Setting up a Wireless Computing Experience: Apple's Macbook Makes it Possible

Technology is always progressing. A man will invent items and then the inventor or one after him will then improve upon the initial invention. We have seen this happen with televisions, telephones, automobiles, personal computers and personal media players. In the world of PC's the laptop computer and then later wireless networking have been major breakthroughs. Apple Inc. has released a series of products that I believe will allow you to forsake wires, take your digital life completely wireless and never look back. The products, because they are all made by Apple, work flawlessly together and require a minimum amount of effort to set up.

I have a plan to go completely wireless for all of my computing and some of my entertainment needs. I hope that this article can help you as you plan to do the same. My plan began when once I decided that I will purchase a laptop and that it will become my sole computer. I decided upon Apple's Macbook because 1) I am an avid Mac fan and 2) because Apple makes all of the products necessary for my plan. You can get some really great deals on Macbooks by visiting the "Refurbished Macs" section of the Apple Store online.

Now in the past you would have had at least a desktop hooked via ethernet cable to a wireless router. That desktop would become the base of operations and then a laptop would access the Internet, a printer, and any other peripherals via the desktop. In my case since the Macbook will be my only computer I needed an alternative. Thankfully Apple makes the Airport Extreme Base Station. This handy item with the mile-long name acts as a hub. You simply plug your cable or DSL modem into the Base Station with an ethernet cable. This will give you the internet connection you will need. There should be no configuration necessary. The Macbook and the Base Station will begin to communicate and you will have your connection established for you. The Base Station also has one USB port. This is how you will share peripheral equipment on your wireless network. You can plug your printer into this port, or an external hard drive (which will be accessible by all computers on your network) or you can plug a USB hub into and thus be able to utilize an endless number of peripherals.

Once you have the laptop and the Base Station with the appropriate peripherals connected, the basic functionality of the network will be in place. Now is where the real fun starts. The next step in my plan is to purchase the new Apple TV. This handy gadget syncs content (wirelessly of course) from your iTunes library onto the Apple TV's internal hard drive. Keep in mind that you need an HD-capable television with HDMI connectors to use Apple TV. Once it is connected simply access iTunes on your laptop, tell it which content to sync to the Apple TV and then use the Apple TV's included remote control to access your the music, pictures, or video content that you have told it to sync. You can now enjoy all of this content from the comfort of your living room or bedroom (or anywhere else in your home that you decide to set up your Apple TV).

By this time in the plan, you will have already enabled yourself to compute and surf the internet completely wirelessly. Furthermore any content that you have downloaded from the web or from the iTunes Store can now be wirelessly synced to your Apple TV and enjoyed on your High Definition television. The final component is to be able to do this on the go. You can surf the internet by taking your laptop with you and connecting via Wi-Fi while you are out and about. This may prove cumbersome at times and also would not be ideal for watching your video content or enjoying your music. The final component of this plan is the new iPod Touch. The Wi-Fi capability of the latest revision of the ubiquitous iPod will allow for you to surf the web on the go. You can even check your web-based email (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo! Mail). Perhaps the most useful capability of the iPod Touch as it concerns this plan is the iTunes Wi-Fi Store. With this great feature you can purchase music (and only music at this time), download it over a Wi-Fi connection and listen to it immediately. Later when you re-dock your iPod it will sync the music you purchased on the iTWMS back to your iTunes Library on your Macbook. Depsite some common functionality I have not spend time here comparing and contrasting the iPod Touch with the iPhone. I do not recommend the iPhone within this article because the focus of this plan is computing and entertainment not telecommunications.

The wireless-capable Macbook laptop, along with the Airport Extreme Base Station, Apple TV and iPod Touch, makes it possible to completely free yourself of wires forever. So whether you are on the go or relaxing in your living room you can take advantage of any computer, digital entertainment, or email needs you may have. I hope this plan (or some version of it) will help you have a better computing experience.