iTunes Tip

I just discovered my favorite new iTunes "trick".

Want to filter your music by Album, Artist, or Genre?

Simply option-click (sorry, I don't know the PC version, probably Ctrl-Click?) on the little arrows that show up next to the item you'd like to filter, and voila.  Filter complete.

I Didn't Vote for Bush, so he Gave me a iPhone

As you've probably heard, Bush wants to give us money. Never mind that the average American's personal savings rate is negative AND it's the lowest it has been since the Great Depression -- Bush wants us to spend, not save. It's good for you. Come on, we're Americans. We love spending money.

If G Dubya's plan makes it through, I think for once I'll acquiesce. Instead of saving the money (as I think everyone should), I'm going to spend it as quickly as possible.

You'll find me buying an iPhone at the local uber-cool Apple store quicker that you can say "crackberry". That is unless, of course, Steve Jobs hasn't increased the iPhone's storage capacity by then. If that's the case, I'll probably just head over to Wal-Mart and buy as many trinkets as possible. I just can't get enough trinkets.

Give Me Multi-Touch

So I don't need the world's thinnest notebook, but I do like where Apple's going. I'm actually a tiny bit frustrated -- because now that I've seen the multi-touch trackpad, I want one on a MacBook Pro. Which now means I'm going to put off buying a laptop even longer. This may be a brutal cycle -- I'll be paralyzed by waiting for the next great feature that I'm convinced will be just around the corner.

I Told Myself So, But I'm Still Not Listening

A few years ago, right before Christmas, I told myself I should buy some Apple (APPL) stock, thinking that surely iPods will be a big holiday gift and their stock will rise at least a little bit. I wish I would have listened.

Tomorrow is the Macworld Expo, where many analysts and Mac-addicts are theorizing that Steve Jobs, in his signature black turtleneck, jeans, and white sneakers, will announce a flurry of enhancements to the Mac and MacBook, Apple TV, and various other products.

Personally, I've been waiting for tomorrow for some time. Not because I'm an Apple junkie (OK, so I might be slowly turning into one), but because I want to buy a MacBook and figured I might as well wait a couple months till they announce the latest upgrades.

Realizing that there may be thousands if not millions of other consumers thinking the same thing, one would expect their stock price to take another slight jump tomorrow. I'm telling myself again I should buy some APPL stock, and I still don't think I'm listening yet. It only fuels my fire to read this from CNN.com:

Over the past three years, shares of AAPL have seen consistent appreciation as a result of the Macworld event. On the day of the event, share price increases 2.8% on average; however, shares rise an average of 9.2% from the closing price the day before Macworld through the week after the event.

Maybe one of these days I'll finally listen to myself. Until then, I want my iPhone.

iBird and the Bee

I think Apple should have a theme song. And I think they should go with the Bird and the Bee's catchy tune, Again & Again.

In case you haven't heard, Apple just released a new version of its increasingly-popular iMac. And like all things Apple, its thinner and sleeker than its previous siblings.

I'm a fan of the famous ipod mug-me-white color that has graced so many of Apple's products, but I'm excited to see this beauty in person. Do it again Apple.

I can't help it...

iWant. Friday, June 29th.

I promise to not keep posting about Apple, but...

...I just used the new Apple iPod Shuffle at the gym today for the first time, and wow, what a perfect device. I clamped it to my shorts and it was so light I couldn't even tell I was wearing it. Thanks Mom and Dad!

If working out wasn't enough, I went and played hockey with Robbie and friends today. It was a lot of fun, even though the ice was pretty terrible. Hopefully the weather will continue to stay cold and we'll have some better ice next week. My biggest issue with hockey is stopping. Anyone out there willing to teach me how to hockey-stop?

Integration

I can see it now…you’re walking to your car, listening to music on your iPhone*. You receive a call, and you switch over to phone mode to answer.

You get into your Bluetooth-enabled car, and your iPhone* recognizes this. You switch your call to come through the car speakers for a hands-free phone conversation.

You drive down the road and finish your chat. You press play on your steering wheel and your car stereo starts playing the iTunes song you were listening to before you were interrupted by the call --right where you left off – wirelessly streamed from your iPhone* via Bluetooth.

Your kids will wonder in amazement what life was like without this technology.


*Assuming iPhone will still be called iPhone, after Cisco is finished suing Apple.

The Least Unique Post of January 9th

Going with the masses today, I wanted to post about Apple Inc. (no longer Apple Computer Inc., mind you). If you haven't heard about the amazing iPhone yet, then you may be living under a rock. But if you're reading this, then you have an internet connection and a computer underneath that rock, which makes no sense at all. I digress...have I mentioned how amazing the iPhone is, and how it will be released shortly after my birthday? Huh, what a coincidence.

A while back Brad mentioned BlogPulse, an interesting site where you can track how popular a topic is by measuring activity within the blogosphere. I was curious to look at Apple vs. Microsoft.

And according to the chart below, I am an incredibly unoriginal blogger (or is it a direct reflection of the unoriginality of Microsoft?). Even puppies, which everybody loves, are less talked about than Apple:

U2 and iPod, Sitting in a Tree

Today I present to you the ruminations from Tre J, a friend of mine:

Have I shared my Ipod/U2 conspiracy theory with you two? Remember the ads U2 did with Apple, and Bono gracing the screen of the new video Ipod, and the U2 Ipod?? I think U2 brokered some deal with Apple that Apple could use them for
marketing purposes if Apple would change it's shuffle algorithm to play U2 more. Three of the last six songs that have played on my Ipod (it's on shuffle now) have been U2 songs. I have maybe 100 U2 songs out of a total of over 15,000 songs. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya.