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Aug 11 2010

Apple's iPhone 4 Response Blows Competition Away

Category: executive learnings,tech opinion,tech reviews,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 10:53 pm

Imagine that Nokia or RIM have introduced a new revolutionary phone. And then imagine the phone has problems. Maybe it's battery life, maybe it's calls dropped, maybe it's software functionality. What do you imagine the response will be if your phone is a Dell? With the lowest customer care rating of any tech company, do you expect your going to get a replacement phone or a free solution? Fat chance.

steve jobs does the iPhone 4 press announcement

Well, if you've been following the MSM's "antennagate" story about the horrible problems with Apple's new iPhone 4, you might expect that Apple would respond defensively. Another miss. Watching Steve Jobs deliver the service event of the year presentation to quell the MSM rumors of "just how bad it is" stories about the iPhone 4, you can see why people think he's tech's number one ambassador.

What Apple has done is offer 3 million free cases, or bumpers. To all buyers of the iPhone4 both past and future up until September 30th.

It's like the battery overheating problem all over again. While manufacturers from Dell to Sony were blaming the battery manufacturers, Apple just said, send us your batteries we'll replace them.

To take a page from Apple's play book is expensive. The idea of giving away a free case would not sit well in most executive board rooms. But Apple is an elite company and few can follow in their path.

I take my hat off to Apple's swift and thorough response. While I am still calling and txting on my Blackberry, I'm looking forward to the end of the ATT exclusive so I can get my hands on an iPhone4 of my own. With case!

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/iphone4-jobs

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Aug 03 2010

Apple iPad vs. e-Readers Nook and Kindle: Do You Read?

Category: about me,iPad-iWay!,just for fun,lifestreaming,speed the web,tech opinion,tech reviews,tools — jmacofearth @ 3:56 pm

There is something satisfying about burning through the pages of a paperback book. You get to see how many pages you are wizzing through. And if the book is really good your anticipation of the beginning and ending is bittersweet. Maybe they will write a sequel, or another set in the same universe. This is how I always felt about Phillip K. Dick books. Enter the eReader opportunities. Hey a complete book for 5 – 10 bucks! That sounds like a deal to me. Let's see what the different products might offer.

The nook, the kindle and the apple ipad

For compact, lightweight and long battery life: the Nook and Kindle might be choices, IF… All you want to do is read eBooks or eMagazines. The Barnes and Noble Nook adds some color and what they are calling FREE WIFI for $149. The black and white Amazon Kindle is about the same. Both products are advertised at getting the WIFI, and the Kindle even adds a cellular variety for off-the-map places. BUT… Again, if you are happy with black and white and are satisfied with your WIFI providing only books, well you might consider looking on Craigslist or eBay for the first two. I doubt you will see discounted iPads until the next generation comes out sometime before Christmas 2010.

So I recently finished my first full book on the iPad. It was inside the Kindle software provided by WhisperSync, whoever they are. I was able to buy the book in the Kindle store as a Kindle. I'm not sure if Amazon notes that I am on an iPad or not. To them it is a sale either way. And for purists, perhaps the eInk is nicer to read from in a well-lit place. But the glow of my iPad display was refreshing and crisp. I still missed not being able to see the thickness of the pages left to go. It's like, not being able to see how much further you have to go. You can jump forward in the software and look how many pages, and the iBook software on the iPad tries to give you a good sense of where you are in the book, there is nothing like the smell of ink and paper and that satisfying thump when you toss the book off the bed at 2am having just finished a page burner.

Okay, you are going to have to pay more for an iPad. But what you are getting is a full-blown computer. A great web-browsing device. I halfway descent email reader and all the same books you can get on your kindle and more. Apple makes the FREE books from Project Gutenberg very easy to find.

I have read books in both the Kindle-emulator and in Apples iBook format and they are almost identical. Apple has a nice feature where you can tone down the bright white into a sepia-toned beige that is easier on the eyes. Like a somewhat aged paperback.

So I will confess today to buying two paperbacks from Amazon (piggy-backed on a different order) and one Kindle book to read on my iPad.

In conclusion: The iPad is not going to fit in your pocket or small purse. If you carry an iPad you are going to have to lug around more than either the Kindle or Nook. Much more. And sometimes the iPad feels heavy when you've been holding it a certain way to read in bed. So for that reason, you can take a Kindle on the plane, on vacation and probably not have to pack a powercord. But the chord is pretty tiny. And with the iPad you have GAMES, full-Web access, email… Did I mention GAMES? The iPad will play every game made for the iPhone except at 2X the size. (I think that's in the hundreds of thousands at this point.)

