Feb 2010
Jan 2010
Dec 2009
Nov 2009
Oct 2009
Sep 2009
Aug 2009

RSS Feed
Comments Feed

Nov 2009

MacInquirer | Dec 2009 | Oct 2009

LEGO saves marriages!

11/29/09 23:41

Mrs. MacInquirer recently peeped over our shoulder and said “What in the world are you doing -- and why?” When we tried to explain the site’s mission statement, she just got That Look On Her Face and walked sadly away.

But thanks to the tireless efforts of Trevor Boyd and Steve Ilett, who spent 440 hours working on the following video, our vital work is being seen in a whole new light around MacInquirer World HQ. Namaste, gentlemen.

All kidding aside, it really is an insanely great vid. More info and a side-by-side comparison with the original film sequence available here.

Dotcomic: Technological Basterds

11/28/09 08:58

basterds

Tablet doomed!

11/28/09 08:00

Scott Moritz of TheStreet.com delivers an early Christmas present: a hilarious piece on why Apple needs a new hit -- fast -- but the Mac tablet isn’t it.

We had no idea iPhone and Mac sales were cratering. Or that Apple is betting the farm on a new tablet computer. Or that Apple has even announced a tablet computer. Or that the essential yet unannounced tablet’s release date “keeps getting pushed back.” Wait -- we didn’t know any of those things because...none of them are true! Doggone you, Scott -- you got us again, you scamp!

MS = GM?

11/27/09 23:19

Jay R. Galbraith blogged for Fortune recently about the similarities between Microsoft and General Motors. The MS/GM analogy is actually quite apt, since both companies are

- Iconic names
- Former market dominators
- Run by management teams woefully behind the curve
- Dinosaurs being supplanted by more nimble species (Toyota and Apple)
- Makers of legendary examples of bad design (Pontiac Aztek and Microsoft Bob)

The day Steve Ballmer comes to Washington hawking some “too big to fail” snake oil, the resemblance will be perfect.

Dotcomic Preview

11/27/09 17:50

This weekend: they’re in the Windows-killin’ business. And business is good.

basterds3

basterds3

The Weekend Dotcomic -- only at MacInquirer.com. Where a basterd’s work is never done.™

Wired's poison pill for iTablet?

11/27/09 16:28

There have been tons of recent rumors about several major newspapers and publishing houses pow-wowing with Apple about bringing their publications to the as-yet mythical iTablet. Wired magazine recently added fuel to the fire with a demo of a possible tablet edition of the high-tech monthly.

Apparently, the company plans to hamstring any future iTunes-style Apple dominance of the electronic publishing biz by annoying readers so badly they’ll decide to stick with the print edition. This will be accomplished by using the world’s most annoying acid techno-drone soundtrack to accompany the interactive content:

Seriously -- what’s up with that noise?

Keynote + iMovie = Holiday magic

11/27/09 11:43

Peter Yan creates a top-notch animated iPod holiday ad using only Keynote and iMovie. Very cool.

Find out how Peter did it here.

Scariest Mac vid ever

11/23/09 19:40

Dotcomic: Apple's 11

11/22/09 23:38

Danny Ocean and friends go tech shopping.

dotcomic-apples11

dotcomic-apples11

The Biggest Loser: Electric Slide Edition

11/17/09 22:43

Below is an example of some recent company-mandated "fun" at the new Microsoft Store, featuring a team of badly choreographed and surprisingly puffy faux hipsters that obviously weren't hired for their ability to cut a rug. The whole thing comes off as a cross between Dance Night at the local senior center and the world's worst Johnny Rocket's, minus the food. Brace yourself -- here it comes...

Steve Ballmer: Spokesmodel?

11/16/09 20:16

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who recently called Apple's marketshare growth a "rounding error" in his world (and if anybody should know about that sort of thing, it'd be a Microsoft guy), has just secured yet another big, fat government contract -- as a spokesmodel:

ballmerposter

ballmerposter

Bob Loblaw lives

11/16/09 17:40

An example of the dangers of unproofed templates in the newspaper business...

blabla

blabla

..which could also be a tribute to one of our all-time favorite TV character names:

Dotcomic: Tech Fiction

11/13/09 09:36

Vince Vega and Jules Winnfield debate the Mac vs. PC issue, Tarantino-style.

dotcomic-techfic1

dotcomic-techfic1

Simon Aldous = Flat Stanley

11/12/09 11:15

In a refreshing display of candor, Microsoft partner group manager Simon Aldous freely acknowledged Windows 7's debt to Mac OS X for the OS's revised look-and-feel. Microsoft wasted no time in throwing Aldous under the bus, calling his comments "inaccurate and uninformed." Aldous posted an update on his personal blog that says everyhting is "just fine" brtween him and the company, and even released a photo of himself posing beside a proof for the next MS print campaign for Windows 7:

flatstanley

flatstanley

Dotcomic Preview

11/12/09 00:18

This weekend, Macinquirer goes Tarantino:

techfic-promo2

techfic-promo2

The Weekend Dotcomic: Only on Macinquirer.com. We're tryin' Ringo. We're tryin' real hard to be a shepherd.™

Ah -- NOW I get it!

