Apple’s Last Stand – or in This Case, Booth
Is Apple secretly cutting costs and disguising it as an innovation?
Last night Apple announced they would no longer be attending the Macworld conference and Expo. The explanation is that Apple is popular enough to no longer need the publicity. Apple retail stores draw 3.5 million people per week and Apple.com draws 100 million customers.
The consensus on this BNet poll is that the cost of trade shows are not worth the leads they generate. The example they list shows a single genuine lead costing $4500. That translates into a lot of iPhones per lead. Less than 2 Macbook Pros though.
Perhaps Apple simply realized this truth:
If you are attending MacWorld, you probably already like their products. Simple math says they don't need the expense of a trade show to sell their gear.
What's missing from this black and white view of trade show ROI? Is there any other potential value of showing up and showing off? What possible purpose could the droves of Apple fanboys and girls attendees serve besides shelling out cold cash to buy product?
One word: buzz!
Trade shows like Macworld do more than showcase to the crowd that attends. The majority of people there will be sharing their experience with everyone in earshot.
"Grandma, did you know I'll be attending Macworld?"
"Hey co-worker, when I was at Macworld..."
Macworld Blog!
Twitpic - "Just Seen at Macworld!"
You get the idea.
People want the cred that goes with attending the big show. They want the connection that comes with hearing Steve Jobs in person. They love the opportunity to network with others who love their gadgets as much as they do. Ah well, there's always SXSW I guess.
Apple is hot, hot, hot, there's no doubt. But do they really have the momentum to drop one of the events that got them where they are today?
Hex Color Tools – Mac & PC
Having migrated from a PC to a MacBook over the summer, things have been progressing smoothly. Despite the relative ease of the transition, now and then I still discover utilities from my PC toolkit that I don't have an immediate alternate for on my Mac.
Instant Eyedropper
One PC tool I always had running in my toolbar was Instant Eyedropper. Click the icon, and an info box shows the hex value for any pixel your mouse hovers over. Simple concept, but for a consultant jumping from system to system, a terrific timesaver.
So, a new day and a new client. Creating some quick content for them but I don't have access to their systems yet, just a screenshot of a mockup. In the old days, I could gather the HTML colors I need in seconds and move on. Am I going to fire up my VM just to find out a couple of colors? I think not.
DigitalColor Meter
A quick Google search cleared this up. Turns out there's a utility built into the Mac that does this exact thing, DigitalColor Meter. You can find it in Applications/Utilities. Try it out!
It's capable of retrieving colors in 13 different formats, making it useful for more than just web development.
Now I'm wondering what other clever apps are hiding away in Mac OS Leopard.
What's your favorite Native Mac App?
Twitter Phishing Response
In response to my post on Twitter phishing, David Chan writes:
"I have only entered my Twitter credentials for tools which use it as single sign-on. A good example would be TwitPic, which skips the entire account creation process and uses all your Twitter info (name, avatar, description, location, etc.)."
Exactly what I would expect. I understand the usage, it makes perfect sense from a developer's perspective. My fear is that we sometimes blindly give our credentials to third party applications just because a lot of other people are doing it.
I asked a group of people if they would give their email password to a third party application offering some service. Of course, they said they wouldn't. The thing is, most of us have done so already!
If you use an multi-account IM tool like Pidgin or Adium, you must have entered your credentials for each account. I feel these clients are using the credentials in good faith (obviously or I wouldn't use them) but what is to stop a very ambitious Phisher from creating a useful service to gather mass email accounts?
They could offer the service for a period to build up faith and then get on with their nefarious deeds.
Thoughts?
Twitter Phishing – Hype or Hoopla
The Bait
If you are a die hard Twitter fan, you've probably already heard the controversy around TwitterRank. It's a fairly basic concept, like a page rank for your Twitter account:
"As the name implies, Twitterank is sort of like Page Rank for twitter users. True to its namesake, it uses "back references" of sorts to determine how worthy of a person you are in Twitterverse."
The Hook
Most of us have given our password to any number of clients in our search for the one that works for us: Twinkle, Twhirl, Twitterific, TweetDeck, etc. How can we be sure that any one of these is legit? TwitterRank has posted an official response to the phishing question. Basically it says, "I'm a good person, don't worry about it". I accept that. It's not the developer's job to assure people they are not malicious when offering free services. It's really a case of buyer (read user) beware.
TwitterRank's creator states the problem is the Twitter API is a closed system. You need to have a username and password to retrieve data. TwitterRank goes on to refer to sites like Yahoo and Facebook that allow you to retrieve data in other ways.
Fair enough, but it is possible to retrieve a lot of data from Twitter just by using the publicly available xml timelines, user and friend. I have an alpha version Twitter tool in the works that gives you the option to enter your password but operates just fine without it. You only need to enter your password if you want to access protected, i.e. private, data.
The Solution?
Hard to say. Perhaps Twitter could have an approved list of affiliate tools. Sort of like the iTunes approval process.
What do you think? Have you ever given a second thought to entering your Twitter password to a third party tool? If not, would you do the same with your email password?
Top 7 iPhone Accessories
Here are my latest picks for the top iPhone accessories. There are several options in each category depending on your primary usage. My primary considerations in accessories are:
- Portability
- Productivity
- Experience enhancement
Screen Protector
- InvisibleShield - full body protection
- Crystal Film - touch screen shield
- Deco Skin - protective and attractive, design your own!
Charger
Solar Charger
- The chargers that came with the iPhone 3G were recalled. See the article here for info on what to do about that.
- Car Charger - under $10
- Solar Charger - You can also opt for this Solar Charger case.
- My top pick for a non-solar charger: Incase 2-in-1 wall and car charger. Cut the number of cords cluttering up your laptop bag and grab this one. The 5 ft cable is nice.
Case
Incase Battery
- Case with close up lens - for the productivity junkie. Clarifi excites the productive side of my personality. I see me happily scanning barcodes, business cards, and other evernotes.
- Telescope - for the photog. Telescopic 6X zoom looks good. ThinkGeek has a version of this for the non-3G iPhone.
- Case with Battery - lets face it, this is for everyone. Most especially the truly mobile workforce. Mophie probably had the best battery case on the market but check out the newest contender from Incase.
Headset
MyVu Video Shades
- Conference Call Commando - Jawbone is the way to go. Warning - there have been reports of pairing issues with 3G. My top pick at the moment but the next option has a huge cool factor.
- Frequent Flyer - Holy video glasses batman! Or just a batman video. Widescreen movies in a narrow seat = awesome flight, or at least more tolerable!
- Music Lover - Bose kicks some ear and you know it! A few other good options for audiophiles but I'll leave that argument for another time.
Docking Station
Griffin PowerDock
Do you just need power or are you sans stereo?
- Stereo / Alarm Dock - I liked the look of this one from TunePro until I saw it had no speaker shielding for GSM interference.
- Better Stereo / Alarm Dock options to be found here, including another Bose reference (I should get a commission from them).
- Multiple Docking - great if you have a family of iGear. Top pick for now because it keeps counter top clutter to a minimum.
Car Mounting
Audio Visual Cable
- Apple Component Cable
- HDMI to DVI This is for your MAC but you have your videos on both devices, right?
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