Which Version of Windows 7 Should You Install?

None.

Get Ready for the Goofy Bar: Jobs Said to be Influencing Disney Store Design

The New York Times reports Apple's (and Disney's) Steve Jobs and the Apple retail team are helping revamp the Disney stores. We've received the first transcript of a customer interaction in the new stores:

"Welcome to the Disney Store, may I help you?"

"Yes, my Buzz Lightyear wings are locked up."

"Have you tried a hard reset?" Hold down his voice command button and press in on his right boot for ten seconds."

"That didn't do anything."

"Ok, let's get you signed in to the Goofy Bar... Looks like we have a slot tomorrow at 11AM."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. Did you get DisneyCare on this item?"

"No."

"Well, you've had it 13 months, which means it's out of warranty. A new one is $24.99. The repair on this one is a flat fee of $22.99."

"What? That's ridiculous! This is a racket!"

"Actually, it's an iRacket. Have a magical day!"

TDL Live This Week: (10/12 - 10/18)

On the Apple news scale, we'll give this week a six out of ten. Definitely middle of the pack material. On this week's TDL Live, we talk about the latest from Psystar, Microsoft's danger(ous) problems, game ratings, app store pricing and more. Oh, and original TDL Live co-host Adam Ford drops by.

Get your workday started the right way: With half an hour of tech news!

Should Steve Jobs Blog?

image: FakeSteve.netBlogging is all the rage for web 2.0 CEO's. It's all about a free flow of information between the company and the customer. But would suggest a policy help or hurt Apple? And does Apple have a special responsibility given that they create so much software/hardware used by the online community?

Well, we did what we always do when we're faced with a tough subject: We took both sides! I (Ryan) offer the pro-blog angle, while Root Access host Jamie DeGrazio offers the con:

Yes, Apple (specifically Steve Jobs) Should Blog:

Steve Jobs blogging could bring a human side to Apple. Of course, that's not to say he or Apple really wants that. Apple promotes all kinds of tools, like Mobile Me, iWeb, etc. for personal expression, but do we ever see anyone at the highest reaches of Apple using these tools themselves? Are they "eating their own dog food," and using these tools? I think Keynote is far better than PowerPoint in no small part because Jobs himself, with his keynotes had direct, real-world input to the program. Couldn't the whole blogging world be better if Jobs experienced the issues first hand?

Also, short blogs from Jobs to could go a long way to quell concerns like those from App Store developers. I'm not saying he should spill corporate secrets or talk about the next big thing, but there's value to putting some humanity in the brand.

No, actually he shouldn't:

Blogging by Apple would never work, at least not coming from Steve. Let's face it, the guy doesn't come off as being very personable or down to earth. Apple and Steve are too guarded and secretive to allow the blog to be at all compelling. Could we really see Steve allowing user comments on his posts? No way. It would turn into the worst fanboy flame wars we have ever seen. Also let's not forget Apple is known for censoring and deleting critical posts on their own support forums. The best we can hope for is a centralized location on Apple.com that updates everyone on the status of MobileMe, iTunes,
etc.

Besides, we hear this blogging thing is just a fad...

Ever Wonder Just What Trademarks Apple Owns?

It was a slow weekend, so we took an exciting trip into the world of Apple's legal pages, and we found one (well, just one for today) interesting nugget.

If you ever wanted to know precisely what trademarks Apple has claimed, well here you go.

Sure the list includes the usual suspects: iLife, Airport, Apple TV, etc. but it also includes some interesting names that either haven't come to fruition, or are still being created. For example, AppleFund, listed as a "reimbursement program." OR AirMac, once a candidate for the MacBook Air. We also see some blasts from the past like Apple IIGS, AppleVision, and LaserWriter.

Click here for a look at the past (and perhaps future) of Apple product names...