**Edit**

Interesting that it had no problems posting here yet I haven't been able to post to my personal blog. Something about an invalid id. I also find posting a little unintuitive. Instead of a publish button, you change the status to published and then save. I know that's how the software works but I was still looking for the "Post" link.

If there is a specific feed you love, and you’re constantly emailing its articles to friends or saving articles in your clippings, that’s interesting…and if there are a lot of people doing this, it’s probably a good indicator about the “relevancy” of that content for other users. Similar with individual articles that are getting a lot of attention from users. Basically, by using your data, in combination with aggregate data from other users, we can deliver a better experience for everyone. And that’s a good thing - both for us and for you.

Greg Reinacker

Sounds like Google's relevancy algorithm.

In addition to the desktop software, they've also given free access to the web-based service (NewsGator Online) and the mobile service (NewsGator Go! & HTML mobile reader), all of which sync to each other so that a feed added to or read on one is automatically updated on the others.

NetNewsWire

I started by exporting my list of feeds from my current feed reader Google Reader, and importing it into NetNewsWire, the Mac desktop software. The import went well and I spent quite a while reorganizing my feeds (It seems there is no folder tag in the standard so this happens every time I change readers.).

The software itself is a joy to use, very intuitive with keyboard shortcuts for those of us who feel more efficient using them and fairly extensive preferences for customization. Along with the normal options to flag, email and open the item in a browser are a link to the desktop editor of the user's choice for heavy bloggers and plenty of social web options. Though with the exception of flagging, all of these operations require immediate Internet access. There is no setting it up to be done later as you might wish on an airplane.

NewsGator Online

On quitting or exiting the program it synchs it's settings with the online and the mobile reader. Here I was disappointed to see that all the careful organizational work I had done in the desktop client hadn't been transferred over. I know many people don't bother using folders but I do use it extensively to help triage the information coming through my 370 subscriptions. I understood why my folders were lost moving from one system to another but shouldn't two products from the same company be able to cooperate? It makes me doubt how well other changes I make in one or the other will synch across the network which is supposed to be its strength.

Then there's the online service itself, I expected something comparable to the desktop software on the web, in actuality it's very stripped down and the lack of AJAX support after Google Reader makes feel terribly slow. Far too painful to try to use even for one session with the number of items I deal with and expect to get through quickly. Others who track fewer websites or those who publish less frequently (or both) will find the reload speed far more manageable. It is interesting to note that while the web clippings synch, the flags do not. There is a cool trick where you can right click on a feed or folder and act on them (such as unsubscribing or marking all read) without having to load them first.

HTML mobile reader

The HTML reader is very stripped down as you'd expect from something meant to be loaded on mobile devices. It makes for easy navigation and (relatively) fast loading. There's reading and that's all. If you want to do something else with a feed item (e.g. delicious or blog it), then don't mark it read and go back to it later.

Overall it's a good system for people who work on their own computers or mobile devices the vast majority of the time. Those who need a good web-based interface might do better with Google Reader or Bloglines.

• Apple’s MacBook Air Is Beautiful and Thin, but Omits Features
• Switched On: Apple bets that to Air is human
• Analysis: What the MacBook Air is and what it isn't

I used the first iMacs at work which were the first computers to come without disk drives. The technology was becoming dated but it wasn't dead yet so every iMac in the library had to have one of the external drives hooked up which made an awful racket when in use and slowed the computer to a crawl. That's what this feels like. That Apple has once again discarded a technology too early in the search for the cool form factor. I'd rather deal with my full MacBook Pro with everything inside than have to balance one more toy on a cable on the go.

The new movie rental options simply don't do much for me, the 24 hour time limit simply can't compete with the unlimited limit from Netflix and Blockbuster. Here's one guy's experience though and Ars Technica has their own review.

I'm one of those who love my iPhone. I've noticed that those who don't are the ones who want to do a lot of text input on it: emailing and text messaging. The new Maps redo is full of useful functionality and I think a few design tweaks that make it easier to use.

The big thing for me is Time Capsule. Built on their Airport wireless network router, it will work with Time Machine (the backup software built in to the latest OS) to regularly backup all of your macs wirelessly. Backing up files is one of the most important and least thought about parts of computing. It's so easy to forget about when you're doing other stuff and when you're on the computer you don't want to tie it up with the backup. Using a laptop for my only computer, I've never been able to just leave it plugged in to an external drive to run an automated script. With Time Capsule however, I'd be able to just leave my laptop open anywhere in the house and have it backup automatically at a preset time while I'm sleeping. Like everything else it's not coming out until February but there is speculation that the backup over wireless capacity will be released for the latest Airport routers in a firmware update as well since they were supposed to have it to begin with.

MacSparky, the Mac lawyer, has a round up of products that didn't get as much press.

I'm excited for the future. I can't wait to see what developers do once they can run applications on the iPhone without “breaking” it. I will love seeing how the Macbook Air's design affects the Macbook and Macbook Pro's and I'm hopeful for Time Capsule. It looks like a good year coming for Mac heads.