Wednesday, May 30, 2007

[Apple News/Op-Ed] D5: All Things Digital - REPORT!


Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs holds up an iPhone at the D: All Things Digital Conference in Carlsbad today.



Apple TV is a "DVD Player for the Internet" proclaimed Steve Jobs today at the D: All Things Digital conference. All in all, he gave a great interview (when doesn't he really?) and there was a lot said about Apple, it's products and the future. I'll try to break down a lot of what was said, and we can discuss together.

First, he spoke about the growth of the company and it's products since they got on board with Intel...5 times the typical amount of market growth here in the United States. Very very nice for Apple...I wish I made enough extra money to own stock in them! When asked if he felt that by changing the company's name to Apple, Inc. from Apple Computers, they may have given the impression that they were dropping out of the personal computers market. Steve told them no, and went on to talk briefly about the upcoming release of the Leopard OS.

So Apple is doing well...that's always good news, and hey it means they'll be around for awhile. While the world trends to more and more laptop and portable computers and less and less desktop computers, as long as Apple tries to stay at the forefront, they'll be alive and kicking long after Jobs has gone to the great orchard in the sky. :)

Walt Mossberg then jokes about the iPhone shipping in late June "Like the last day in June?" Steve followed through with the quip, "Yeah probably." Smartass CEO...great...let's not hurt the confidence in the iPhone before it releases by making jokes about the release date. Just make it happen when it's supposed to happen. That's all anyone can ask of a big company like Apple.

In one of my favorite bites here about the iPhone, Walt asks Jobs why there isn't one on the iPhone, when the folks at Palm have shown there is a desire for one. To which Jobs fired back, "No. … Once you learn to trust the keyboard, it’s a better keyboard. I’ll bet you dinner that you’ll love it." I'm really hoping he bets me dinner, because I am really sure my fat fingers won't like the keyboard on the iPhone. :P

Steve goes on to say that iPhone runs “real OS X, real Safari, real desktop email.”
Woohoo! Now this is cool...and likely stems from the fact that Apple owns their own browser and can modify it as they need to for the iPhone...and this goes for other similar programs. However Jobs did state further that not all OSX programs can run on the iPhone.

Now you remember earlier when I mentioned the part about the Apple TV? Well here's the kicker...Apple now has a done deal with the folks at YouTube to provide streaming content for the Apple TV! Come next month (June for y'all not on the Gregorian Calendar), a special download update will be available for the Apple TV owners to allow them to stream content from the folks at YouTube. Pretty cool stuff there! Walt Mossberg then noted that iTunes is one of the more ubiquitous pieces of software out right now, with it being used on quite a lot of Windows machines. Jobs, who always seems to be able to give out great quotable responses fielded that with, "That’s right. It’s like offering a glass of ice water to people in hell."

Lastly, during the Q&A session, Jobs was asked about why the iPhone is a closed platform currently. In reality, his answer makes complete sense in the way Apple has always done things...Apple wants a closed system to protect the security of the phone itself. Jobs even stated that he doesn't want the iPhone to be "one of those phones that crashes a few times a day." He asked for our patience with this, and he's likely to get it.

All in all, it was a lot of information, and a good interview...I wish I could have been there to see it live. ;)

Input from y'all? Discussion? Questions?

-Mike Leader

[Apple News] ITUNES PLUS ARRIVES!

Well, today Apple launched iTunes Plus, their newest addition to the iTunes catalog. This update heralds the arrival of DRM-Free files from the EMI music catalog. These special files are high quality 256 kbps AAC files, that Apple claims are almost identical to the original recordings...and only $1.29 per song. The iTunes Plus catalog launches with EMI's digital catalog made up of both new and classic artsts, running the gamut of The Rolling Stones to Pink Floyd to Coldplay.

If you have already downloaded any of the songs on the updated catalog, all you have to do is pay an additional $.30 per song (about $3.00 per album), and iTunes will automatically update your songs with the DRM-Free ones. So, with these new songs from EMI being DRM-Free, you'll be able to listen to them for as many times as you want on any computer or type of music player. According to


iTunes today also debuts iTunesU, a free content area of the iTunes store that contains lectures and educational content from top US colleges. You can now take school on the go with you as you need to. Now, if I could only earn that degree for free while listening to lectures on my iPod! ;)

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

[Apple News] AT&T Chats about the iPhone

Over at the Seattle Times today (I'm starting to read a lot of different newspapers from around the US and Globally lately, even if I live in a tiny surf-town in Southern California), Brier Dudley posted in his blog today about a discussion he had with Glenn Lurie. Lurie is the AT&T's president of national distribution for the iPhone, and he offered some interesting insights into the marketing of the device.

