Macworld ’s offices are in San Francisco . My apartment is in Los Angeles . As you might imagine , this makes for a rather lengthy commute , at least until Apple wraps up work on that teleportation gimmick which Steve Jobs will no doubt introduce at Macworld Expo 2009 . Until then , though , I ’m going to do most of my traveling between work and home via the friendly skies .
So it ’s understandable how I was ab initio turn on by the news that Southwest Airlines had released a new program calledDing . The programme sits on your screen background and notifies you — with an hearable gouge , by nature — whenever there ’s a fare cut-rate sale or particular offer usable for travelling on Southwest . Ding also features options for on-line flying check - in and tracking flight of steps condition . But it ’s the fare - sale notification characteristic that should concern frequent flyers like myself .
I ’d know to be able to tell you that I ’ve downloaded Ding , installed it , and used it to book my next business trip up north . But I ca n’t do any of that — Ding is n’t Mac - compatible . According to thesystem requirements :
No . At this sentence , DING ! only runs on Windows 98SE , Windows ME , and Windows XP .
Is there a theory of that changing ? I put in a call to Southwest , and the news show was encouraging , though non - committal . “ conform the Ding software to Mac is on our lean of possible enhancements for the future , ” a spokeswoman told me . You ’ll notice that “ future ” could mean anything from “ tomorrow ” to “ by the fourth dimension you ’re a toothless old man . ”
This is hardly the first metre Mac users have gotten short shrift when it comes to coolheaded Web - based serving . You might remember the saga of ESPN Motion , a streaming highlights feature at ESPN.com . It debuted a couple year back as a Windows - only feature but promised to sum an OS X adaptation shortly after its launch . Nineteen months afterwards , that OS disco biscuit compatibility eventually arrive .
I ’m hopeful that Southwest wo n’t take quite that tenacious to total Mac bread and butter to Ding , especially since chase after down low - price airline tickets is just slightly more useful than watching variation highlights from my Web web browser . I ’m even more hopeful that other Mac users sense the same way and will let Southwest know — courteously , of line — just how good it would be to the airline ’s business organisation to add Mac compatibility to this app . Southwest doesn ’ have an Es - postal service contact , but there are hatful of other waysto get in touchif you ’d care to make your phonation heard .
