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- Need Staff? There's an Apple Store for That
It took the designer-store concept from Apple. It took the Genius Bar concept from Apple. What’s left for Microsoft to take from Apple as it gears-up to the launch of its first brick-and-mortar retail stores?
Well, the staff, of course.
According to The Loop, Microsoft is poaching Apple’s retail store managers with the promise of “significant” salary increases and, in some cases, offering to cover all moving expenses. The Loop doesn’t say who its source is, only that it spoke on condition of anonymity. The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple writes;
Once hired, the ex-Apple employees are then contacting some of the top sales people in the Apple retail organization offering them positions at Microsoft retail. They have also been offered more money than what they made at Apple.
Dalrymple says this poaching is a smart move, though I’m not so sure of that. Apple’s staff are trained, shaped and brainwashed inspired by the Cupertino Mother Ship. The Apple Retail Store philosophy runs through their veins. Apple Stores are successful not only because they offer ‘insanely great’ products, but because the staff are carefully versed in the Apple way of life.
Truly, they are Mapple People.
That little slogan on their t-shirts and badges that reads, “I could talk about this stuff for hours”? They mean it, and it’s easy to see why. Forgive me for drinking the Kool-Aid here, but consider how seamlessly software and hardware works in the Apple ecosystem. For the most part things “just work,” right? And when things work well, the experience is a happy one.
Now imagine those same enthusiastic technology-loving Mapple People going to work at a Microsoft Retail Store where Windows 7 doesn’t work the same way on every PC, where OEM crapware and errant drivers cause slowdowns and DLL headaches on a daily basis and it’s near impossible to easily demonstrate even the most basic of digital media management without being forced to sign-in to Windows Bloody Live just to get anything done…
I doubt things will “just work” quite as seamlessly. Not as happy an experience, I imagine. And I’m not speaking as a fanboy either — I’m speaking as a power-user of every iteration of Windows since 3.1.
If Microsoft thinks poaching Apple’s employees will bring a little of the Jobsian Magic to its retail venture, good luck to them, but I reckon they’re in for a nasty shock.
Переслать - New iPod Nano Raises Privacy Concerns With Fitness Chain
One of the great things about the iPod nano is that you can use it with Nike+ to track your workouts. Or you could, if the fitness center would let you bring the media player in to the gym. Life Time Fitness, a U.S.-based gym chain, is officially blacklisting the device according to TwinCities.com, and others will likely follow suit.
The reason, of course, is the recently introduced video capture capability the nano now sports. Yes, it allows the iPod to compete with devices like the Flip pocket camcorder, but it also raises privacy concerns in environments where video and image recording devices traditionally haven’t been permitted.
Life Time has already put a restriction on the books banning the nano from its 84 facilities, spread across 19 states. Others are considering a similar move, or argue that the device is already covered by their existing regulations. The YMCA, for instance, already restricts photo and video gadgets to lockers, and argues that this applies to the new nano, too.
Of course, the problem with any such ban is enforcement. Are gym staff really going to stop each patron each time they visit to make sure that nano they’re wearing on their arm isn’t a current-generation model, especially when the average person probably couldn’t spot the difference unless the device is removed from its case?
As someone who already visits a gym daily with an iPhone in an armband case, I doubt new anti-nano regulations will end up having much of an effect on the average fitness center attendee. But in order to protect yourself, it is a good idea to be aware that less scrupulous individuals might be using the new iPods for nefarious purposes, and keep an eye out accordingly when you’re working out or in the locker room.
Subscribe to GigaOM Pro and gain access to our Webinar, "Biggest Opportunities in the Smart Grid," on Oct. 7, 2009.
Переслать - Microsoft's Grand Tablet Designs (Take Two)
Poor old Microsoft. You can't blame them for trying, can you? Back at the start of the decade it gave us its vision for tablet computing in the form of Windows XP Tablet Edition and (via its OEM friends) a series of bulky, underpowered, overly-expensive machines.
Now they're at it again, according to leaked prototype designs published yesterday by Gizmodo. The plans describe a machine codenamed Courier, a remarkable concept device that sports dual seven inch gatefold screens, touch-input and stylus-input support, wireless capabilities and a whole lot of awesome to boot.
Gizmodo say it's not a tablet, it's a booklet. They add that it started life as a skunkworks project few in Microsoft even knew about, but is now “…a real device, and we’ve heard that it’s in the ‘late prototype’ stage of development.”
Right now everyone is working on a tablet device of one kind or another. The horribly-named and equally-horribly-styled JournE Touch prototype was recently showcased by Toshiba; Arrington's been talking-up the CrunchPad for what seems like forever, and as we all know, Apple is perhaps maybe possibly (absolutely definitely) working on its very own MacTab.
Poor old Microsoft must feel a little like "Woah! Dude! Didn't we do this already?"
Despite the ambivalence of consumers, Bill Gates was always dedicated to the Tablet concept, and, I gotta admit, so was I. In 2003 I got my hands on my first very own teeny-tiny Acer hybrid Tablet PC. It was great. A ten inch screen with two pens, digital ink technology, wireless connectivity and — at least for the first few months anyway — decent battery life. There was no internal optical drive but it really didn't matter, I didn't miss it (and, as it turns out, getting along without an optical drive was early training for living with my MacBook Air!).
