As I headed back home from the city this morning, smoke caught my attention.

Being the oh-so-intelligent human that I am, I of course headed straight for the smoke to see what was up. You know, because we’re smart us humans: we head straight for death when we see it.

But there wasn’t any death when I arrived. Just a car on fire.

Click here to view the embedded video.

That’s a Ute on fire. What looked like a Holden Ute from what I could tell. And it was spewing its thick white smog at everyone it could find.

Sitting next to the Apple Store, it was beginning to make the crystal clear windows looks more like the titanium white coating that shells the iPod, old Macbook, and the people unlucky enough to prefer a white iPhone.

It’s pretty amazing that a car that small creates a smoke that heavy. Still, don’t recommend the smell over clean air. Wow, did it smell bad…

Take for example the iPod. While not the first or the original mp3 player, it is the one that everyone remembers. It's smooth, simple, and white. The iPod face hasn't really been changed throughout its life and most iPod devices – short of the Touch models – still look like they've evolved from that original first-generation hard drive front wheel model.

And yet not a single iPod supports FM radio yet. Nor do they support other audio formats. Or drag & drop folder support.

Almost every single media player under the sun has all of these things except the Apple iPod. If Apple had actually gone ahead and put these features into their devices, they'd have an immediate winner. No one would bother going to another brand because there'd be need to.

People would hail from the streets "Did you hear about Apple's new iPod? It does everything!" and there'd be no reason to buy anything else.

Instant & immediate market domination.

Currently, I'm writing this article and blog entry on a Mac while riding a bus on the way home.

Sort of.

I'm using my MSI Wind – a Netbook that comes out of the box with Windows XP installed on it. While white like a MacBook, it certainly isn't one. At 10 inches on the screen, it's actually a fair bit smaller than a 13.3 inch MacBook and almost half of what the MacBook Pro 15 and 17 inch models pull out with.

The MSI Wind I'm using hasn't been upgraded from its original specification and is currently sitting fine on 1 gig of memory and an 80 gigabyte hard drive. I have put in a 16GB SD card for extra solid-state storage, but that hardly affects storage so we don't need to talk about that.

What I have done however is replace one of the partitions on the original hard drive with an installation of Mac OSX… and damn, is it good.

From the start, I should mention that I've been hanging out to buy a laptop for a while because I'm one of those bastards that wants Apple to release a smaller notebook. I ultimately want a tablet model, but I'd take a smaller notebook like their older PowerBooks had.

Apple haven't exactly been forthcoming. They keep dodging my needs and telling me that I should buy a 13 inch MacBook. Why would I want to spend so much money on a 13 inch notebook? I can't carry that around easily.

So before I left to Singapore, I got one of the MSI Wind laptops, a computer I have been waiting for because it looked like the Netbook to get.

And it is.

Running both Windows XP and Mac OS is the dream of many a geek and this thing runs them quite happily. While not as fast as say a high-speed Windows PC or MacBook Pro, it doesn 't have to be.

My Hackintosh runs both XP and Mac OS, the only two operating systems I give a rat's arse about. How brilliant is that!

For those that don't know, fanboyitis occurs when people are so obsessed with a product or brand that they cease the ability to become objective. The part of their brain that determines and coordinates reasoning is shut off and they become defenders of the product or brand as if its being assaulted or raped and someone needs to step in as the voice of reason.

Which wouldn't be them.

Fanboyitis occurs through many different allegiances. I've met fanboys – as they are known – loyal to camera companies Canon & Nikon, best friends with Nintendo, and even some poor souls who swear by Microsoft.

But the one company which has quite possibly the most loyal fanboy following is none other than the fruit-based design wizards Apple.

Because of the sheer population of Apple devotees, one must keep an open mind about reviews, especially in the coming days.

For instance, the older generation of the iPhone – the original one which I and a lot of other people own – has quite a few problems, many of which might still be prominent in firmware 2.0.

What you need to know is no matter what I or any of the reviewers say out there come the release of our reviews, we will always have a flock of Apple fanboys out for us telling everyone that we're damn fools and to not listen to us because the iPhone is the epitome of brilliance and perfection.