A couple of points made:

1) The iPhone will not have a subscription service for music. You'll have to synch it from your computer.

2) The price for the iPhone isn't unreasonable. He pointed out that an iPod Nano is $200, and that blackberry you're carrying is another $200...and then there's your cellphone which is another $50 or so, plus its subscription rate. That's close to $500 right there. :)

3) He really gets into how happy they are to work with Apple because of their outlooks on the customer experience.

Now, let's be honest, I've never found AT&T to be the best with customer service (15 days to get my phone line up, and I had to fight to get those 15 days prorated)...so his statement about being on the level with Apple was interesting...I'm personally not confident in AT&T's customer service and customer experience. He avoided any discussion about subsidizing the cost of the iPhone, which was also interesting.

What I can agree with is their outlook about being the first to change the phone industry. Motorola did it 11 years ago with tiny flip phones, and now Apple and AT&T are about to give it a swift kick in the creativity sacs with the iPhone.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

[Apple News/RUMOR] Apple Insider calls the Death of the Mac mini...

Over at Apple Insider, one of their writers today decided to call the Mac mini a dead product line. In an industry that is always full of wild predictions, they decided to call it now, so that in whatever time allotted by Apple for the product's lifespan, they can say that they said it first. Honestly that's all it feels like. But then I'm the kind of guy who REALLY dislikes folks like this...what I like to call "Chicken Littlers"...who find ways to call the demise of a product or person just to see if they can make an impact. (Like that faulty iPhone "insider" post I mentioned last week.)

While they like to point out that the Apple TV is taking over the Mac mini slot in Apple's retinue, there's no general proof of that. They also assert that the Mac mini hasn't seen regular upgrades, because Apple doesn't really care about the sub$800 computer market. That Apple ONLY made the Mac mini to appease shareholders who cried out for a that could compete in that "tiny" market. I'm with the majority of folks I've spoken to about this in believing that thttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifhe Apple TV and the Mac mini will likely merge into something together. Heck, pull the DVD drive out of it...more HDD space! It's all possible.

I honestly beg to differ...as do many others I speak with daily. The Mac mini is a great computer (lord knows our office runs on them...I'm on a 2.33GHz intel core 2 duo with 2Gigs of memory) that doesn't need a ton of support and revisions. I honestly believe that it was conceived as a computer that they wouldn't need to continually update. Ever since I first encountered the Mac mini in 2005, I was impressed...brings back memories...

"THAT is your computer?" I exclaimed at my friend/co-worker Kevin. "Yeah," he said. "Everything I could ever need in something smaller than my toaster." He proceeded to turn it off in seconds, unhook everything attached, and then show me how it fit into his shoulder bag. "All I need is a monitor/keyboard setup both here at the office and at home...and I'm cool."

I was amazed that day...and to this day appreciate everything the Mac mini has to offer. Simplicity, frugality, small-in-stature-but-strong-on-delivery...and hey, who doesn't almost always have an extra monitor around to plug it into? Honestly, I'm in agreement with the folks over at Ars Technica, when I think it's not the death of the sub$800 market...it's a declination in desktops. People are purchasing laptops at a frightening rate, and they may be considered the wave of the future. (Great, just what I need, some jerk on the bus next to me playing WoW.)

Anything is possible...however let's all not spend our times telling each other "I told you so!" We're better than that. :)

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

[Op/Ed.] MAC EVOLUTION/REVOLUTION:
Part 2 - A Well-Made Mistake...

Well, in the end, we all can make mistakes. Like we're always told, if we learn from those mistakes, we can grow and not repeat them...or in the case of really good people, get into the same situation and conquer that problem without making that same mistake again. Apple isn't a perfect company...who is? Even they have made some stinkers, but they've gone on and learned from their mistakes and improved their products because of that. This shows the true growth of the company as a whole...but let's show some of their failures and how they were learned from...

The Newton
- Now some of you are going to start shouting at me "The Newton was cool! It changed everything!" Right. I understand that, however financially it really was a big failure. Big blocky thing, bad handwriting recognition program, etc etc...but where has the Newton got Apple to today? Why the iPhone of course! Now what they wanted originally can be set up in the iPhone with smaller and more efficient technologies.

The Macintosh TV - Wow...Looking at that picture brings back memories. The world just wasn't ready for TV on a computer back in 1993...but also it had a pretty shoddy graphical performance, and the computer couldn't playback TV on the computer's desktop. However, Apple is back now with Apple TV, bringing iTunes content to TV screens across the nation.

The Macintosh Portable
- Holy smokes this thing is heavy! Bulky, 16 pounds, and practically useless by today's standards, the Mac Portable definately led the way with innovative design. The nice slim laptops/notebooks we have today from Apple and other manufacturers were born out of finding out that people couldn't carry a 15 pound portable computer!

You see, we all can make mistakes...and it's ok for companies to do that (Anime fans, ask me about the Initial D ccg sometime)...as long as they learn from it and grow a better products from that lesson.

Friday, May 18, 2007

[Op/Ed.] MAC EVOLUTION/REVOLUTION:
Part 1 - It's Getting Better All The Time...

It is interesting to look back and see the evolution of Apple and Mac over the years. Far too many people come into the offices here at YourMacStore and marvel at the history of Apple products we have in our display area. Some have never even heard of the Apple II, or the Lisa 2, or even have seen the first Macintosh portable (it’s 15.8 pounds!). It goes to show that for those of us who have been a part of the computer revolution since it’s early days in the late ‘70s that we have seen so many changes in how computers act, what they do, how they are used, and how they look…and in reality, Apple’s products really have shown the most dramatic (and possibly with the most showmanship) changes.

Look back at those early cases…the Lisa…the first computer with a graphical user interface built in. The Apple IIc with the tiny body (and built in handle) that was maybe 1/3 of the weight of the Apple II. Younger people today who weren’t very old or even around when these things came into being really can’t appreciate the revolution behind them. I remember helping my mother bring home her PC from work so she could do work on the weekends back in the mid 1980s…it was a 50 pound beastie, and that was just the computer, the monitor was a whole other deal! Apple pushed and pushed to make computers more accessible to the average person, and really did a good job of making items smaller, simpler, and more useful to the average person. Computers came out of the workplace and into classrooms and homes because of their ability to think and produce what anyone could use.

Macworld listed it’s top 30 innovative Mac products, and at the top of the list was the Macintosh 128K…blocky mouse and all. I remember when these and the later models began to hit the schools I was going to, and how educators were singing the praise of Apple for making these computers available for practically a song and a dance. Not only was it good PR, but darn good marketing…those kids who used them in junior high and high school…they used them in college…and beyond. While they weren’t the first to try and tackle “cradle to grave” marketing…they have done a good job of it over the years.


-Mike Leader

Thursday, May 17, 2007

[Apple News] FACT CHECKING 101: Don't Always Trust Your Source 100%

While every journalist, pseudo-journalist, blogger and ambulance chaser out there always dreams of having the perfect inside source, it's not always true. The folks over at Engadget yesterday managed to not completely fact check something that a "trustworthy" source from Apple gave them...and managed to commit a major reporting faux pas: posting unsubstantiated "news".

They claimed to have received information from a trustworthy person inside Apple, who shared with them an internal memo email that stated that Apple was going to delay the iPhone until October, and Leopard until January 2008. Then what was thought to be the unthinkable happened...Apple's stock dropped 5 points. Some of you may say..."uhh what's 5 points to Apple?" Try about 4 billion dollars, bucko. So it makes me wonder how seriously people take the information they get from sites like Engadget and the like that supposedly have insider information and leak said information all of the time. It's an unhealthy obsession that Americans have in general with "having to know first" and even if it's a wild rumor, most folks want to know first so they can look smart and say "I told ya so" before anyone else did.

