MacHelp4Me

Testing WordPress for clients

mkimble1 — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:46:15 +0000

Is this really what my clients would be able to use? Is it as easy and intuitive as iWeb?

Some thoughts on the Mac App Store

mkimble1 — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:30:10 +0000

I’ve been in the Apple Retail business since 1983 when the landscape was completely different but there has always been one major problem for Macintosh owners since the dominance of windows PCs and that has been where to find and buy Macintosh software. The major software retailers, even to this day, offer a token amount of Mac software. I used to work at Microcenter until about 4 years ago. Microcenter has a devoted Apple store within a store and offers the complete line of Apple products and peripherals (with the exception of iPhone) and third party peripherals and software. Shelf space in brick and mortar stores has always been limited and as such, the 80/20 rule applies. Stores will carry the top 10 or 20 applications that 80% or 90% of the people buy. So we’ll stock all of the Microsoft consumer products, some of the Adobe products (Elements always, only some of the creative suite apps due to the expense of such packages), all of the Apple consumer apps but almost none of the Pro apps (again, too expensive – they’ll be special order only). We might carry Corel products for Mac and we’ll carry a few utility applications but only from the top vendors (Symantac, Techtool, etc.). If a top tier Windows software developer has Mac products, there will be a lot higher probability that we will carry their Mac apps (but not guaranteed). Most of the software we stocked would be taken directly from our distributors top 10 lists in sales (Ingram, Micro-D, etc.)

In the games and education product category, the software landscape was bleaker. The Apple department almost never carried educational software unless it happened to be on a hybrid PC/Mac disc. Entertainment software was much the same with the exception of the top gaming companies like EA. When all was said and done, if you walk into a brick and mortar store like Microcenter, one that actually had a Macintosh selection of software, you might expect to see 18-24 linear shelf feet of software. In stores that don’t have an Apple presence (a lot of the Office supply stores these days) you might find Mac software on hybrid discs but only if you knew what to look for. Most consumers do not and rely heavily on the recommendations of sales people who are almost universally clueless too. At least that’s been the state of things until Apple, realizing the short shrift they get in places like Microcenter (hate to say it since I like the store so much) and Best Buy, etc took matters in their own hands and opened their first retail stores.

Any software discovery for the customer might happen on the recommendation of a qualified Macintosh enthusiast if they happened to work in the store. Often times, we would make recommendations to the corporate buyers, but these often fell on deaf ears.

The internet has certainly helped to improve the ability to find and try out new software but then you have to know what you are looking for. Sites like Versiontracker, TUAW, MacWorld, Apple and others can help, but again, you have to know those sites exist and the average PC user won’t likely find these sites except by accident. The users of TUAW and Macrumors are not the “typical” computer users and we have to remember that. So, an extension of the Apple Store which already exists on Apples website, that allows for easier software discovery, purchase, downloads, updates, support and forums may help explode the market for Macintosh applications the way the App store has done for the iPhone/iPod and iPad.

Tethering thoughts on ATT and iPhone

mkimble1 — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:29:44 +0000

Tethering did not become available for just an additional cost. It’s not available at all if you still have the unlimited plan. It is only available if you you opt out of the unlimited plan and dump it for the 2GB plan. This renders tethering virtually useless for all intents and purposes for what anyone would want to use it for. (picture and video upload/downloads, streaming, software updates, video conferencing, MMS, audio streaming, VOIP, etc.) In fact, in a recent candid conversation I had with an ATT rep, the design of the 256MB and 2GB caps and the tethering option were implemented with the express purpose of moving people off the cellular network and onto Wifi saving ATT the need to quickly upgrade their system.

When I first heard about tethering my iPhone’s internet service to my computer my first thought was “Now I can tell Comcast to take a flying leap!” ATT really blew it.