These people worship the golden feet of Steve Jobs. I have no idea why. It must be the geeky predisposition to have if you never fell in love with a band.

Then there's the other sort of fanboy, the sort that the rest would love to welcome to their club with open arms but you might need to prove yourself to them first.

"I pledge allegiance to the Mac designed in the United States of America."

Wannabe fanboys are people who don't own the product or brand but furiously defend it if they did.

With the sweeping mania that the launch of the Apple iPhone is bringing around the world – especially in places like Australia that never had an official release of the original aluminium backed unit – this type of fanboy can be found in abundance.

Seriously, go to an Optus, Vodafone, or Telstra store upon the launch of the iPhone and you'll find quite a few. Or better yet, if you're planning to become a fanboy-watcher (like a bird watcher only with less dignity), be brave and head down to an Apple store where there should be plenty to go around.

On the opening of Australia's first official Apple store a couple of weeks ago, the members of the press were invited.

It was the launch of a store. A store that sells products. Exciting stuff, eh?

For us, it was work. For the people sitting outside and lining up to go in, it was because they were true fanboys and this was the sort of thing they did.

I read about one of the guys in line. He wanted to be the first English guy in Sydney's Apple store, in Australia's first Apple store. This would be his "claim to fame" as he put it. I felt sorry for him knowing that half the bloody store already had English people working there.

Since its opening, I've heard of people who have loved the store and people who were disappointed. One of my friends recently went up to Apple's tech support paradise – The Genius Bar – and found the so-called specialist helping her had previously worked at Billy Hydes and knew piss all, telling her she needed to go to a hard drive specialist and they couldn't help her.

He may be right, but even I know at least one procedure that could've been tried and yet wasn't.

And that's where you find people like me.

I'm a writer, a reviewer, a lover of all things technology. But I would be misrepresenting my own values as well as the integrity of an honest reviewer if I sat here and said everything Apple did was good because it would be a lie.

On the eve of the Apple iPhone launch, I think I'd like to say to trust your own instincts on any purchase. It's you who has to use it, not the salesman or fanboy next to you – sometimes indistinguishable – and while we reviewers can be a help, you're still the person whom you should trust most.

Let's see how wrong I can be…

The new generation of iPhone will keep with the recessed headphone jack
Let's see… the current iPhone has a recessed jack and has forced several companies to adopt a longer prong for their headphone cables. If people are forced to use the crappy-ass Apple earbuds (and they really are irritating), then more people see the signature white earbuds everywhere and the Apple iPod mentality spreads…

If the headphone jack isn't recessed, Apple will announce a remote for the iPhone
The iPod already has one… so why not the iPhone. Seriously, that little button on my headset just isn't good enough. Suppose I want to change tracks? I have to pull the iPhone out, unlock it, and hit the track I want. And a remote would give me the headphone of my choice with the mic built into the remote! How easy would that be!

That's it. I'm sure there'll be things like A2DP and A-GPS and 3G… but I just want the damned thing to come out here so I can buy screen protectors and a new headset for mine.

One not made out of Apple's earbuds. They suck.  

As a result, I might be a little late with the following information:

Apple have taken put several billboards -and by several, I mean ALL of them – to advertise the Apple iPod.

Now last I checked, the iPod brand already had the biggest market share of mp3 / media players on the street.

You see them everywhere. People with new generation earbuds and people with old generation ones, their white cords tagging along in front of them as if someone were about to silhouette them and make a commercial selling a device starring them.

So unless Apple are pushing for world domination (which they probably are) or a law outlawing the use of any non-Apple media player, a complete buyout of iPod advertising at one of Sydney's most expensive billboard junctions suggests the following:

Apple iPhone imminent.

Deny all you want, Apple. We know the truth. The 3G truth.

• Steve Jobs,
• Steve Wozniak,
• Fake Steve,

I want to buy a MacBook Pro.

I'm telling you this not to garner attention for a free one (although that would be nice) but to point your attention to something… because I can't buy a MacBook Pro.

It's not that I can't afford it; I can. And it's not that the premium with which you charge bothers me; it doesn't.

You make quality products out of designs that stand the test of time. In 5 years, my brother's MacBook Pro will be as beautiful as the day he bought it and probably just as functional. In 2 or 3 years, my Dad's MacBook will probably be much the same.

You can't really say that about many PC's except for say that of Toshiba or IBM / Lenovo, and they won't be beautiful in that time because really, they never were. They'll purely be functional.

You've also got exceptional software. Operating systems and multimedia applications designed to work using good code. Good code. Not legacy code or things found in yesterday's trash. Good code.

For the most part, you're doing good things in the eyes of this (circle one) consumer / reviewer / Windows-user-about-to-convert.

You're doing so good that you're one of the only companies that lets me install Windows XP on a powerful laptop. Most PC companies won't even let me do that.

But one area that you're letting me down in is size.

Sure, I can choose between a 13 inch MacBook and a 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pro, but that's not like how it used to be.

A part of me is sentimental and longs for the early days of titanium wizardry in the labs of 1 Infinite Loop. I yearn for a choice of silver pro-styled laptops. I want more than the 15. I want more than the 17.

Like the older PowerBooks, I want the 12 inch: something that fits in my bag and doesn't sacrifice quality for size, which is what the regular MacBook does to some degree.

Where is the choice, Apple?

Why must I have a crappy video card and for the most part a piss-cheap system at a not-piss-cheap price if all I want is portability?

I want to be able to sing. (Logic Studio)

I want to be able to dance. (Final Cut)

I want to be able to live!!! (okay… maybe iLife) 

Why must I be restricted to merely the meek in power? 

I want to be David, the 12 or 13 inch MacBook Pro that slays Goliath, a 15 or 17 inch PC laptop.

Maybe with the smaller cores you're using for the Air, you'll get this (circle one) nailed / accomplished / tenderized / watching "So You Think You Can Dance" like the rest of us .

But like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, I yearn for more, Apple.

The MacBook Air is too slow.

The MacBook Pro is too big.

But a MacBook Pro in the shell of a MacBook would be juuuuuuuuuust riiiigggggghht.

Sincerely yours, (circle one)

Leigh D. Stark / leighlo / another guy you're probably going to ignore.

Tonight, after having dinner with my brother and finding a birthday present for my Mum (as it was her birthday today), I went back to my brother's place to see this so-called "problem" he was having with his newly bought MacBook Pro.

You see he thought he was being shocked by it or that it might be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

I told him it was all in his head.

I think I was wrong. 

You see my brother looks for faults in nearly everything — okay… everything — he buys. From the Xbox to the car to the hard drive to the towel rack to the… we'd be here a while.

Sufficed to say, him finding a problem in something isn't unusual. He's good at finding flaws. It's why he's such a good reviewer.

But I've only ever been shocked by one MacBook Pro in my life before, and that one had been messed around with at the power cable end as well as having severe power supply and hard drive failures. Surely Mike's couldn't be this bad not long into owning it?

But it was.

I put my hands down on the aluminium shell of his MacBook Pro and occasionally felt the tiny pinches of electricity tugging at my flesh.

My fingertips joined in on the action to producing tingly sensations when I pressed some of the keys.

And it's not just us who are experiencing this too. There are quite a few people. Complaining. (Yes, all of these are different links.) 

So the interesting question here is…

Why isn't this an official question on the Mac support database?

I mean sure, it's not an attractive question and sure, not everyone can feel it. But certainly if enough people are dealing with it, it should be something support might actually want to take a look at.

I imagine that it has something to do with the metal casing. You know, the whole aluminium shell.

When I was reviewing the Lenovo X300 recently, Ray & I were quite surprised that the top of the lappy was made out of a rubber or plastic shell instead of a metal, but now looking at the MacBook Pro, I think I can understand why: shock value.

Literally.

With the brushed aluminium in the Apple laptop, apparently minor shocks are normal and there's really nothing you can do about it, except by moving to a plastic laptop.

So my question for Apple is this:

If the MacBook Pro is so special and high-spec, why haven't you moved on to making it out of something that's less likely to conduct electricity like carbon fibre?