Apple Has a Record Quarter

The official numbers are out, and Apple had the best second quarter ever. Ever. Now we'll have to see what happens to the stock... Watch our full analysis tonight at 9PM ET / 6PM PT. We'll be taking your questions, and your insight as well. Until then, you can check out the raw numbers from Apple here.

Reminder: Apple Earnings Today, Live Analysis Tonight

We are just over an hour away from the announcement of Apple's quarterly financial results. Usually, the stock reacts one way or another, and if recent trends are any indication, it may not be good. Sometimes beating estimates handily just isn't as important as how many iPods you say you'll sell next quarter.

Be sure to join us at 9PM ET / 6PM PT for our live quarterly earnings show. You can participate via iChat and email. We want to know what you think of the results and the reaction.

And in case you missed it, here's all the "fun" we had after last quarters stock drubbing...

Apple Store 5th Ave: A Few Nuggets

I was in NYC this past weekend for the New York Comic Con, and ended up checking out the 5th Avenue Apple Store for the first time. This location has been open for a while now so I am not going to bore you with all of my impressions, but a few things did cross my mind while I was there.

1) How exactly do they manage to keep both the outside cube structure and the glass staircase so clean? Having worked at Apple Retail, I was always shocked how dingy our counter tops and floor would be, even after scrubbing by the Mac Specialist. The 5th Avenue store however appeared spotless, even on a busy Sunday. You would expect their famous glass staircase to be filled with muddy foot prints, yet it was pristine.

2) The Mac Specialist didn't appear to be doing very much. Almost every employee I saw, outside of the Genii and Concierge appeared to be just standing around. I didn't see anyone giving "rides" on iMacs or demoing Apple TV, but I also didn't see customers looking around for help either. The store definitely feels more like a tourist exhibit than it does a retail store. I wonder how the Mac Specialist are graded on their performance?

3) Despite the enormous Genius Bar and iPod Bar, I still saw plenty of people with broken iPhones and iPods with that familiar look of disgust on their face. It's the same look I saw daily in my former thirty foot Apple store. I guess large bars and more genii don't solve the real problem which is facing Apple retail. Quality control.

Having worked in Apple retail, and now being away from it for a year, I would summarize the 5th Avenue store as a nice place to visit...but I wouldn't want to work there :)

The Sims Pool iPod Review

Our review of The Sims: Bowling left us less than satisfied with the first stab at bringing The Sims universe to the iPod. Did the The Sims Pool do any better? Watch below and find out!

Whatever happened to iMix?

When Apple introduces a new feature, it's usually done quite carefully, and you can count on it being a hit. But what happens when a new feature is added, hundreds of thousands of people use it, then the Apple community seems to collectively forget about it? I'm talking about iMix.

A few iterations of iTunes ago, iMix was added as a way for people to create and share their own personal playlists with the masses. Hey, with all the social networking hullabaloo, it looked like a sure-fire hit. And indeed, there are over 1.3 million playlists uploaded according to Apple. If you're new to iTunes though, you may not have even known the feature exists. iMix is still part of iTunes, but the prominent link on the main page is gone. To get to it, search for "iMix" in the search field, then look in the "related" field in the results.

Why has iMix fallen off the map? Has the community aspect of iTunes been pushed aside to make room for higher profit sections like movie rentals? Are people still using iMix? Does anyone care? Well, a lot of music marketers and advertisers should care. Imagine the information that can be gained about the popularity of particular songs/artists from the iMix lists. And iMix could be a great resource. Let's say you're planning a wedding, and looking for just the right playlist. what better way to start than to see the playlists of other like-minded iTunes users. If you do an iTunes search of "wedding songs" there are no iMix results, and there's not even a way to search iMix. However, if you navigate to the iMix page, by first following the directions above to find it, there are over 100 wedding song playlists, rated by users like you.

iMix can and should be the cornerstone of a new social networking/community component of iTunes, instead of being a wallflower at the largest online (and beyond?) music retailer.

Ellen Feiss Movie: Whatya think?

Tonight we showed Ellen Feiss' film "Bed and Breakfast." Let us know what you thought in the comments below, and we'll choose two random winners of $15 iTunes gift cards. You must be a U.S. resident to win.

Thanks for watching everybody!

Gaming: Hey Nintendo it's not 2001 anymore!

As a Mac user, I do all of my video gaming on consoles. Currently both a Xbox360 and Nintendo Wii reside in my game room, but lately only one seems to be getting much love.

Am I the only one feeling cheated and ripped off by the Wii? Nintendo promised innovation, but instead have been repackaging the same tired franchises since the N64 days. How many times will they remake Zelda? How many Mario Strikers or Mario Baseballs do we need? How can they charge $50 for Mario Kart Wii, when it's the same game they released in 2001?