What Google, Apple, Microsoft, HP et al. need to do is to come up with first a nationwide, highspeed data and cell network to bypass old school carriers and ISP’s. Then move the network worldwide and make it device independent. That would spell the death of the old school carriers and service providers. As it is, public access free wifi is becoming more ubiquitous every month. I can easily foresee a time when I just buy an iPod Touch and turn it into an internet phone. At that point, all carriers become obsolete and the ISP’s become your phone company too.

Thoughts on the iPad Market

mkimble1 — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:37:22 +0000

Projections involving iPads in 2011 must also take into account that the product will be rev’d as soon as the first of the year. This has a couple of important implications. First is feature set. It’s probably a good bet that the next ver. of iPad will have a front facing camera and facetime integration. That’s probably the most significant upgrade (other than iOS 4.2). Other features will likely include more memory and higher storage capacities. Perhaps less likely in the next rev. but more likely in rev 3 will be faster processor, retina display, motion sensors and features we haven’t yet thought of. Second, as Apple builds the iPad into a product family like the iPod, you’ll most certainly see a price decrease in the current models of from $50-$100 lowering the price of entry to $399 from it’s current $499 entry point. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to eventually see an entry level iPad priced as low as $299 retail within the next 12 to 18 months. At those price points, and the move by most hardware vendors to push into this market, one wonders what the netbook market will look like at that time. My guess is that it will be largely gone as the performance curve for tablets pushes upward.

New iTunes coming in 2 weeks!

mkimble1 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:08:00 +0000

That should be fairly obvious. When the iPad ships on April 3rd, one of the stated features of the iBookstore is the ability to import ePub formatted books into the iPad from iTunes. I am very excited about the ability to read books I have already purchased elsewhere and import them into the iPad. What I am curious about is how iTunes will change to handle this feature. I can imagine two possibilities. First, Apple will simply add a Books category in the Library list and you simply drag and drop your ePub files to the iTunes Library or import them from the File Menu. When you select the Books category, you’ll probably have the option to display your content in list, icon or cover flow view as you do with albums, podcasts and applications.

The second option is more intriguing. Build the iBookstore into iTunes or, even better, offer it as a stand alone desktop app. If the former, Apple has got to be thinking about completely revamping the iTunes app and calling it something else. The iMediaStore? We’ll let the marketing experts come up with the catchy name. I can see this app being broken down into the following “stores” under the Library heading.

iTunesstore – Music, music videos

iBookstore – ePub books, audio books

Appstore – applications for the iPhone and iPad. While were at it, add a category for Mac software too now that Storm is coming to the Mac.

Applestore – iTunes interface to Apple and third party products

iVideostore – Television shows and movies

iPhotostore – hmmm…maybe build this into the iPhoto application? Purchase and download clip art and photos? Just a thought.

At the end of the day though, the iTunes name has a lot of marketing value attached to it and it may be difficult to make the rather radical changes I propose. One thing is certain though. There will be a major iTunes release in the coming 2 weeks.

Now that its announced, part 1

mkimble1 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:05:11 +0000

It has been a week since the formal announcement of the Apple iPad and now that I’ve watched the keynote video a couple of times, read many blog posts and commentaries, shared some thoughts with my friends and fellow ACN’s, I thought I would share my thoughts and feelings about the iPad.

First, as I mentioned in a previous post, hardware specifications hold my interest a lot less than software and what the device can do. If I have one complaint, one small disappointment, it is with the lack of a front facing camera that would support video chat. While I almost never use this feature on any other device I own, largely because my friends and peers rarely use this feature either so I have no one to video chat with, having it in the iPad might have lead me and by extension others in my circle to start. It’s a small quibble for me. It might be a larger issue for someone else. What does seem to be apparent, based on some “take apart” articles of the iPad that are just now starting to appear on the web, is that the space is there for a web cam and that Apple, for whatever reason, choose not to install it in this version of the iPad. That last bit is important. “In this version…” Like the iPod and iPhone before it, this is a new product line, evolving over the months and years, to include new hardware features that a version 1 model doesn’t currently support. I fully expect a front facing webcam to be included in some version of the iPad in the next 12-18 months. When that happens, I’ll reevaluate how important I still think a webcam is for me, take a look at solutions other than video chat, and make a buying decision then. Because it’s me, I’ll probably get it anyway.

