A Rubber Door » technology

Steve Jobs

Speener — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:16:50 +0000

Does a man really die when the world we live in is defined by his work?

The bondi blue iMac, white headphones, that original 5GB iPod, the iPhone.

1234; black turtlenecks and blue jeans; glass stairs and the Apple Store look; put the lowercase “i” in front of any word and an Apple lawyer will be at your door in a flash. A computer without a floppy drive or a CD. Hell, computers without keyboards.

Apple made innovation art under Steve Jobs. He showed us the way, now we can lead, create, innovate on our own. But we should start that tomorrow.

Tonight we mourn.

RIP Steve.

Apple Hates Social Media

Speener — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:34:05 +0000

[picappgallerysingle id="9195352"]I wasn’t a good Facebooker until I got an iPhone. I would forget about my accounts and not look at them for weeks. I think that part of the reason that Friendster and Myspace died is because you had to be chained to your computer to update them. Once you could effectively manage your online profiles on the run as you were being social and not after the fact, social networks became relevant to me. You could make an argument that the iPhone helped take social media to the next level. It brought elegant Internet surfing, faster connections, and a camera to everyone who would stomach AT&T. All of this was a boon to social networks.

So for their role in creating a space that made sites like Facebook and Twitter possible, how can Apple suck so bad at social media?

Customer Service – Your iPhone 4 is having problems. The signal strength and proximity sensor issues are all over Twitter, Facebook, an the blogosphere. Yet you say nothing. Of course you really don’t have a Facebook page of any value or your Twitter account is worth even less. You do have forums that you don’t answer. It’s like it’s 1998 at 1 Infinite Loop. In 2010, customers expect interaction online – not waiting in line at your stores or on the phone.
Social media integration – Why can’t I submit photos or videos directly to Facebook from outside of their app? As I mentioned before, the connected camera was one of the things that made these sites relevant.

As smart as Apple is about some things, they’re incredibly dumb about this. It’s not as if their employees don’t talk to customers millions of times every day. I was at an Apple store recently and saw customers hug their Apple rep on two separate occasions. Your employees are good at what they do, customers like them, and they seem to be able to communicate well, something it’s apparent that you can’t do.

I hate to say this, but one of the best companies at this is Apple’s ugly stepsister, AT&T. On AT&T’s Facebook page, they answer questions, post helpful videos and work to allay concerns before they go viral. You can also look at Verizon’s or Comcast’s Twitter accounts for other tech companies that get it.

Do you have any examples of good customer service online or companies that use social networks well? Share them in the comments section.

My iPad Review over at SlyMiser

Spencer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:00:53 +0000

I wasn’t in love with the iPad – this doesn’t mean I won’t get one some day – but I was a little disappointed. Read my iPad review over at SlyMiser.

Share your comments there. Are you getting one? Let us know.

(It’s sort of Apple Day over at SlyMiser – because I also have an AppleCare review running today).

SlyMiser is coming soon

Spencer — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:03:13 +0000

In this economy…

A few months ago some friends and I decided there needed to be a place for people who wanted to live their lives in the fashion they were accustomed to without breaking the bank. We couldn’t find one that we liked, so we decided to create one.

Coming this fall our new website, SlyMiser.com will offer tips, reviews, and articles on how to live your life in style without breaking the bank.

Visit our site and become our fan on Facebook – we’ll be offering tips and breaking news there until the site is up and running this fall.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard available for pre-order

Spencer — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:29:08 +0000

I love that the upcoming version of OS X for the Mac, 10.6 Snow Leopard, is available for the dirt cheap price of $29 to upgrade. The family pack that allows you to upgrade up to 5 computers in a household is $49.

Couple of things:

This is the first version of OS X that is Intel only.
The upgrade only works if you’re running Leopard (10.5). If you’re on Tiger (10.4) or earlier you have to buy theMac Box Set – (with Snow Leopard)
or Mac Box Set Family Pack with Snow Leopard (5-User)

The new operating system has been promoted as a refinement of Leopard as opposed to an entire new OS. Focused on improvements as opposed to new features.

Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard

Microsoft Ford Sync, iPhone 3.0 OS and bluetooth streaming (Sweet!)

Spencer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:07:05 +0000

I just accidentally found out that the new iPhone 3.0 OS has given me the ability to stream music from my iPhone to my car stereo. Quick review – if your car stereo and your phone is paired, then it should be easy.

Give your sync the voice command “bluetooth audio”
Press the play button on your iPhoe

That’s it. Of course if you haven’t paired your phone yet (why haven’t you), you’ll have to do that first.

The good: The sound quality is quite good.

The bad: There is no text support and you’ll have to switch songs, playlists, albums, etc through the iPhone itself.

The ugly: Your battery life after running your phone on 3G and streaming music wirelessly.

The two images below show you what the iPhone screen looks like while streaming.

More information about Ford Sync by Microsoft at Syncmyride.com

Yet another place for me to write

Spencer — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:01:42 +0000

So yesterday I posted that I am writing for the Philadelphia Examiner – it’s about time I mentioned my new blog: Orangeliners.com, a blog about Philly sports.

One thing that I noticed here is that the readership I had cultivated wasn’t as much interested in sports talk, but I wanted to write about it. I figured it would help me to have the two distinct sites. I haven’t quite found my voice there, but I’m hoping to grow that site into an interesting destination covering all Philly sports.

If you’re interested in writing for the site – let me know either through the contact form or leaving a comment here. Kristen will stop in every once in awhile to provide the woman’s point of view. Also would love for to subscribe to the blog or it’s twitter feed.

Or just stop by and join into the conversation.

The new iPhone 3GS keeps it’s worse feature: AT&T

Spencer — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:18:25 +0000

The new iPhone 3GS (the “S” stands for speed) was introduced today along with the next iteration of the iPhone OS 3.0 to be released June 17. On whole I like what I read about the new phone and definitely can’t wait to upgrade my 3G to OS 3.0.

It’s a shame that I can’t upgrade m network from AT&T to someone else. On of the things that became very apparent is that AT&T is holding the iPhone back.

Finally Apple announced that the new operating system will support multimedia messaging – with the new phone adding video to the service. But AT&T will not add MMS until late summer. Even worse, there are rumors that AT&T might charge more for the service.
Of the networks that were listed as supporting tethering, AT&T wasn’t one. If you’re not familiar, tethering allows you to connect your laptop to the internet using your phone’s connection. The problem is that AT&T can’t figure out what to charge for the service. I don’t expect that this would be free, but there’s no reason for AT&T not to know by now how to provide this service to their customers.

As far as the new phone, I think it seems to be the natural evolution of the iPhone 3G, adding video recording, a 3MP autofocus camera, voice control, gads of speed, increased battery life, and a load of other improvements. While the difference between the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G was massive and important to the usability and usefulness of the device, the difference between the 3G and 3GS seems more about refinement – and that’s what was needed.

It’s also important to note that the iPhone 3G is still available at the drop dead low price of $99 with a two-year contract. Of course you’re still stuck with AT&T as your service provider, but the phone is worth it if you’re in the market for a smartphone.

I’m not going to run out and buy a 3GS – I’ve still got a year on my contract and I truly believe the iPhone is the best phone I’ve ever owned, and the upgrade is all I need.

Of course I can’t wait to see what Apple has in store for us next year when they release the next iteration of the iPhone.

Under construction

Spencer — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:18:20 +0000

One thing you should always know is that any decent website should always be “under construction”. That’s true here, but currently there’s a little more construction going on.

I’m doing a little spring cleaning in the background – reorganizing things, clearing out some bad code, and hopefully adding a new design.

When I do reveal the new blog, it will likely be more focused than it currently is – that also means that I will be introducing a new blog (or two).

Stay tuned.

Stay tuned: Time to focus on more traffic

Spencer — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:02:52 +0000

I’m thinking I’d l need more readers. More comments. I guess I need to also write more. Working on that. Related posts: Newspaper’s should stay out of blogging More on the wacky Santorum Finally Related posts: