It is farewell to the Airport router

I don’t know why this bothers me so much but the recent news that Apple are (if the rumours are true) halting production of the Airport Router (Time Capsule, Extreme, Express) has left me feeling rather dazed.

These are excellent products. They are easy to setup, a joy to administer and they are a work of art. They are so good looking there is no need to hide them in a cupboard. I dare you to try saying that about the very excellent but catastrophically ugly NightHawk modem. It looks like a crab exploding in slow motion.

And no product is better at extending your network through a large or wifi resistant home.

If the rumours are true then very soon these beautifully elegant and functional pieces of networking heaven will be disappearing from the Apple Store.

Now I am not suggesting that Apple don’t have something even better planned but given they have recently stopped making monitors I don’t think it is likely. On the other hand, there are devices such as the Amazon Echo that plays music, answers questions from a voice command and so on. It has been suggested that Apple are working on a Siri version of this to round out its HomeKit, Home Automation and Apple TV as the Hub concept. I guess it could back stuff up as well?

So, on the off chance that the rumours are true and there is nothing in the wings waiting to take their place I urge you – if indeed you are in the market for such a thing – to delay no longer and grab one.

I am.