Official: Apple Store

Post by **nebugeater** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:28 am

If you are standing in line at the Apple store to get your Apple TV you may want to go home and order on line.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... id=2352317

Apple Inc. this week announced the release of Apple TV - a box that wirelessly transfers videos, songs and photos from computers to TVs. But the Apple Store at Village Pointe, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Best Buy and other tech shops don't have it. And it could be weeks before they get it.

The only way to get it quickly is to order it directly from Apple.com, which says it can ship the $300 silver box in a day or two.

Apple TV's release was news to Bob Batt, executive vice president at the Furniture Mart. Ever since Apple unveiled the product in January-along with a high-tech cell phone - Batt's business has been receiving calls from customers wondering when they can get their hands on the new technology.

Batt's answer is the same today as it was in January.

"Soon, hopefully, but I can't tell you exactly," he said.

"We expect to have Apple TV in about three weeks, but things can change."..........................................

TechnicalDisaster · Post by **TechnicalDisaster** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:38 am

Is anyone even interested in Apple TV? It seems pretty expensive to do what it does, and you really need a 802N to stream movies which makes the cost of owning one even higher.

Uffda · Post by **Uffda** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:54 am

Apple Inc. this week announced the release of Apple TV - a box that wirelessly transfers videos, songs and photos from computers to TVs. But the Apple Store at Village Pointe, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Best Buy and other tech shops don't have it. And it could be weeks before they get it.

I just called the Apple Store and the sales person said they got them in yesterday (3/22) ---- i guess another mistake by the OWH.

Post by **nebugeater** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 10:14 am

bradley414 wrote:Is anyone even interested in Apple TV? It seems pretty expensive to do what it does, and you really need a 802N to stream movies which makes the cost of owning one even higher.

It says APPLE so there will be a certain portion of the customer base that will buy it just because of this.

lonnie · Post by **lonnie** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:07 pm

Yet another pathetic OWH story.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... id=2352317

"The most current technological revolution is getting a late start in Omaha."
False, people in Omaha can purchase Apple TV today at store.apple.com, just like the rest of the United States.

"But the Apple Store at Village Pointe, ... don't have it.
False, it is available at the Apple Store at Village Pointe.

"It's not flaw-free, through. It only works with wide-screen TVs."
How is something a flaw that works as advertised? The Apple TV does not work with grandma's tube TV, big surprise, and Apple states that fact.

"...the programming is not in high definition"
False, Apple TV supports 720p (24fps) which is HD.

"...the connection can't transfer (high definition) data that large"
False again, the HDMI connection can handle HD output, no problem. The 100Mbps ethernet port or 802.11n can also input compressed HD streams, no problem.

Sigh...

Uffda · Post by **Uffda** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 2:21 pm

I trust Mossberg more than the OWH

Marrying the computer and television via an Apple gadget

By Walter S. Mossberg and Katherine Boehret Of The Wall Street Journal
The race to connect your TV to your computer and the Internet is about to kick into high gear this week when Apple Inc., the company many believe is best-positioned to pull off this feat, introduces a slender, wireless set-top box called Apple TV.

In addition to your single synchronized computer, you can designate up to five other computers as sources for your Apple TV. From these machines, you ''stream'' the content over your wireless or wired network, instead of actually transferring them, but the music and video shows up on the TV just as if it had been synchronized to the Apple TV's own hard disk.

All of these functions are controlled through iTunes on your Windows and Mac computers, just as you would control an iPod through iTunes. (The latest version of iTunes is required.)

In our tests, streaming worked just as well as playing content from the Apple TV's own hard disk. The only downside of streaming as compared to syncing is that you can't stream photos. These can appear only through synchronization.

http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all ... 5179.story

lonnie · Post by **lonnie** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:19 pm

lonnie wrote:Yet another pathetic OWH story.
...
Sigh...

.
Problem solved, I canceled our OWH subscription. I feel better already.