Sadly, the poor little Tablet PC was painfully underpowered. Even with a gigabyte of memory (which, for the time, was an awful lot of RAM for a notebook device!) it was glacier slow. Also, I was constantly worried that the hand-held, ultra-mobile nature of the device would be bad news for its 2.5 inch traditional spinning-plate hard drive; after all, solid state discs were but a rich madman’s dream back then. (As it happens, it did eventually spell doom for the HDD which bravely clung to life until 2006 when it finally clicked its last.)
Fundamentally, Microsoft was right about its vision for tablet computing, but — predictably — got the execution all wrong. For a software publisher famous for developing new platforms at the drop of a hat (I'm still struggling to understand Azure) the boys and girls in Redmond made the bewildering decision to use a modified version of Windows XP as its Tablet OS of choice. And it was unsurprisingly terrible; after all, Windows XP was designed with the desktop computing paradigm in mind. Its designers expected end users to click away with the humble mouse — not wield a pen.
If you ever tried using a Tablet PC on-the-go you'll know what I mean; hitting those tiny buttons and icons with a fiddly stylus as you cradled an expensive slate in one arm while trying to write with the other was not particularly intuitive or fun. Mind you, it looked impressive.
I think Microsoft's vision was simply too far removed from the reality of the hardware ecosystem at that time. Tablet PC’s simply weren't powerful enough, didn't offer the right storage solutions and couldn't even stay powered-up for long enough to do anything particularly meaningful.
Learning From Other’s Mistakes
Apple watched where things failed for Microsoft and learned from their shortfalls. The iPhone and iPod Touch benefit from an operating system and user interface designed specifically with touch-control in mind. The hardware is thin and light, there are no spinning discs and, crucially, power consumption, while occasionally mucked-up by inadequately tested firmware, offers hours of reliable, productive use.
The phenomenal success of the iPhone OS proves that — just as Bill Gates believed — there is a huge market for tablet computing. Had the original Tablet PCs not been so insanely expensive they might have enjoyed higher adoption rates than the five or six people who eventually bought one. (I know I bought two. I expect Paul Thurrott bought the others.)
Microsoft has a long, rich history of developing amazing new technologies and showing them off in super-awesome demonstrations at packed conventions only to, ultimately, fail to bring them to market in the same awesome form. The original Zune wasn't so bad, but Microsoft hobbled its potential by limiting its availability (a mistake it’s still making with the Zune HD). Microsoft Surface was another cool technology that should have been developed into super-cool new products… but today can only be found in a few hotel lobbies and, it turns out, a branch of Barclays Bank in Piccadilly Circus. (I’ve been there; they have a few Surface tables, usually not switched on, upstairs where no customers ever see them. Effective use of new technology, right?)
So what of Courier? Well, I expect Microsoft has built a great prototype. It will likely go to CES and demonstrate a fantastic "new" touch-based platform (no doubt some derivative of Windows 7) and it will get acres of column inches from breathless tech journalists who won't waste a second branding it the Apple Tablet Killer.
But, in the end, it will do what it always does; it will leave it to its hardware partners to decide whether it's a technology it wants to produce. And you know, some of those OEM's might, tentatively, knock-out a few machines that will be both massively expensive and so deeply-flawed only the most ardent early adopters will buy them. (So that'll be me and Thurrott again, I suppose.)
In the meantime, Apple will dominate with a killer tablet that will prove to Microsoft, yet again, execution really isn't its strong suit.
Переслать - Pay for Your Grande Latte at Starbucks With Your iPhone
Coffee lovers with overstuffed wallets rejoice: You can now pay for your Starbucks coffee with your Starbucks Card without actually using a physical card. There’s a catch — you’ll need an iPhone. But if you have one, you can now pay with Starbucks Card Mobile (iTunes link), a new app now available as a free download from the App Store.
Before you head out the door with your iPhone in hand to try this out, check a map and make sure you’re currently located in Cupertino, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, or San Jose in California, or Seattle in Washington. If you’re anywhere else, you’re going to be disappointed, since those are the locations of the stores participating in the pilot test program of the new payment method.
In the 16 stores that are accepting payment via iPhone in the cities I just mentioned, it works like this: You add a Starbucks card to the app’s database using the card number and code, after which point the app will display a barcode (QR code, I think?) on the iPhone’s screen that the barista taking your order can scan in order to process payment.
It’s not a unique payment scheme, but for some reason Americans are lagging behind many of their international neighbors in the pay-for-stuff-with-your-mobile department. This Starbucks test pilot should be a good indicator of just how deep the resistance goes, since many people already use a Starbucks card, and I’m willing to bet the test areas include a high density of iPhone users.
Paying isn’t the only thing the new app can do. It can also let you check your Starbucks Card balance, reload your card with any major credit card, and see a transaction history so you can see just how much you actually spend on your overpriced fancy-pants coffee. The card management features are available across the U.S., and don’t require you to be in one of the test markets for the purchasing features. You must be using a U.S. card, though, and Duetto and Starbucks Store Credit cards aren’t supported.
Additionally, each card can only be loaded on one device at one time, in order to provide more tighter security around their usage. It’s a good feature, but it means you and your partner can’t just split one card between you on two separate iPhones. Also, if you want to check out the menu and get your orders straight before heading to Starbucks, there’s another app called myStarbucks (iTunes link) that allows you to do just that, also released today.
Let’s hope this works, because if it does, it’s possible more mobile payment and points programs will follow suit. I’d love to be able to ditch my Best Buy Rewards, Safeway, Staples, etc. cards and get a new, much slimmer wallet.
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