Apple's Black Friday Sale Items Revealed

OK, I'll admit upfront, we don't know how much you could save on Apple products Friday, but we do have a good idea of what will be on sale. Go ahead and take a closer look at that Apple promo graphic ahead. Having worked at Apple, and also having observed these sales pics before, the answers are right there:

Items Expected To Be Discounted:
iMac
all iPods (except perhaps the shuffle)
iPhone Bluetooth Headset
MacBook
Apple iPod Accessories
MobileMe (while not pictured, it's perpetually $30 off)

What You Should You Not Expect To Get a Deal On?
MacPro towers
MacBook Pro (chance of a discount)
iPhone
Third-party products, with a few exceptions
The new Apple monitor

So while not written in stone, there's your quick guide to whether you need to brave the Apple store Friday morning. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and don't forget we're back Monday with TDL Live at 9PM ET.

Also, if you plan on shopping Apple's sale from home, please consider using this link to help support TDL!

iPod Recycling - good for mother earth, good for your wallet

This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting my local Apple store. Well, pleasure may be too strong of a word- if at all possible, one should avoid visiting the Apple store on a weekend, ever. (Especially a holiday weekend!) That said, here's a rundown of my exchange experience.

Being both a tree-hugger and a technophile, I was very happy to learn about Apple's iPod recycling policy. When it came time for my old Nano to visit the big Apple logo in the sky, I was happy to hand him over to a nice customer service representative (I'd like to give resound high marks to Kenny, the associate who helped me. He was polite, friendly and apologized for the ridiculous wait I had to endure...why did they remove all but one cash rap? I feel like I'm always standing over there, with some weird request that the Windows-toting hand held machines the staff all carry can't handle. Bring back the registers please, Steve!)
I was even happier to get 10% off my purchase of a new Nano, after filling out a simple form with my name and contact information. The associate then took my old iPod and wrote in the serial number on the form. A swipe of my credit card later, and Kenny was emailing me my receipt (yay less paper refuse!), while giving me the option for a printed receipt if I'd prefer. I can understand why you may want a paper receipt when making a major computer purchase, but I was more than happy to forgo the wasted pulp for a Nano purchase. The receipt showed both a scan of the recycle option (rings up as a penny) and the 10% discount on my 199.00 new iPod.