Email BLackout!

Stitch, I emailed you at your gmail address - I did receive your call, but it was buried with others because we were on vacation. I don't think I have your phone number, so check your gmail address when you get a chance. Then I could call you as well as update your contact info!

Spaceship Campus!

Stitch, leave it up to Apple and Steve Jobs to conceive of a spaceship like campus in Cupertino to house 12,000 employees, with green energy, underground parking, and native landscaping of the Bay Area.
Spaceship Campus
On the former grounds of an HP campus no less! Awesome! I'd see if I could work at Apple, but I wouldn't be qualified!

Demise of MobileMe

Well, Stitch, as a MobileMe user, I look forward to the new iCloud and will take full advantage of the capabilities. It is true that MobileMe was far from perfect, but it was so convenient. Now I know why Apple was no longer supporting iWeb with updates. People don't use their own web sites much anymore! (And let's not even bring up iDVD!) Folks want to use web site utilities like Facebook to communicate. I'm not sure if things like the Photo Galleries are also going away, but they probably will. I liked the galleries a lot more than Flickr. I felt they were more polished and smooth.

Kind of like the floppy drive's demise, I guess it's time to move toward the future! I feel kind of like I'm saying goodbye to a great software package like Hypercard! It's hard to let go...

iCloud

Stitch, as a Mobile Me subscriber, having endured the scorn of the masses for choosing a service that many say is inferior, I watch tomorrows announcements with high hopes! Word is that new Time Capsules and Airport Expresses will make appearances along with the new iCloud service. We shall see! I seriously hope there will be a cool music streaming service.

iPad2 a Dream on Vacation

Stitch, just returned from a 2 week vacation to Spain and France. The iPad2 was an indispensable tool, especially for the plane flight. I took several Seinfeld episodes, two SNL shows, and 3 rented movies on the trip. It is really nice to get lost in a good movie or show while on a long plane flight. The only thing I would want to do differently is have a better way of holding the iPad2. It turned out that the easier way to watch was for me to actually hold the iPad in one hand. It's light enough where I could do that for a significant amount of time!

Anyway, it was a life saver! Oh, and I even downloaded Numbers and kept track of vacation expenses. How cool is that?

Macintoshafanatica is an iPad2 owner

Stitch, I must apologize for being MIA on our Macnight blog. Things became quite messy here at work, but they have since stabilized nicely. I must relay the information that we are now proud owners of a new iPad2, 64 Gb wi-fi. A few observations having used it for about a week. (I actually posted this a couple days ago, but for some reason it was taken down!)

1. It is truly the ultimate web machine. In this respect, it is better than a desktop computer, and definitely better than my iPod Touch. I absolutely love it. In fact, I am typing this as we speak on our iPad. This brings me to...

2. I can actually type faster on the iPad 2 in landscape mode than I can on a regular keyboard. This is because I do not type correctly, however, and the slightly smaller keyboard makes it easy for me to type incorrectly. Don't laugh!

3. It is a dream to watch a movie or tv show on this device. I have already rented 2 movies, and I have ripped some tv shows that I own. Awesome.

4. It is not as good as the iPod Touch for listening to music for obvious reasons.

5. This machine makes me far more responsive on email than I have ever been because it is so damn conveninent.

6. We did not buy the smartcover, because we think we would have regretted it. Found out from a salesperson at the Apple store that the clicking of the cover on the aluminum case eventually causes small dings. Outrageous! However, cases have never been Apple's forte.

7. GarageBand for the iPad is absolutely kick butt, and I believe software like that will be the reason more people buy the iPad than other tablet computers.

Well, that's enough for now. Any questions? Oh, and I highly recommend the iPad2!!

iPad2 is HERE

Stitch, the iPad2 made it's much vaunted debut. Dual core, gyroscope, 33% thinner, front and rear facing cameras. But the two things which surprised me might seem modest to you:

1. The new cover seemed very slick. With all those colors and the fact that it is a convenient stand for the iPad2, seems like a lot of droolworthy stuff for such a diminutive case.

2. GARAGEBAND!! Man, for a $5 application, that induces drool from a Garageband user like myself!

What did you think? Does Apple stay ahead of the competition?

Facetime MacNight

I am just throwing this out there as a possibility. How about having a Facetime MacNight since due to distance we cannot have a MacNight at our usual venue. I have downloaded the Facetime App for OSX and have used it with my son's iPod Touch. It is pretty cool. What do you think?

Love the New Look!

Stitch, I love the new look! So "deep space" - probably one of the best backdrops we've ever had. Good job!

iPad2

Stitch, clearly the iPad 2 will be announced a week from today. There is no doubt in my mind Apple has been feverishly working on the next generation because, once everyone saw how to do it from Apple, no one wants to be left behind. That happened with the iPhone, and Apple knows the drill. I just hope Apple prepared enough for how crazy everyone was trying to get a piece of the pie. No doubt, Steve Jobs knew it could get like this. It will be interesting to see what Apple has up its sleeves!

