Apple fans remember October 23, 2001 as the debut of the first ever iPod. Turns out right on the day of its launch, people were already dissing what’s easily Apple’s most successful product line as “just another MP3 player”. Get ready to feel smug folks, for hindsight always is, and dismissive thoughts were saved for posterity at the MacRumors forums:

elitemacor: “iPoop… iCry. I was so hoping for something more.”
WeezerX80: “Great just what the world needs, another freaking MP3 player. Go Steve! Where’s the Newton?!”
Pants: “hey – heres an idea Apple – rather than enter the world of gimmicks and toys, …read more

So, citing an example where $800 in repairs to her Macbook Pro cost her nothing, Apple Gazette’s Lia Espina (AKA the Gadgenista) shares the benefits of getting an Apple Care protection plan. She even shares a very useful tip that makes getting an Apple product and a corresponding Apple Care plan less expensive than it seems:
I hear newbie Mac Users argue that since they paid so much already for an Apple unit, paying for Apple Care is just way too much. But let me remind you that you don’t actually have to buy an Apple Care at the same time …read more

Now before you wave your flags in victory (if you hate Apple) or hiss disapproval (if otherwise), here are some relevent tidbits related to the following video:

The competition (CanSecWest) was held last February; Apple should’ve closed the hole exploited by now
The exploit became successful in the second day of competition, which featured a halved $10,000
That’s because on the first day carrying a $20,000 pot, no one could successfully compromise any system
Systems available to hack were running: Linux, Mac OS X, Vista

Now you can watch the report here (opens in a new window/tab).
In any case, it’s probably good news that, despite …read more

Seems that, according to a picture posted on MADATOMS, internet cults are US-centric by nature. Mac Zealots, Whedonites, Wikipedia Editors, and Second Life Residents all patronize services and products invented in the US. Another sign that America is still king of geekiness—or at least enjoy the most attention from geeky media.

My personal favorite? The “How to Infuriate Other Members” of the Mac Zealots Cult: “Write an honest, negative tech review about an Apple product [or service, for that matter].”

To recap: the creator of iSinglePayer, an app that claims to document “the inefficiency of the US health care system”, is complaining about Apple rejecting the informational app, preventing it from appearing from the company’s widely popular App Store. The creator has thus accused Apple of “censorship”, claiming that it is inconsistent by allowing “certain propaganda” on the App Store.
In a certain sense, that claim is valid. How many RSS readers are available on the App Store? Ranging from free to several dollars in price, these kind of apps allow users to subscribe to liberal websites like The Huffington Post, …read more

Back in 1984, the world moved at a much slower pace. So when Adi Blasi demoed the Apple Lisa, Apple’s first GUI-driven computer, the show host never complained of long load times and unresponsive interface delays. In fact, she stayed quiet most of the time, expressing amazement when Adi dragged to select a block of text and changed its font.
Life was a lot simpler back then, and Adi found himself explaining what this mouse thing was all about, how the cursor changed its appearance to provide context over different parts of the interface, and what a technological advance running 16 …read more

Under fire for covering up incidents of exploding iPhones and iPods, Apple asserts these were caused by “external forces”.

In a statement to the AFP, Apple says ” To date, there are no confirmed battery overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits… The iPhones with broken glass that we have analysed to date show that in all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone.”
In non-marketese layman-friendly terms, Apple is characterizing these incidents as isolated, most likely caused by user carelessness. What’s interesting …read more

Update: Whoops, correction time! Got this in my inbox a few hours after this post was published:

As stated in your article, Kevin Duerr is not “the leader of the team behind the high-profile Google Voice iPhone app.” His company, Riverturn, developed a Google Voice-related app for the iPhone called, VoiceCentral. The VoiceCentral app was accepted, then removed from the App Store. Can you please make this correction? Thanks.
The original post with corrections is below. Apologies to Kevin Duerr.
Apple-bashing seems to be en vogue nowadays. Both Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis and Kevin Duerr, leader of the …read more

To be fair, it’s Apple’s status that are causing people to pay attention, when they hear stories about iPods and iPhones exploding and injuring their owners. But the company’s stance of offering refunds in exchange of keeping quiet also merits notice.
At first glance, Apple is protecting its bottom line—which any publicly-listed company has a legal an obligation to do, given it’s responsibility to shareholders to increase share value and dividends. What I personally find disturbing about reports requiring silence in exchange for refunds is that the company wants to be held unaccountable for obvious design faults with its products. Something …read more

Yesterday, Apple blocked Google’s official Google Voice application from the App Store. And this after Apple’s Phil Schiller, the Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, gave his personal approval.
In retrospect, you just had to see it coming. The Google Voice iPhone app basically allowed free texts and much cheaper calls. That meant more money for carriers from data plans, but less profit from their traditional voice and SMS services.
It’s easy to point fingers at partner AT&T, as they’re the carrier with the most to lose if iPhone owners figure out how to send texts and do calls without adding to …read more