Apple iPhone 4 Bumper (currently unavailable for sale)
Griffin Reveal Etch iPhone 4 Case — $29.99
Griffin Elan Frame iPhone 4 Case — $29.99-$34.99
Griffin Outfit Ice iPhone 4 Case — $29.99
By now, the big to-do about iPhone 4 reception issues and Apple’s Case Program seems to have subsided. That being the said, need for a case for your iPhone 4 is still just as great as it has ever been. A recent incident in my own life drove that point home to me clearly.
Just recently while out fishing with my father, I learned a real lesson about the importance of having a case on your iPhone. Let me give you some good advice; don’t keep your phone in your pants pocket while walking around in a boat! Having been an avid fisherman for nearly all of my forty years, I have never fallen out of a boat while fishing — until last weekend.
While placing the boat on the trailer at the boat ramp, I tripped and fell headfirst out of my boat and into the balmy sixty-degree waters of Owasco Lake, one of upstate New York’s famous Finger Lakes. Not only was it truly embarrassing, but with my iPhone 4 in my pocket, I was certain it was instantly ruined! In fact, as I was falling all I could think of was the fact that my iPhone was about to bite the dust. Fortunately, I was testing out the Griffin Outfit Ice case, which provided just enough protection to save my iPhone 4 from ruination.
Since the introduction of Apple’s new iPod lineup on September 1st, there has been a lot of commentary on the internet about the new iPod nano. While most people seem to view it as a worthy update that creates a very nice, focused music player, some people are upset with Apple for removing features that were in the previous generation of nano. I think they are wrong to perceive the changes negatively. Apple’s decision to go against conventional wisdom and remove features from the new nano makes sense, in my opinion.
Book Review: Take Control of Apple Mail in Snow Leopard (Ebook version)
By Joe Kissell
Take Control Ebooks
$15.00 US
Apple Mail is a free product that comes with every Mac and OS X operating system disc. This is both a strength and a weakness. Apple Mail is a fairly simple email client, which means that it is easy to use in most respects. On the other hand, it has some idiosyncrasies that can make it feel limiting and frustrating at times. The ebook Take Control of Apple Mail in Snow Leopard by Take Control Ebooks from Tidbits Publishing, Inc., by author Joe Kissell, can help make using Apple Mail both easy and productive.
Take Control of Apple Mail in Snow Leopard is 133 pages, and covers every conceivable aspect of Apple’s Mail application. The book walks you through setting up accounts, reading and searching messages, address and contact handling, sending email, encryption and signed email options, managing mailboxes, synchronizing mail across multiple devices, and many more Mail related topics.
One of the joys of buying consumer electronics is having to decide whether or not to purchase a warranty for your shiny new toy. Most warranties are fairly limited, expensive, and generally worth thinking about carefully before deciding to purchase. But not so with AppleCare. AppleCare is a no brainer. If you’re considering buying an Apple product, and you’re not planning on getting AppleCare, then Lucy, you have some ‘splainin to do.
Apple’s web site shows AppleCare options for Mac and Apple display, iPod and Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad. What might not be obvious is that if you purchase AppleCare for your Mac, it will also cover things other than the Mac and an external Apple display, such as a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme. I’m not sure how Apple handles it if there’s any question about the other device being purchased at a different date than the Mac, but I have firsthand experience that they will honor it.
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As an iPhone 3GS owner, I’ve been watching with interest as companies have started releasing Android phones with larger screens. The Motorola Droid X and the HTC both have 4.3 inch screens, compared to the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4′s 3.5 inch display. The Droid X is 12.3 mm taller and 6.9 mm wider than the iPhone 4, and weighs almost .7 ounces more. Dell is going to be introducing a phone that’s being branded as an android tablet, the Dell Streak, with a 5 inch display.
Certainly more screen real estate comes in handy. Apple certainly recognized this and released the iPad, which has been selling very well. People are finding that the additional screen real estate really transforms how the device is used compared to their iPhones and iPod Touches, and people who have them love them. So, especially after seeing the iPad spark massive interest, it’s understandable that some of the other smartphone manufacturers would be tempted to think that making the screens on their devices larger is a great idea. But there is a flip side to this, and Cnn.com has an article talking about the problem of phones too big for pockets.
As a longtime iPhone and Apple customer, I have been a fan of the design choices Apple has made to bring me a mobile phone that intelligently balances hardware, software, and industrial design. I was blown away by the revolution that was the original iPhone. After spending some quality time with the new iPhone 4, I feel like it is, The Second Coming of iPhone.
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The birth of my geekdom happened on a rainy day in late 1982. I had been working for Apple long enough to qualify for my free computer which every employee received once they completed their probationary period. I received a call from the human resources employee and she walked me to the “Apple Store” (a makeshift caged area used to store merchandising products and computer systems).
As I loaded the boxes onto a dolly and wheeled the precious cargo out to my car, I don’t think my feet touched the ground once. Surely I must have had a dumb silly smile on my face the entire time. I finally had a computer of my very own. Oh how excited I was to open the boxes. If only I had a video camera back then, well, and the Internet. Can you say, “unboxing?”