11/10/09 08:37

The whole Social Media experience explained via a simple Venn Diagram.

slide_3512_49630_large

slide_3512_49630_large

More explainers here.

World Buzzword Record?

11/09/09 21:26

This item may be close to some kind of record for most tech buzzwords in one sentence:

Worm rickrolls unsecured jailbroken iPhones via SSH

That, friends, is just about as close to perfect as you're gonna get -- until the day YouTube spreads XML malware to the Apple Tablet via a LOLcats/Boxxy mashup vid with a Jonathan Coulton soundtrack. Well done, TUAW!

Windows 7 -- burnin' down the house

11/09/09 19:49

The user in this Windows 7 ad from Australia may have bigger problems than spyware and malware on his PC.

"Brianiacs?"

11/09/09 17:00

Denver, Colorado finished fifth in a recent online listing of the brainiest cities in the US. The Denver Daily News apparently celebrated by handing the story over to a headline writer from...well, let's just say somewhere way further down the list:

brianiacs-

brianiacs-

Dotcomic: The Big Mac Lebowski

11/06/09 08:45

Apple and Microsoft had an intriguing exchange at Tech League Bowling Night. Many White Russians died to bring us this information.

lebowski1

lebowski1

Greatest dialog box ever!

11/05/09 16:27

The makers of Twitter Peek, which is already being hailed as America's least capable mobile gizmo, have just made it easier to part with your money for a device of dubious utility by introducing GetPeek for iPhone. At the crucial moment in the transaction, the app presents the greatest dialog box in tech history:

getpeek2

Okay, we made it all up. But it would be refreshing, wouldn't it?

Steve Jobs goes back to the garage

11/05/09 14:32

From Fortune magazine's excellent gallery of rarely seen photos of Steve Jobs: In 1996, the wunderkind returns to the family garage where it all began 20 years before, and can't resist showing off the calligraphy skills he picked up at Reed College:

ballmersux2

ballmersux2

Dotcomic Preview

11/05/09 13:51

Coming this weekend: Apple and Microsoft go bowling. Mayhem and White Russians ensue:

LEBOWSKIlogo

LEBOWSKIlogo

The Weekend Dotcomic: exclusively at MacInquirer.com. You want a toe? We can get you a toe.™

Jobs iMac codenames revealed!

11/05/09 11:36

Cutl of Mac has an interview with Ken Segall, a former creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day, best known as Apple’s longtime advertising agency. The major focus is Segall’s claim to be the man responsible for virtually every major Macintosh marketing idea of the past decade and a half. Says Ken “I’m the author of the Think Different campaign, and the guy who came up with the whole ‘i’ thing, starting with iMac.”

It sounds a lot like a guy who’s now stuck creating web ads for Dell reliving his Glory Days, though Segall does drop the revelation that Steve Jobs originally hated the name iMac, and had a list of his own names -- which the rest of the team thought were absolute high-tech horseapples. He describes one Steve-generated name as so bad “it would curdle your blood.”

Okay -- now we’re interested.

Ken doesn’t get specific about the SteveNames, but thanks to a guy we know who used to ride-share with a chick who once dated the landscaper at One Infinite Loop, we’ve managed to track down a copy of Steverino’s original baby-name list for the iMac. With apologies to David Letterman, here they are...

Steve Jobs’ Top Ten iMac Name Suggestions Rejected By Ken Segall

10. Avatar
9. Synergy
8. MacNext
7. Rounded, Flattened Cube
6. Lisa 97
5. James Bondi
4. MobileMe
3. MacGoldblum
2. Chumby
1. iPod

Drive your car? There's an app for that.

11/05/09 01:56

In "Tomorrow Never Dies," James Bond got out of a sticky situation by driving his car with his cell phone while hunkered down in the floorboard to avoid Kalashnikov rounds from Russian spies. (Or something. It's been a while since we've seen the movie.) Thanks to some wacky German gadget geeks at the University of Berlin, you may be able to recreate 007's amazing feat in real life using...your iPhone. The video below explains it all. Except, of course, why you'd ever want to do it.

It tweets. And that's all.

11/05/09 01:18

twitterpeak

First there was Peek, the handheld device that only does email. Then came Peek Pronto, the handheld that only does text messaging. Now, the single-minded gadgeteers at Peek Inc. have announced a third device called Twitter Peak, that only does...Twitter.

The gizmo lets users post 140-character bon mots to their Twitter account and find out what Ashton Kutcher had for breakfast at a moment’s notice. That’s it. No distracting email checking or phone conversations. Just...Twitter. How much would you pay for all this marginal functionality? Would you believe...a hundred bucks? That ill-spent Benjamin will also get you six months of Peek’s unlimited Tweet-anywhere mobile service. After that, it’s $7.95 a month. Or, if you’re gullible enough to pay $199, you get lifetime free Peek Tweet service! It’s not quite clear whether “lifetime” means yours or the device’s. But either way, if Twitter Peek is appealing to you, you really need to get one. A life, that is.