So, the questions I think a lot of us have now are: "Did Apple do this on purpose to ferret out people breaking NDA and supplying insider info to websites?" and "Will Apple seek out a judgement against Engadget for reporting false news that damaged their company's profits?" While I'm not a legal expert, there seems to be some merit to that kind of case, with slander laws being how they are. Now if you check the link in this paragraph, you'll see that Apple's gone down this route before...and since they have already gone that route, it is not likely that they'll pursue it. However, that leads me to believe that they may have just done it to suss out the leaks. It's like putting dye into your water to see exactly where in the pipes the water is dripping from...or a tiny radioactive isotope into the body to see where it goes when it's digested. When I used to handle people with NDAs at a previous employer, I would do this kind of thing at least 1-2 times a year to check the security of people who were considered "trusted" just to be absolutely sure. After the first one of these gets through, there's rarely a second one for quite awhile.

What do all of you readers think? Post some comments and let us know!

Monday, May 14, 2007

[Apple News] AT&T IPHONE SALES BRIEF LEAKED...

Well, the actual sales brief sheet to AT&T Employees was leaked over at The Boy Genius Report, and it puts some interesting things out there.

The document pretty much tells AT&T employees that they aren't allowed to speculate on pricing or the release date (other than sometime in June), or talk about anything outside of what is being mentioned on both AT&T's iPhone website or over at Apple's iPhone website. They are, however, reminded sternly that the iPhone is going to be available on a first-come-first-served basis. They aren't going to be allowed to take pre-orders, or call lists for customers who are interested in purchasing one.

I know there are two camps in retail management about the idea of pre-orders, with it pretty much even up as to whom is on what side. There are those who feel that pre-orders and call lists are unfair, and there are those (like me) who feel that they are a necessity. I used to manage a video store for a major chain (not that ugly blue & gold one), and upper management never seemed to like that I would take names and phone numbers, and call customers when certain rentals came in. It's not like they would have a permanent hold on the item, but because they had the foresight to ask if we could let them know when it came in, I gave them the courtesy of doing so. They had 30 minutes if I spoke with them or got an answering machine, to come pick it up. If they didn't, back into population it went. I honestly don't see why some kind of similar system couldn't be worked out by AT&T for their iPhone sales.

However, if one thinks about the point that is made in the document that there is to be no speculation over the price points ($499 & $599), there might be something interesting there. By encouraging their employees to do that, there's a high chance that it means they'll be lowering the cost of the phone based on the service contract for X amount of time. Because when they announce that on the iPhone's release date, it'll help reduce the sticker shock that some people are going through right now when they hear about it. Cell service providers do this all the time with other cellphones, why not with the iPhone? Think about it, would they want a single sale of $500...or a single sale of $395 + a 2 yr service contract? They could possibly pull down another $1900 from someone for the service contract. So yea...expect the price to go down on the phone...also expect the service contract to make your wallet cry "UNCLE!".

[Apple News] ITUNES HAS A BAND ON THE RUN...

Hiya folks!

Today's UK MacWorld has a confirmation from EMI that Paul McCartney will have his entire solo catalog released on iTunes later this year. This will likely include all of his albums after he left the Beatles, solo projects and releases with Wings.

Check the original article here: Click Me

I'm a big Beatles fan and a Paul McCartney fan. It'll be good to see his music get more exposure to younger people, and with some luck they'll be able to see his genius like I was when I was 12 years old.

-Mike Leader

Friday, May 11, 2007

[Product Review] I THINK WE NEED A BIGGER BOAT...

When it was first explained to me that we were going to be carrying a brand new accessory item, I was surprised, as we normally don’t carry a wide variety of accessories here at YourMacStore. However, I was more surprised when shown the Radio Shark 2 package. We all listened to radio at one time or another…heck, growing up in the 1980s and before, everyone listened to radio. Nowadays, the airwaves in major cities are filled with talk shows, sports shows, shock jocks , and every type of music from A-Z….and radio is unfortunately being left behind a little bit with the advancing computer age. With all the internet radio stations out there, it’s got to be hard to keep up…but the Radio Shark 2 helps to bring broadcast radio right into the digital age, cheaply and efficiently. This item is a great piece of work from top to bottom, so let me go over what it can do for you.

