A Bigger Apple.
I hope this isn't true.

Apple's Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson was quoted in the Macrumors.com article above as saying:

"Apple realized they were going too small with their stores, so now all of their stores will be at least "three tables wide." In other words, they're going to be bigger."

The new Upper West Side Retail Store looks simply enormous. While I'm all for Apple maintaining several, if not many large "iconic" Apple Retail Stores, I rather like the relatively small Apple stores found in most communities across the country.

There's something about a packed store that breathes life into the experience of shopping at Apple. It always seems busy in an Apple Retail Store. It feels like there's excitement around the company every time I swing into a store.

In contrast, an enormous store can feel cold and empty when filled with the same number of shoppers that makes a small store feel like it's hopping.

Personally, I don't mind waiting a bit to get on a machine, and there always seems to be plenty of staff to go around on even the busiest shopping days (read late-December). Of course, that's just one shopper's opinion.

As a shareholder, I also like the way Apple maximized their sales-per-square-foot. At one point, I believe it was the highest ratio in all of retail. Regardless of the category. That's impressive.

Then again, I've heard that even the largest of Apple Retail Stores can feel packed at times So, perhaps this an overeaction on my part.

Three tables wide might not be a gigantic jump up from the average size of an Apple Retail Store. The Boulder store is three tables wide, but the two of the three tables are lined up against the wall.

I'll reserve final judgement, but, again, my preference is for smaller stores relative to the handful of giant Apple Retail Stores already humming.



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Holiday Store Update.
Apple has updated the Apple Online Store to reflect the upcoming holidays. Hard to belive we're about six weeks away from the big show, but we are.

In addition to a new look, Shop Apple Store for an updated factory refurbished section. The pricing has dropped on many items (get a 24-inch iMac for as low as $999, for example) and Apple has added a few new items, such as a 32GB iPod Touch.



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Top CEO.
Steve Jobs was voted CEO of the Decade:

Steve Jobs is "deserving of the title because he has “radically and lucratively reordered three markets – music, movies and mobile telephones”."

Not surprising to anyone following Apple over the years. Hat's off, SJ.



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Not Like That.
AT&T is steamed up over some Verizon commercials depicting AT$T's "blank" 3G coverage map. Read more about it here.

I'm no mobile phone mogul, but given how poor AT$T's 3G coverage actually is-allegedly-I wouldn't be calling attention to it in this way.

But, then, what else is AT$T supposed to do? They have to do something. Perhaps beefing up the 3G network would be the best answer to Verizon's ads.



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Backup. Just do it.
This is a friendly reminder to back up your Macintosh. It's never too late to start backing up your data, and there's probably no easier way to do it than the Apple Time Capsule.

Apple's Time Capsule is a wireless access point with a 1tb or 2tb hardrive built in. Point your Time Machine (System Preferences > Time Machine) at the Time Capsule and the rest is automatic.

Time Machine pointed at the Time Capsule will regularly back up your Mac, or multiple Macs, keeping all of your data safe and local. It's automatic, which means you do nothing until you need to resurect a document.

We strongly recommend backing up on a regular basis, whether you use a Time Capsule or an external hardrive.

Backup with benefits.
The other great feature found in the Time Capsule is the dual band wireless signal. The Time Capsule can broadcast two different signals simultaneously.

Now you don't have to throttle down your N network so your iPhones and other slower devices can share your network.

Buy Now from the Apple Online Store:
Time Capsule - 1 TB

Buy Now from Amazon.com:
1TB Apple Time Capsule Amazon has the 1TB Time Capsule priced at $279 with free shipping (no sales tax).



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UPDATE:
Appleinsider.com has a "first look" at the Magic Mouse: "Apple has broken its decade-long chain of terrible mouse designs". That's saying quite a bit. Definitely a review worth checking out.

Apple Magic Mouse
Macrumors.com is reporting that the Apple Magic Mouse is shipping to customers.

Here's Apple's Magic Mouse product page. You can buy it directly from Apple's online store:

Buy Now from the Apple Online Store:
Apple Magic Mouse. Orders over $50 from the Apple Online Store ship free.

Buy Now from Amazon.com:
Apple Magic Mouse: $69
Amazon has the Magic Mouse priced at $69 with free shipping (no sales tax).



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Carrier View
Appleinsider.com has a post about Apple's contract with AT$T and how any deal Apple might strike with Verizon will not be as lucrative for Apple. Check it out.

Apple's iPhone is revolutionary in a lot of ways. One way it changed the market, of course, is the deal Apple struck with AT$T.

Clearly, Apple isn't going to duplicate it with reliability (and one look at AT$T's stock price since the iPhone launch puts a exclamation point on that thought). Apple simply won't find another carrier willing to hand over such a large piece of the carrier's pie.

A lot has been written about why Apple chose AT$T. Early on we asked why Apple even needs to partner with a carrier at all. Wasn't there another way to sell mobile handsets? Europe has been selling unlocked handsets for years, and this model is great for the consumer.

However, Apple wisely partnered with a carrier. But we don't think that's the end of the iPhone's story. Carriers, we suspect, know the writing's on the wall. Something's coming that will replace the cellular infrastructure, or at least compete with it in a meaningful way.

