Saturday, May 27, 2006
Finally, some pictures of my new black MacBook
Apologies for not posting anything here about my new black MacBook sooner. Each of the three or four times I went to post something while I was in LA, it turned out Blogger was down (in fact, I'm not even sure it's working correctly at the moment, as slowly as it's loading). Obviously Blogger wasn't down for the whole week or I'm sure it would have been a big story, but that's way still too problematic for my tastes. I may have to find another blog host (or have the iProng.com posting system adapted for this blog). Anyway, here are some pictures of my MacBook, all taken on the day I bought it last week. It seems I've already posted these pictures on every website but this one (even on other people's websites), but better late than never I suppose. In any case, I'm working on a summation of my first ten days with my MacBook (whoops, just called it an 'iBook' and had to fix it), as well as the story of bringing the thing three thousand miles home via the only carrying method I could - its original retail box.
But for now you'll have to settle for the pictures I hastily snapped while setting the machine for use at the iProng booth this past weekend in LA:
The Apple Store at The Grove in Los Angeles, where the mighty MacBook was acquired
The lunchbox it arrived in
Eh, wonder what might be inside?
Look ma, no release button! The thing just snaps together
The much-discussed new keyboard
The left-side ports including the MagSafe charging port
Not only is it five times faster than the iBook, the screen is seemingly five times brighter
The first black Apple laptop to feature the Apple logo right side up
The glowing logo (we're still waiting for Apple to make its logo glow on the back of the iPod)
For having thirty percent higher screen resolution, the MacBook isn't much physically larger...
...in fact it's shorter...
...and thinner.
Apologies for not posting anything here about my new black MacBook sooner. Each of the three or four times I went to post something while I was in LA, it turned out Blogger was down (in fact, I'm not even sure it's working correctly at the moment, as slowly as it's loading). Obviously Blogger wasn't down for the whole week or I'm sure it would have been a big story, but that's way still too problematic for my tastes. I may have to find another blog host (or have the iProng.com posting system adapted for this blog). Anyway, here are some pictures of my MacBook, all taken on the day I bought it last week. It seems I've already posted these pictures on every website but this one (even on other people's websites), but better late than never I suppose. In any case, I'm working on a summation of my first ten days with my MacBook (whoops, just called it an 'iBook' and had to fix it), as well as the story of bringing the thing three thousand miles home via the only carrying method I could - its original retail box.
But for now you'll have to settle for the pictures I hastily snapped while setting the machine for use at the iProng booth this past weekend in LA:
The Apple Store at The Grove in Los Angeles, where the mighty MacBook was acquired
The lunchbox it arrived in
Eh, wonder what might be inside?
Look ma, no release button! The thing just snaps together
The much-discussed new keyboard
The left-side ports including the MagSafe charging port
Not only is it five times faster than the iBook, the screen is seemingly five times brighter
The first black Apple laptop to feature the Apple logo right side up
The glowing logo (we're still waiting for Apple to make its logo glow on the back of the iPod)
For having thirty percent higher screen resolution, the MacBook isn't much physically larger...
...in fact it's shorter...
...and thinner.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
No, I would not like a CVS card today
They should videotape this scene so they can just play it back instead of me having to re-live it each time I approach the register at the local CVS store:
Cashier asks me if I have a CVS card. I kindly answer in the negative. Cashier then asks me if I want a CVS card. I kindly repeat my earlier answer. Cashier then grabs a random CVS card out of a stack of CVS cards sitting behind the counter and scans it so that the computer thinks I have a CVS card.
The kicker is that the same scene is usually playing out at the register next to me, just finished playing out with the customer in front of me, and I can hear it playing out with the customer behind me as I'm walking out. And the exact same thing happens every time I go to the Winn-Dixie grocery store as well.
Some people don't want to register for these kinds of cards because while they get you "discounts" on certain items, they also give the company the ability to track your purchases. Me, I could care less if the folks at CVS keep track of which brand of candy bar is my favorite. I just don't want to carry around yet another piece of plastic in my overflowing wallet - at least not one as pointless as a store discount card.
But regardless of the reasons, the bottom line is people don't want to play these kind of games. Even the employees seem to agree that the whole thing is so silly that they're scanning random cards into the computer just so no one walks away angry at having had to pay higher prices. You know a company's in trouble when every employee knows something ain't working, and has invented a way to work around it, but management still hasn't figured out that they need to get rid of it.
While I'm not sure I would want the government to actually make a specific law against it, I can't quite figure out how it can be considered legal for a store to force you to pay higher prices if you don't want them collecting personal data on you. It's not something I can really get worked up over, but I'm guessing there have been enough blow-ups over this that the employees are intent on making sure that no one leaves the register without getting the discounted prices.
But more importantly, I wonder if the stores that pull this crap realize just how much business they're losing because of it? I can't be the only one who finds myself actively trying to avoid shopping at any store that asks me if I have a card.
I don't find it invasive, intrusive, threatening, or harmful. I just find it annoying enough that I'd rather shop somewhere else.
