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23 Oct 2011 22:26

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Tech: Apple’s most iconic device celebrates a major milestone

  • Happy 10th Birthday, iPod: Apple has sold more than 300 million iPod devices since it was introduced on October 23, 2001. The first iPod had a five-gigabyte hard drive and could hold 1,000 songs. It sold for $399. Today, the iPod Classic can hold 30,000 songs on its 160-gigabyte hard drive at a cost of $249. source

20 Jul 2011 22:33

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Tech: App lets iPhone users see all of your drunken mistakes

  • A new iPhone app allows you to view real-time video feeds from inside local bars, so you can, in the words of the creators, “see what a venue looks like, to get a head count.” Cool idea, but that means that if you’re in one of said bars, everything you do is being streamed online—whether you know it or not. Bars that opt-in to this aren’t required to tell patrons that they’re being filmed, and the footage is accessible from the company’s website, so it’s not just limited to iPhone users. The creators defend the app’s integrity, saying that “the point of the product is not to make a stalker utility.” Which is a vapid defense, of course, because the intent behind a product has no bearing on the manner in which it’s capable of being used. We suspect Apple might pull this one before too long. source

28 Dec 2010 22:25

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Offbeat: Annoying kid: “I wanna be in Florida getting a tan on my back!”

  • We sense a meme coming on. The level of annoyance that 8-year-old Alexander Wright has about being forced to use his iPod while being stuck in the airport is epic. We want to let this kid to know that it gets better. You will get to Florida someday. (Thanks Adam Griffiths) source

18 Oct 2010 20:05

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Biz, Tech: Apple’s 3Q earnings report overloaded with (mostly) good news

  • 91% increase in iPhone sales from a year ago (wow)
  • $20
    billion
    Apple’s quarterly revenues, which happens to be a new record for them, by the way
  • $4
    billion
    Apple’s quarterly profits, which is also a record for them – and up 70 percent (!); freaking show-offs
  • +28% increase in Mac sales year-over-year; not bad considering their light recent publicity
  • +28% increase in iPad sales from last quarter; pretty good but not particularly spectacular
  • -11% decline in year-over-year iPod sales, which admittedly was kind of expected source
  • » Investors somehow not impressed: Wait, what? Well, here’s why: They expected the increase in Apple’s iPad sales to be much higher, so as a result, Apple’s stock went down five percent in after-hours trading. You bastards can’t ever be impressed, can you?

02 Sep 2010 00:10

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Tech: Oh yeah, we almost forgot: Apple released a bunch of crap

  • Steve Jobs needed a good keynote today, after all of the crappy PR Apple has faced over the last few months. And he did a great job. Too bad that guy had to go into the Discovery Building and hold it hostage. But that said, the products were pretty cool. Our favorites were the new iPod Nanos (above) and the freshly updated iPod Touch. And the Apple TV update was definitely a good move – especially the newfound focus on Netflix. We’re totally pouring a 40, though, for the old-school iPod Classic, which wasn’t updated at all this year (though it’s still for sale). source

01 Sep 2010 12:19

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06 Aug 2010 14:58

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Music: Yoko did it: The Beatles not hitting iTunes anytime soon, kids

  • (Apple CEO) Steve Jobs has his own idea and he’s a brilliant guy. There’s just an element that we’re not very happy about, as people. We are holding out. Don’t hold your breath … for anything.
  • Yoko “Beatles Destroyer” Ono • On the idea of releasing the Beatles’ music on the iTunes Store. You know, this debate was funny when it was 2003 and buying music on the Internet was a new and exciting thing. But now it’s 2010. Just accept Apple’s terms, Yoko and company, before you miss out on your chance to be part of the online music revolution altogether. You’ve missed out on millions of dollars already. source
 

27 May 2010 12:21

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Tech: Apple’s bigger than Microsoft. How? On AOL News, we explain

  • Thirteen years ago, Microsoft gave Apple a big loan. Since then, Steve Jobs has become a bit of a graybeard but he’s also turned Apple into a company that’s now bigger than Microsoft. Literally. It just happened yesterday. How? Check out our AOL News article. It explains everything. Essentially, Apple’s market capitalization is based on their future potential. Microsoft’s is based on their continuing huge profits. source

09 May 2010 11:33

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Politics: Obama dislikes modern technology’s role in democracy

  • What he said about new tech In his commencement speech at Hampton University yesterday, the president threw out this gem: “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.” He also notes that it allows false claims to quickly gain traction.
  • Why we (mostly) disagree May we note that all those new ways to get information empower us to hear a huge diversity of voices? While we agree that this technology has an addictive element to it, the fact of the matter is, it empowers a diversity of voices that didn’t exist even a decade ago. And plus, Obama’s arguments could easily apply to television or radio, if you think about it. We do agree with the false claims part, though. source

10 Feb 2010 22:19

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Tech: Bill Gates among long line of people not impressed by the iPad

  • It’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.’
  • Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates • Regarding his take on the iPad versus the iPhone. In his opinion, Apple didn’t knock it out of the park. Keep in mind, though, that Gates has been wrong before – he said something similar (in fact, about the same) about the iPod before MS came out with the Zune a few years later. source