Category: Apple

Apple warranty and the Genius bar

On By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Right after I posted on Apple’s increased market share in personal computers being attributed to their retail stores, I had to use one.

My MacBook Pro suddenly developed a problem with the DVD drive. Running across the street in Houston to the Galleria Mall, I got immediate attention. Actually, I got an appointment to see a “genius” next morning at 8:20AM.

He took my laptop, promising to replace the drive same day. On warranty, no cost to me. Now that’s service.

On the other hand, I left the store with a new LaCie 160 GB Rugged Hard Drive.

LaCie 160 GB Rugged Hard Drive USB 2.0/FireWire400/FireWire800 8MB Cache

Dedicated to hauling around my many hours of gymnastics video, this lightweight portable hard drive was NOT on warranty. It cost me $150.

Apple computer 2/3 market share $1000+

On By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Sure Apple owners are far happier with their computers and service than any other manufacturer.

But they only have … like 3% of market share. Right?

That was once true. But look what’s happened in the first quarter of 2008. During an American recession economic slowdown.

Apple’s market share in what NPD calls the “premium” category, or laptop and desktop PCs selling for $1,000 or more, is nothing short of phenomenal: 66 percent. That’s right, two-thirds.

macq108.jpg

… the retail stores make a huge difference. “Apple has got better distribution than it’s had in the last 15 years,” Stephen explained. “They’re in the right spot right now. There’s the iPod advantage. But the big thing is the stores.”

Apple’s retail stores aren’t just places to buy Mac products. They’re part of a larger end-to-end value chain—and with it the promise of a certain kind of experience. …

Apple Watch

How high can Apple go, do you think, from 14%?

Is 25% market share possible?

They would need a cheapo competitor more compelling than the Mac Mini.

easy computer back-up – Time Machine

On By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsements1 Comment

Most people do not backup their computers. It’s just too much hassle.

One of the best thing about the Apple 10.5 operating system is built-in backup solution called Time Machine. It’s the most elegant solution yet.

Rubbing it in. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.


You must buy a back-up drive. I got a Hitachi-branded external, portable 160Gb USB model for about $100. Any external drive will do.

Everything is automated. Back-ups are incremental, so long as the drive is plugged in. It could not be simpler.

The only glitch I can report has to do with the USB ports on the MacBook Pro. My Hitachi only works in one of the USB ports, not the other. Turns out not all USB ports are created equal. If you have any trouble with a USB peripheral in future, try a different port.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

For even better in-the-background wireless backup, you buy an Apple hard drive called Tiime Capsule. ($300-$500)

why Apple loves Microsoft

On By Rick McIn AppleLeave a comment

Because honestly, what other company in the world makes videos as cheesy and awful and outdated as this?

Fake Steve Jobs

Microsoft Vista operating system has been a PR disaster. (I used it the other day and found it quite good. Not Apple good, but good. And pretty.)

What can MS do to turn the tide of public opinion? Go viral with a bad Bruce Springstein clone music video. It’s so bad, I kind of like it.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.


Many Apple-laptop-carrying tech pundits believe MS is in longterm decline. A purchase of Yahoo would have slowed the inevitable, but deplete the war chest.

What if the MicroHoo experiment does not work?

same day rental on new movie releases

On By Rick McIn AppleLeave a comment

Apple® today announced that new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios are available for purchase on the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) on the same day as their DVD release. New releases and catalog titles will be available from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios. Movies purchased from iTunes can be viewed on an iPod® with video, iPhone™, Mac® or PC or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV®, with new releases priced at $14.99 and most catalog titles at $9.99.

Apple

Next time I won’t have to wait !!

homer.jpg

blog rants and raves

On By Rick McIn Apple, blogs, Google, internet, product complaints, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Blogging is ALL about ranting and raving. Taking an extreme or contrary point of view. Still … all those unique voices tend to march in lock step on certain topics.

Bloggers HATE:

Patents, Patent trolls, and the Patent office
Vista
ValleyWag
The MPAA and the RIAA
Comcast
Cellular carriers
Mainstream media
Facebook
Guy Kawasaki
CNET

Bloggers LOVE:

Apple
Google
Linux
TechCrunch
Engadget
Firefox

After reading The 10 things you may complain about (and five you may not) by the astute Rafe Needleman, I felt a bit sheepish.

firefox-ie.jpg
original – flickr – Lordcolus

Microsoft wants to Play Nice with Open-Source?