Steve Jobs sightings and Apple stock

Supposedly Apple stock took a dive on rumors Jobs was hospitalized:

Stock Jobs

On the other hand, the article mentions Jobs has been sighted recently at a restaurant and also on the Apple campus looking good. I am praying, Stitch, that Jobs is ok!

Classic iPod on the way out?

Stitch, does this mean the venerable Classic iPod is on the way out?

Classic iPod

I can't help it - I hope the classic iPod survives. I think there are still a lot of people who want the additional capacity, and don't need all the additional functions of a Touch. What do you think? Should Apple let the classic die?

Jobs on Medical Leave

Well, Stitch, I hope Jobs' medical issues can be dealt with. I'm a little concerned, because Steve Jobs wants nothing more than to be on the job with Apple. So I admit this makes me uneasy!

Verizon iPhone to expand market

I think with the new Verizon iPhone, Apple's cell phone market has expanded tremendously. Some had suggested that there may just be a shift of disgruntled AT&T users to Verizon because of the poor network performance of AT&T. But I believe this will be a small percentage. Most people are locked into two year contracts already and they have already invested in an iPhone with AT&T. Verizon's iPhone is a new model which require a new agreement and investment. If this change occurred at a change in new iPhone models then people may switch networks. Plus cell phone networks are like cafeteria food, people will always complain about it. All it takes is one bad experience. But is this experience really bad enough to make you switch networks? More likely there is a large group of current Verizon customers who have been waiting for the iPhone because they did not want to switch to AT&T. The market gets bigger. Now if Apple can release some lower end phones to compete with the low priced Android phones, it would be a checkmate to Google.

My Aunt has an iPad!

I am thrilled to announce that my aunt bought an iPad (under my supervision) and is now using it for internet connectivity! She is the first one in our family to have a tablet device (although my parents have kindles, I don't think it's the same thing). It really is a thing of beauty! Everything just works!

$50 Billion in cash

Apple has been stock piling the money. It has over $50 billion in cash. More than MS, Goolgle, or Amazon. I saw an article making fun of the rate of return Apple has on this cash is only 0.7%. Of course Jobs defended this by saying, "we don't make having cash drive our acquisition strategies". Or something to that effect. What would Apple buy for $50 Billion? Maybe Sprint? It may not be enough for that though.

Can we bring MacNight back to life??

Anybody out there..............

Airplay from iOS 4.2

I'm sure you heard the news - iOS 4.2 is out, and the feature I covet the most is Airplay. Having purchased 2 Airport Express units over the last couple of years, I'm thrilled with the notion of streaming audio directly from my iPod Touch to my stereo. I'm curious if the feature affects battery life any more than simply using the "Remote" app to stream music from the Mac to the Express units. I'll let you know once I find out.

I hope the feature if iOS 4.2 push sales of the Apple TV unit. We'd love to get one, except we don't have a flat screen TV!! One day...

I think Airprint needed to be more versatile for it to be a hit.

Google Android search cash cow drying up?

It looks like the Android experiment from Google may backfire. Google makes money from Android by having Google search as the default search engine. But the carriers are now finding that they don't really need Google. They can use whoever makes it worth their while. So Google may need to start paying for having Google as the default search, cutting into profits. They already pay Apple for Google search on the iPhone. So does this mean that Google's revenue may vaporize enough to the point of cutting development of the Android operating system? Could be, at least hinder it. But since Android is now open source it may not matter. It may go the way of Linux and have a hord of computer hacks developing it. This in my opinion would be the demise of the operating system. From my experience with Linux, there are moments of brilliance in a sea of mediocrity, or at least excess complexity. Without a governing driving goal the system will splinter and become a hodgepodge of programs and philosophy. But how will this effect the iOS of Apple? With Apple being the initial leader in this platform, they have an opportunity to steam ahead. With the desktop computer systems, Apple stumbled and never was able to get the message out of the wonderful integration of their OS, and Windows buried them financially. But with the iOS, the cat is out of the bag and people love the simplicity and integration. There is no going back. In the end Apple may thrive even more due to Google's open OS of Android.

No more cash cow?

Meat the Beatles

Are the rumors true? Did iTunes land the Beatles finally? Tuesday is suppose to be the day of the big announcement. It is also rumored that the Beatles may be getting a special pricing arrangement too. And I would be ecstatic. It would be nice if iTunes allowed for a larger range of pricing, and let the market decide who wins or loses. Smaller groups on small labels may be willing to try to undercut the big name labels. Or artists may decide they don't really need a studio anymore and market there music directly. Anyway, it sure is nice that the Beatles have made their way to iTunes. At least so it seems.