Apple’s Business Thriving

Apple Thriving Amid Sluggish PC Market

Everyone has been much more in tune to the economy lately, which is why I thought the above article might be of interest. To summarize it for you, despite the economy, Apple is growing far more rapidly than the computer market as a whole, commercial shipments up 25% for Apple to 1% for PCs in April, which is previous to the new MacBook Pro models. The author also draws the comparison of Mac to PC, with prices. The cheapest MacBook Pro is almost double the cost of the cheapest HP laptop.

I would be curious to see more recent figures on Apple’s growth, as I imagine the new less expensive MacBook Pros, the new iPhone 3GS and the educational promotion will effect Apple’s sales over the summer.

Of course, growth has it’s pros and cons for a company and its followers and it is said that as Apple’s market share increases, malware will become an issue. This is just a theory, but a threatening one at the least. The growth has a lot of positive aspects too. More Mac users likely means more hardware and software being Mac-compatible and that hardware and software being more affordable; that’s never a bad thing! Also, more Apple stores will be popping up and hopefully more service providers overall. We already have iCafe in Lawrence and the Apple Stores in Leawood and Kansas City, but much of Kansas is out of luck if they have an issue with their computer.

How do you feel about Apple’s growth? Positive? Negative?

The New iPhone is Overheating?

Iphone 3GS Handsets Overheat, Turn Brown

The new iPhone 3GS has been reported by its users as having an overheating problem. Apple has yet to release any statement on this issue, but several tech websites have reported that the many phones have overheated and the case has been burned and discolored. Most of these reports mention that the iPhone was charging at the time or was running GPS software. There have also been some more bizarre and dubious allegations. One user reported being burnt from their iPhone and another claimed that the iPhone can light a cigarette.

Nothing official has been reported on this issue, so it is not known if it is a legitimate issue and of course, it is not know what is causing it. There has been some speculation about whether it is the battery of the new iPhone G3S or some software which it is running. We will let you know if this issue is substantiated.

A New Way to Use Old Computers

ScreenRecycler 1.3.2 Lets You Use an Old Mac as Second Display

ScreenRecycler, a new software program, allows you to take an old computer, Mac OR PC, that you have sitting around and use it in a dual monitor setup.

This sounds like an interesting way to use your old computer, but there are some important details. ScreenRecycler uses Bonjour for the computers to find one another and the older computer will need a VPN client, like JollysFast, meaning that the computer must be working well enough for you to install software on it; it cannot be a computer without a working OS and HD. For the VPN client mentioned above, JollysFast, you must be running 10.4 or 10.5 on the older computer.

This is a cool idea, but I am not totally sold on the usefulness to the general public and I haven’t personally used it, which always leaves a lot of questions. If they find a use for all of the old Macs running Classic, that would be awesome.

Leawood Business Networking

BestMacs team to the left, half the crowd to the right - many more standing off camera.

It was a really great turnout at the Leawood Apple Store this morning.  Roughly 30 to 40 people joined us for a nice informal gathering, with coffee, donuts.  Tara and Edward from Leawood and the Plaza, respectively, set the presentations in motion.  First was an explanation of the One-to-One program.  Then Landon Porter of Honeycomb Custom Database Solutions talked about databases in general and FileMaker in specific.

Afterwards we had a short 10 minute break where everyone mingled.  As we said, the entire BestMacs team was there.  Fortunately, Jacob managed to stave off a run back to Lawrence with some quick phone support.  The attached photo is courtesy of our friend DoctorDave who joined in.

I'm in full seminar mode.

Then it was my turn.  I talked briefly about BestMacs, the Apple Consultants Network, our mission, some of the topics we are really good at (server, Open Directory, third-party products, etc.) and a brief overview of Windows-on-Mac solutions:

• BootCamp
• Virtualization (Parallels and VMware)
• Remote Desktop Connection

Some quick Q&A about Mini as a server as a lower cost version of Xserve, and remote access for users across the country, and that wrapped up my part.

From my slideshow

I’d make my slideshow available here, but it’s mostly useless without my narrative on top of it.  If interested, drop me a line and I’ll do a voiceover and post it.

Lastly it was meet and greet with some potential new clients.  (Looking forward to visiting you soon!) And then we were on to the rest of the day.

