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Is Twitter Killing Blogs?
It sure has wounded mine. Not many things seem worth a full post these days. I’ve been satisfied with micro-blogging any cool finds or random quips.
Well today I’m dusting off the ol’ blog, and getting back to it. After all, I went through all the trouble of creating it, and I do like to ramble. Stay tuned for lots more design and interactive related rambling.
Change Is Good
…and we’re back. It was touch-and-go for a little while there, but welcome to the freshly updated, new and improved joeyinteractive.
The design is not all that has changed. Over the last week, I’ve switched hosting companies from CI Host to Media Temple (something I should have done ages ago), updated Wordpress to the latest version, integrated with Twitter, and added a few other spiffy plugins–and I’m still in the middle of some upgrades.
The road to get here was a lot harder than it needed to be. The moral of the story is, choose your hosting company wisley. And I recommend the nice folks at Media Temple. CI Host apparently NEVER updates their servers/databases/software, and I started running into trouble as newer versions of Wordpress were released. CI Host just couldn’t keep up.
You may notice a few errant links, or missing images as I finish porting things over. If you do, please let me know.
Is Starbucks Lowering Prices?
A couple of days ago I tried the new Iced Doubleshot drink at my local Starbucks. The barista suggested I use vanilla syrup instead of the classic, and she was right, it was delicious. In fact, it’s been my drink of choice ever since.
Over the week I’ve noticed something wonderful. I’ve been saving money. I’m not sure why, but it’s true.
Here’s why I’m confused. My go-to drink has been a Grande Iced Mocha (it’s hot here in Florida). A Grande Iced Mocha is made up of two shots of espresso, milk, chocolate syrup… and you guessed it, ice. That will cost you $4.06. The Doubleshot is made up of three shots of espresso (though since the machines pull two shots at a time, most baristas will add the forth, rather than waste it.), vanilla syrup (or whatever flavor you want), milk and ice. But the Doubleshot will only cost you $2.60.
Is this a marketing trick to offer a lower priced option in this tough economy, without making it feel like the brand is on sale? Is it an accident? The barista tried to convince me that it’s because there is slightly less milk in the Doubleshot, and that the price of milk has gone up. Has milk gone up enough that a few ounces make a $1.46 difference per drink?
I don’t really care either way. I’m very happy with the lower priced option. Just curious…
Personal Rant: Why is there only one shot of espresso pictured on starbucks.com with a drink called the Doubleshot?
Let’s Shave This Guys Head
This guy’s name is Lee. And Lee has generously decided to shave his precious locks to raise money for Alec, a little boy with cancer.
You don’t know Lee, but he loves his hair. So, here’s a chance to help a sweet boy and embarrass Lee, all at the same time. All you have to do is donate a few bucks to help Lee reach his goal, and I’ll post a video of Lee loosing his hair on YouTube (eventually) for your viewing pleasure.
I’m a little late with the post, so you only have 24 hours to get in on the fun…do it now!
UPDATE: Well the event was a huge success. In all the guys raised over 12k for kids with cancer. Thank you to everyone who gave. Here is the new, faster Lee (and his brother Brett)…
My Buddy Sinbad
A lot of people don’t know that Sinbad and I go way back… well, maybe not way back… o.k. I just met him today. Apparently he is a fellow mac geek and an all around nice guy. I sat next to him durring the Keynote, he took copious notes and “whoo-hooed” with the rest of us.
I didn’t bring up First Kid.
Keynote Announcements
Steve Jobs hasn’t lost his touch. While this keynote wasn’t as exciting as the iPhone announcment keynote (what is?), it was very good and a lot of fun to attend. Apple already has the keynote available for you to watch for yourself. But if you don’t have the time, I’ll sum it up for you…
Time Capsule
This little wireless wonder is WiFi base station and a 500GB ($299) or 1TB ($499) hard drive that automatically backs up your digital stuff using Time Machine.
iPhone Software Update
This update includes a lot of what users have been asking and wating for, including “find me” mapping, web clips, and home screen customization. I can’t wait to try it all out.
iTouch Update
You iThouch users can now get Mail, Maps, Weather, Notes, and Stocks added with this latest $20 iTouch update Seems like a deal to me.
iTunes Movie Rentals and a redesigned Apple TV
You can now rent movies on iTunes for around 4 bucks. You can keep the file and watch it anytime within 30 days, but once you start watching it, it will expire in 24 hours. I personally don’t think 24 hours is enough time. I think they should extend this to 36 hours, to give people more fexiblility. Either way it’s exciting that every major studio has signed on. So that will offer users a ton of great content.
The new Apple TV will let you rent those movies in HD for around 5 bucks (same rules apply), but no computer is required. You can do it all through Apple TV. My favoirte feature though are all the photo accessibility enhancements. You can now access your .mac and Flickr photos to display in full HD glory.
MacBook Air
Though we kind of knew it was coming, it was still exciting to see the much discussed MacBook Air a reality. This thing is super thin and very light. It starts at $1799 and comes with a 13.3 inch display (LED), a full keyboard, built-in 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, built-in iSight, 80 GB Hard Drive, and 2GB of RAM. Plus, it gives you a lot of the same gesture control you love from your iPhone right on the trackpad.
Nice.
Waiting… And Waiting…
It’s only 7:30 in the morning here, and we’re in the Moscone Center all lined up for the Keynote. It started in the wee hours of the morning outside, wrapping around the building. Then around 6:00am the Apple employees arrived, and this place started coming to life.
Soon there were security guards and line monitors, the lights in the Moscone center turned on, and before we knew it we were being escorted up the escaltors to our new line here on the second floor.
For those of you keeping tabs, I’m number five in the Platinum/Super pass line. That’s right. There are at least five geekier people than me, including the guys from Mac Rumors (hi Arnold & Jeff). Who knew?
Birthday Surprise
I strolled into my office this morning to find it filled with over 150 cups of Starbucks, and this note (pictured above) on my door.
My team is so great. Not only is this very funny. But my office smells fantastic. A big thanks to Lee and Tom, and everyone involved. Oh, and thanks to the folks at my local Starbucks for donating the cups. Seriously now… where’s all my stuff?
While I was writing this, I got a call from my friend Kevin who sings me an amazing arrangement of Happy Birthday with the guys from Four For A Dollar. Nice harmonies guys. And thank you!
Apple Special Event Announcements
You can catch the play-by-play of Apple’s Special Event announcements over at Engadget, but here’s the summary:
iPod Shuffle gets new colors
iPod Nano gets new design (I’m not crazy about it) and plays video
iPod Classic gets a storage bump up to 160GB
Introducing iPod Touch- pretty much an iPhone without the phone
Custom ringtones- made from iTunes music, .99 plus the cost of the song
iPhone price drop to $399- where every early adopter and promoter of the iPhone gets screwed out of $200 Apple has made amends (more on that later).
and my favorite announcements…
iTunes WiFi store- where you can buy iTunes music right from your iPod touch or iPhone. And a Starbucks WiFi store (not as exciting but still pretty cool)- where you can buy music you hear in Starbucks stores via iTunes from your iPod Touch or iPhone.
I think the biggest news coming out of today’s event is the iPhone price drop. I understand the business reason… making the 8 gig really attractive for Christmas shoppers. But essentially, everyone who bought early paid an extra $200 ($100/month) just to be among the first. I think that’s really bad P.R. and a terrible way to treat your loyal fans!
So, Apple… I go to MacWorld, tell everyone about the iPhone, blog about it, then wait in line for 9 hours for the chance to buy one, blog about it, and my reward for creating all this buzz for you is a price drop 8 weeks after launch? Come on! I know technology moves fast, and generally speaking you should buy and never look back, but this is just ridiculous!
I want a $200 Starbucks card in my next bill or something…
UPDATE: Our friends at TUAW have a post about getting your $200 back.
UPDATE: Thanks to TUAW’s suggestion about calling American Express, I’m happy to say that they are refunding me the $200. If you were lucky enough to pay with your Amex card let me save you some time on the phone…call 1-800-322-1277 and tell the Rep that you want to use your Purchase Protection benefit for your iPhone. They knew all about the iPhone price drop, and were very helpful. Membership does have it’s privileges.
American Express good. Apple bad.
UPDATE: Ok. I love Apple again. In an effort to make things right, his Stevieness has issued a $100 store credit to us early iPhone adopters. Way to go Steve… there’s the Apple I know and love.
Unboxing The iPhone And Waiting
I imagined writing a much happier post today, but my iexcitement turned to idisappointment really fast.
It all started out nice. I rushed home and unboxed my iPhone. I immediately docked it and began the activation process in iTunes, it seemed simple enough, but… that was roughly 7:30pm EST last night. It’s now 9:00pm on Saturday, and my iPhone STILL ISN’T ACTIVATED! My iPhone still displays the above image, and my iTunes is sitting on a very unhelpful screen that says “Your activation requires additional time to complete”.
I can’t even begin to express my frustration and disappointment. It’s like waking up on Christmas morning to the present you’ve been dreaming of for years, and “Santa” forgot the batteries.
I’ve made 4 calls to ATT today and spoke with the nicest people you could wish for, none of which had any clue, nor could they offer up how long completing my activation would take. They just rattled off some spiel about the iPhone sales being “unexpected and unprecedented”. Duh! Honestly were you planning on it tanking?
I hear lots of people are having similar experiences. To those of you already flicking and pinching, you have no idea how lucky you are.
UPDATE: It’s Sunday afternoon and my iPhone still sits lifeless connected to iTunes awaiting some magic activation from ATT. That’s right, we’re fast approaching 48 hours since I started the activation process. ATT has a lot of ground to make up after a horrible first impression like this. They’ve managed to suck all the joy out of this whole experience for me. If you’re reading this ATT… ACTIVATE MY PHONE!
UPDATE: At 6:15pm, after 4 calls with ATT today my iPhone is finally activated! Stay tuned for thoughts and a mini review…