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:27 pm

lonnie wrote:
lonnie wrote:Yet another pathetic OWH story.
...
Sigh...
.
Problem solved, I canceled our OWH subscription. I feel better already.

Gee, Lonnie - they're not all bad - I mean, I was calling, e-mailing and writing to them to do a story on our store for almost 2 years. And look, Valentine's Day this year, they wrote about us. Of course, their key "breaking news" investigative story of the day is the interstate interchange/off ramps they've found out about. Huh.... maybe my $15 a month is a waste!

D

lonnie · Post by **lonnie** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 5:19 pm

djc311 wrote:Gee, Lonnie - they're not all bad - I mean, I was calling, e-mailing and writing to them to do a story on our store for almost 2 years. And look, Valentine's Day this year, they wrote about us. Of course, their key "breaking news" investigative story of the day is the interstate interchange/off ramps they've found out about. Huh.... maybe my $15 a month is a waste!

D

I'll spend my saved money on gelato and chocolates (as we did today). Good stuff D.

Lonnie

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:49 pm

Thanks, Lonnie! BTW - not that it's relevant to most of us living out west, however, based on strong recommendations from those in the midtown area, we may be getting closer at finding something over there.

D

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:04 am

Excellent!!!

joeglow · Post by **joeglow** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:06 pm

Greenpeace ranks Apple as the LEAST "green" major electronic company:

http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/i ... ronics.pdf

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:58 pm

Better to look good than feel good.

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:01 pm

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Excellent!!!

Who are you saying "excellent" about?

D

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:29 pm

presumably...

based on strong recommendations from those in the midtown area, we may be getting closer at finding something over there.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:12 am

That is correct.

Since it was directly under the post to which I was referring, I didn't find it necessary to specify. I apologize. 8)

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:29 pm

iPhone to ship June 29th.

TV ads airing as of today (6/3). Available here:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/ads/

This thing is pretty badass. Interface-wise, this is going to turn the phone/computer industry on its ear. Hopefully it does sales-wise, as well.

-Big E

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:37 am

No offense to those who may use Cingular/AT&T, which was once a part of Northwestern Bell, US West, Qwest, or whatever their name is - but I'm a Sprint customer, and am pretty happy with their service - and honestly, it pretty much sucks that if someone like myself wanted this phone, I'd have to switch carriers - what a pain in the |expletive| that is - especially when my wife & I both share a plan already. And, I know ppl could argue that it's their right - which it is - I just think that's not cool...it really puts Apple in a weird situation because honestly, how many ppl will go through the hassles & headaches to change cell phone providers to carry a $600 phone?

Someone needs to hijack this damn thing, and make it work on other networks - I can't believe in this day & age that cell phones aren't "open-sourced" yet! Good grief!

D

the1wags · Post by **the1wags** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:47 am

Yeah AT&T (former Cingular network) having this exclusive sucks, but is probably only for a limited time. Remember when Ipods only worked with macs? I'm thinking AT&T will have the Iphone exclusive for a year or so and then Apple will release it for Verizon, Sprint, etc. Apple would be costing themselves lots of sales by keeping it with AT&T only.

Uffda · Post by **Uffda** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:21 am

AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for five years — an eternity in the go-go cellphone world. And Apple is barred for that time from developing a version of the iPhone for CDMA wireless networks.

That ban is no small thing. AT&T rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint are both CDMA shops. AT&T uses GSM, a global standard incompatible with CDMA.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2 ... hone_N.htm

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:27 am

I'm sure Apple shopped this around to a carrier and said, "Hey, if you help us defray our marketing and R&D costs, we'll give you the exclusive for X months."

For a lot of home users, this device could replace the computer altogether, assuming you can eventually download music directly from iTunes via WiFi.

Think about it: $1000 iBook, $200 iPod, $300 smartphone....

