Last Thursday I left for work and realized I left my iPhone on the bedroom dresser. I felt completely lost all day, like a piece of me was missing. In a way it was - for as much as I use my iPhone it may as well be permanently attached to my hand. (Notice I said hand, not ear!) Every day I seem to find new and creative uses for Apple products, but there are a few good old standbys I simply cannot do without:
1. iPhone Clock Alarm. I never worry I won't wake up because I set my alarm wrong or the power went out overnight. Open the Clock app (standard on every iPhone/iPod touch) and click Alarm. Click the + button to add a new alarm. Choose the frequency by individually choosing days, sound (I like Marimba or Strum for a 5:30 wake-up versus Bark or Old Car Horn!), if you want a snooze option (yes, please!), and name the alarm if you'd like (in case you set up multiple ones). Click Save, and just turn it on!
2. iTunes Radio. Although my music library is pretty diverse and I have over 1400 songs and 9 Genuis mixes, I still get tired of listening to my own music when I need to "plug in and tune out" at the office. iTunes streaming radio is amazing - I can quickly find a genre beffiting of my mood du juor and choose from hundreds of stations. I know Pandora is supposed to be streaming radio to the nth degree, yet I like to stay within the cozy, familiar confines of iTunes.
3. Spotlight. Oh, where do I begin? I use Spotlight to find files, find and launch applications, and easily navigate my hundreds of daily email messages. The level of intelligence this little, unassuming app has is mind-blowing. I love that it can search the complete record or just title. Last week I used a Windows-based PC for about 45 mins. and wanted to scream because I couldn't find a thing! Little tip - when using the system-wide search use shortcut "Command + spacebar" to launch Spotlight. Type in your search, navigate to your desired result and hit return. Your wish is Spotlight's command!
4. Two-finger scrolling. Another function I simply can't live without. How much time to PC users spend dragging their cursor to the upper right hand corner of their browser or file window and click/dragging the side scroll down? When I help someone on their PC or have to use one myself (like last week) I instinctively two-finger scroll... the desired result does not occur. Infuriating! For setting/exploring one, two, and three finger trackpad "finger gestures" - click on System Preferences, Trackpad. Turn features on and off and customize them as you wish, and view a video of how to use them. Genius. With the Apple Magic Mouse and now Magic Trackpad this is getting even better!
5. Exposé. Last but not least, this has got to be one of my all time faves. The ability to clear all windows and find my desktop by dragging to a corner is such a time saver. I'm one of those users who has about 8-10 applications and about 15-20 windows open at any given time during the day. My newer to Mac husband likes to close down every window before moving to the next and "can't understand how I work like that". How do you not?!? Again, to view current settings and customize them visit System Preferences and click on Exposé and Spaces. Configure away, or use the default settings. To use the special functions on the function keys, click on Keyboard under System Prefs and check the "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" to turn them "on". You'll need to press the Function (fn) key to use the features printed on the keys.
What are your favorite iPhone, iPod, Mac, or iPad features and functions? How do you use them in your daily life?
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
What is it about the Mac?
My mom refuses to hear me when I sell her on the benefits of switching to a Mac. She's a bargain shopper. She even once called me from a garage sale to tell me about a deal she found on a notebook. "Please, please, please don't buy that thing!", I lamented, "If you do, I'm not helping you with it." When I listen to her tell me about all the ways she wants to use technology - to manage and share pictures (she had a camera surgically bound to her hand at age 20) - to video chat with me and my 2 1/2 year old son, for email and web access, and the occasional application like writing and printing letters and managing personal finances, I grit my teeth and say, "It would all be so easy..." and she finishes my sentence, "If I had a Mac." But, she just can't get over the higher up front cost.
Even in this economic climate Apple Inc. posts record earnings and profit, defies industry analysts and outpaces the market by a notable magnitude. If you listen to the earnings release webcasts, Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's Chief Operating Office, sounds so humble when in a carefully crafted statement he attributes the record-breaking results to "...the best and most innovative products and solutions [delivered] to our customers." What is it about the Mac that sells millions of them each quarter, with over half going to "new to Mac" users?
