So Macworld was last week, and I have maintained my silence since that day. Partly because I was in utter shock over a few of the announcements, and partly because I did not want to pass judgment too quickly. So I allowed myself to marinate in everything that has happened in the past week so as to come out with a better and more thought out perspective than if I had just rushed into it. So here it is, a week later, and I have found the one thing that more people should be talking about, and I promise, it's not the iPhone (but that thing is seriously slick).

So what aren't people talking about that they should be? The Apple TV? Again, that's a no. The Apple TV, although revolutionary in its own regard does not hit the same market that this other device will. And that market is the everyday computer user, not the super geek that has over 100 TV shows downloaded from the iTunes Store ready to watch on the new Apple TV. No, this product is for the masses. Are you ready for it? The AirPort Disk. The what!? That's right, you heard me, the AirPort Disk. "But that surely wasn't announced at Macworld," you say, "so it must not be that important." Well, doubting Sir or Ma'am, I can ensure you that you are completely wrong. The AirPort Disk technology built into the new AirPort Extreme is truly a great step forward, and is clearly a strategic move for Apple. Although the new AirPort base station is not getting the hype from the media it deserves, that does not mean we should be looking over it.

If you are not familiar with what I am talking about, basically the new AirPort base station will allow you to plug in an external hard drive into the built in USB port on the back and then wirelessly use that hard drive from any computer connected to your network. It can be a file server, a location for backups, a media server, or maybe just a place to keep those old photos that you may or may not ever look at it again. You can use it for basically anything you want because it will be just like using the hard drive built into your computer because of Apple's Bonjour technology and track record for seamless integration. But, I can tell you what Apple will be telling you to use it for.

Can you remember way back when at the WWDC 2006 when Stevie J. came out on stage and showed off Leopard, the next in a long line of Big Cats from Apple? Well he really only scratched the surface of what will be released this Spring, but one thing he did cover ties in perfectly with this new technology, and it is called Time Machine. Time Machine is going to be back up for the rest of us. It will be built right in to the operating system and of course have tight integration with everything. The only problem is that Time Machine requires an external hard drive, but nobody wants to have an external hard drive plugged into their computer, or if they have a laptop, they won't want to carry around a heavy (even though they are called "portable") hard drive just to back up everything. That kind of solution is not Apple-esque because it is neither seamless or tightly integrated with an Apple solution. Nobody backs up right now, even though they should. Backing up is important, and until now, the average user has not been able to figure out how to do it. But, with Time Machine, and now the new technology in the new AirPort base stations, backing up files from any computer on a network to a single hard drive has never been so easy.

So if you're not getting the connection, allow me to lay it all out for you simple as can be. So, you have your computer, be it a Mac or a PC, that has a wireless networking card in it. Then, after a few months of use of your computer, you have oodles and oodles of important data on there that you would be completely sad if you lost (i.e. the pictures of your baby's first steps, or your daughters first prom). So you want to make sure you have a backup somewhere, but how do you do it? Well, if you have a Mac, you can use Time Machine which will automagically backup every thing that you tell it to as soon as a change occurs, and it will do it without you ever knowing, except for that time when you truly need to recover something. Okay, so you can use Time Machine or some PC version of something that may do something remotely like Time Machine, but where will you keep the files? Let's assume that you have two or three computers in your house, one of which is a laptop. Are you going to buy 3 separate drives for each computer? That's not logical. So are you going to just move the drive from computer to computer? That is not very user friendly, and chances are you won't perform the backups at all. But what if you could buy one external hard drive, plug it in to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, and then have all of your computers seamlessly sync all of your files onto that drive without any thought by you? Yeah, I think we're starting to see what this means. It means backups for the rest of us. It means we will no longer have an excuse to not backup something. It will make all our lives a little more worry-free. And if you get a USB hub, you can plug in multiple hard drives into it, or even a printer to share with all the computers in your house. And because it supports the new 802.11n standard, data transfers will be done before you even know they are starting.

So that's it. That is what should be on everybody's lips these days. Not the iPhone because it doesn't come out until June, not the Apple TV because it isn't as forward thinking, but the AirPort Extreme with AirPort Disk. This dark horse from Macworld will position Apple to be the one taking care of all your backup needs. After you see how easy it is, you mine as well get a Mac to use Time Machine, too, because, well, It Just Works. I think more and more computer users are becoming aware of backups, which means that more and more people are becoming aware of the lack of complete solutions on the market. These two technologies from Apple will be backups for the rest of us, and I am truly excited about it. The only thing I can't understand is why everybody else isn't talking about it, too.

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Chandler is a 19 year old college student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He is currently in his freshman year and double majoring in Computer Science and Software Engineering with a minor in…… Spanish. He enjoys computers, music, and sports (not in that order) and plays baseball with the school. His computer of choice (not of use) is an Apple, probably the iMac. Some might call him an Apple Fanboy, but he prefers Apple Worshipper. Born in southern Wisconsin he was raised in Antioch, Illinois where he still resides during breaks from school and summers. He enjoys having a good time and just hanging out. « less more »

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