...or a $500 iPhone that does everything that you need for $1000 less than the above combo. It certainly isn't a fit for everyone, but man... I can see the huge potential market for it.

I think what people are overlooking (probably due to the "$600 for a phone?!?!" reaction) is that this thing is a computer. It's not a smartphone or a PDA. It's a freaking computer. It runs OS X. It has a full browser. It's not running a stripped down anything.

-Big E

edit: I posted this before I saw the article above, so there you go. X = 60.

Stargazer · Post by **Stargazer** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:53 am

And since Big E only requires buttons ('Bend Over', 'Finger', 'Insert', ...) and one hand free ... no keyboard is required.

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:14 am

Too funny - but, seriously, it's a computer - which is cool - but, how do you install anything on it if you don't own another computer? Can you seriously run MS Office on it or Final Cut? OK, it's not supposed to edit videos, but you get my point. Plus, how many ppl truly use a phone as a word processor? If this thing could seriously run as a full-blown MAC computer, I'd consider one myself - but, if the storage of 8 gb is for the OS & everything, it wouldn't take long to fill it up using it as a computer.

D

Post by **nebugeater** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:23 am

Big E wrote:I'm sure Apple shopped this around to a carrier and said, "Hey, if you help us defray our marketing and R&D costs, we'll give you the exclusive for X months."

For a lot of home users, this device could replace the computer altogether, assuming you can eventually download music directly from iTunes via WiFi.

Think about it: $1000 iBook, $200 iPod, $300 smartphone....

...or a $500 iPhone that does everything that you need for $1000 less than the above combo. It certainly isn't a fit for everyone, but man... I can see the huge potential market for it.

I think what people are overlooking (probably due to the "$600 for a phone?!?!" reaction) is that this thing is a computer. It's not a smartphone or a PDA. It's a freaking computer. It runs OS X. It has a full browser. It's not running a stripped down anything.

-Big E

edit: I posted this before I saw the article above, so there you go. X = 60.

The adaptors of this tech ARE NOT the ones that will not have a computer sitting at home. If they did not have the computer they would not spend 600 on a phone. It may replace a SECOND computer but that is it.

The 5 year exclusive for this will end up being a bad thing. Apple may not, in that time frame, make this phone for the other platforms but someone will. Image if Apple keep the IPOD exclusive to the MAC. Do you think that they would have the market share they do or do you think that the Microsoft ZUNE or ( name your MP3 player here) would have much better market penetration. As important as the look is so is the technology. Someone else will fill the gap.

Post by **nebugeater** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:55 pm

Big E wrote:
nebugeater wrote:The adaptors of this tech ARE NOT the ones that will not have a computer sitting at home. If they did not have the computer they would not spend 600 on a phone. It may replace a SECOND computer but that is it.

The 5 year exclusive for this will end up being a bad thing. Apple may not, in that time frame, make this phone for the other platforms but someone will. Image if Apple keep the IPOD exclusive to the MAC. Do you think that they would have the market share they do or do you think that the Microsoft ZUNE or ( name your MP3 player here) would have much better market penetration. As important as the look is so is the technology. Someone else will fill the gap.
Did you know you can use your iPod as your start up drive?

-Big E

Yep, knew that. It has NOTHING to do with it being an IPOD that makes this possible. You are just using it as an external hard drive. It also is not a driving force behind the great sucess the Ipod has and the # of units sold. If that is what you want to do then by a External hard Drive and get it done for less $$. I have two Ipods myself and this would be the last thing I would want to do with them. My 80GB video Ipod Tied it to my computer to boot up kind of defeats teh purpose of the Ipod and I need the 80 GB for music, video and audiobooks, Ironic that this is the core design of the IPOD. It may be for some but again only a niche is my guess. I highly doubt many have been sold because you can boot your computer from it.

Not trying to burst your excitement but this is what it is. A Phone that early adapters will buy because it says Apple and is new. The mass market that Apple needs to tap into will loose a large chunk of its base if it is only available on AT&T. A large portion that makes up the mass will not switch carriers to get this phone.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:24 pm

1) I don't think PC users are dumb. I think Windows sucks, and for some reason the users can't see it. OS X is not the end all be all. It just blows Windows away.

2) My excitement for the iPhone really has little to do with the iPhone in its current incarnation. It's the implications of what it will be capable of in a few years. It would be capable of those things right now if the HD capacity and processor speed were available.

3) Why does the attitude always have to be "Well, I don't use it for that or can't see any use other than my own or I can't afford it or justify the cost so therefore its stupid"?

nebugeater wrote:Not trying to burst your excitement but this is what it is. A Phone that early adapters will buy because it says Apple and is new. The mass market that Apple needs to tap into will loose a large chunk of its base if it is only available on AT&T. A large portion that makes up the mass will not switch carriers to get this phone.

I don't disagree with ANY of that... right now. Quit being myopic about it. Just like the $3000 VCR that has morphed into on-demand TiVo for $99, don't expect the iPhone to be just a phone for long.

-Big E

shengs75 · Post by **shengs75** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:06 pm

so if this thing runs on OS X, can anyone develop apps for it? or does it have to be developed using some Apple proprietary API? Does it have to be apple-certified or something? If it's truly extensible, then I can see people wanting this to be customized to their liking.

I don't see the big deal about the iPhone. Granted the interface will be nice, and it will attract a niche market, but if the phone is not flexible enough then it's just a mp3 player/phone/other utilities. It would be nice to have a single device, but I know a lot of people still prefer to carry multiple devices for multiple things. I like 1 device, but I see people in the airport with 3-4 devices. A blackberry, a cell phone, an Ipod, a laptop, a bluetooth device. Next thing you know they have the 2-3 items on their belt and 2-3 items in their bags.

i'm curious to see what the market potential is for the iPhone. i'm an Apple stockholder, so I hope they do well.

Uffda · Post by **Uffda** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:16 pm

A friend of mine had an interesting conversation with a salesperson in a Cingular store here in town last week. He went to check out their plans and told the young lady that he was waiting for the iPhone to come out before buying. She actually told him that "he shouldn't buy one. That it won't be 3G etc etc etc. "

Great support from the local Cingular sales people. :shock:C

Post by **nebugeater** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:21 pm

Big E wrote:1) always have to be "Well, I don't use it for that or can't see any use other than my own or I can't afford it or justify the cost so therefore its stupid"?

nebugeater wrote:Not trying to burst your excitement but this is what it is. A Phone that early adapters will buy because it says Apple and is new. The mass market that Apple needs to tap into will loose a large chunk of its base if it is only available on AT&T. A large portion that makes up the mass will not switch carriers to get this phone.
I don't disagree with ANY of that... right now. Quit being myopic about it. Just like the $3000 VCR that has morphed into on-demand TiVo for $99, don't expect the iPhone to be just a phone for long.

-Big E

OK Then maybe we are not that far apart. My point is that Apple needs another home run. This has the potential. IF they are cut off from a rather large % of the market do to an agreement they have ( and yes, they made it) then someone else will pass them by. Don't get me wrong I love my Apple produces, I just happen to use a PC ( three in fact). Apple can launch a product VCR example but they need to mass to make it a huge success. Your VCR example makes my point as well as yours. Take TiVo for example. Look at their track record. They locked up to tech but got greedy when licensing it and other went out and made their versions instead of licensing the tech. Now TeVo like units are made by a variety of folks and TeVo is really struggling financially. Al lot has been written about this. Dish Network is one of the early adapters of the Non TeVo DVR' Cable companies and Direct TV have done the same. Apple has not made that mistake with he Ipod. They have adapted and opened up to PC's and now they are even opening up to non copy protected music from a sales standpoint. With the Ipod they get it, I am not sure they do with the phone.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:57 pm

Yes, it will be open to third party apps. Originally, Jobs said it would not be, but has since backed off of that and said Apple is currently working on a way to do so securely.

If you watch the ads for the iPhone, Jeff, you'll see that there's a context specific QWERTY keyboard for typing. Ideal? No. Better than anything else out there? Absolutely. Are you going to use it for writing a novel or browsing eOmaha? No. Shooting off a quick email? Sure.

As far as arguing the specific merits of the iPhone or the contract with AT&T... forget about that for a moment. Forget that its an Apple product (I think people get hung up on that more than what the actual product is sometimes). This thing is about to turn the industry on its ear.

-Big E

cosmoguy · Post by **cosmoguy** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:33 pm

This is truly an exciting time to be an Apple employee ;)

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:12 pm

cosmoguy wrote:This is truly an exciting time to be an Apple employee ;)

Until all of the knuckleheads come in off the street to see the iPhone that still didn't pick up the fact they have to sign a required new 2-yr service contract on cingular, I mean AT&T, or whatever they're called this month. There will certainly be the group - I say by 3rd gen, it will be worth owning - hopefully, by then, they've gotten out of their ridiculous agreement with the crappy cell carrier, and have opened up the options there.

D

lonnie · Post by **lonnie** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:05 am

Hopefully, by the time the AT&T exclusive ends, Verizon/Alltel/Embarq will join AT&T and the rest of the world with GSM service, so changing carriers is simply a SIMM card change.

Lonnie

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:56 pm

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07 ... eport.html

So you know its not just me talking out my rear, from Credit Suisse:

[quote="In defending his thesis, Semple cited a "precedent" or trend in the market where consumers continue to show a willingness to "trade up" to premium products, such as the Apple iPod, Nike Under Armour, Coach handbags and Tiffany jewelry. "At Coach, the mix of $400+ handbags has increased 100 basis points as a percentage of total sales," he explained. "And at jeweler Tiffany, 'statement' jewelry has seen average selling prices increase from $81,000 to $91,000 over the past year while less-than $500 silver products have decreased as a percent of total."

Fueling the trend, according to the analyst, is the rise in discretionary wealth, the introduction of an influential female consumer, changing family structures, and evolving consumer behavior, along with encouragement from media influences to acknowledge and respond to personal needs.

"Why will consumers Trade Up to the iPhone?," asked Semple. "The real value and differentiation in the iPhone lies not its sleek design (this is certainly helpful though), but rather, the innovative qualities and resulting capabilities delivered by the Mac OS X, which remains the best operating system in the PC world today in our opinion, and an OS that easily exceeds the capabilities of the scaled down OS’s that dominate the mobile phone market today."

While the Apple device was conceived to act as a phone, web browser and iPod, its potential to excel in other areas of digital media may also exist. The Credit Suisse analyst said it's products of the iPhone's nature that typically develop popular utilities unforeseen by the product designers. "With the host of capabilities that the iPhone enables, users will inevitably find their own uses for the product," he wrote. "For example, with a 2 mega-pixel camera and an OS designed to handle photo management (iPhoto), we believe the Apple will be able to deliver in one product what camera phones have been trying to accomplish for several years, immediate and quality photo sharing."[/quote]

Pretty extensive analysis.

-Big E

shengs75 · Post by **shengs75** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:40 pm

lonnie wrote:Hopefully, by the time the AT&T exclusive ends, Verizon/Alltel/Embarq will join AT&T and the rest of the world with GSM service, so changing carriers is simply a SIMM card change.

Lonnie

That will never happen. GSM and CDMA are 2 different technologies. CDMA is actually a more superior technology than GSM, but because most of the rest of the world except S. Korea is on GSM people seem to like GSM better.

shengs75 · Post by **shengs75** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:43 pm

I wonder if there will be an "UNLOCKED" iPhone, so you can use it not just for AT&T, but for T-Mobile, Rogers, Vodafone, etc. overseas

I still think iPhone will be a niche market. Not everyone can afford one. I think it'll be more of the younger teens-20s generation that will be attracted to this.

What do you think the market for this would be?

cosmoguy · Post by **cosmoguy** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:22 am

Until all of the knuckleheads come in off the street to see the iPhone that still didn't pick up the fact they have to sign a required new 2-yr service contract on cingular, I mean AT&T, or whatever they're called this month. There will certainly be the group - I say by 3rd gen, it will be worth owning - hopefully, by then, they've gotten out of their ridiculous agreement with the crappy cell carrier, and have opened up the options there.

FYI- just because I work for Apple doesn't mean I work in an Apple Store...but even as a consumer, I can tell you that there is PLENTY of buzz/awareness about AT&T being the service provide. I've been seeing the ads EVERYWHERE, so I'm sure that the employees who work in Apple retail locations won't be bombarded with "knuckleheads".

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:46 am

cosmoguy wrote:
Until all of the knuckleheads come in off the street to see the iPhone that still didn't pick up the fact they have to sign a required new 2-yr service contract on cingular, I mean AT&T, or whatever they're called this month. There will certainly be the group - I say by 3rd gen, it will be worth owning - hopefully, by then, they've gotten out of their ridiculous agreement with the crappy cell carrier, and have opened up the options there.
FYI- just because I work for Apple doesn't mean I work in an Apple Store...but even as a consumer, I can tell you that there is PLENTY of buzz/awareness about AT&T being the service provide. I've been seeing the ads EVERYWHERE, so I'm sure that the employees who work in Apple retail locations won't be bombarded with "knuckleheads".

You're right - why would all of the super-smart consumers who always pay attention to the way things work ever possibly get something like that confused???

D

cosmoguy · Post by **cosmoguy** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:00 am

djc311 wrote:
cosmoguy wrote:
Until all of the knuckleheads come in off the street to see the iPhone that still didn't pick up the fact they have to sign a required new 2-yr service contract on cingular, I mean AT&T, or whatever they're called this month. There will certainly be the group - I say by 3rd gen, it will be worth owning - hopefully, by then, they've gotten out of their ridiculous agreement with the crappy cell carrier, and have opened up the options there.
FYI- just because I work for Apple doesn't mean I work in an Apple Store...but even as a consumer, I can tell you that there is PLENTY of buzz/awareness about AT&T being the service provide. I've been seeing the ads EVERYWHERE, so I'm sure that the employees who work in Apple retail locations won't be bombarded with "knuckleheads".
You're right - why would all of the super-smart consumers who always pay attention to the way things work ever possibly get something like that confused???

D

Thanks shengs75 for stating what I was INITIALLY trying to suggest (before djc311 bombarded me with the glass half empty retort that some Omahans -unfortunately- are known for. :roll: )

djc311 · Post by **djc311** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:43 am

The fact of the matter is that regardless of what city/state you reside in, you're going to get ppl coming in asking for things they don't know anything about, and they don't actually want. I worked at the Mart for 10 yrs selling computers and other electronics - it would not be wise for anyone to assume everyone walking into a store has paid attention to advertising, media and so forth. Does that make sense?

It has nothing to do w/ glass half empty rhetoric, it's the simple truth. And, needless to say, I have yet to see anyone, a single person, on here post a response saying "Oh I don't care that I have to switch cell providers to use it, and I definitely don't mind the $600 price tag for an 8gb iPod (with attached phone functions) - so I'll take 3!"

Give me a break -

Yes, I totally give Apple credit for being true innovators, but that doesn't mean ppl will support every single product they make, especially at first. Like I posted before, by 3rd gen, they will probably be more popular - and if Apple has a patent on the screen, then I'm sure they will profit from it. Otherwise, the copycats at MS already have their Surface PC coming out at the end of this year... so we'll have to see I guess.

D