I can still remember the smells, textures, and sense of amazement as I removed the CPU, floppy drive, and monitor out of their boxes. There it was, my very own Apple ][. My life and bank account would never be the same. Growing up, our family had an Atari console which seemed to have Pong loaded most days of the week. However, this was completely different. Something changed that day. I then began to look at the world through rainbow colored glasses. I was not just an Apple employee; I was an Apple evangelist.
Robert joins in during the show to talk about what Apple could be announcing on August 7th. Plus we look at the week’s news, and more.
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This week we interview the famous Macintosh evangelist Guy Kawasaki. We talk about his time at Apple, Garage.com, blogging, the Macway EvangaList, Hockey, and so much more. If you are a fan of the Mac, this is the interview you want to listen to.
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Apple retail stores no longer sell or promote Epson printers, from my personal observation. Instead, HP and Canon are stocked. This change took place in May, I think, and was a wise, quiet decision by Apple.
Epsons print beautifully most of the time, but their print heads clog more swiftly and frequently than do HPs or Canons. I have a LOT of experience in this area, both personal and professional. I used to recommend Epson to my tutorial clients and Tucson MUG members, but I now also urge people to buy HP or Canon.
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One of the things that always amazes me is how big businesses lose sight of what makes a business successful in the first place. Granted, market environments change, but basic business concepts and formulas stay the same. Apple is no different. Education used to be the cornerstone of its business, now it is no more than an afterthought, receiving only lip service rather than focus. Steve Jobs and company need to take a serious step back and look at what has happened to Apple’s education strategies in the past five years.
In mid November I lost my father, he was a pharmacist who ran his own business for nearly 40 years before retiring at 73. Like most retail establishments his retail landscape went through massive upheaval and changes beginning in the late 70′s. Due to a combination of the then new concept of insurance co-pays and grocery chain pharmacies my father foresaw that his comfortable 30% profit margins would quickly disappear. To not only protect, but also increase market share he recognized that key to surviving this new assault was to stay close to the physicians (especially family practitioners) who provided the potential customers.
Translation to Apple: Continue reading »
Apple used to recognize the importance of dominating the education market. By staying in a close relationship to the schools Apple created an inside advantage. I can remember selling computers for a big-box retailer several years ago. Ninety-plus percent of the time when a family came in shopping for a computer the kids gravitated immediately to the Macs. Why, because that rainbow-colored piece of silicon fruit was what they got to work on at school. An overwhelming majority of my Mac sales came about in that fashion.
I’ve been wanting to do a story combining the ‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ with the current headless state of Apple for some time. It wasn’t easy. No matter how I tried, it was hard to imagine Steve Jobs as the cowering Ichabod Crane. As for Billy Bones Brom… well, you must decide for yourself.
If this story seems unduly pessimistic, chock it up the the fact that the last new Mac just left town. The ‘Store Within a Store’ is all very well if a CompUSA happens to be located in your neck of the woods. But here, in our own little backwoods prairie of 150,000 some souls, it’s now Pentium II or bust.
Looks like Topeka has been abandoned to the Pumpkins. Have you?
Dear Readers:
More interesting changes are taking place in the world of Apple. I read Apple bought out the Power Computing license. Is this the end of the clones? Maybe, maybe not. One thing I do know: It means one more Windoze maker (Power Computing responded by letting the world know they will become another Windoze manufacturer.) Depressing.
Now, I’ve heard both sides of the argument. One side says purchasing clones takes money and market share away from Apple. The other side states that, as a longer term strategy, clones equal more people using the Mac platform, and hey, Apple does receive royalty payments. Whichever argument you prefer, the bottom line is Apple never came across as particularly committed to their clone makers. Because they are perceived as uncommitted (or is it noncommitted?), the clones never had a chance of making money for Apple. And for users? We have fewer choices, at least for now. We’ll see what Apple has in store for us. Maybe I’m panicking…only time will tell.
On to other topics: One of the nice things about being located near a major metropolitan area are all the free seminars that come up. For instance, Apple, Adobe, and Xerox of New England are holding a “Color in Concert” seminar, showcasing the “latest Apple and Adobe updates” as well as the “newest additions to the Xerox color family.” (If you recall, the college student who color-copied $10,000 worth of $20.00 bills for his tuition used a Xerox color copier!) They always have nice giveaways at these things, too. This one is holding drawings for:
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Will Apple Be Sold?
During the month of February, many My Mac readers wrote in asking what I thought of the mess Apple was in. “Do you think Apple will be bought out?” was a very common question. My answer? Maybe. But truth be known, I don’t care. Why? Read on…
Ask yourself this: did you buy your computer because it was a Mac, or because it was made by Apple?
Software, Not Hardware
The Mac, when you get right down to it, is not the computer itself, but the way that computer works. How it does all the neat, easy, helpful things you use it for. Lets say you were going out to buy a new monitor, and your choices were between a 15″ Apple for $600 or a 17″ Radius for $450, and both work with your Mac. Which would you buy? No question, the Radius.
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MyMac Podcast #403
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