Thirty Awesome Years of the Mac
Back in 1984, that little Mac personal computer started its journey to change the world. Thirty years have past, take a look at its awesome journey.
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Apple and Nike At It Again?
You think Nike and Apple are at it again, sharing playbooks? Read about the updated Nike+ FuelBand SE, and you’ll see what I mean. The dead giveaway is interfacing with iOS only. With all its resources, of course, Nike can make an Android app, but they haven’t yet.
Then there’s the adoption of Bluetooth 4.0, aka Bluetooth Low Energy, aka BLE, aka iBeacon. NFC is still a technology looking for traction, but Nike’s decision to go BLE is another nod to the way of Apple.
Old time Mac fans will recognize the SE moniker from the olden days of the Motorola 68000 series microprocessors in the all-in-one Mac SE. When updated, will Nike have the bravado to call the revised SE, the SE/x, or will they flinch like Apple’s SE/30 (back in the day, Apple hardware with a math coprocessor had the suffix “x” appended on).
And don’t think when Apple’s iWatch finally surfaces, Nike won’t be one of the first to interconnect with this personal ecosphere.
Similar Reactions to iOS7 and the Air Jordan 11
The love it or hate it reactions to Apple’s newly released iOS7 mobile operating system remind me of the Air Jordan 11 when it launched. There is no middle ground with both iOS7 and the AJ11 polarizing its audience.
Too shiny, too unconventional, too flashy, too bold – the naysayers described the XI, initially including myself. When I first saw these Jordans, I was so confused. I really hated them, two tone black and white, and the leather, the shiny patent leather that no kicks used. But then, look at them, watch them move, look at the simplicity yet sophistication of the design, notice the elements combining together, see the possibilities, truly see the Air Jordan 11. Then love them. Love the most iconic design of the Air Jordan line. Watch it endure over the decades with retro after retro, colorway after colorway.
Now look at iOS7. Tinker Hatfield meet Jony Ive. iOS7 is definitely bold and bright, the apps fly around the screen, its flat UI is unconventional (no buttons?), but yet it all works. It just works. Maybe this isn’t the pinnacle of iOS, but it just may endure the test of time as users learn to love it.
A Good Friday Indeed
Today was a good Friday indeed when this showed up at my door several days early.
Thanks again to Dwellable for sponsoring their contest and selecting my app review.
Emailing from the iCloud
Can you now email from iCloud.com? Did you check to see if your me.com and mac.com email addresses got its third evolution of @icloud.com?
Log into Mail at www.icloud.com. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of Mail. Select Preferences then go to Accounts. In the middle of the Accounts screen, do you see something like this?
If you see an address with icloud.com, you’re all set. Send a test email to your account @icloud.com to verify it’s working.
New Life for My iPod Nano
With the new Lightning connector for the iPhone 5, my five year old iPod Nano has new life. In order to listen to tunes while driving, I need the Nano and its old school dock connector.
Looks like I’ll be buying a bunch of Lightning cables and accessories in the near future.
iPhone 5 Screen Flicker Problem
After iOS 6 crashed twice on my iPhone 5, I powered it off to settle things down. Then when powered back on, I got this weird screen flicker with an image of an iPhone reset superimposed. Oddly, the iPhone is working albeit with that extreme flicker.
Going to see if a software restore fixes this problem. Hope it’s not hardware related. Probably bachi for this.
More info. When I initially setup the iPhone 5, the restore from iCloud was a partial restore with only some of my apps installed. The phone said it was still restoring from iCloud hours after too. I’m not sure if I was hitting a limit for the number of app screens that was causing glitches.
iPhone 5 Preparing for Shipment
With the iPhone 5 launch date of Friday, September 21, fast approaching, check your online order. The status should have moved from “Processing Items” to “Preparing for Shipment.”
On Wednesday, the next status update should change to “Shipped.”
Time to Change $AAPL to $TSLA?
With Apple stock prices running near $700 per share, is it time to sell off some shares and invest in Tesla Motors (TSLA)? The electric car makers still have a ways to go but have just announced two more upcoming models, an SUV and a new sports car.
At around $30 per share, you could hope TSLA performance over the years looks similar to AAPL. So as your neighborhood looks more and more like this, then an electric performance car sounds more and more reasonable.
Making Sense of Your iPhone 5 Order Status
Are you confused about the status of your iPhone 5 order? I know I am. The phone went on sale last night at 12:01 PDT then sold out in about an hour. If you pre-ordered an iPhone through Apple, you probably got an initial reservation email.
Because transactions with AT&T (my carrier) could not complete, my phone was reserved pending AT&T verification. Once my AT&T standing was confirmed, a second email allowed me to proceed with my order. After specifying iPhone capacity, color, and options such as AppleCare, I checked out to complete the order. Then a third email arrived informing me that my order is being processed. So what does this “processing” status mean? Did I get the phone?
Apparently so if you read Apple’s different states of an order.
From Processing Items, your order then goes straight to Preparing for Shipment, so being at the Processing stage is a good thing signifying your order is indeed confirmed.
Apple Strikes with Lightning
Nike sounded off with thunder, and now, Apple strikes with Lightning. Historically, Nike has offered Thunder and Lightning shoe sets, namely for the Air Jordan 4 in 2006. Oddly, Nike is retro-ing only the black Thunders in the upcoming months. There is no mention of the Lightnings?
Lo and behold, here comes Apple’s special event. The new iPhone/iPod 8-pin connector? It’s named Lightning. And Lightning is available right now since everyone knows lightning comes before thunder.
This Nike thunder and Apple lightning pairing is just too coincidental. How can Apple and Nike not be sharing playbooks? As I ponder this, I must drink some thunder and lightning coffee.