by , 1:30 PM EDT, May 9th, 2008
The key feature of Apple's Time Capsule, according to David Pogue at the New York Times, is to just ignore it. That has implications for spouses all over the world..
Reviews are usually about features and usability. It's all about whether the system does what it says, is flexible and reliable, and is easy to use. In this case, Mr. Pogue's review focuses on a major design element of the Time Capsule, that is, it's so easy to use, so transparent, that the only thing to review is the fact that it just works. So just ignore it.
"The beautiful thing about this arrangement is that it backs up your laptops automatically and completely, too�without your having to hook them up to anything," Mr. Pogue wrote. "Any time the laptop is open and turned on, like when you�re using it, the Time Capsule backup is quietly doing its thing. An animated icon on your menu bar�a tiny clock whose hands move backward�lets you know when Time Machine is doing its thing."When disaster strikes, one activates Time Machine [Leopard required]. "The sleek, modern-looking Leopard desktop falls away like a curtain, revealing, startlingly, a deep-space star field, Mr. Pogue wrote in awe. "The window that once contained your files remains floating before you, with dozens of iterations of itself, like file cards, receding into the background. You can now scroll backward through time until the window looks as it did before the unfortunate event."
In addition, the device doubles as a wireless router and a networked printer can be attached, usable by all the Macs on the network.
"You can�t imagine how satisfying it is to know that if your hard drive dies, you will lose no more than one hour of work," Mr. Pogue wrote. "This is a classic case of Apple�s insistence on simplicity taking its own version of the network hard drive into a higher realm. Setting it up was very simple, and using it is beyond simple -- you just ignore it."
The unspoken words in the review go to the complex systems that some people set up, so complex that the spouse has no hope of utilizing the technology without an M.S. in computer science and a notebook full of diagrams and instructions. In the case of the Time Capsule, one need simply give the spouse, of either sex, a MacBook Air, and let it seamlessly backup. No fuss. No technical exclusion.
That's what the Time Capsule is all about.