According to plans still being rolled out, hardware will become a secondary focus of the stores’ marketing efforts, making way for a spotlight on applications and the digital features of Apple products. The front section of the store will promote, “Why You’ll Love a Mac,” catching visitors when they first enter the store. The section will have signage and brochures pointing out the advantages of a Mac over a Windows PC. The next section of the store will focus on the iLife suite of software applications, and will provide information how they can contribute to a Mac user’s digital lifestyle. And in the third section of the reorganized interior, Apple will highlight the iWork software applications.
Category: Apple
Trash To Get Update in 10.6?
Under Mac OS 9, users had the option to restore any “Trash”ed files (before the Trash is emptied) back to their original locations with a simple “Put Away” command. For some reason, this capability was lost in the transition to Mac OS X. In the latest Snow Leopard builds, it’s back (as “Put Back”). So any accidental disposals can now easily be restored with a simple click. Again, this only works for files that have been moved to the Trash but not yet “emptied” (deleted).
Push Notifications Waiting for Snow Leopard Server?
Apple has historically allowed a number of technologies to languish as it focuses on the most promising and profitable products to invest its resources in. That’s good news for anyone wondering if the company’s PNS (push notification services) will ever see the light of day, as the company has so much riding on it. Unlike Apple TV, iCal, and other projects that seem to have taken a long time to develop as back burner hobbies due to the lack of any real revenue stream to justify their development, Apple’s PNS is directly related to immediately profitable, high priority projects from the iPhone to MobileMe to iTunes to Snow Leopard Server.
Phisers Trying to Bait MobileMe Customers
MobileMe users have been receiving a new phishing e-mail that informs them that their annual subscription is set to renew automatically on a certain date, but that “attempts to charge your credit card have failed.” It then offers to let you log in to update your information.
Maybe I’m a jerk, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for people who get suckered into this kind of thing.
My Oldest App Store Wish is Coming True
Apple Neglecting the Mac Line?
Every man-hour of a top designer, programmer or designer spent on the Mac is an hour they don’t have to spend on what really matters at Apple. This doesn’t mean that Macs are getting worse, that argument would be difficult to make, but Macs aren’t improving at the rate Mac users have come to expect. Don’t expect that trend to change. While you’re wishing for a new mini or a “true” Mac netbook Apple is working on the tricky question of resource allocation. For Mac fans, the truth is the best allocation of Apple’s resources isn’t the Mac.
Six Years On, Still Looking Good
Macworld’s Rob Griffith, on his original 23-inch Apple Cinema Display ( the “Aqua” one), which just turned 6 years old:
The plastic case itself is fine, not showing any scratches at all. When I bought the monitor, it had one dead pixel (thankfully, in an out-of-the-way location and one that only shows on black backgrounds), and as of today, that’s still the only dead pixel.
The monitor’s brightness seems to be right where it was when new, too—I leave the brightness slider in the middle of the range, and I find that makes the display more than bright enough for my eyes.
Graphite iMac G3 Gets Reviewed
ForkBombr reader John H. sent me this link to CNet’s product page for the 400Mhz Graphite iMac G3. Check out the manufacturer’s description:
iMac is, quite simply, an outrageously attractive, surprisingly affordable, and extraordinarily easy-to-set-up-and-use system. It comes fully loaded, but brings along none of the hassle you might associate with the word “computer”. Get ready for the excitement of swift, simple Internet access - your passport to a world of information. And the thrill of playing a game so richly detailed you actually feel like you are in another world. Then consider the fact that iMac delivers significantly more power than you would expect from a computer at such a great price. Whether you are a first-time computer user or a highly experienced one, iMac - with its powerful, state-of-the-art (and beyond) features and simplicity of setup and operation - is the ideal choice. It will let you do the things you want to do with a computer, and many things you may only have dreamt about.
MacBook Pro: Back in Matte
When Apple announced the revamped MacBook Pro line in the fall, arguably the biggest issues people complained about was the glossy display.
Apple argues that many users prefer glossy - for good reasons. The colors are richer, the blacks are darker, and the screen looks sharper.
But as will all good debates, the other side - the matte camp - has some very good points as well. Matte displays show colors closer to how they are in real life. The also look cleaner, since there’s no glass to smudge. Then of course, there’s the age-old issue of glare* - glossy displays have a nasty habit of showing awful reflections.
Saying Goodbye to MobileMe
I’ve been a .Mac/MobileMe customer for 6 years… all the way back when Homepage was the most bad-ass thing I’d ever used. In fact, Homepage is what brought me into the .Mac fold. Since then, a lot has changed with the service - what I need out of it. For years, I used Homepage and Backup - that was it. The online portion - email and contacts - was nice to have, but I didn’t rely on it. In addition, I was a one-Mac man: my trusty old Titanium PowerBook was my only machine.
Wozniak’s New Gig and the Media’s Obsession with a Sick Steve Jobs
The New York Times describes Fusion-io, a start-up Steve Wozniak has joined:
The company relies on high-speed flash memory, commonly used to store data on an iPod or digital camera. Fusion-io takes many flash chips and packs them together on a module that is a bit bigger than a deck of cards. The module slides into certain slots inside servers. That gives the main computing chip quick access to data stored on the flash chips. In traditional systems, servers must hunt for data on separate storage systems linked to the processor by a slower connection.
PowerPC Users Getting Their Sad Faces On
Despite all of Apple’s foot stomping about Universal Binaries and convincing developers how easy it is to straddle both sides of the Mac CPU fence, the company felt the need to take the much-buzzed new “Artist Lessons” feature of GarageBand ’09 to the side with greener grass. From iLife ’09’s system requirements section at the Apple Store online: “GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better.”