On By Rick McIn Apple, product complaintsLeave a comment

Tech pundits are suspicious. But cautiously optimistic that MS is finally opening up.

Microsoft Sings a New Tune—Wants to Play Nice With Open-Source – TechCrunch

Big Evil Wants to Play Nice Now? – Linux Journal

Groklaw is cynical.

penguin-ms.jpg

=====

What are they talking about? Microsoft evil?

Case in point: Samba, open source software critical to networking computers.

Google donated $20,000 (some change they found on the dryer) to the unpaid volunteers developing Samba.

“This is fantastic news for the Samba project” said team member Andrew Tridgell, “and will allow us to provide more support for developers who could not otherwise afford the travel expenses to attend conferences. Contributions like these make a huge difference!”.

news.samba.org
Google Pledges Annual Donation to Samba

Andrew Tridgell is an Australian genius, beloved by the open source community. He is one of those who advocates all critical networking software be open source because you cannot trust commercial software made by the likes of Microsoft.

Needless to say, Microsoft did everything they could (without admitting it) to “screw with Samba” in the development of their operating system “Vista”.

It’s the same thing Microsoft has done forever with Apple. They spend millions trying to make their proprietary software work, but imperfectly, with anything non-Microsoft. Most of the time they end up shooting themselves in the foot in the process.

I see Microsoft as a rotting empire. Like the former Soviety Union. The current Chinese dictatorship.

MS must fall as must China. Profitable now, or not.

==== UPDATE. Perhaps the evil empire can learn:

More good press for MS: “IE 8 will support web standards by default. (That sighing sound you hear is the relief of web designers all over the world.) …”

Bravo! Microsoft makes the right choice

The Good, Bad and Ugly of Movie Downloading

On By Rick McIn Apple, movies, product complaintsLeave a comment

If you are thinking about trying one of the movie download services (as I am), first read this review by David Pogue of the NY Times:

In fact, though, the Internet movie download era is more distant than pundits think, for four colossal reasons …

pogue.jpg

The Good, Bad and Ugly of Movie Downloading

Pogue projects that Apple will be the first to deliver a good user experience. But that the day is not here yet.

why Apple is sort-of evil

On By Rick McIn Apple, music, product complaints, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’m all about the balanced journalism.

David Sykes made the scary (actually not that scary) leap to Linix, Ubuntu specifically, and now claims to be happy away from Mac.

He’s right. I wish I had the guts to do it.

Ubuntu is available pre-installed on computers from a number of different vendors, including Dell, Tesco, and System 76. …

… Besides standard system tools and other small applications, Ubuntu comes installed with the following software: the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, the Internet browser Firefox, the instant messenger Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim), and the raster graphics editor GIMP. …

Wikipedia

ubuntu.jpg
one Ubuntu desktop – Wikipedia

Many Linux users like Apple, but have reservations about the company. The iTunes / iPod monopoly, in particular:

Apple also has received criticism for its iPhone and iPod integration with iTunes for not facilitating creation of software to run and maintain those devices using different applications tools besides iTunes.

Similarly, Apple has not licensed its Fairplay DRM system to any other company, preventing users to listening to DRM protected music bought from sources other than the iTunes store. By not allowing other companies or individuals to interoperate with its DRM system, Apple prevents competition and divides the market. For that reason most other online music stores which use DRM use the Windows Media format, which is incompatible with Apple products.

Another common criticism of Apple is that its products are often not user serviceable, instead requiring they be returned to Apple for repairs and upgrades.[citation needed] Typical examples include the batteries in the iPod, iPhone and MacBook Air which are non-user replaceable, and the difficulty of installing simple upgrades (HDD, RAM etc) in older MacBooks.

Wikipedia

There are many serious complaints about lock down of iPhones too.

apple_lock-1.jpg

Any company with something of a monopoly is a problem for customers.

On the other hand, Apple has been astonishingly successful at popularizing technology. The design team, led by Jonathan Ive, is the best in Tech. I love the philosophy of “simplification” of complicated technology.

The Steve Jobs reality distortion field works for me.

One day I too will switch to Linux. But that day is far off yet, I think.

I resisted the iPod until last year. But, since then, I’ve been very happy with iTunes and iPod. It works perfectly.

Apple is somewhat evil, but I’ll stay a Mac Snob for now. Research shows Mac users think that they are ‘self important, extraordinary and more intellectually curious’. HEY — it ain’t bragging if it’s true.

If you might be interested in Ubuntu for yourself, check Dave’s comment below.