Super Ginormous

Category: Macs

Posts about Apple and the products they produce.

  • An Apple Retail Void

    Apple Retail Map*sigh* So many Apple retail stores, and yet, the nearest stores to the Augusta, Georgia area are at least two hours away. Apple now has over 170 retail locations globally, and a majority of those are in the continental United States. Augusta (specifically Columbia County) or even Columbia, SC would make prime locations for an Apple Store, and yet we’re not feelin’ the love.

    Don’t get me wrong, I know there are lots of other “Apple Retail voids” in the country… some much worse than in our area… but I think Apple’s missing a big opportunity in our area. Ours is filled, and I use that term loosely, by a dedicated Apple section in a CompUSA.

    • Columbia County is one of the fastest growing counties in the State of Georgia.
    • The 2005 population was 103,812 and growing quickly.
    • The median income for a household in the county is around $55,682, and the median income for a family is around $61,232.
    • More County facts: We have grown from 9,525 in 1950 to more than 100,000 in 2004. Rapid growth has transformed this county from a rural neighbor of Augusta to the major suburban county in the second largest metropolitan area in Georgia. There are many reasons for our rapid growth (65% during the ’80s and more this decade) – a growing and diversified job market, a premier school system, affordable land, open spaces lending an air of the countryside, and a stable, conservative county government. Columbia County is predominantly residential and includes a highly-skilled workforce. Household income levels rank third among Georgia’s 159 counties.

    Please, please, please, Apple… consider making a home here.

  • Cisco and Apple Settle

    So, the Apple v. Cisco showdown has finally been resolved. Hallelujah.

    AppleInsider – Cisco and Apple settle iPhone trademark dispute

    Cisco and Apple said Wednesday that they have resolved their dispute involving the “iPhone” trademark.

    Why do I get the impression that this is far from over? Sure, they’ve declared a cease-fire… but what’s going to stop Cisco from firing back when/if the iPhone becomes incredibly popular? Cash… hard cold cash. And stacks and stacks of it. Oh yeah…

    Under the agreement, both companies are free to use the “iPhone” trademark on their products throughout the world.

    This dillutes the iPhone brand for both sides. Sure, Apple will probably promote their iPhone as the “Apple iPhone”. And most people (I hope) are going to be able to tell the difference between a VOIP phone and a cellphone. But is the market big enough for two iPhone products? Only time will tell.

    Both companies acknowledge the trademark ownership rights that have been granted, and each side will dismiss any pending actions regarding the trademark.

    Translation: “Apple gave us enough cash to have amnesia. We’re BFFs now! Wait, what were we talking about?” – Cisco

    In addition, Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications.

    Other terms of the agreement remained confidential.

    Sounds like Cisco got what it wanted… plus, loads of cash. What did Apple get out of it? A monkey off of it’s back, and freedom to continue using a name essentially thrust upon them by the public and media. Don’t get me wrong, I like ‘iPhone’… but it’s very vanilla… People were going to lynch Steve if he didn’t deliver the goods.

  • Success

    Microsoft Zune

    I’ve had a few people mention to me that they were considering a Zune. I won’t lie: I’m an Apple fanboy and I have never understood why someone would want one until today.

    The Zune is to the iPod as the Mac is to a PC. Make sense? I’ll try to explain…

    For years, Macs have played second fiddle to PC. Macs account for anywhere from 3-5% of the market (depending on who you talk to). They’re considered premium machines… and up until recently, they have been more expensive than PCs.

    The iPod has had success in dominating their market for five years now. Figures show the iPod having a 65-70% share of the MP3 player market… They’re hugely successful now, and everyone and their mother has one. That’s part of the problem. What has made the iPod successful – their desirability – will be what sustains a counter-market that won’t get one because “all the cool kids have one”.

    That’s where the Zune could succeed. I spoke with two non-technical people today and one owned a Zune and the other was seriously considering getting one. Why? “Because everyone has an iPod these days and I don’t want to be like other people.” When I heard that, it caught me a little off guard. I was thinking to myself, that the iPod has a great interface, works seamlessly with iTunes, etc… These people don’t know what they’re missing out on… But it’s not about any of that stuff. Sometimes people care about price. Sometimes people care about features, ease of use, etc. But sometimes, people just care that it’s different.

    Let’s face it, the iPod has become something the masses want…and lot’s of people own them. Heck, I used to own five up until last week.

    The desire to want something different is what drives the accessories market, I suppose, and that’s a fact we can’t lose sight of.

    iPod Killer it’s not. It’s not revolutionary enough to take the iPod’s place in the market, but if it could be positioned as the anti-Ipod, it might do alright. As for me? I’ll stick to my iPod video, until there’s a compelling enough reason for me to make the switch.

