MacOrama für den 11. März 2005

Apple CFO Oppenheimer sprach vorgestern auf der Morgan Stanley Semiconductor and System Conference. Davon lediglich interessant, dass der vielbeschworene iPod halo-Effekt auch vor Firmen nicht haltmacht: "In terms of the enterprise we're selling a lot of iPods to enterprise customers that are using the iPod for internal awards or for promotion externally," he explained, "City bank has recently run a retail promotion featuring the iPod and they reported that it was their best ever promotion. So that is certainly opening up doors for us to have conversations. We also have employee purchase programmes with many organisations in the Fortune 500, which is another way for us to start conversations." Ganzer Bericht bei Macworld UK.
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Nicht nur Schwerhörigkeit bringt einen iPod shuffle, auch der Kauf eines Rudergerätes bringt einen kostenlosen iPod shuffle mit sich (Danke, Pirwitz!).
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MacFixIt mit Mini-Tutorial zur Bekämpfung des Sat1-Balles: "While virtually all users will experience a spinning pinwheel (and associated unresponsiveness from a specific application, a group of applications or the entire system) from time to time, there are a number of measures you can take to lessen the occurrence of these incidents and eliminate standstills." Mehr für Einsteiger.
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"Designed in Cupertino." The words are printed in such small type on the back of Apple's tiny new iPod Shuffle MP3 player that you have to squint to read them." Offenbar waren die Buchstaben allerdings so klein, dass man diesen in der Business Week falsch las, tatsächlich steht dort nämlich: "Designed by Apple in California".
"Of course, Apple also sets its self apart by designing machines that are also little works of art -- even if it means making life difficult for manufacturers contracted to build those designs. During a trip to visit ODMs in Asia, one executive told securities analyst Jim Grossman of Thrivent Investment Management about Steve Jobs's insistence that no screws be visible on the laptop his company was manufacturing for Apple. The executive said his company had no idea how to handle the job and had to invent a new tooling process for the job. "They had to learn new ways to do things just to meet Apple's design," says Grossman."
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Apropos "Designed by Apple in California": Luxpro Corp besticht mit dem Super Shuffle, was wie ein Witz aussieht wurde tatsächlich auf der CeBit vorgestellt:

Wer schon immer lieber Super statt iPod auf seinem shuffle stehen haben wollte, auf iTunes Unterstützung verzichten kann, sowie auf FM-Tuner und Sprachaufzeichnung schielt, der sollte schnell zuschlagen. Weitere Bilder gibts im Apfeltalk-Forum, die 1GB Variante soll unter 99EUR kosten.
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"The Blu-ray Disc Association today anounced that Apple will become a member of the consortium’s Board of Directors."
"Apple also will participate in the promotion and marketing of the Blu-ray Disc format, according to Josh Peterson, director of optical storage at HP. "We're hoping to tap their marketing and creative genius when it comes to that area," Peterson said." Mehr bei CNET.
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Forbes landet wieder den ganz großen Coup. Diesmal kein Ranking, nein, diesmal wird eine Graphologin auf die Unterschriften einiger Unternehmenschefs losgelassen. Steve Jobs schreibt die Anfangsbuchstaben seines Vor- und Nachnamens klein. "Kurtz finds its 'interesting and very, very unusual' that Jobs thinks differently enough not to capitalize the first letters of his name, but she doesn't feel comfortable assessing why that is: 'Could it be low self-esteem? Maybe. Could it be that he doesn't let his ego interfere with his understanding? Perhaps.' Other traits are easier to understand: The slashed dot over the "j" indicates 'serious impatience,' she says, and the arrow-like form on the "t" bar 'indicates a tendency toward sarcasm. The writer can wound with his words, if he chooses to do so." Soso, das geht also alles aus der Signatur des Apple- und Pixarchefs hervor... Wer sich für die "professionellen" Charakterstudien von Bill Gates, Michael Dell und anderen interessiert, sollte dem Link folgen. (jpf)
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Nach AI Quellen wird Apple wahrscheinlich ab Mitte 2005 in jedem Mac 512MB RAM standardmäßig verbauen. "Although Tiger will not require 512MB of RAM, insiders say the boost in memory spec will assure consumers a smoother experience running both Tiger and Apple’s iLife ’05 digital lifestyle software suite. They added that the upgrade is 'much needed.'" Dumm wäre das sicher nicht.
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Mac Rumors über 10.3.9 7W77: "The new seed appears to only contain minor changes to the latest OS X revision with bug fixes for audio drivers, firewire video capture performance improvements, and wake from sleep fixes." Der letzte Build war am 26. Februar freigegeben worden.
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Nachdem zwischenzeitig Fragen der nationalen Sicherheit den IBM-Lenovo-Deal bremsten (MacOrama vom 2.2.2005), ist nun durch den zuständigen US-Senatsausschuss grünes Licht gegeben worden. "We expect to close the deal in the second quarter", heißt es nun bei IBM. (MacWorld) (jpf)
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TMO: "A former producer of the Clash turned academic scholar has proposed that songs should be sold online for just 5 cents each. While the likelihood of such a plan ever being adopted is slim, Sandy Pearlman has spoken to Apple on at least one occasion about his idea." The Globe and Mail hat die ganze Geschichte: "Pearlman argued that his plan isn't a revolt against the industry. It's merely a pricing decision. Apple should simply be charging 5 cents instead of 99 cents a song, he said. This would bring in millions upon millions of more customers. And he believes that the best place to test this would be in Canada, which has laws he regards as being more supportive of artists and accommodating to an initiative such as this."
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"Bringen Sie mit dem iPod mini etwas Farbe in Ihren Alltag. Sie mögen "Pink" oder "Blue"? Mit dem farbigen iPod mini - es gibt ihn auch in "Silver" und "Green" - können Sie modische Akzente setzen. Probieren Sie das farblich abgestimmte Click Wheel aus und zeigen Sie mit dem passenden Zubehör wie Armbändern und Tragebändern, dass Sie total im Trend liegen." Aus Apples eNews Newsletter, März 2005.
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