tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58003262010-02-08T05:17:38.575-08:00Rants and raves about Apple Computer's retail stores and the world of technology....Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.comBlogger567125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-40304872411697180402010-01-27T12:19:00.000-08:002010-01-28T00:40:00.762-08:00

After an enormous amount of speculation and hype, the iPad finally landed today. Of course, it didn't measure up to the expectations because, frankly, our expectations were way off the charts. And of course, most of the surprise was gone because of all the leaks. Here are the main take-away points: it's great-looking, nice-handling, and it extends the current iPhone/touch object handling and

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-34895925846757357322010-01-25T00:23:00.000-08:002010-01-25T01:07:45.235-08:00

You may have read the Facebook page that sets out the story of Jeremy Holt, who apparently worked at an Apple store, but was a member of Airline Ambassadors, a non-profit charity group originally formed by airline employees. After the Haiti earthquake, Holt was offered the opportunity to fly to Haiti to perform recovery work for five days. He called in to report being off from work once, while

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-91380222123721247102010-01-14T00:37:00.000-08:002010-01-15T23:40:04.124-08:00

One of the country's most prolific tech bloggers is California-based Leo Laporte. His Twit.tv show is just one of his many video and audio blogs that cover every aspect of technology, gadgets and more. He streams hours of shows from the dining room of an old house in Petaluma (N. Calif.), bringing in video of guests using Skype, and mixing in screen shots of Web sites and product demos. Watching

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-3847044838667503752010-01-14T00:21:00.000-08:002010-01-14T00:37:16.427-08:00

It's the first known confirmation of a future Apple store in response to a press inquiry. Apple retail spokesperson Amy Barney told Pioneer Press newspaper reporter Julio Ojeda-Zapata that the company will open a store in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. She did not say where the store will be located or when it will open. Previously, in response to every known press inquiry about a future

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-5195955228538836882010-01-07T20:53:00.000-08:002010-01-07T21:12:20.447-08:00

You may recall that Sony was the king of electronics back a few years ago. But they slipped several years ago and have never been able to regain their glory. Their current position is no better demonstrated than the press conference the company held at CES on Thursday, so full of empty references to innovation and creativity, and so full of self-serving marketing, promotion, revenue references

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-12566451098577482442010-01-04T22:39:00.000-08:002010-01-04T22:56:44.439-08:00

Talk about a TV revolution! First cable TV and the Internet split off viewers from the major networks by the millions. And then in response, advertisers dial back their spending on broadcast TV commercials, and start looking for viewers elsewhere. As a result, superior network TV viewing has become harder to find. In a related move, TV manufacturers have had their own problems. Having made the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-46885072580982900852010-01-03T16:34:00.001-08:002010-01-03T17:19:40.763-08:00

I'm not inclined to issue complicated year-end reviews or to predict the future, especially with the predicted arrival of a new Apple product that may be called iSlate. I will only point out that, first, Apple is not about hardware. Instead, it's about the experience created by a combination of hardware, software and interconnections. Everything Apple is interested in doing now is defined by the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-73378737275164712302009-12-30T21:31:00.000-08:002009-12-30T21:54:46.958-08:00

Just when I thought I had a handle on the term "Netbook," along comes the "Smartbook." Tell me that companies aren't manipulating the terminology of technology, desperately trying to create new niche. Of course, it's been done lots of times before, but aren't they really squeezing it out for this one? Of course, their success is entirely enabled by consumers who are struggling through the early

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-87943091308637424812009-12-13T17:40:00.000-08:002009-12-13T18:01:07.007-08:00

Just before I headed off to Paris and New York City for the latest grand openings, I retired my 8 year-old Titanium laptop and invested in a 13" MacBook Pro. I also had a new Canon T1i digital camera (replacing a D60) and HF-S10 camcorder (replacing a Optura 30). I was happy to learn that the upgrade in technology greatly simplified posting stories and photos, and compiling a video record of the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-85048052578573905532009-12-10T12:46:00.000-08:002009-12-10T13:06:26.282-08:00

The CEO of AT&T just talked at an investor conference, and said that 3% of the companies iPhone users are using up to 40% of the network's traffic on a typical day—and that they plan to take some type of action. Ralph de la Vega said they would first use "incentives," which means something positive to encourage a change in behavior. He followed that up by suggesting that if the hogs don't change

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-84662206990058095372009-12-07T01:56:00.000-08:002009-12-07T02:12:39.257-08:00

According to the TimeCapsuleDead Web site, the average lifespan of the Wi-Fi and backup device is 17 months and four days. Well, I got 20 months and 24 days out of my 1 Tb model before it died. Here's the chronology: My Pacific Bell (now AT&T) DSL service was installed in Feb. 2000, connecting to an Alcatel modem, and then directly to my Mac IIci. Yes, the Internet was (barely) running on a Mac

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-11975004762646820952009-12-02T02:26:00.000-08:002009-12-02T02:40:19.594-08:00

I had occasion to witness first-hand the operation of the new iPod touch point-of-sale (POS) system. I had to buy a new Time Capsule—yes, my original 1 Tb model died after exactly 17 months, just like everyone else has experienced. After about two months of erratic Internet behavior, the status light (usually yellow or green) was completely dark. It pretty clearly suffered a power supply problem.

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-24412908697840260662009-11-16T23:46:00.001-08:002009-11-17T00:38:05.158-08:00

I've returned from a nearly two-week road trip for the Louvre and Upper West Side store grand openings, although I hadn't really intended to be gone that long. It wasn't until I arrived in Paris that I learned of the New York City opening, and so I then switched airline reservations and made a hotel reservation. Thanks to everyone in both cities who provided friendship and hospitality for

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-31085098685008099032009-10-31T05:22:00.000-07:002009-10-31T05:30:08.969-07:00

A while back there were some pretty nasty comments posted on IFO about a former Apple employee who ended up working for Microsoft's retail stores. He was, of course, present at the recent Mission Viejo Microsoft store opening. At one point he spotted a fellow wearing a T-shirt that had been a Fashion Island grand opening giveaway. However, the man had used a felt-tip pen to add, "Just Say No to

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-61090933563057312642009-10-26T22:56:00.001-07:002009-12-13T17:29:39.135-08:00

When it comes to the Microsoft customer experience, no one knows more than Michael Forrest, Sr. Director of Customer Experience. Actually, that may not be entirely true, since much of what Forrest has to say about first Microsoft retail store in Scottsdale sounds a lot like Apple, and a lot like Apple Sr. VP Retail Ron Johnson. Here's what Forrest said during a video tour of the store, along with

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-9624281460547262532009-10-26T14:06:00.000-07:002009-12-13T17:30:12.061-08:00

It was interesting to see the mainstream news reporting on the agreement that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) made with Apple. The Chicago press focused solely on "Apple obtains naming rights for subway station." On the other hand, my story had a different slant—"Apple agrees to pay $4 million to fix up crappy transit station so it won't detract from the wonder of the Apple store." As it

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-7055323947137882772009-10-24T00:23:00.001-07:002009-10-24T00:44:34.819-07:00

Well, we all should have known that new Apple TV commercials would come out on the day Windows 7 debuted. Good one. I particularly like how pointed Apple's "Trust me" line is. In the world of advertising, it's an unwritten rule that you talk about yourself and don't take direct, by-name pokes at your competition. Of course, Microsoft has released its own series of TV commercials and print ads.

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-55468268299278470692009-10-22T20:14:00.000-07:002009-12-13T17:39:05.894-08:00

The curtain has come down to reveal the first Microsoft retail store—actually, the first of the second round of stores (remember the one at Metreon in SF?). Where do I start to explain it? The store itself looks a little too glitzy and made-of-plastic, despite the wood floor and tables. Even a junior architect at BCJ would have avoided the support pillars creating a barrier down the length of the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-84979810028618344942009-10-20T18:45:00.000-07:002009-10-21T22:30:12.924-07:00

First, it's amazing that Apple continues to do so well through the economic downturn. You can only assume that there is plenty of disposable income somewhere, and especially among those who are loyal to Apple. But even taking into account all that money and loyalty, I would never have predicted record sales and profit--that's just nuts. To think that some financial analysts are now setting their

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-65524772100554865282009-10-12T01:33:00.000-07:002009-10-12T01:48:15.833-07:00

I'm all for consumerism, but usually when people start complaining about "lemons," they sound more like they're whining than making a reasonable argument. I've been really lucky with Apple gear, having just two real problems of any kind: my Titanium laptop hinge froze ($600 to fix), and my dual 2 GHZ G5 motherboard went pffzztt! Both computers were w-a-y beyond their years (the Titanium still

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-80034511368787695522009-10-11T16:19:00.001-07:002009-10-11T16:34:25.737-07:00

Microsoft/Danger has announced that certain data stored on their servers for users of the Sidekick cellular handset has been erased, and most likely will not be recoverable, despite extraordinary efforts to do so by technicians. I used a Sidekick for several years before the iPhone, and like that you could log-in via the Web and add, edit and manage contacts, e-mail accounts and calendar events,

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-42912327264382782482009-10-09T02:29:00.001-07:002009-10-09T02:42:45.720-07:00

Dell has announced that they will use Google's Android operating system in a smartphone to be introduced next year, and running on AT&T's network. On its face, the announcement is just another technology product move. But you really have to wonder who pulled the trigger on this product. Looking at it from an Apple point of view, what could Dell possibly bring to this segment of the market,

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-92033651643479804142009-10-08T01:54:00.000-07:002009-10-08T02:13:43.689-07:00

No, the recent FTC revisions on endorsements and bloggers won't affect me one bit. I'm blessed with a complete lack of free products or services from anyone, including Apple. On the other hand, I get plenty of good stuff just being a paying customer. And no, Apple will not have 1,000 retail stores within three years, as surmised by Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry. He doesn't

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-50736904226300505482009-10-02T23:40:00.001-07:002009-10-03T00:08:23.383-07:00

Since the debut of the iPhone 3GS and its ability to record video, I've been searching for two solutions: a way to stabilize the camera and improve the audio quality. For awhile there was nothing, and I've been using Apple's earbud in-line mike for sound and holding the iPhone with my hand. Now I have solutions for both. First, I've found an iPhone holder that includes a tripod adapter. The

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5800326.post-29392693176317361842009-10-02T15:43:00.000-07:002009-10-02T15:55:29.734-07:00

It took Steve Jobs five years to convince the music recording industry that digital delivery was the future. When he first went to them, they refused to let go of CDs and store delivery methods, fearing they'd lose money. Of course, in the meantime they lost money because of fewer CD sales and increased pirate downloading. Finally, they realized what was happening and that Jobs was right. But

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442386271976818737ifoman@gmail.com0