  • iNeedMore

    Nothing kills productivity like a Keynote. Seriously.

    Apple finally delivered an iPhone. Well, delivered is a bit of a stretch considering it won’t be until June 2007 before it will start hitting the shelves in Apple and Cingular stores. While I am really excited about the iPhone, and glad it’s finally here, I can’t help but think: “Where’s the rest of the announcements, Steve?” I know, I’m coming off as ungrateful. I mean, Steve invented the friggin iPod and just made the friggin iPhone. But really, is that it?

    The Apple TV update was nice. I might have to buy one once it hits rev.2 and I get around to upgrading my home network to 802.11n. Apple will definitely have a place in my living room. I’ve already started to amass quite a collection of digital media that I’ve purchased off of iTunes, and it will be nice to be able to enjoy that content on my living room television.

    The presentation on the iPhone was nice as well. It was very thorough. I mean, incredibly friggin’ thorough. Thorough to the point where it seemed like they had to stretch it out as long as possible in order to fill the two hour time slot alotted for the Keynote. I waited in anticipation for the “One More Thing…” The fact that the company formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc. is now Apple, Inc. wasn’t really much of a surprise. The fact that there were no additional announcements seemed more than a little odd to me.

    People expected and, dare I say, demanded an Apple Phone. No amount of RDF would save Steve’s arse if he failed to deliver one. People expected an update on iTV, now known as Apple TV. Even with both of these great announcements, people still expected a lot more.

  • MacWorld Live Updates

    If you’re like me and can’t wait to get the play-by-play on what’s going down at the MacWorld Expo, here are some sites where you’ll be able to get updates (via Glenn Wolsey). I’ll be checking in on MacRumors and Engadget, and will try to copy over some of the updates here as they occur.

    Pictures from the event can be found on flickr, keyword: MacWorld2007.

  • I love Apple

    ipod shuffle icon

    Is it any wonder people have such a deep sense of loyalty to this brand?

    • They just gave me the second half of Season 10 of South Park, because I had bought the first half. I know a lot of people were originally ticked at the decision to split the 10th Season… but Apple made good.
    • I lost my iTunes library twice within a couple of months over sheer random acts … Apple made an exception in both cases (after lots of begging) to let me redownload my purchases.

    By the way, I visited my first Apple Store this weekend. (It was the one at the Lennox Square Mall in Atlanta, GA.) The store was awesome. I picked up an iPod shuffle while I was there and a Giggles game for Tyler. How could I leave empty-handed? The shuffle is gorgeous. I had a tough time narrowing down what songs I wanted on it… But man oh man, did I mention it’s gorgeous?

  • MacBook, Whoa.

    MacBook from AppleSo, let me get this straight, Apple… It’s $1299 for the top-end white MacBook, and it’s $1499 for the black MacBook, and the only differences being the enclosure color and 20Gb extra hard drive space? You’re not serious, right? Should we expect black to cost more in the future on all Mac products?
    Sure, one could argue their supply of black MacBook’s will be in higher demand, hence the higher price… but it couldn’t be that much more to produce … Certainly not $200 more to produce. What’s the deal here???

  • Bootcamp

    Apple BootcampIf you’ve been on the fence – like a lot of people have been – about buying one of the new Intel Macs, Apple’s come through in a big way today, to make that decision a lot easier for you. Enter Apple Bootcamp, a new technology that will be present in OS X 10.5, but is now available for Intel Macs. Now you can dual-boot Mac OS X with Windows XP. (The End Times are near, I can feel it.)

    Now that this is available, I can’t help but ask myself: Is a Mac Intel in my future? (I’ll have to ask my wife, hehe.)

  • Uh Oh… Someone’s gonna go postal on Apple…

    Apple’s new ad, promoting the usage of Intel chips in the new iMac has sparked a bit of controversy as of late. First, people were saying it was blatant rip-off of a the video “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service. Then, it was discovered that the same directors that directed said video were involved on the Apple ad. Heck, Apple’s even added the video to the iTunes Music Store. End of story, right? Wrong.

    A note on The Postal Service website begs to differ…

    It has recently come to our attention that Apple Computers’ new television commercial for the Intel chip features a shot-for-shot recreation of our video for ‘Such Great Heights’ made by the same filmmakers responsible for the original. We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely disappointed with both parties that this was executed without our consultation or consent. -Ben Gibbard, The Postal Service

  • A (New) Chip on His Shoulder

    Intel CEO Paul Otellini (L) and Apple CEO Steve Jobs at MacWorld.

    Newsweek/MSNBC has an web article posted with Emperor Steve Jobs. Great read…