the design leader.   We should all take this as an example and attempt to build better software, hardware or whatever we build, thinking out-of-the-box.

Technorati Tags: 37Signals, Design, MacBook Air, Apple

Apple MacBook Air – Why Would I Want One?

Apple took the covers off its new sub-notebook, MacBook Air,  at MacWorld 2008.  The rumors about the notebook were true and it appears leaking a bit of information here and there is Apple’s style and works by creating a stir.

The notebook looks to be with the historical Apple style, very well thought out both on the outside and on the inside.

Technical Specifications

• Height: 0.16-0.76 inch
• Width: 12.8 inches
• Depth: 8.94 inches
• Weight: 3.0 pounds
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo with 4MB shared L2 Cache
• Memory: 2GB 667MHz DDR2
• Bus Speed: 800Mzh Frontside Bus
• Storage: 80GB 4200-rpm PATA hard drive
• Display: 13.3: glossy widescreen
• Wireless: Built-in AirPort Extreme WiFI IEEE 802.11n draft, a/b/g compatible
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Optical Drive: No
• Battery Life: 5 hrs
• Price: $1799

It seems a bit pricey to me.  Could this be another early-adopter iPhone-like price that will drop to $1399 in a few months?  Who knows, but that is the real deal breaker for me.

Also you can “upgrade” to the 64 GB Solid State drive for $999, for a total of $2798.  You could own a nice MacBook Pro for that price.  I did hear the drive from Seagate is $2500 but still, $999 for 16 GB less storage.  Is Solid State that much better than the drive included with the base model?

I am sure there is a ton of reviews and opinions on the web about this system.  It certainly looks gorgeous, just not sure it will be worth the money at this point.  If I traveled all the time I may think differently, I will stick with my MacBook Pro.

You can read about the reaction over on TechCrunch who had a good-time knocking the new toy.  My guess is Apple will sell a ton of these just because the real diehard Apple followers will buy anything from Apple.  I am not that bad.

Technorati Tags: Apple, MacBook Air