Next, multitasking. I really thought that out of the gate the iPad would support multitasking and that Apple would announce multitasking support in the iPhone 4.0 software at the keynote. And then I thought a lot more about all the things I thought Apple could announce and that I wrote about and realized that when Apple has a keynote, they usually spend one or two hours on the announcement and really only focus on one thing. Like the iPhone or Macs. An iLife/iWork/iPhone software update would be more appropriate for a separate announcement. The focus on this keynote was the iPad, what it would do and some of the software that will run on the Pad. Like iWork for iPad. Multitasking is a function and feature of the operating system. The operating system is software and software gets updated. It is entirely possible that this feature will come to the iPad when, and if, it comes to the iPhone. It’s even possible that if may be a feature, in some implementation, when the iPad actually ships in March or April (but I doubt that). As it is, the iPhone OS and by extension the iPad OS both support a limited form of multitasking now. I can still listen to iTunes while I search the web, add a todo, use my contacts list, etc. I wish I could use other apps like Pandora or NPR the same way but I can certainly understand and would definitely want Apple to provide a very, very good way to do this without killing battery life or more importantly, crashing my phone. I’d really hate to inadvertently leave a webcam, audio or video app running without me knowing about it. Leaving applications up and running inadvertently in the background is something I see every single day with the clients I train as a Macintosh consultant. There must be a better way to interface with the user to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

In another post, I’ll get back to what multitasking means for me and how I use it.

I’ll write about the things I could use an iPad for, why I am really excited about getting one and my thoughts on the future of this device in my next post.

More Keynote predictions

mkimble1 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:38:16 +0000

AppleTV -

Once iTunes is updated, software updates to support subscriptions will ripple to AppleTV. If a subscription service is announced, aTV will never get Netflix support (note: netflix having its own troubles with networks and Starz deal)

Faster processor, larger hard drive, more RAM, blu-ray nice but probably won’t happen (It should though).

iPhone OS 4.0 as described by others. Expanded multi-function (tablet will be multi-function), interface changes, better home screen navigation.

iLife ’010 predictions for Keynote

mkimble1 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:30:42 +0000

Okay, with just 30 minutes before the start of the Keynote, here are just a few of my hoped for predictions. After the event, we’ll see how well my predictions held up. Let’s start with iLife:

All applications to support tablet/multi-touch

iPhoto -

Photomerge panorama

Add type to photos

Selective replace color

Select/Magic wand tool

Faster

iWeb -

iCal widget – embed iCal calendars in iWeb (fully customized, day, week, month views)

Twitter widget

Full social network integration

iWeb library file with multi-computer editing. Edit your site anywhere.

iMovie -

more themes, transitions, sounds.

Improved editing tools

Multi-track audio with timeline views

iDVD -

Interface changes

support for smaller screen sizes and resolutions

iTunes extras support

iTunes -

Support for subscriptions

Garageband -

Major interface changes

iTunes LP support

MobileMe -

Social networking features expanded

Send notes/comments (flick) to Friends/family either as a stand alone app or as part of iChat.

Faster iDisk

Not just good enough

mkimble1 — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:34:44 +0000

Thank goodness Apple is around to keep things interesting in the computer world. There just isn’t any other company able to generate the kind of excitement Apple can. Why is that? One of my theories is that other companies strive to be “just good enough” where Apple strives to be “insanely great!” What would the world be like if companies and people took the attitude that mediocre or “just good enough” wasn’t good enough, where exceptional becomes the norm? That’s the world I want to live in. That’s the world I’ll try to make for myself.

Macintosh Poetry

mkimble1 — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:51:33 +0000

I just had to share this link with you. Perhaps it will give you inspiration too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/technology/personaltech/22sfbriefs.html?scp=1&sq=beat%20poet&st=cse