Apple has been named Fortune’s most admired company for the seventh year in a row. Amazon ranked second and Google came in at third. Samsung and Microsoft didn’t make the top ten.
Those hoping for a little more rock and roll at SXSW will be amped to hear Apple just added Soundgarden to the lineup of bands schedule to perform at iTunes Festival during SXSW this year.
TV sucks.
The reason TV sucks is that the companies who control it make it suck on purpose because they believe that’s more profitable.
It’s technically possible for viewers to watch any TV show, movie or online video ever made at any time at either low or no cost.
This possibility is only theoretical. In reality, certain companies artificially prevent viewers from getting what they want. They create artificial scarcity in order to make more money.
A movie comes out in the theaters. But it’s not available for download. This non-availability has nothing to do with technical reasons. The studios are withholding it from you to make you go to the theater and pay for a ticket.
After it’s gone from theaters, there’s often some amount of time before its available online. And when it is available, you often can’t “rent” it. You can only “buy” it. It’s another form of artificial scarcity designed to trick people who are impatient, designed to exploit fandom, designed to manipulate the public into paying more for something.
And then there’s TV. Ugh! What a cesspool of customer-hating manipulation and exploitation.
There are two kinds of companies in existence. There are companies trying to make money enabling you to watch what you want when you want to watch it. And there are companies trying to make money by preventing you from watching what you want when you want to watch it.
Apple has released a fifth beta build of iOS 7.1 to developers this morning, two weeks after dropping the last iOS 7.1 beta was seeded.
iOS 7.1 beta 5 is available to developers in the Dev Center or via an OTA update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Like last time, Apple has also released a new beta for Apple TV as well as XCode 5.1.
The release notes only mention the addition of new natural-sounding Siri voice for English (Australia), English (United Kingdom), Japanese, and Chinese (Mandarin – China). We’ll update you on any other new changes once we get it downloaded on our devices. Feel free to yell at us on Twitter (@cultofmac) if you come across anything yourself.
Here are the download links:
Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson ruffled some fanboys’ feathers earlier this month when he said Google is outpacing Apple on the innovation front. Pointing to the Nest acquisition as evidence, Isaacson says the greatest innovation is coming out of Google.
During an appearance on Bloomberg TV this morning Isaacson stood by his comments but clarified that while innovation is great, the most important trait for tech companies to acquire is the ability to execute, and no one executes better than Apple.
Asked about Apple’s problems coming out with a great low-end device, Isaacson responded that Apple won’t ever be good at low-end because it makes “insanely great products” so it will have to come out with a new disruptive device.
Listen to Walter’s full comments in the video below:
This Sunday is the Super Bowl and, contrary to what Steve Jobs may have thought, yes, people will be watching it — around 108 million, if last year’s numbers are any indication.
The real question is whether Apple will have an ad ready for the event, to commemorate three decades since the company’s iconic Macintosh commercial kicked off an advertising trend that is still followed today.
Ever wonder what’s happening during Cult of Mac’s live blogs of Apple keynote events? Here you go, courtesy of our invisible documentary videographers at Vooza.
Apple just announced the results of its Q1 2014 holiday quarter and while sales records for both iPhone and iPad were demolished, the reaction from Wall Street was less than enthusiastic.
Amid weaker than expected iPhone sales Tim Cook reassured investors that Apple’s objective “has always been to make the best, not the most. And I feel like we’re doing that.” Today’s earnings call was devoid of big spoilers on future products – no surprise there – but there was plenty of valuable information to be gleaned about the future of Apple.
Here are the five of the juiciest tidbits we heard in today’s call:
This is Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple Store Genius who answers all your questions about working at an Apple Store. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.
This week our Genius answers why the iPhone screen can be repaired in stores while the iPad has to be shipped away from special care. We also discuss whether working at the Apple Store can be turned into a solid career, plus the top 5 most annoying things customers do at the Apple Store.
Got a question you want the inside scoop on? Send us your questions and the answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to newsATcultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.
Q: What’s the craziest launch day you’ve experienced?
iPhone launches tend to be the craziest. The biggest I was a part of was the iPhone 5S/5C launch. There is a huge amount of hype that builds up in the store. Nothing in the store changes until after closing on the night before launch.
Store employees can volunteer to be on a special group called the “visuals team.” They focus on the appearance of the store, like the displays and product tables. They stay overnight and work furiously to update the store. On this last iPhone launch, our store was one of many that were unable to complete the display setup in the front of the store. Then, since it wasn’t completed, we had to take the whole thing down. There just wasn’t enough time — we were short staffed for the overnight gig. The rest of it came together just in time.
The stores usually provide breakfast, lunch and drinks to keep us energized. Leaders work to get everyone all hyped up for crazy day ahead. Customers get pretty excited too. The downside to all that energy: when people don’t get what they want, they can get pretty nasty. One of the people in the front of the line who waited overnight at our store threw a fit because we didn’t have the gold iPhone she wanted in stock. She demanded we get her one because she had waited all night for it. The majority of people are pretty happy though, and add to the energy. We had lines of people coming into the store from when we opened until closing time.
There are more than a couple of people in the store who have Android devices. Some specialists, a couple of geniuses, and one manager in our store use Android. One devoted Blackberry user swears his phone does everything he needs it to. Some people only use an iPad or maybe just a Mac. One of my coworkers swears that the best thing Apple makes is the Apple TV, believe it or not.
Everyone has a personal opinion, but they are all passionate about Apple. Even if they don’t use the iPhone, they use something Apple and know all of the products. On a side note, we’re asked not to display our phones while on the job for a number of reasons.
Q: Is AppleCare+ worth it?
Applecare+ is definitely worth it — to me, at least — for the iPhone. I only upgrade every two years since that’s how my plan works, so I definitely think having two years of coverage is needed. If there are any issues it’ll be covered or even if I have an accident, I can have two accidents at a much lower cost than without the coverage. For the number of problems and accidents people bring in every day, I tend to get the coverage. For the iPad and Macs, I think it’s a cheap insurance in case of costly repairs. Either way, ask yourself how long you plan on keeping the device, especially if you upgrade often. I tend to keep my stuff longer and use it to the bitter end; some people buy the newest stuff each cycle and just sell the old, in which case, extended your warranty might not be necessary. If you’re going to hang on to it past the warranty I definitely recommend it!
A new Apple patent application published today relates to iAd technology that will allow Apple to target users with specific content based on a person’s predicted mood, their likely interest level, other content they are currently interacting with, their current geographic location, and the time of day.
In some applications, mood would be gauged using a camera which, equipped with facial recognition algorithms, would be able to measure specific expressions.