But seriously, if all you want is a good book and the simplest thing to read it on, the Nook or Kindle might be your choice. And if you forgot to pack enough to read, or if you get bored with what you brought any of the three can download a new book for about $10 bucks in about a minute. Or on the iBooks store on the iPad you can get thousands of great books for free. Think Emerson, Whitman, Joyce… All copyright free.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/eReader-review

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Apr 28 2010

Just Click It, 4-28-10: Facebook Gets Off Again, Apple Goes Long, Conan is BACK

Category: just click it (links),social media,tech opinion — jmacofearth @ 4:39 pm

Screen shot 2010 01 05 at 10.12.30 AM Just Click It, 4 28 10: Facebook Gets Off Again, Apple Goes Long, Conan is BACK

[More Facebook Funnies - You'd Better Check Your Settings (seriously)]

Time to Audit Your Facebook Privacy Settings, Here's How
Now that Facebook is loosening its data-sharing policies with third-party Web sites and applications, it's the perfect time for users to consider tightening up their privacy settings. This week the mega social network announced new personalization features that extend the Facebook experience to third-party Web sites–unless you opt out, that is. Here's a rundown of the new features, and how you can opt out if you choose.

Facebook does not erase user-deleted content
Since then, the site has nearly doubled in size. It’s now has the population of the third biggest country in the world, with tens of thousands of servers holding your data, which as soon as it is uploaded, belongs to them to do as and what they wish with it. [I think we need to look at this. I do a lot of FB, but what is it WORTH? To me? To them? To 3rd party marketing websites?]

[Apple Goes Long]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Gizmodo iPhone Saga
Every fact we discover about this whole lost iPhone story leads to another, and then there's one that refutes the first fact and then another that proves the first one true but negates the latter two, and so on. The legality of the case is in the murkiest of water, to the point where you can almost choose your own conclusion based on what's known–and not come out any less accurate than someone with the opposite conclusion. Hence, we present the entire saga, as it's currently known, in the style of a Choose Your Own Adventure book. If you're a pictures kind of person, follow the flowchart above, which is a rough visual interpretation of the story here.

Apple Buys Intrinsity
Intrinsity, founded in 1997, developed high-speed, low-power versions of popular chips. It also reportedly designed portions of the processor that California-based Apple used in its recently released iPad device. Intrinsity employed more than 100 workers in early 2008. In February, the company raised $4 million from 11 investors in a new round of funding, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

[A Moment of Fun]

Conan O’Brien To Appear On ‘60 Minutes’
After many months of silence, Conan O’Brien will finally be able to speak on television after Friday, April 30.  So what’s he going to do? [He'd better not be funny, or he's gonna get his ass sued.]

[A Strategic Moment]

Strategy's Golden Rule from HBR's Umair Haque, the voice of the smashing Twitter keynote at SXSW.
Most companies are competitively challenged — and the Golden Rule of Strategy is how I triage them. It says: "What your fiercest rival does badly, do incredibly well." [I know consultants are supposed to sound like they have it all figured out, but Umair's "is how I triage them" is so arrogant I can hardly get started. Is it just me?]

[WIIFM vs WIIFY]

the ‘so what?’ factor–what’s in it for me?
What came to mind was the biggest challenge I see on a daily basis–delivering value propositions. I mean most businesses are started to fill an unmet need in the market place with their product or service. The catch is so much attention goes into developing the product or service, over time it’s easy to lose track of keeping what that product or service is solving and the benefit it’s delivering in the forefront–especially in the communications phase. In other words–What’s in it for THEM, the customer?

How to Value of your Content for Sales & Marketing
As part of our process, and client work, plus having the Business Development numbers and scars that validate this process, tells us that customers today buy in a much different manner than ever before. Let’s look at what issues and cause could be in a little more depth, as all I have to do is look at my Inbox after opting into someone’s white paper or content, then getting a call as soon as I hit the submit button. [Yes, seriously what comes into your INBOX that you are asking for? What solves a problem you currently have and WHAT is the magic formula that get's you to take ACTION like sign up, opt-in or BUY?]

[STILL ON THE HUNT]

Mashable’s Weekly Guide to Social Media Job Openings
But we’d like to help in a more direct way, too. Mashable’s job boards are a place for socially-savvy companies to find people like you. This week and every week, Mashable features its coveted job board listings for a variety of positions in the web, social media space and beyond. Have a look at what’s good and new on our job boards… [Some SEO wiz told Mashable that a GUIDE or a WEEKLY GUIDE would score higher in the rankings than simply a post about job openings. A Search masterpiece, the title of Mashable's post is almost perfect. Look at the fantastic word pairs, "weekly guide", "social media" and "job openings." Well done. Except it's really just a post and not a "guide." IMFHO.]

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/just-click-it-9

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Apr 15 2010

New Apple MacBook Pros vs. The Sub-Branding Horror of HP & Dell

Category: tech opinion — jmacofearth @ 6:53 am

The rest of the computer manufacturing world has a lot to learn from Apple. And I'm not just saying this because I am an Apple fanboy. (I am, however a big fan of most things Apple. I'll show you my Newton if you ask. It's right over here next to my iPad.) And for today's lesson in branding and branding confusion we're going to pick on HP. (Sorry Dell, I'm giving you and some of my friends still at Dell a break today.)

So on my way to lusting after a new Intel Core i7 system, I wanted to see how the other guys compare. IF I were buying a new Macbook Pro today, how would I compare the value with other machines on the market. So let's look at HP for a second and see what they are showing in their laptop lines.

