To all Apple Employees, Thank You

Long before I got into the Apple punditry business (gosh, it seems like it was just last November...) I was an Apple employee, just like many people who are now working here at The Digital Lifestyle. Today a large part of our time is dissecting Apple's products, decisions, and culture; turning a critical eye on the company.

I wanted to take a moment though, to thank the thousands of people who work, and have worked for Apple. It's easy for us to take a look at what's wrong with a product or policy, but we never want to lose sight of the amazing job you do. A product like the iPhone comes along, and as is human nature, we immediately look for what's wrong or missing. It's important to remember just how game-changing and innovative the products can be. Look at cell phones for example. How many cell phones were touting touchscreens last June? Today everyone wants to build their version of the iPhone. Just as you did with the iPod, (another product that was initially panned by many, myself included) you showed us the future. You gave us a device beyond anything else. You took functions many devices already had, and made them more stylish, intuitive, and appealing than ever before. It's a heritage that goes all the way back to that first Apple I.

So at the risk of sounding like of one of those old beer commercials, here's to you Apple employees! I know it's not just the engineers. It's not just the designers. It's everyone who works in any capacity that makes it all possible, and makes our relatively easy job as technology critics possible as well.

Keep up the great work!

Quick tour of The Computer History Museum

Adam, Ryan and Macgirl had a chance to tour one of the coolest tech/nerd locations in the world: The Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. Here's a quick look at the wonders inside:

Five (Apple) Ways To Spend Your Tax Rebate

It's rebate season, and soon (if you haven't already) if you're a U.S. citizen, you'll be getting your $600 tax rebate/stimulus check. I'll decline commenting on the political side of this, and get right to something we can all agree on: here's a chance to blow $600 on items you might not normally buy. And so we present five different types of fun/practical packages you can buy with the money:

For the play it safe/ fiscally conservative types:
While not everyone's cup of tea, what better way for you to spend the money than on Applecare for your Mac ($149-349 depending on the model), AppleCare for the iPod ($59) and finally, a big heap of AppleCare for the iPhone. ($59) No, it's not exciting, and you might have three of the emptiest boxes available for purchase, but provided you bought all those toys in the last year, you'll be doubling (or, in the case of the computer, tripling) your warranty coverage. Never mind the fact that $600 could simply replace a broken iPod or iPhone instead. Total: $277 - $667.

For the mobile high roller:
Obviously there's the iPhone, but don't buy today: If the rumored AT&T subsidy happens, you could pick up a snazzy phone for $199. Then, grab the matching bluetooth headset ($129). Keep it safe in any of the dandy cases ($25) and double the warranty with AppleCare, ($59) Total: $412, then apply the rest to unlimited texting on your monthly plan.

Kitchen computer overkill:
Isn't time you could access the internet in the kitchen? Computerized recipes have been the promise of the future for about as long as the U.S. has been talking about going metric. Now you can live the dream! Refurb macmini: $499. keyboard: $49 mouse: $49. Third-party monitor: $150. Total: $747 Grandma's fudge recipe at the touch of a button: priceless.

Budding video star:
Final Cut Express: $199 One Year lynda.com training (review coming soon!) $250. Canon ZR830 miniDV camcorder: $199 Total: $648.

For the hesitant switcher:
Can't leave windows behind? Ok.. Windows Vista Premium $239. Parallels Desktop for Mac $70. Mac OS X reference manual $49. Mouse with scroll wheel/3 buttons $69. One to One training at an Apple Store: $99. Total: $527.

Have your own suggestions, funny or serious? Let us know in the comments,

tDL Live from 5/12/08

Last night, Ryan and Adam gave us their weekly look
at all the new Apple news and rumors. Here's the show in case you missed it!

Counterpoint: .mac isn't all bad

Adam's post on .mac has certainly stirred up the Apple community. While I think he made several valid points about questionable aspects of .mac, I think it's only fair to offer a different look. First, as a point of disclosure, I should admit I'm not the biggest .mac either. I've had my .mac email address since the days .mac was a free service, and I still feel that's the best strategy for Apple. That said, it's not a complete waste either.

Adam is correct in saying that you can re-create most/all the included .mac features with free programs and services. However, we're Mac users: we're used to, and probably in some cases, prefer to pay more for someone taking the hard worked out of things for us. The value in Mac OS X, for example, comes largely from the simplicity it offers compared to Windows. .Mac, bundles several services that people may not want to take the time to configure on their own. Some people (many, perhaps?) don't want to spend the time setting up a gmail account, then hop to godaddy for a hosting plan, and off to another site for remote desktop management. I believe there's an argument to be made for the .mac integration of iWeb, iPhoto, etc. Yes, most of these functions can be duplicated with other solutions, often for free. Flickr, for example to share your photos rather than .mac/iPhoto.

It's not so much a matter of whether .mac is worth it, as much as is it worth it to you. Apple could do a lot to make .mac more attractive to a larger portion of the Apple community. But as it is, it certainly has value to some. As Google, for one, continues to integrate different services together online for free, Apple will be forced (hopefully!) to keep pace, or innovate with .mac. That's perhaps the major flaw of .mac: it's a service that once was innovative, and offered features that couldn't even really be benchmarked against other services. Since then, the rest of the web has caught up, and passed .mac, at least in the "bang for the buck" category. .mac isn't worthless, it's just not a wise choice for as wise of a market as it could be.