Next week TDL will take a look at some of the disappointments of the Wii. In the meanwhile have a look at this comparison video of Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart Gamecube. Can you spot the differences?

The Sims Bowling iPod Game Review Video

The Sims. Loved by many, comes to the iPod with two games. This is our look at the first; bowling:

Leopard On Demand book review

There's a sea of reference books out there for new Mac users. Ryan has a review of Mac OS X Leopard On Demand. Rather than taking the user step by step through using the whole operating system, On Demand takes a task-based approach...

Airport WiFi - Making Travel LESS Enjoyable

I’m blogging from 30,000 feet today [really this was 4-10-08]. My trip today reminds me of the inconvenience of traveling. Luckily I don’t travel all that often. Lines . . . everywhere. And if your lucky enough to have SSS on your ticket you get a free feel up by some TSA guy going through security. After the complimentary violation you’re welcomed to the terminal where you get overpriced garbage attempting to mascarade as food. Be prepared to open your wallet should you want a drink to take the edge off. WHY? Because they can.

As if all this insult wasn’t enough, I took out my iPhone from its protective confines of my bag, someone has to protect it from TSA violation, to happily find an AT&T Wi-Fi network. I fired up Safari and was taken to a AT&T launch page. I was amazed to find that they wanted me to purchase a pass to use their service. It’s bad enough that I’m traveling, but to not be able to sit at the terminal, where I’ll be for hours to make sure that I didn’t miss my flight (the LINES again), and get some free wi-fi is unacceptable. I didn’t stick around long enough to see how much AT&T wanted to scam me out of, but $1.00 would have been too much.


The worst part about the airport hotspot situation is there is no standard. I was joking before when I said $1.00 would be too much. But can you imagine spending $9.99 for a day pass, have a connecting flight at another airport, and arrive to find out that it’s a T-mobile hotspot. You’ve already paid for AT&T and now you’re going to get dinged by T-mobile in the same day. I’m surprised there isn’t more fuss coming from travelers about this. There should be a standard at airports in the US and I propose it should be free to consumers.

I should have to agree to the terms of service indicating that I won’t use the network for no good, or for porn . . . come on, kids could be around. It should be an add supported network, someone has to pay. I have no problem being presented with advertising for the newest Bose noise canceling headphones, the crap burger at the scam factory down the terminal, or even the SkyRest Travel Pillow (the most ridiculous product I was able to find from sky mall).

As I started this I said that I connected to the AT&T hotspot from my Apple iPhone. HELLO it’s already running on the AT&T network. Is there no way for the network to realize this and allow me to connect for free?? Is AT&T trying to tell me that the good money I spend every month for their service isn’t enough to consume some Wi-Fi before my flight?!? I suppose they’d rather me consume data on their cellular network which has to be more costly . . . so I did.

In our DigitalLifestyle we demand constant broadband connectivity. Every device talks to the internet and for Airports to be starving us of this connectivity after they fashion airports to be the most inconvenient places, they should be ashamed of themselves.

We're broadcasting Ellen Feiss' film on Monday!

We're excited to announce TheDigitalLifestyle.tv will have a one-time only airing of the film "Bed & Breakfast," starring Ellen Feiss. Feiss became an internet hit after appearing in one of the first commercials from Apple's "Switch" campaign.

This will be our first fictional programming on the network, and we'll be giving everyone the ability to chat in real time while watching the film. So tell your friends and family! And here's and even better idea.. Join us a half hour early, and you can enjoy TDL Live too! The full press release is below, but I hope you'll join us Monday, April 21 at 9:30 PM ET (TDL Live starts at 9:00) 6:30PM PT.

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Ellen Feiss Film to Air Online, with viewer chat

Ellen Feiss, one of the stars of Apple's "Switch" ad campaign will appear in the film "Bed & Breakfast" on TheDigitalLifestyle.tv.

The film, shot in France in 2006, follows a young American couple on vacation in France look for an old friend who has inherited a castle. The film marks the screen debut for Feiss, who became an internet celebrity following her appearance in one of the initial "Switch" campaign ads from Apple.

The film marks the first fictional programming for The Digital Lifestyle, which was founded in November 2007 by former Apple employees, and covers Apple-related news, rumors, and lifestyle information.

During the one-time only broadcast, viewers will be able to chat with each other in real time. The film will air at 9:30PM ET / 6:30 PM PT Monday, April 21, following TDL Live.

Dear Apple: Make the computer people want

There's been a bit of a stir in the Apple world this week, after Psystar announced they would be selling PCs capable of running Mac operating system, and would even have an option to buy the machine with the Leopard license pre-installed.

The computer, originally named OpenMac is now called Open Computer. Whether it ever ships is doubtful. Shipping the machine with Leopard pre-installed would seem to be a violation of Apple's licensing agreements. They could possibly pull off shipping machines that end users would install the OS on. Priced at $400, the base model offers a far better bargain, at least in terms of performance, compared to the mac mini that's $200 more.

There are three ways apple can deal with the controversy surrounding this machine: 1. Let it proceed un-abated (not going to happen). 2. Throw the lawyers at them, and sue the company into submission (most likely).3. Or, wait for it... Apple could make the computer people want. Looking at the product lineup, the only glaring empty spot (and it's probably been more or less empty since the Performa days) is an affordable, low-end tower.

If Apple has any interest in getting big business to switch, which is a whole other discussion, they need to offer such a box. Fortune 500 companies have tons of installed IT infrastructure, including computer monitors. Now that executives are toting iPhones, there's a stronger potential than any recent time for companies to consider switching. However, an iMac is far too expensive when a $400 PC box can be plugged into the existing monitor. Even the most devout Apple-loving CEO would have a tough time justifying three times that much to replace PCs with Macs. The Mac Mini was a good start, but until it is outfitted with the same RAM and hard drive as a comparable PC, the cost can be nearly double that of the competing computers.

Remember there was a time when the eMac was only for education? Demand, or at least Apple's experiment within that channel led to the model being available to all. Why not do the same with a no frills Apple box for business. We'll call it the bMac, and hope that Apple's marketing folks can come up with something better. Make a limited run of bMacs, and sell them, to businesses that simply couldn't consider other Apple alternatives. Next thing you know, new markets open up, higher margin xServes are going to those same companies, and another few percentage points of marketshare is gained.

UPDATE: Since this was posted, it appears Psystar has been outed as a fake. We have requested an interview, but have received no response. Engadget and Gizmodo have also had little luck verifying the company's existence. Regardless, the interest the story generated shows the interest in having a product fill this gap.

The Digital Lifestyle Live: 4/15/08

Did you miss this week's show? Ryan and Adam have all the latest news and rumors for the week. Enjoy the show!

TDL programming available on Demand

From day one, (almost) everyone has said they like watching TDL, but there's always been one complaint... While the network is a great way to see new shows and clips you may not have otherwise seen, people want to be able to watch their favorite TDL shows when they want to. Well now you can! Just head to TheDigitalLifestyle.tvand click on the "On Demand" button below the player.

We're still testing, so you won't find everything there yet, but we hope to have all of our original programming available shortly. Enjoy, and let us know what you think!

Tablet device... Why bother?

For years, there have been rumors of a mythical tablet, or "tablet-like" device from Apple. I hate to spoil everyone's fun, but the tablet device is already out there, and it's called the iPhone.

Yet many people think any day now, we'll see a device with perhaps a 7" screen that would pack the power of laptop, or in some speculation, the device would act as a companion device to a house of Macs. What good would this device be? If you want to sure from the couch, and find a laptop too bulky, there's already the iPhone and iPod Touch. If you're looking for a lightweight design, that comes along with its own drawbacks, there's the Macbook Air. A 7-inch screen isn't large enough to do much more than surf the web. For full computer capability, you would need a physical keyboard, and that of course means a bigger device or a smaller screen.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I just don't see a place for this in the product lineups. If you want to talk about product gaps, we can talk about the gaping hole where a low-end tower should be, but as for portable devices, the choices are already there.

iPod Game Review: Zuma

We sure have seen some hit or miss games for the iPod, but this might be the first undisputed hit...

Microsoft Retail: Surprising and Delighting Soon?

More rumors have surfaced about Microsoft entering the retail space with Apple-like stores. I can't say I am surprised by this. Since the launch of the original Xbox in the fall of 2001, Microsoft has been positioning itself more and more as a hardware manufacturer, with varying degrees of success. The Xbox certainly has established itself as a player in the console wars, and I guess the Zune has muscled its way into second place in the digital music player market. Sure it's so far behind Apple and the iPod it's not even funny, but i guess being ahead of the iRiver should account for something. There has even been rumors about them selling a Microsoft branded PC.

I just wonder how serious they are about entering retail. Will theses stores simply be a showcase piece where you go to look and touch, but ultimately are forced to order products from a website? (Remember, this was Apple's original plan. Then never really expected the retail stores to make any money. They figured they would take a loss on the stores, but would generate some nice advertising.) Or will they jump in feet first and attempt to copy Apple's model of selling a select core of products along with providing superior customer service?

I'm curious to see how this all shakes out. I just hope their version of the Genius Bar is available at launch. It will make getting my Xbox 360 replacement soooo much easier when the next red ring of death strikes.