The ever-hearty Pavillion line still continues at HP. Here's the entry level machine that you can get in an i3 and i5 variety.

intel's newest chips in an HP Pavillion

And HP goes on to offer the dv7t, the dv6t quad edition, dv7t quad edition and finally the dv8t quad edition. The "quad" meaning the i7.

Okay, so then looking into HP's "Everyday computing" page we run into much of the same problems we do with Dell.

Screen shot 2010 04 14 at 6.08.01 PM New Apple MacBook Pros vs. The Sub Branding Horror of HP & Dell

So we've still got the old Compaq brand hanging on. (Somebody please explain to me what value the Compaq name still has in today's market.) And then a no-brand version of number spaghetti again with the G60t and G62t. And I notice things like the capital "G" as opposed to the lower-case "dv" in the Pavillion line. To somebody somewhere this means something. To consumers it just spells, "W H A T?" I guess the AMD processor signals that Compaq is the "value" line.

I'm sure HP is not done, however, so let's look a bit further into their other "lines" of computers.

We've got the ENVY. (HP's answer to the MacBook Pro. Notice that shiny metal finish.)

Screen shot 2010 04 14 at 6.13.44 PM New Apple MacBook Pros vs. The Sub Branding Horror of HP & Dell

I'm going to skip the mini category or the netbooks, because I don't consider them viable computers at all. So finally we come to HP's Quick Ship models. A page that contains even more odd numbering and Compaqs and no-brands and Pavillions. Here's a page of two of the models available.

Screen shot 2010 04 14 at 6.18.09 PM New Apple MacBook Pros vs. The Sub Branding Horror of HP & Dell

So where in the normal High Performance pages we had dv6t and dv7t, now we have dv6-2150us and the dv6-2170us. I am assuming the numbers at the end have something to do with the configuration. And the "Quick Ship" models are HP's attempt to match Apple's "Shipping: Within 24 hours" deal that is on almost every page of Apple's store. Dell calls it "FastTrack." Or more descriptively on their website "Laptops Delivered in 48 hours." (Man, that's catchy.) But if you want to see Dell's crazy cluster of a laptop lineup, you can find everything you need in this dazzling page. [Page is actually broken in Google Chrome for me, so I'm going to let you venture there yourself. Sorry I was trying to keep Dell out of this.]

So what's this about MacBook Pros?

So here's the punchline. With all the confusion about Compaq, Presario (oops, that was Compaq's old brand), Pavillion, and G-series laptops, Apple has exactly THREE lines. You either want a MacBook or a MacBook Pro or the esoteric AIR. One is plastic and less expensive. The other two are metallic and more expensive. And in the MacBook Pro you have the choice of THREE screen sizes. That's it. Oh, and most of them carry the "Ships: Within 24 Hours" promise.

So guess what, if you're looking for a high performance laptop you can see all the Apple's in ONE SCREEN.

Screen shot 2010 04 14 at 6.34.36 PM New Apple MacBook Pros vs. The Sub Branding Horror of HP & Dell

And while Acer, Dell, HP and the rest of them are competing at the $500 notebook market, Apple's cheapest machine starts at $999. As Steve Jobs said while addressing the Netbook phenomenon, Apple is not interested in making cheap laptops at the expense of a great computing experience.

So I guess you could join in about how the iPad is now just like a Mini, or a Netbook or a Slate (once the real ones come out, that is) and I guess you'd be partially correct. But my iPad is NOT a computer/laptop replacement. But for my mom or my daughter, it just might be the $500 computer that is perfect for either of them. Easy, light, all-in-one tablet computer. Although my mom already has a MacBook.

I'll keep my MacBook Pro at this point. And I'll let Apple keep the high ground in the laptop wars. Let everyone else fight it out in the low-cost trenches where the margins are thin enough to break the bank. Oh, and did I mention, that on all of those other machines, you've got to run Windows or Linux? Sure, Android is coming in something bigger than a toy, and Chrome is coming, but today, it's Windows or Mac. Linux if you like do-it-yourself computing.

So now the i-Core MacBook Pros are out. And of course I WANT one. But my computing tasks are handled pretty smoothly with the Core 2 Duo machine that I have now. So I don't need an upgrade. (I never did under stand Intel's duo and 2 brand on those chips though.)

Well, if you want to see what to buy, if you are not going to buy a Mac, I'd say go to Best Buy or Frys. Touch the computers. See what feels and looks the best. Then go with that. If you try and sort through Dell's or HP's websites you are in for a world of confusion. With Apple, once you know you want an Apple the choices are pretty simple. And once you've had an Apple or an iPhone or an iPad, you will have a hard time going back to the Microsoft Way. That's just my opinion.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/new-intels

If you like this you'll love my sub-branding deck on Slideshare.

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future posts

∴ A Collaborative Space: WebEx, Go-To-Meeting, Skype, Basecamp (Teaming/Meeting Tools)
∴ Twitter Problem: How do you find enough interesting people to follow? Then how do you keep up with them?
∴ The Agile Mind: Construction, Evolution, Care, and Feeding Instructions for Mental Flexibility

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