First, for Mac OS X 10.4.9 users (like me) you’ll need to download the software update from the Griffin website, as there are some compatibility issues with Tiger….but it takes seconds and is necessary for the software to fully function. (Otherwise you’ll have to change stations by closing the program and reopening it.) The unit itself is small and the weight is negligible…and since it’s designed to look like a shark fin, it looks pretty cool sitting on top of your computer/monitor/desk/windowsill/catbox/whatever. It plugs into any USB port and is powered by that connection. The package comes with a USB extender cord as well, and a radio antenna extender too. After the software is installed, the interface is easily used. You can type in station numbers (1-0-0-.-3 for example), use your scroll wheel to scan up and down the stations, or even set & select favorites. After playing with just listening to the radio broadcasts from my favorite local stations here in Los Angeles (95.5, 93.1, 98.7, and 106.7 to name a few), I then discovered the “Time-Shift” feature. For you TIVO fans out there, you’ll like this. It allows you to pause a live radio transmission for up to 10 minutes, and it will record the broadcast while you step away. Alternatively, you can just drag the slider back and listen to that same song again! That 10 minute auto-record is always on for your convenience of use…no more will you say “what was that word in that song?” You can just “Time-Shift” back and hear it again…and again…and again til you get it right!

Now the “Time-Shift” recordings can be saved right to your hard drive for later listening, or you can actually schedule the Radio Shark 2 to record radio shows during a specific time slot and for a set time…for months in advance! Missing a talk show because of a meeting or special event? Not a problem for the Radio Shark 2…it’ll record it for you later. Now these recordings are automatically saved to your Mac as an AAC or AIFF file, which leads into one of the other cool things about this device, its interaction with iTunes. The setup can be placed to where it automatically creates a playlist in your iTunes with everything that it saves, and those playlists can…you guessed it…be exported right to your iPod. So, are you missing Jim Ladd’s show on KLOS every night because you have to be up early? No problem. Schedule it to be recorded, and then downloaded to your iPod and you can listen while on your way to work in the morning. It’s as simple as that. Lastly, the software update from Griffin comes with a widget for you to use with the OS X dashboard…just in case you wanted to listen to the radio without having the Radio Shark software open.

All in all, I'm personally jazzed with this product, and look forward to taking it home this weekend and seeing what I can do with it. Oh yes, and stay tuned for our next review…the iKareoke. ;)

-Mike Leader

Thursday, May 10, 2007

[Tech] C-VRM TECHNICAL FOUL...

As many of you know, I’m not the tech person here at YourMacStore. However, I do have a real concern for technical issues that may come up from time to time, and I want to make sure that we bring this information to you as we find it. One of the larger concerns that has come to our attention (4 times in the past month) relates to GigaDesigns’ C-VRM for the Cube. Now, the C-VRM is a wonderful piece of hardware, but like any piece of hardware, put into certain situations it can cause some severe problems. Now let me explain something first: This does not happen in all instances relating to the C-VRM. Please check with tech support either here at YMS or at the manufacturer before trying any fixes like this. Now that is out of the way, let me try and break this down…

Several of our customers have brought to our attention in the past month that their Cubes have had issues with not being able to boot up after installing the C-VRM. They would turn on their computer, it would start to boot, and then immediately shut down. Not cool. Usually if this would happen in 1 circumstance, it’s got to be a faulty C-VRM…we know, it does happen if rarely. But in 4 separate occasions in one month? At that point, we made a decision to try and help these folks fix the problem on their end if possible.

Now we know that in the past when there have been problems with the C-VRM it has related to a faulty or incompatible logic board…but after checking that against these folks’ situations, it didn’t match. When one of the customers sent their C-VRM back to us, it was tested and found to work just fine. Much head-scratching ensues at this point. Finally, after a couple of calls to the folks at Giga, we’re able to figure out what is going on. You see, the C-VRM has a safety circuit. This circuit detects power usage at startup that, if outside it’s parameters, causes it to shut down the computer to protect it. AHAH! Now after fully quizzing our customers…wow, all of them have the same processor! All the pieces are now quickly falling into place. The GigaDesigns 1.4GHz processor, the logic board, and the C-VRM are spiking their power requirements at the same time, and causing the safety circuit to kick in…there’s our problem. Now to fix it…

To fix the problem, it comes down to 1 of 3 things…either stop using the C-VRM, get a new logic board, or to change the timing on the processor. Since option 1 & 2 do not really help the situation, let’s look at option 3. You can easily overclock the Gigadesigns 1.4GHz processor to 1.5GHz…heck, it’s in their instruction book on how to do it! All you’d have to do is to alter the dipswitches from 1.4GHz to 1.5GHz. You may also need to alter other dipswitches. As it says in the manual, please contact Giga or YMS tech support before doing this. (Improper settings can result in fatal damage to your computer. Do not try to change it without tech support advice.) This will change the timing of the power spike from the processor, and keep the C-VRM’s safety circuit from kicking in and ruining your fun.