The Road To Apple

Oh no, first time posting to the amazing Blog that is thedigitallifestyle.tv! I expect lots of mercy to be shown, folks. I wanted to tell a brief story of how things happened that led to my being hired at Apple Retail. I had been a long time Mac user and evangelist, starting with the Lisa in 1983. I was working for a restaurant company and they had asked me and my then wife, to check into computers to use at our stores. I spent a ton of time looking at every type of machine available, and there weren't that many, and was frustrated beyond comprehension. One day, on the way home from a meeting, we stopped at this tiny hole in the wall computer store, the incomparable Sunrise Computing in Chambersburg, PA. While I was listening to the salesperson sling the pitch, my wife had sat down and thrown together a spreadsheet to use for scheduling the staff! She had little computing background, and so that was it for me, we had our machine, the 512k Fat Mac from Apple Computer. I was completely enamored with that machine, and spent every waking moment playing...er... working on it.

Over the years after the big discovery, I worked at various types of places, all involving the Mac, ComputerLand, Computer Factory, and so on. I took a few corporate jobs during that time as well, usually helping companies ramp up a Mac launch, or something along those lines.

I met many folks involved with Apple, and became friends with a few. I always joked with them that they should hook me up with a job with the mothership, Apple itself. That was just a dream, what could I possibly qualify for?

Hmmmm, then came Apple Retail!

I moved back to Pennsylvania, and heard that an Apple Retail store was opening in (my area), just a few miles down from where I was living. I freaked and got my application to them as fast as I could. Alas, I was not in time to get considered for the opening crew. I was devastated, but at least I had a job at the time supporting Macs at a great advertising agency in () PA., so it was all good!

I stopped in at the store frequently, and left my resumé one day, and was told that they would be calling soon. I was confident my resumé (CV for your overseas folks) had the stuff needed to get considered. I had truly been there, done that, and had a ton load of t-shirts!

But, again, no call. Again, the heartache of not getting in.

But all was not lost. A few months went by, and one day I had a call from their one assistant managers, and she wanted to know if I was still interested. I was cool, and smooth as silk. I screamed YES I WAS. Ahem, then we talked a bit, and she was wonderful and encouraging, two things you don't get too often with managers looking to hire. We set the date up for an interview with another assistant, which went super, and the manager and I met that same day. Paperwork was sent in, all things came together, and I was in! They only had a part time sales spot open, but I did not care, whatever it took, I would do, and wait for my chance.

The remarkable thing was the feeling I got from the interview process. At every step of the process, I was treated so well, like family. I told all of them that I had never come out of any interview process before feeling better about myself than when I went in! As an older guy, I thought I had seen and experienced it all, but I was wrong. Those three ladies remain with the company to this day, and have succeeded wildly.

I was a nervous wreck my first day, but within minutes, the management team, and the employees made me feel like I had been there all along. A few weeks passed, and one day during a lull in the action, I was asked if I ever had heard the story of how I cam to be called for the job. I said no, but was dying to hear the scoop.

It seems that the manager who called me had been cleaning some filing cabinets out and found my crumbled up resumé behind the bottom drawer! She read it, spoke with the other manager, and the rest is history.

For bonus points, can you guess who the person was that took my resumé? I believe he is a big shot at thedigitallifestyle.tv.

I have nothing but fond memories of my time with Apple. I rose up through the ranks quickly, and enjoyed and remember every single moment. The friendships, the laughs, the love, the learning, the converts to Mac, what a time.

I know that times change, and people change, but one thing will always remain a constant with me, the friends and relationships I developed at Apple,(including another location,) a store I went down to help open up. Those people, though I have not always stayed in touch with them, have always been there when I have reached out. Those of us that were employed during that time, and at those stores, truly were blessed. I have visited some stores recently, and have to say that things do feel different. Apple is hugely mainstream now, and it just isn't the same. But at the core of any Apple Store, there remain people that truly do care that you have the best experience, that truly want you to love your Mac, or iPod, or iPhone. They would work for Apple just for the staff shirt and lanyard. Seek them out, buy them a cup of Starbuck's, and enjoy the stories they can share. You will be impressed.

Product Review: Periscope for iSight

I don't know if it would ever catch a bona fide criminal, but Freeverse Software's Periscope brings a lot of unique features to your iSight, that will allow you to catch practical jokers, and play jokes of your own.

Essentially, Periscope turns your iSight or other Mac-compatible camera into a motion sensor. You can then instruct Periscope to automatically take a picture when motion is detected, and that picture can be sent to an email address, flickr account, iPhoto, or even an ftp server.

But enough with the words, here's the video review:

iPhone 2 Not Needed

There has been a lot of speculation recently about Apple dropping a 3G iPhone on us, but what I want to know is, does anyone really need one?

Call me crazy, but outside of a larger battery and more storage space, I just don't see the need for any hardware improvements on the current gen iPhone. Instead of adding a battery sucking 3G chip, that will ultimately keep the cost of the iPhone higher, Apple should focus on making the iPhone cheaper and getting it into as many hands as possible.

There is a reason why the Motorola Razr has sold 50 million units. It's because it went from costing $400 originally, to eventually being free with the wireless service. And once a customer switches to an iPhone, they will be hard pressed to ever switch back.