Apple just made a million teenagers ask their parents for $500. "If you love Facebook so much," this new Apple iPhone ad begins, "that you check it every time you're at the computer, just think how great it would be every time you're, well, nowhere near your computer." Which is funny. I guess. But we prefer the classic ending, "then why don't you marry it?"
Apple has fattened the iPhone and iPod Touch's memory — and the company's profit margins. The 16GB iPhone retails for $499 — a $100 price jump, which might kick the iPhone above a 40 percent gross margin. Not bad for an industry that normally gives away phones as a loss leader. [Silicon Alley Insider]
The former manager of digital media at Wal-Mart, Kevin Swint, has joined Apple to head up its international video effort, including overseas movie rentals through iTunes. In recent weeks, Wal-Mart has closed its online video-download service and cut back its other digital initiatives. [AppleInsider]
VC blogger Fred Wilson argues that a Microsoft-Yahoo merger will be bad for users and for the Internet as a whole. "If you think about the Internet, it's a huge distributed network of loosely connected services owned and operated by literally millions. We don't need or want consolidation of services on the Internet," Wilson writes. But you know who the Microsoft-Yahoo deal is even worse news for? The incompetent executives who landed Yahoo in this pickle in the first place. They're ferociously spinning gullible reporters with rescue fantasies. Here are the five most widespread rumors — and why they're unlikely to happen.
Behold the best tech ad in Super Bowl history: Apple's "1984" ad, which cost $1.6 million to make and run, and only aired nationally once. The following nine ads, while perhaps not as iconic, are all fascinating in how they seek to make the mysteries of tech compelling to the masses.
Two weeks after it was introduced, the MacBook Air is now on display at the local Apple Store for you to play with. But why did it take two weeks for models to go on display? Apple has been taking preorders on the MacBook Air since moments after Steve Jobs finished his keynote at Macworld, but unless you were at the show, you couldn't actually see one until this week.
What's the value of the spoken word? $300 million, according to Amazon.com, which just purchased the leading digital audiobook reseller, Audible.com. The amount is a premium of more than 20 percent on yesterday's closing price. The purchase of Audible, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, shows that Amazon is serious about digital content. Amazon has sold Audible's audio downloads since May 2000, and the purchase is a natural fit as Amazon offers more content via digital delivery. But what does it mean for the consumer?
Apple announced today that while the MacBook Air has started shipping, the Apple TV 2.0 update, which was promised "in about two weeks," will be available "in another week or two." Apple didn't say what the holdup was, but it could be related to Flickr integration issues (Steve Jobs's Flickr demonstration failed during his keynote), other quality control problems, or, quite possibly, due to last-minute wrangling with the movie studios.
Presidential candidate Barack Obama read the top ten list on David Letterman last night, counting down his top ten campaign promises. At No. 4: "I won't let Apple release the new and improved iPod the day after you bought the previous model." Puh-lease. It's enough to make you long for the good old days, when candidates pandered for votes in the polling booth, not on Digg.
Apple has sold 3.75 million iPhones but AT&T has only reported 2 million activations. Analysts think that the bulk of the difference is from organized groups purchasing iPhones, unlocking them and selling them overseas. This could indicate pent-up demand for the phone — especially in Asia — and that Apple isn't too concerned about it. "If Apple still found all this to be a significant problem, it could certainly require customers to sign up for a service plan before they left the store." [Bits]
It's scientific now, bitches — and illustrated. Mac owners are "self-satisfied" and "superior," according to a recent study from Mindset Media. But earlier reports didn't lay it out in full color. AdAge says the characterization is best embodied by Justin Long, the actor who plays "Mac" in the Mac vs. PC ads. They even draft up a handy illustration to make their case. Fair point, but we disagree.
A few weeks ago, at the Macworld keynote, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced online movie rentals from all the major studios. At the same time, he rolled out a significant upgrade to the Apple TV, transforming it from an underwhelming side project into something consumers might actually purchase. Online movie rentals, in high definition no less, are what the Apple TV has been begging for since it was introduced. I suspect that Steve Jobs wanted to roll out movie rentals when the Apple TV was released, but couldn't get the deals done — a testament to the reluctance of the movie studios to make this deal and to the coup that Jobs has pulled off. Now though, we're wondering about the price drop on the Apple TV that was announced as the same time, from $299 to $229. Just how can Apple afford that?
"Ever since the return of Steve Jobs, [Apple] has been pretty maniacal about micro-managing its visible face, to make it as smooth and featureless as an iPod's backside," ex-Apple engineer Jens Alfke writes on his blog, explaining why he left the company. He goes on to say that Apple should make its engineers feel like rock stars. You know, like it used to.
Palm has hired Mike Bell, a 16-year Apple veteran, as its SVP of product development. But you'll never hear that from Palm. The hiring of an industry veteran for a top executive spot is something normally trumpeted as loudly as possible. But Palm is desperately trying to keep quiet the fact that it won over Bell shortly before Christmas. Why the silencing effort? Jon Rubinstein, Palm's chairman, was part of Steve Jobs's turnaround team before he left Apple in 2006. Since he joined Palm last year, the smartphone maker has been hiring a number of Apple engineers. There have been "screaming matches and threats of lawsuits," says a plugged-in source.
It's long been known that Apple CEO Steve Jobs fathered a daughter, Lisa, out of wedlock, and did not acknowledge her until later in life. (Apple's ill-fated Lisa is apocryphally said to be named after her.) Now, Lisa Brennan-Jobs is an accomplished magazine writer. Her latest assignment: a story in February's Vogue. But my eyes stopped on the magazine's contributors page, which featured a striking photo of Brennan-Jobs. She is the very image of her father.
