Fresh Apple: Cult of Mac (5 сообщений)

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Cult of Mac
Read Leander Kahney's latest commentary about Apple and Mac News in Wired.com's Cult of Mac Blog, including Mac, Mac Pro, MacBook, iMac, iBook, Mac mini, iPod video, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iTunes, iPhoto, iPhone, Apple TV, OSX, Steve Jobs, and Macworld.
http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/
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Are Tech Analysts Ganking Rumors from Prominent Mac Sites?
MacRumors founder Arnold Kim makes a very interesting point regarding the rumored new MacBook Pros and iMacs that Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster unleashed on an unwitting public yesterday. Like many others, I was fairly impressed that Munster took the...

MacRumors founder Arnold Kim makes a very interesting point regarding the rumored new MacBook Pros and iMacs that Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster unleashed on an unwitting public yesterday. Like many others, I was fairly impressed that Munster took the trouble to determine the average life cycle of both iMac and MacBook Pro generations.
Well, as it turns out, Munster might not have calculated the numbers himself:
These numbers correlate exactly to the [MacRumors] Buyer's Guide averages. Some have asked couldn't he have come up with these numbers on his own? It's possible, but exceedingly unlikely as he would have had to choose the same releases (2002 PowerBook, 2003 iMac) to start counting in order to achieve the exact same averages.
Kim also implies that Munster's assumption that Apple will release new Macs at WWDC might be directly drawn from an earlier ThinkSecret report, which makes the reliability of tech analysts' reports about Macs questionable. Which they absolutely are.
Apple is the rare computer company that won't play nice and let analysts see their stuff earlier than the general public. There's no question that most reports or based on assumptions and reading rumor sites. I do question a commenter's conclusion that any of this is new. From what I can tell, the Mac rumor sites have been ahead of the analysts since the day Steve came back.

Technorati Tags: analysts, rumor

Pete Mortensen
New Macs at WWDC? (Well, yeah)
Analyst Gene Munster (not to be confused with Herman) today predicted that Apple will roll out new MacBook Pros and iMacs at the Worldwide Developer Conference in June. That's not the world's edgiest guess, given that it's been almost nine...

Analyst Gene Munster (not to be confused with Herman) today predicted that Apple will roll out new MacBook Pros and iMacs at the Worldwide Developer Conference in June. That's not the world's edgiest guess, given that it's been almost nine months since either product line was updated. What is rather shocking is Munster's baffling logic for the update:
Munster added that he "expects" new MacBook Pros (1, 2) to make a showing at the developer conference and that it's "also possible" that Apple will introduce a redesigned iMac. He notes that on average, the Cupertino-based company has updated its professional notebooks every 182 days, with the most recent generation having launched 209 days ago (data presumably gathered via help from the MacRumors buyer's guide). Similarly, he said, iMacs have traditionally seen updates every 168 days but the current generation is now a whopping 257 days old.
Wow, and I thought it was just that Intel had new processors on the market and Apple's just about last to roll out hardware sporting the chips. I am mildly interested in the rumor that the iMac would actually be redesigned and not just refreshed. Looking back at it, the timing might be right. The iMac G4 was on the market for about 30 months, and we're now at 33 months for the iMac G5 enclosure. I think Apple is more than due for a real new design statement on its computers, so this will be one to watch.

Image via Wikipedia
Via Engadget

Pete Mortensen
Hello Again, 'Hello.' Apple Leads Ad Revival
Interesting article in the New York Times today about the resurgence of the world "Hello" as an ad tagline. Apple has a long tradition of using the word dating to the original Mac, so it's only fitting that they've revived...

Interesting article in the New York Times today about the resurgence of the world "Hello" as an ad tagline. Apple has a long tradition of using the word dating to the original Mac, so it's only fitting that they've revived it for the iPhone, but this is a bigger trend, as reflected in the creepy "Hello, Delicious" ads for Level Vodka:
"Advertising being an annoying, interruptive medium, 'Hello' is kind of a nice salutation, a friendly way of introducing yourself," said Lee Clow, chairman and chief creative officer at the TBWA Worldwide unit of the Omnicom Group who has long worked for Apple.
That's one way to view it. You know what I think it is? It's Thursday, that's what it is.

Pete Mortensen
No, DRM-Free Music Won't Create a New Bonanza
Silicon Valley raconteur Om Malik is always keeping his eyes peeled for something to surpass Apple's killer iPod+iTunes combo, and after endorsing Real Rhapsody the other day, he's now generally supporting the idea that a new generation of DRM-free music...

Silicon Valley raconteur Om Malik is always keeping his eyes peeled for something to surpass Apple's killer iPod+iTunes combo, and after endorsing Real Rhapsody the other day, he's now generally supporting the idea that a new generation of DRM-free music will fuel a surge in digital music sales.
While online music downloads have grown rapidly, DRM (regardless of the flavor) has added more friction than security to the process, often slowing total sales, especially amongst the non-techie music fans.
I still don't buy it. Most people are willing to put up with minor DRM headaches for convenience. Most other people that really want to own their music are using services like eMusic or buying CDs. I don't think we're at a point where a lack of DRM-free Greatest Hits of the Eagles downloads is the bottleneck. Granted, Om thinks Apple stands to benefit here, but he also implies that the Sonos hardware that connects to Pandora could be the wave of the future. Which it isn't. I'm sorry, but radio, however evolved, doesn't hold the same long-term value as buying what you want. Pandora's a fun trick right now, but it's a long way from the music-brain I never realized I needed.

Pete Mortensen
Extra Reading, if you're bored.
If you've ever wondered exactly what I mean when I talk about innovation, feel free to take a gander at my other two blogs, both of which pertain to the subject. This is what I do for a living, so...

If you've ever wondered exactly what I mean when I talk about innovation, feel free to take a gander at my other two blogs, both of which pertain to the subject. This is what I do for a living, so I think you should get a bit of my perspective on it.

The first blog, Better than New, is one I run with a friend. It's basically like what we do here, but as it pertains to design, innovation, cultural needs, stuff like that. It's newer but way more frequently updated.

The second, Pattern Linguist, is a misguided attempt to blog the complete history of the field of innovation as we know it today. It takes a long time to research, and I tend to be thoughtful instead of snarky here. Still, there's ample fodder at both. Check 'em out!

Pete Mortensen