All in all the event lived up to its billing: Meet. Mingle. Learn.  If you were there, I hope you found it fun and informative.  Many thanks to both Tara and Edward for putting the event together and inviting me and the BestMacs team to introduce ourselves to the group.  If you missed it, the next Business Networking Event will probably be at the Plaza in a month or two.

Get Smart (Mailboxes)!

Smart mailboxes are a usual feature of the Mail application. With a smart mailbox, you can specify that certain mail appear in that specific smart mailbox. The mail will still show up in your regular mailbox too and any chances you make to it in the smart mailbox are reflected in the regular mailbox as well.

Read more about Smart Mailboxes

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Using keyboard shortcuts is a proven way to increase your speed while navigating around in Mac OS X. I don’t know how many of you have seen Brian sprinting through the OS using a countless number of shortcuts. Part of Brian’s speed stems from the amount of experience and comfort he has in navigating the OS, but undoubtedly part of his speed is due to his knowledge of keyboard shortcuts. While not all of the keyboard shortcuts are totally useful all of the time, many are useful for many tasks such as opening and closing applications and navigating between open applications.

Click Here for a list of shortcuts and a few that I find useful…

Join Us on Wednesday

In case you missed the above section of BestMacs.com the past couple weeks…

On Wednesday of this week (the 24th) the entire BestMacs team is heading out to the Apple Store in Leawood for the first of their Business Networking events. As they put it:

“Business Networking: Meet. Mingle. Learn.
Join fellow business owners and entrepreneurs for this informative networking event. You’ll learn how others are successfully using the Mac in their business and meet our Business Team. It’s a power hour designed to grow your knowledge and your business”

I’ll introduce the team and talk about BestMacs as well as give a short demonstration on how Windows-on-Mac virtualization makes switching easier.

And besides catching up with us, you can enjoy some refreshments and meet with other Mac-powered businesses and get an insight into how the Mac improves their productivity.

So please join us. (Never been there?  Click here for directions.)  The event starts at 9am!

Happy iPhone Day!

from InformationWeek

Happy iPhone 3GS Day! The new iPhone 3GS was released today. It sounds like there has been a mixture of crazy lines at some Apple Stores and few people waiting at others. Apple also reported that hundreds of thousands of iPhones had been pre-ordered for pick up at the Apple Store or delivery.

I read a few articles on the new iPhones, to give you the general impression. One article mentions how much faster apps are to load up, another talks about how the new iPhone is less likely to get smudges on it than previous generations. There’s a youtube video out where you can check out the speed for yourself. The reviews thus far have been excellent for the new device. Many rumors had been flying that AT&T would be charging $55/month for tethering with the iPhone. AT&T has announced that this isn’t true, although they have not said when tethering will be available or how much it will cost.

If you did purchase a new iPhone, there is also some news that the activation may take up to 2 days, because of the overwhelming number of new iPhones being activated. Be patient!

I’m sure you will be hearing more about the new iPhone soon!

Spring Cleaning

It’s time for some Spring (computer) cleaning. I’m a big fan of an organized computer– mostly because I am on my computer for the majority of my day. I’m sure most of you reading this also spend a good portion of your waking hours on your computer, which is why I recommend you take a few minutes to get some things in place. Trust me, you’ll feel better.

How to Get Organized

Buy now or wait?

Apple recently updated their MacBook Pro line to include firewire 800 across the board and now includes the ultra sleek 13 inch model. Another product many are patiently awaiting is the latest iteration of Apple’s OS Snow Leopard. With the release of Snow Leopard falling mid-way through September many consumers are faced with the question: “Do i upgrade to new hardware now? Or should i wait so that my new hardware includes new software as well.”

BestMacs has previously posted on our stance regarding upgrades and I feel it still holds true here. We always prefer the wait and see approach. However, Apple has just made it a little more difficult. It turns out that now if you were on the fence about buying a new machine, Apple is going to give you a copy of Snow Leopard for $9.95 from here until it is released. Apple’s “Up to Date” program gives you the incentive to purchase a new machine now and not worry about getting slammed with an additional fee later. One thing of particular interest to me is that this program also works with Apple Certified Refurbished Products as well.

Stay tuned for more news on Snow Leopard.