Here are my Top 5 reasons users are getting on the Mac bandwagon:
1. Know iTunes? You know Mac. The painful exchange with my mom has gone as far as her purchasing a PC notebook and bringing it to my house for me to "help" her with it. This "help" consisted of installing software, removing software, trying to find and tweak user settings, get her setup with an IM account, and the list goes on. We then installed iTunes and she was blown away by the ease of use for importing, downloading and managing music. "Oh wow, that's so cool!"...(pregnant pause) "That's made by Apple. Everything on a Mac is that easy, mom." "Oh." Most people have at least one iPod now days and thus, have used iTunes. If you get that, you can manage your way around a Mac. The Finder (file management system) on a Mac is similiar to iTunes, even leveraging Cover Flow for searching through and previewing documents.
2. The hardware and software work together and come pre-loaded. After hours of doing that, we were finally ready to "use" the computer. But how? Where is the video conferencing application? How do you turn on the web cam? (Three months later and she is still not using this feature of her PC.) With a Mac, you setup your Mobile Me account ($99/year for website publishing, online storage, email - which is also your iChat messaging screen name) or use a free AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) account, launch iChat, click the video camera of the buddy you'd like to chat with and you're off and running - or riding a rollercoaster or visiting the Eiffel Tower... iChat has a bunch of fun multimedia backgrounds to choose from.
3. No more calls to your brother-in-law, son, daughter (enter unsuspecting relation here) to de-bug your system. Thank goodness I live over three hours away from my parents or I would probably be there more than at home. My poor brother has spent hours "working on" my mom's desktop only to find she needs to hire some one to "fix" it. I'm not quite sure what that means which is why fix is in quotes. It is never fixed. Macs don't get viruses, they run a more stable operating system, and they just work. Sure, all technology has it's issues and no Mac is perfect. But, you may find your children and other relatives like coming over a lot more when they're not relegated to your office "fixing" your system.
4. You can do all sorts of fun stuff. After hours of exhausting me with questions about using the PC, my mom said, "Okay, now what about pictures?" I laughed a hysterical "you've got to be kidding me, I just can't take this anymore" laugh and then just said, "I can't help you there." It was true. The photo app that came on the PC was so user unfriendly and ugly I couldn't make myself go there. iPhoto is the easiest way to manage and share pictures. It's been around since 2001, and a part of iLife since 2003. And it's free on a Mac. One click creates an album, another publishes it to your own website/gallery, or Facebook or Flickr. Share albums with dynamic slideshows set to music. And this is just the tip of the iceburg... but you don't have to be an expert ice climber to figure it out. iMovie, iDVD, iWeb and GarageBand round out the iLife suite. They all work together, work with the same tools and smoothly - once you've played with one, you'll have it down.
5. There is a whole culture supporting you. The Apple Store retail locations continue to amaze. The revenue these places produce per square foot is enough to make your jaw drop. They are a social destination - a place to see and be seen. They draw crowds at all hours of the day, all around the globe and they are popping up all over the place. (Maybe I'll really go to the Eifel Tower instead of just using the iChat background, so I can visit the first store in France next year.) Let's not forget, it's just a store. Or is it? Make an appointment online to have a Genius troubleshoot and diagnose your iPod or other Apple product. Attend free in-store seminars, or buy One to One personal training or Pro Care and get personal training sessions - at your convenience and you decide the topics to cover. Beyond the store is AppleCare, Apple's warranty extension option which not only provides repair/replace for things covered in the terms, but 3 years of telephone support from Apple on the hardware, operating system (i.e. Mac OS X is what Windows is on a PC), applications like those in iLife and other peripherals like Apple displays and wireless products (when purchased with a qualifying Mac. See terms and conditions for details.) And, the support site http://www.apple.com/support/ is very useful and easy to navigate. Bottom line, you are not alone.
There is a whole burgeoning culture of new Mac users who have switched and will never go back. Sure, Macs are not the end all be all of technology and Apple doesn't always get things right. But, millions of users can't be wrong - there is something to be said for the ease of use, reliability and seamless user experience Macs provide. Some believe a machine that does everything you want out of the box without add on hardware, software (whether free or downloadable), "just works", doesn't get viruses and has a whole culture to support it is worth a higher price tag. Considering these points, does it really cost you more? Maybe my own mom will finally see the value Apple provides and be one of the new-to-Mac purchasers referenced in a future earnings release. For my sanity, I sure hope so.
Even in this economic climate Apple Inc. posts record earnings and profit, defies industry analysts and outpaces the market by a notable magnitude. If you listen to the earnings release webcasts, Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's Chief Operating Office, sounds so humble when in a carefully crafted statement he attributes the record-breaking results to "...the best and most innovative products and solutions [delivered] to our customers." What is it about the Mac that sells millions of them each quarter, with over half going to "new to Mac" users?
Here are my Top 5 reasons users are getting on the Mac bandwagon:
1. Know iTunes? You know Mac. The painful exchange with my mom has gone as far as her purchasing a PC notebook and bringing it to my house for me to "help" her with it. This "help" consisted of installing software, removing software, trying to find and tweak user settings, get her setup with an IM account, and the list goes on. We then installed iTunes and she was blown away by the ease of use for importing, downloading and managing music. "Oh wow, that's so cool!"...(pregnant pause) "That's made by Apple. Everything on a Mac is that easy, mom." "Oh." Most people have at least one iPod now days and thus, have used iTunes. If you get that, you can manage your way around a Mac. The Finder (file management system) on a Mac is similiar to iTunes, even leveraging Cover Flow for searching through and previewing documents.
2. The hardware and software work together and come pre-loaded. After hours of doing that, we were finally ready to "use" the computer. But how? Where is the video conferencing application? How do you turn on the web cam? (Three months later and she is still not using this feature of her PC.) With a Mac, you setup your Mobile Me account ($99/year for website publishing, online storage, email - which is also your iChat messaging screen name) or use a free AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) account, launch iChat, click the video camera of the buddy you'd like to chat with and you're off and running - or riding a rollercoaster or visiting the Eiffel Tower... iChat has a bunch of fun multimedia backgrounds to choose from.
3. No more calls to your brother-in-law, son, daughter (enter unsuspecting relation here) to de-bug your system. Thank goodness I live over three hours away from my parents or I would probably be there more than at home. My poor brother has spent hours "working on" my mom's desktop only to find she needs to hire some one to "fix" it. I'm not quite sure what that means which is why fix is in quotes. It is never fixed. Macs don't get viruses, they run a more stable operating system, and they just work. Sure, all technology has it's issues and no Mac is perfect. But, you may find your children and other relatives like coming over a lot more when they're not relegated to your office "fixing" your system.
4. You can do all sorts of fun stuff. After hours of exhausting me with questions about using the PC, my mom said, "Okay, now what about pictures?" I laughed a hysterical "you've got to be kidding me, I just can't take this anymore" laugh and then just said, "I can't help you there." It was true. The photo app that came on the PC was so user unfriendly and ugly I couldn't make myself go there. iPhoto is the easiest way to manage and share pictures. It's been around since 2001, and a part of iLife since 2003. And it's free on a Mac. One click creates an album, another publishes it to your own website/gallery, or Facebook or Flickr. Share albums with dynamic slideshows set to music. And this is just the tip of the iceburg... but you don't have to be an expert ice climber to figure it out. iMovie, iDVD, iWeb and GarageBand round out the iLife suite. They all work together, work with the same tools and smoothly - once you've played with one, you'll have it down.
5. There is a whole culture supporting you. The Apple Store retail locations continue to amaze. The revenue these places produce per square foot is enough to make your jaw drop. They are a social destination - a place to see and be seen. They draw crowds at all hours of the day, all around the globe and they are popping up all over the place. (Maybe I'll really go to the Eifel Tower instead of just using the iChat background, so I can visit the first store in France next year.) Let's not forget, it's just a store. Or is it? Make an appointment online to have a Genius troubleshoot and diagnose your iPod or other Apple product. Attend free in-store seminars, or buy One to One personal training or Pro Care and get personal training sessions - at your convenience and you decide the topics to cover. Beyond the store is AppleCare, Apple's warranty extension option which not only provides repair/replace for things covered in the terms, but 3 years of telephone support from Apple on the hardware, operating system (i.e. Mac OS X is what Windows is on a PC), applications like those in iLife and other peripherals like Apple displays and wireless products (when purchased with a qualifying Mac. See terms and conditions for details.) And, the support site http://www.apple.com/support/ is very useful and easy to navigate. Bottom line, you are not alone.
There is a whole burgeoning culture of new Mac users who have switched and will never go back. Sure, Macs are not the end all be all of technology and Apple doesn't always get things right. But, millions of users can't be wrong - there is something to be said for the ease of use, reliability and seamless user experience Macs provide. Some believe a machine that does everything you want out of the box without add on hardware, software (whether free or downloadable), "just works", doesn't get viruses and has a whole culture to support it is worth a higher price tag. Considering these points, does it really cost you more? Maybe my own mom will finally see the value Apple provides and be one of the new-to-Mac purchasers referenced in a future earnings release. For my sanity, I sure hope so.
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