They should videotape this scene so they can just play it back instead of me having to re-live it each time I approach the register at the local CVS store:
Cashier asks me if I have a CVS card. I kindly answer in the negative. Cashier then asks me if I want a CVS card. I kindly repeat my earlier answer. Cashier then grabs a random CVS card out of a stack of CVS cards sitting behind the counter and scans it so that the computer thinks I have a CVS card.
The kicker is that the same scene is usually playing out at the register next to me, just finished playing out with the customer in front of me, and I can hear it playing out with the customer behind me as I'm walking out. And the exact same thing happens every time I go to the Winn-Dixie grocery store as well.
Some people don't want to register for these kinds of cards because while they get you "discounts" on certain items, they also give the company the ability to track your purchases. Me, I could care less if the folks at CVS keep track of which brand of candy bar is my favorite. I just don't want to carry around yet another piece of plastic in my overflowing wallet - at least not one as pointless as a store discount card.
But regardless of the reasons, the bottom line is people don't want to play these kind of games. Even the employees seem to agree that the whole thing is so silly that they're scanning random cards into the computer just so no one walks away angry at having had to pay higher prices. You know a company's in trouble when every employee knows something ain't working, and has invented a way to work around it, but management still hasn't figured out that they need to get rid of it.
While I'm not sure I would want the government to actually make a specific law against it, I can't quite figure out how it can be considered legal for a store to force you to pay higher prices if you don't want them collecting personal data on you. It's not something I can really get worked up over, but I'm guessing there have been enough blow-ups over this that the employees are intent on making sure that no one leaves the register without getting the discounted prices.
But more importantly, I wonder if the stores that pull this crap realize just how much business they're losing because of it? I can't be the only one who finds myself actively trying to avoid shopping at any store that asks me if I have a card.
I don't find it invasive, intrusive, threatening, or harmful. I just find it annoying enough that I'd rather shop somewhere else.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Get a Mac: the right advertisements at the right time
Love the new Get a Mac ads. They're the right ads at the right time. Don't let the humor fool you, these ads are nice and arrogant. This isn't the soft-sell of years past, where the boldest Apple could get away with being was to let Mac users get on carmera and run their mount about how much they like doing so. Thanks to a confluence of reasons ranging from the rise of consumer multimedia, to fears over security, to the popularity of the iPod, to the rise of legal music downloads, and the fact that many PC users have become vaguely aware of the fact that the Mac rates out better in all of these areas, Apple is finally in a position to go on television and arrogantly inform the world that yes, all the good things they've heard about the Mac from nutcases like you and me is actually true after all.
But they get away with the arrogance not just because people quietly know they're right, but because the ads start off with such an unassuming presence. You think it's some kind of public service announcement from the computer gods, cheerfully informing you of various aspects of personal computing...and then suddenly you realize that it's Apple arrogantly informing you why its computers are great and all other computers are crap. Disguised as an unassuming humorous soft-sell, it's actually some well-disguised powerful stuff. Even a year or two, Apple couldn't have gotten away with it. But now's the time to take everything that PC users are subconsciously starting to realize about the Mac, and actively shove it down their throats. It ends up planting such a direct message with consumers that it'll leave them wondering why companies such as Dell and Microsoft don't have the nerve to publicly defend themselves against the Mac. The more that those companies continue to officially pretend that the Mac doesn't exist, the better of a choice the Mac looks to be in comparison.
...and here you thought I was going to write a ten paragraph dissertation on the subject :-)
Love the new Get a Mac ads. They're the right ads at the right time. Don't let the humor fool you, these ads are nice and arrogant. This isn't the soft-sell of years past, where the boldest Apple could get away with being was to let Mac users get on carmera and run their mount about how much they like doing so. Thanks to a confluence of reasons ranging from the rise of consumer multimedia, to fears over security, to the popularity of the iPod, to the rise of legal music downloads, and the fact that many PC users have become vaguely aware of the fact that the Mac rates out better in all of these areas, Apple is finally in a position to go on television and arrogantly inform the world that yes, all the good things they've heard about the Mac from nutcases like you and me is actually true after all.
But they get away with the arrogance not just because people quietly know they're right, but because the ads start off with such an unassuming presence. You think it's some kind of public service announcement from the computer gods, cheerfully informing you of various aspects of personal computing...and then suddenly you realize that it's Apple arrogantly informing you why its computers are great and all other computers are crap. Disguised as an unassuming humorous soft-sell, it's actually some well-disguised powerful stuff. Even a year or two, Apple couldn't have gotten away with it. But now's the time to take everything that PC users are subconsciously starting to realize about the Mac, and actively shove it down their throats. It ends up planting such a direct message with consumers that it'll leave them wondering why companies such as Dell and Microsoft don't have the nerve to publicly defend themselves against the Mac. The more that those companies continue to officially pretend that the Mac doesn't exist, the better of a choice the Mac looks to be in comparison.
...and here you thought I was going to write a ten paragraph dissertation on the subject :-)