-Mike Leader

[Tip] "ONE-ARMED BANDIT COMPUTER BUYING"...

Everyone is looking to get the best deal possible, right? From grocery shopping, to tech shopping, retailers are always trying to bring in sales with cool specials, ads, and even some base tricks that even the most basically educated person shouldn’t fall for. One of those tricks, what I like to call "One-Armed Bandit Buying" (because you'd be luckier on a slot machine than with this trick) is “DISPLAY MODEL ON SALE!” You see, this post comes out of a discussion that cropped up over at Mac-Forums.com a couple days back, and being of some interest to me, I thought I’d discuss it with a few people I know who work in retail, and some new friends as well.

The question originally revolved around a Big-Box Store listing MacBook Pros as being out of their system (not being reordered), and how that could signal that there’s a new model coming. What was of interest to me was the musing about that location’s display models of the MacBook Pros going up for sale. Now display models are deeply discounted, and always look to be a good deal…but not so. Think of the abuse those poor MacBook Pros went through there: People slamming their covers shut, over and over again. Lord knows how many people touching them and getting whatever germs and skin and hair (ok I may worry about these kinds of things) all over them. But the most important thing, that they’re on for 8-12 hours a day STRAIGHT. That can’t be healthy for those poor screens, and will degrade the length of their lives.

In the case of one location I frequent, I asked an employee if they had any display laptops that were going up for sale. He showed me two…one of which he warned me away from because (and he WHISPERED to me) that he knew the keyboard wasn’t working right, as he’d seen it being replaced in the back office by a manager. Yea, I’m going to buy a laptop that may have been monkeyed with by a store’s management. I cannot roll my eyes here enough, people! One of my friends, David, mentioned that one of the bigger problems with display models is the software that gets installed on them in the stores to run ads, in-store demonstrations and the like on them. The majority of the computers he knew about at his store had to be rebooted several times a day because of the programs clashing with the operating system. (Now while this happens with those Vista computers –blech!- it likely doesn’t happen with the Macs.)

The only upside (thank you again David) that can be found is using a display model purchase as a “test drive” for a laptop you want to purchase. I say this because most Big Box stores will not charge a restocking fee for a returned display model. So you’ll be able to take that Macbook Pro through it’s tasks and your daily use of it rather easily, without losing any real money on them. (DO remember to check with the store to see if they charge a restocking fee on display item purchases.) Also, in the past I have purchased display models, from stereos to DVD players. In fact, I had a DVD player for 6 years that was a display model, and it worked very well for that entire 6 years. Sometimes you CAN luck out, but I’ve always found that it’s best not to test your luck against some of the larger electronics stores…sometimes it’s better to go to your favorite casino and play blackjack…you’ll have better odds.

-Mike Leader

(ps: I've got 1-2 more posts coming today to make up for the past couple of days)

Friday, May 4, 2007

[Apple News] MULTIPLE DASHBOARDS ON LEOPARD!?

Hi folks. I should have posted this yesterday, but a busy day at the office always takes a bit of precedence over Apple News. I read about this over on the MacNN Forums and in their blog...wow. Check out the article here.

Very interesting if you ask me.

So, it looks like we will be getting some information on unannounced additions to Leopard, like this, at the WWDC after all. See...I think that things like this help make the additional wait worth it. :)

Thursday, May 3, 2007

[Tech] SUPERDRIVE III: RISE OF THE CUBE

Ok so we've talked about internal SuperDrives and external SuperDrives...but what about the Cube? Is the Cube left hanging in the wind on this one? No Way! Here's the solution:

Internal 8x SuperDrive (DVD+-R) for Cube UJ-85J+BKT

As many of y'all know, the Cube's optical drive is the slot-loading type, which was incredibly new when the Cube was launched. However, many years later, it's out of style...it is bigger than the latest slim drive, and its spec is poor. Tsk tsk...poor Cube, destined to slave away with a slow optical drive...Not so! All you would need would be an adapter and you would be able to work it out.

