Retro Tech Tuesday: Fight fires with faxes!

The fax machine. Much maligned, and yet a crucial tool for business through the 90's that still won't quite go away. But did you know fax machines also fight fires? It's true, at least if this late 80's commercial is to be believed. While an interesting premise to sell fax machines, I think they are being a bit generous with how long it took (and continues to take) to get a two-page fax. I'm pretty sure the building would be burned to the ground before out tech-forward firefighters made it there. Especially if there was a cover page.

Retro Tech Tuesday: Revisiting Mac and PC across the globe

Oh John Hodgman and Justin Long.. For years you entertained us in the U.S. (and Canada) with your banter. PC, you were always doing those silly PC-ish things, and Mac you were able (most of the time) to walk the line between helpful and smug. It turns out though there were more than two actors to portray Mac and PC with localized versions of the commercial appearing in other parts of the world. Here's three versions of the same ad for comparison. (Apparently the hipster sweatshirt translates across languages.)

Apple's Nuclear Option Against Microsoft

On Friday, we covered Microsoft's new commercial strategy, and corresponding banner ads. A quick recap is that the spots aim to show the Mac as more expensive than comparable PCs. Of course there's no cost of ownership or duration of the machine considered. These are simple ads aimed at placing doubt in the minds of those about to buy Macs, and frankly, for a lot of people they may prove convincing.

So what is Apple to do? Well, it would be wise to wait a bit, and see if these ads have any appreciable effects. Of course waiting too long, if they are effective could spell doom. What would be the strongest course of action if the ads work? There's a difference between Microsoft and Apple, and it's significant: Microsoft doesn't make computers. Why does that matter? Imagine if you woke up tomorrow to $799 MacBooks, or MacBook Pros starting at $1299. All Apple has to do in a worst-case scenario is lower prices and weather the storm. They have plenty of money in the bank to do so. The same can't be said of all the PC manufacturers. And those manufacturers would probably not be thrilled with Microsoft if they needed to lower prices to compete. I don't think the Lenovos and Compaqs of the world have the same kind of cash sitting around as Apple, and in a slow growth period in the industry, a price war could be devastating to some PC manufacturers.

So while it's unlikely to happen, and unlikely to need to happen, Apple has the ability to wipe out any gains from these ads in short order.

Like an App in an iPod/iPhone commercial? Here you go!

Apple has made it easy for those apps seen for fleeting seconds in commercials to become huge. Apple has created a page highlighting the apps from the commercials within the iTunes Store. Yes, there are a lot of ways in which Apple and developers could live more harmoniously, but this is a great way, especially for casual app buyers to find the apps they love from the commercials.

Kudos Apple, and enjoy the pile of cash, developers.