The question is exactly what that will be, of course

Ubiquitous WiFi
WiFi-everywhere supplied by Apple was one of our answers to the question about a carrier-free iPhone.

We thought, and still think, WiMax delivered from Apple's network of Retail Stores nationwide might be a viable alternative for Internet access and telephony for many users (not all, of course, but many),

Apple could presumably build out this ubiquitous network and offer a MobileMe-like connectivity plan to its customers. Bet yet, offer the device with free access right out of the box.

Take that Comcast, and you too AT$T.

Tablet Connectivity
Not only would it be wonderful for iPhone owners who would love to rely on WiFi for telephony rather than AT$T, but the very same might be true for the rumored Apple Tablet*.

We question just how many of us are going to pay $80 per-month to keep our iPhones connected and another $30-60 per-month to keep our Apple tablet connected?

Would you fork out $120 per-month for connectivity and carry around your iPhone, Tablet and your MacBook Pro? That's a lot of devices, to say nothing of the redundancy you'd be paying for.

Optional AT$T
Where does this leave AT$T, or Verizon for that matter? We suspect that a mobile phone contract on the Apple Tablet will be fully optional.

We don't think it can be any other way. That is, except, if Apple designs this Tablet to be a viable iPhone replacement for some users.

So, WiFi will be the Tablet's main method of connecting to the Internet and home network. That's the only way we think Apple can step into this bizarre arena that is the tablet platform and actually ensure a future for their product.

Apple Loves WiFi
Even if Apple doesn't build out a nationwide WiFi network, Apple's commitment to WiFi stretches back over a decade. While likely not the first computer manufacture to build in 802.11 connectivity, Apple clearly saw the end-user benefits early on.

We suspect Apple is going to spoil the party for any mobile carrier who thinks that the Tablet will be their iPhone-like meal ticket, and design their Tablet with WiFi as its primary mode of connectivity.

Media Viewer, not Workstation (ie not Tablet)
And it's with WiFi in mind that the Tablet will be more Media Viewer than Tablet Workstation. Leveraging Apple's iTunes inventory will be key to the Tablet's appeal.

Apple will branch out its content relationships to include digital books (and, of course, text books), they'll come up with a way for newspapers like the NYT's to actually monetize their content via the Internet, and of course it would be wrong to bet against Apple finding other areas of content to pioneer.

*We doubt that the eventual tablet will, in fact, be a tablet. We suspect that Steve Jobs will actually give the tablet concept a black eye if and when he introduces whatever it is that Apple's actually working on. Sort of in the same way he blasted the stylus during the iPhone introduction.

By this we mean to say that Apple likely has tablet functionality in mind when designing this product, but it's not going to be the foundation for the device's design.

Apple will likely solve the tablet's inherent usability and productivity hurdles (from a broad market perspective), and build it around features such as content viewing, media center remote functionality, video conferencing, that sort of thing. We'll see.



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Apple unleashed a set of new Get A Mac ads. Check them out here.

Of course, we are sticking to our original opinion: Get a PC if you want one. No skin off our nose. But if you're a PC user prepare to suffer: you get what you pay for. "Trust me".

And speaking of new, ClubMac has the new 27-inch iMac for SAVE $95! Apple 27" iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz, 1TB Hard Drive, SuperDrive Now Only $1,599 (was $1,694) after rebate!" rel="self">$1599 after rebate. We're _tempted_.

Buy it from the Apple Online Store for $1699 with free shipping:

27-inch iMac



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We're back, and loving the new 27-inch iMac. Sure, it's not the 30-inch we asked for years ago (when the 30-inch Apple Cinema Display was announced), but it's close.

We're thinking about ordering one, in fact. Call it sacrilege, call it what you will, but we don't have a television in our house. We use our Macs for video content. While watching films on a Mac portable is convenient (read: in bed), a 27-inch display with Soundsticks is nothing to sneeze at.

Add a huge hardrive, and the 27-inch iMac might make for a very nice media center storage CPU. The only thing it's missing is a 40-inch display (wink-hint, Apple).

If you're also in the market, check out the Apple Store pricing (link at right) or Amazon. Amazon doesn't charge shipping or sales tax.



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iPhone OS 3.0 is now available.

Here’s Apple’s 3.0 features page. The list of new features is nothing short of incredible. Cut copy and paste. Landscape keyboard. Spotlight search. The list goes on. And it’s free for iPhone owners.

Andy Ihnatko has a great article posted about 3.0 called, 10 nifty things about iPhone 3.0 that id have like to have known from Day One.” Title aside, the article offers some great tips.



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Billshrink.com has done a sweet job of analyzing the cost of ownership for the Pre, iPhone and the G1 (what the heck is a G1?). The iPhone doesn’t look great in comparison to the the Pre. We’ll give Billshrink the honor of showing you the damage, but we blame AT&T.

This, again, highlights AT&T’s problem. We could rant for pages, but we’ll just say that AT&T is a business run by opportunists and underachievers, and not worthy of a partnership with a company of Apple’s pedigree.

The recent flap over AT$T’s iPhone 3GS pricing and unknown pricing and availability for tethering and MMS are just the most recent examples of how AT$T has missed the mark. They’ve been overpromising and underdelivering since mMode.

You can’t get blood from a turnip. We’ve said that for years. Literally. None of what AT$T did and didn’t do at WWDC surprised us.



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