Enter Spirica. Spirica is a Japanese manufacturer (with which we at YourMacStore are deeply cooperating) who created a special adapter (bracket) for the Cube. This adapter makes it incredibly easy to add the latest type of slim drive to your Cube...theoretically. (Hey, nothing is ever really universal, is it?) We do recommend that if you do go the route with the Spirica bracket, that you need to set your HDD to Slave.

---

Well there you have it, our first Trilogy of Tech posts. We're always looking for new topics, so if YOU have an idea for a Tech post that we at YourMacStore can use, drop me a line at yms@vintagecomp.com to let us know! Feedback rules!! :)

-Mike Leader

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

[Apple News] A GREEN APPLE A DAY...

keeps the planet's doctor away?

Apple just made an awesome announcement on their website today regarding their Green policy, recycling, and the future of their products. While it does give me a great feeling to see their policies laid out before us, it's also done in a very personal way...something Steve Jobs is still very good at. So it's filled with technical information about CRTs, mercury, lead and even that evil hexavalent chromium...and how Apple is going to do their best to increase the recycling of E-Waste.

Based on an idea from Dell, Apple assumes a 7 year lifespan for products, and compares the weight of products recycled in the current year, with the weight of products sold 7 years ago. Based upon that measurement, Apple recycled 9.5% of the weight of its sales from 7 years ago in 2006. They breakdown the growth of this project in that article from Jobs, so I won't bore you with it here.

However, as many folks would agree, this was by far and large the most interesting statement in the document from Steve Jobs...

"To eliminate mercury in our displays, we need to transition from fluorescent lamps to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to illuminate the displays. Fortunately, all iPod displays already use LEDs for illumination, and therefore contain no mercury. We plan to introduce our first Macs with LED backlight technology in 2007. Our ability to completely eliminate fluorescent lamps in all of our displays depends on how fast the LCD industry can transition to LED backlighting for larger displays."


So...along with the iPhone and the release of Leopard this year, we also seem to have some new Macs with to look forward to. We're curious to see what the consumer cost on these products is going to be, as they're currently pricey technology...maybe with some luck, Apple or it's ilk can find a way to bring that cost down...

Greener computers...who'd have thought Apple was ahead in this...


We do! :)

[Tech] SUPERDRIVE II: THE SEQUEL

(Come on, I know some of you Boot Camp users are running City of Heroes...and like superhero references too... ;) )

For those of you with Powerbooks/iBooks, an internal SuperDrive would be pretty awesome to have. Thing is, not everyone is up to disassembling their notebook/laptop, because it does require some skill to do that. You could have it installed for you, usually at the cost of a pretty penny, on top of the cost of the item. Not all of us have this kind of money to spend (have you seen the gas prices in CA these days…$3.40 a gallon…it’s worse in Europe, but sheesh), but there is an alternative…

External Firewire/USB 2.0 Superdrive to the rescue!

Now we all know that there are many and varied external drives on the market, but we feel that this one is just a bit different. You see it works just like a genuine internal SuperDrive, only it gets to sit out on your desk or countertop and look pretty. Who needs to spend a fortune upgrading, when you get an external, plug it in and go? Since this works as a normal SuperDrive, it supports booting, works perfectly with iApps and Finder…and even works with the OS 9 Finder. Being bus powered, there’s also no worry about a power cord that will take up more space…so tell those additional AC Adapters to shove off!

In the end, there’s nothing wrong with “going external” if you don’t want to spend the cash to upgrade your computer and have new stuff installed.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

[YMS Sale] MAY IS THE MONTH OF MEMORY...

Say that 10 times fast!

Yes, May...the worker's month. Time to celebrate May Day, Memorial Day, and Memory Month! That's right, this month at YourMacStore, you can get yourself 10% off your memory order...

What's that? How do you do it? Oh it's easy...easy peasy...all you have to do is purchase $90.00 or more of memory, and enter in the special coupon code "memory10" and your order will receive 10% off! Hey, that's practically free shipping for those of you here in the United States...who can say no to that? (Just for reference, new memory modules are warranted by YourMacStore for three years from the invoice date.)

There you have it! See you on the front lines, fellow workers! :)