The iPhone 5 has had record sales - over 2 million preorders were placed on the first day it was available.
“The customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in a Monday press release.
No User Love Lost On iPad Drawbacks
As users have taken the latest Apple iPad out of its trademark white box and begun to fool around with its touted Retina display, high speed processor, hotspot capabilities, and 5-megapixel camera, they have overwhelmingly been impressed — in fact, cnet.com has reported that over 3 million third-generation iPads have been sold since its March 16 launch, and a full 65 million units are predicted to be sold before the end of the year.
The virtues of the device’s enhanced graphics have been espoused Internet-wide, as has the customized full-page formatting feature that reduces the amount of zooming and scanning that has to be done for documents, books, and magazines. But the same components touted as upgrades from the iPad 2 have been shown to have minor downsides.
- Personal tech blogger Edward C. Baig writes on USAToday that the iPad’s allotted data can be used up more quickly than you realize.
“Less than 24 hours after purchasing the Verizon Wireless version of the iPad + 4G — and choosing a $30, 2GB monthly data plan from Verizon — I was shocked by the notification on my iPad’s screen: ‘There is no data remaining on your current plan.’”
Video Streaming, large and frequent downloads, and data usage when Wi-fi isn’t available are classic culprits. Users who make the iPad a primary source of connectivity, as well as gamers, sports, or movie watchers can certainly pony up for larger available data plans.
- Users have noticed that they have warmer-then-usual lap when using the new iPad, a side effect of the larger screen, Retina display, and all the nuts and bolts underneath. Apple wasn’t bothered by the concern murmuring, saying:
- The new iPad also won’t charge while its in use, according to reports on The Next Web and Gizmodo.com.
These drawbacks, other than the data usage issue, don’t amount to anything more than inconveniences to the user. Apple has the world’s heart, and we can’t do much more but chalk them up to technological facts of life.
Apple Sues Samsung
Apple filed a preliminary injunction against the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smart phone, claiming that the device violates the company/s patent claims.
Apple claims that the Google powered Android 4.0 phone violates its “data-taping patent,” as well as its “unified-search patent,” a “slide-to-unlock patent” and a “word-completion patent,” according to The Daily Beast.
If Apple wins the federal lawsuit, the Galaxy Nexus would not be able to be sold in the U.S.. This would be a serious blow to both Samsung and Google.
Samsung and Apple have filed at least 30 lawsuits against each other, Samsung told Business Week.
Steve Jobs Files Released by the FBI
Files released by the FBI show that some of Steve Jobs’ close confidants and associates did not have a favorable opinion of him.
The FBI has made a 191-page document about Jobs public. The file was created when Jobs was under consideration for a White House appointment under George H.W. Bush, reports the Washington Post.
Jobs was being considered for the President’s Export Council. He later was appointed and served May 1990 until the end of Bush’s term.
In the FBI documents, some witnesses told the FBI of Jobs’ drug use. One man said that Jobs used marijuana and LSD during college.
Some people also told the FBI that Jobs would “twist the truth and distort reality” to achieve goals. Others called him a “deceptive individual who is not completely forthright and honest.”
While there were some criticisms of Jobs as lacking a personal life due to shallowness, of former drug use and of not always being forthright about his methods of getting jobs done, most people said Jobs had clear visions and would be able to help any company or the government achieve its goals.
The documents also contained some humorous anecdotes such as that Jobs has no close relatives in communist countries, he had a high school GPA of 2.65 and understood Japanese culture as well as having a “great deal of contact in dealing with companies in the Orient.”
The FBI report also found that Jobs was the victim of an extortion attempt, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. In 1985 there was a bomb threat against Jobs. An unidentified man made multiple calls and alleged that he placed devices in homes of certain people and one million dollars needed to be paid.
The extortionist left a number for the victims to call that was traced back to the man behind the threat.
At the end of the document, Jobs was granted Top Secret security clearance by the Defense Investigative Service.
FBI records can be made public after a person’s death. Jobs’ files were released following a Freedom of Information Act request by multiple parties.
To read the document, click here.
This ad introducing Apple’s Macintosh is widely considered the Super Bowl commercial that changed all Super Bowl commercials. Looking back on it kind of puts some perspective on how much the company’s products have evolved ever since those childhood days of playing “Oregon Trail” on the old Macs.
See more memorable Super Bowl ads at Neon Tommy
In 2007, a little over a month before the iPhone was scheduled to appear in stores, Mr. Jobs beckoned a handful of lieutenants into an office. For weeks, he had been carrying a prototype of the device in his pocket.
Mr. Jobs angrily held up his iPhone, angling it so everyone could see the dozens of tiny scratches marring its plastic screen, according to someone who attended the meeting. He then pulled his keys from his jeans.
People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched,” he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. “I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.”
Article makes you wonder:
—Would America be better positioned if it could figure out a way to ship things by air more cheaply?
—Is America’s only role at this point to come up with smart ideas? All we do is create concepts and not build things anymore?
—Will all these workers living in dorms abroad ever jump ship?
—Paresh Dave, Neon Tommy
I have a lot of respect for Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur and businessman, but this article does bring up some interesting points.
~Shaina, Neon Tommy
Follow Shaina on Twitter: @shainaeng // Check out her blog: Life, Liberty, and A Cappella
On Tumblr, we also talk sports at Neon Tommy Sports and arts and entertainment at Neon Tommy A&E.
