Sanity Restored at Amazon

Well, Stitch, for now at least order has been restored to the Universe. The Zune is at number 8 for MP3 players on Amazon, and there is only one SanDisk above it. The rest are iPods. For a while there, the Zune was a shocking number 2!! For whatever reason, prices tend to slip on Amazon, and the Zune was down to about $149, which is pretty good for a 30 Gb player. But now the iPods are kicking butt. I think your anaysis was right - Apple has a lot of outlets to sell iPods, not the lease of which is its own Apple online store, which is every bit as easy to use as Amazon. You know, it's even as easy to buy an iPod at the Apple retail stores. It's so freaking easy! Power to the iPod!!!

p.s. Macbooks are selling like hotcakes. It's an Apple Universe, man!

The Zune has been competetive!

Gentlemen, it is time for me to get a bothersome issue off my chest. As you know I have an Amazon bestseller list fetish, and the results of late bother me. There is no question that the iPod is definitely number 1 - the new silver 4 Gb iPod nano is number 1 for MP3 players. The new 16 Gb ipod Touch is number 2. The 8Gb Sandisk is number 3, however, then come two versions of the iPod classic. Disappointingly, the white Zune comes in at number 6, and it has been around that spot for a while. I simply don't understand how people could opt for a player that is so darn large compared to the iPod. Now it is true that the Zune sells for $160 for 30 Gb, which is less than the iPods ahead of it. It almost seems that other companies are flooding the market with players, hoping to dupe the customer.

Tell me - is my thinking warped? Am I too much of an Apple fanatic? I could use your input.

iPod Hi Fi R.I.P.

Well, gentlemen, was it inevitable? Apple is no longer selling or manufacturing the much balleyhooed iPod Hi Fi. Are any of you sorry? Do you need a kleenex?

Time for variable pricing?

Is it time for Apple to be more flexible with pricing? iTunes is a household name, so it is obvious they are established. I believe that they should switch their business model the way Amazon has which allows for the market to decide a fair price. Amazon used to ship everything from their warehouses themselves. Now they are just the front end with some controls over how their storefronts act. Market pricing might actually give a boost to smaller labels on iTunes because it would show value relative to the big labels. There is enough competition to let the prices go to where they would be naturally. They may even drop if enough smaller labels gain ground. Apple make the plunge.

Apple delivers, Baby!

Well, about the only disappointment for Apple's announcement was that the Shuffle remains unchanged.

IPod nanos do video and cover flow, the Classic iPod is thinner and carries more music than ever, and...

The iPod Touch is the iPhone without the phone! And you can buy over the internet, baby! It just seemed like this time Apple was working on everyone's dream features for the iPod. I am a little surprised that the product line is getting so big. I would have guessed they would do away with what is now the "Classic iPod". Gentlemen, what do you think of today's announcements?

The iCar?

Have you heard the news that Apple and Volkwagen may be developing an iCar. It would have many Apple created features which Volkwagen hopes will appeal to the younger generation. I think this is so cool. It would give Apple opportunity to make the driving experience even more enjoyable and intuitive just like it has done in so many other areas. These joint ventures are a great idea. Apple knows integration, electronics and software, while Volkwagen know cars. By the way I don't think the car will look like this picture.

Link

NBC universal not renewing with iTunes

Well, a major defection has occurred. NBC will not have programming on iTunes for the coming season. Ouch! Apparently NBC wanted to double prices - shows would have gone up to $4.99 from their current $1.99. However, I understand they can still hammer out a deal - but right now Apple and iTunes arew at an impasse. Will they work it out? It sure seems like a tough situation. What do you think?

Apple winning PC wars?

This article lends support to Steve Job's idea that market share is not the only indication of success. Furthermore, Apple has valued profits over growth. (Which is hard for me to necessarily agree with because Apple has grown tremendously!) I don't think Apple is "winning the PC wars", but I do think Apple is as fierce a competitor as there ever was in the PC industry.

PC Wars

Anti Consumer "Paylola" by HD-DVD

According to a recent article, HD-DVD supporters are paying Paramont 150 million to immediately drop support for Blue Ray DVD standard. Paramount was originally going to support both standards. Sound anti-competitive? Not good! What do you think?

Payola

Gphone?

The latest rumor is that Google will be releasing the Google cell phone in the next couple of weeks. I think Google may be venturing a bit too far from what they know. They do not have experience making hardware products. And really so far there only big success has been the Google search engine. The other products don't really seem to make them any money. Google Earth is cool, but how does that make them money? And there online office suite is basically second rate at best. Gmail is good but still, is it a money maker. There desktop assistant really seems unfinished and hodgepodged together. It will be interesting to see if they can make a good cell phone. My guess is that it will have loads of features but only some of them useful, and yet unpolished compared to the iPhone. What is your take?

Flavor Flav roast

I was flipping through the channels and I came across the Comedy Central TV roast show of Flavor Flav. He is a rapper who is known for wearing a big clock around his neck. Anyway one of the comedians told a joke saying "Flavor you disgust me, you sold out quicker than the iPhone" Yes now the iPhone is working its way into the culture of TV.

Two Studios opt for HD-DVD - Ouch!!

Two studios opted to drop support for Blue Ray and go exclusively with Hd-DVD. Things just got a lot messier! Check it out:

HD

Appleworks R.I.P.

Stitch, it was announced that Apple would no longer sell the venerable Appleworks suite!

R.I.P.

But Apple hasn't updated the suite in forever, so I guess it was just a matter of time. And naturally the iWork suite is quite capable. The only thing it doesn't have is a database application, and I wonder how many people actually made use of it. Are you mourning the loss, Stitch?

Numbers completes the package

I believe the biggest announcement by Apple is not the updates to the iMacs. Although they were pretty cool. The big one in my mind is the completion of an Office package which is suppposably compatible with MS Office. Numbers completes the package. It looks very much like Appleworks where you can have sections of spreadsheets intermixed with graphics instead of having one massive grid locking you in. You can have that if you want but being able to peal off a grid and use it somewhere else on the page adds versatility. I always liked that feature of Appleworks. Except Appleworks was never updated much from its original design. Now who needs any MS product running on your Mac?

Apple Store San Luis Obispo

I must say I was impressed with the new Apple Store in San Luis Obispo! It was very long and it had a modest but very classy front. It seemed like a new design. It made me want to buy something, anything!

New iMac

Gentlemen, I'm back! Just in time to see Apple release the latest incarnation of a very important product line, the iMac. What do you think? The darn thing just keeps getting slimmer, doesn't it?

Record Profits

Apple blew by expectations yet again:

Record Profits

But what caught my attention was the quote that " the new product pipeline is very strong"

This is what's so great about Apple today - constant innovation, new products always under development. They show no sign of slowing down! I get the feeling that Jobs received his second chance to run Apple and change the world, and he intends to make the absolute most of it. He knows that second chances like this in business occur very rarely!

Macnight in the Arctic?

Yes it appears that we have been viewed from a ISP close to the Arctic. I believe this is the farthest north yet. Still waiting for the view from Antarctica though.

iPhone is WOW

Check out the video. Funny.

Video

Sony chief calls Jobs "greedy"!!!

Supposedly a Sony bigwig in North American operations called Jobs "greedy" and only interested in Apple's wealth. I think we should be careful about quotes attributed to a public figure. Things can definitely be stretched, exaggerated and so on by the public when information is obtained second hand. There is no video or anything to corroborate the quotes. BUT, it wouldn't surprise me if he did - Apple is beating the pants off Sony in some key electronic gadget markets! Check it out::

Greedy Jobs