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One more day till the Apple MacBook Event. I’m stoked. I’m excited… but I’m trying my best to be cautiously optimistic. Why? My MacBook Pro still works great!

The truth is the majority of us already running on a Mac do not need a new MacBook or MacBook Pro, but we all get those knee-jerk reactions to drop the cash and buy the latest and greatest model. I have to admit, there’s a chance I may cave and buy one depending on the outcome of the event… But it’s probably not the smartest move.

My MacBook Pro is a few years old now but is still performing as solid as ever. I haven’t had any issues with the unit other than a freak battery issue that actually turned out to be a chronic problem for a lot of MacBook Pro users. Apple replaced my battery for me at no charge and I was on my merry way.

For those of you considering ‘making the switch’, this event could usher in a great opportunity to try out a Mac for the first time. Rumors have been lurking that the new line to be announced tomorrow will feature some MacBook’s at a very reasonable price-point. Try $800 or $900 for the base model. That brings the MacBook into competition with the Dell’s of the world. A great laptop at a very low price. Should be VERY interesting to watch sales of the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros, especially if there is a cheaper option.

So, I suppose the question of the day is this. If your MacBook or MacBook Pro is doing you just fine, how likely are you to drop more cash on a new one if the specs and pricing blow you away?

So, I’m finally ready to roll with the Nike + iPod Sport Kit. I received it as a gift back at Christmas time, but hadn’t used it for a few reasons… First, my old running shoes were old, beaten down and not fit for the road. Second, I wanted to pick up a new pair of Nike + shoes to get things going.

Yesterday I picked up a pair of Nike Men’s Air Max Moto + 6 shoes (wow, that’s a mouthful) and so far they feel great. Have been wearing them around the office a bit to get used to them and break ‘em in.

At any rate, I’ll be posting on my experiences with the Nike + shoes and sport kit. I’m sure it’ll go super-smooth, but stay tuned to find out my point of view.

Anyone else out there train with the help of the Nike + system?

Before I get started… In all fairness to Rogers, Friday was an insane day up in Canada with the iPhone launch. From all accounts I heard, they were having major troubles with their systems going down, in-store systems needing rebooting, etc… it was a mad-house.

On the morning of July 11, I had half a dozen friends emailing me from a lineup at a Rogers store, or from directly in the store. Each account was different. A few said the process was flawless. Most said it was chaotic and unorganized. Others yet complained that their computer systems kept crashing and couldn’t process or activate new phones fast enough… often times as slow as 1 new iPhone per hour. Seems as though the situation was a patchwork of similar experiences across the country.

That said, I certainly hope Rogers has learned from this. Overall the customer service rating has to be horrible for all of those that braved the lineups on Friday. 75% of the folks I talked to were either disappointed or disgusted with the whole process. Frustration levels were high.

On the positive side, it seems as though they’ve turned things around. Over the last few days more and more people are coming to me telling me how Rogers delivered on their promises to deliver iPhones, activate new accounts, etc… Initial delays and frustrations were wiped out with better customer service in the following days (no doubt because of the less chaotic atmosphere in which to work).

You do have to somewhat feel for the lowly Rogers (or any other providers) sales people. Most of the time these staffers receive limited training, and are paid horribly with a huge focus on sales commission. Sell, sell, sell… and get that 3-year contract signed. That’s what it boils down too. I’m not sure how it works in other countries, but in Canada that seems to be the norm. Rogers would appear to be happy with their model. Go into any Rogers store in Canada and I’ll bet you that you find an 18 year old kid with spiky hair pushing phones as fast as you can. Just hope he or she knows what he’s talking about. Half the time he/she does not, and things get a little tricky.

I’d better stop this ‘rant’ here before I get too carried away. All I can say is I sincerely hope Rogers better prepares for events like this in the future. Rogers needs more competition. They’re getting complacent and it really does show. Can anyone out there hear me? Jump in the market against these guys, and guaranteed rates will go down, customer service will improve, and overall, EVERYONE will be the winner!

My plan to purchase an iPhone was hatched several weeks ago. I called a nearby Rogers wireless store and put my name on a pre-order list. The girl on the phone said she’d call me by July 11th with more details but I was effectively ninth on the list.

So, launch day arrives and I’ve heard nothing. I called this morning to ask what was happening for those of us that pre-ordered. Apparently there was no waiting list allowed. So instead of calling to inform me so that I could make other plans, they just didn’t call. The guy on the phone told me I would have to come down and take my chances. The store had been open for about an hour and a half and apparently the lineup “wasn’t too bad.” This is exactly what I wanted to avoid but with no other choice, I went down to join the herd of cattle.

There were probably about 20 people lounging around the store when I got in there. The manager came up to me and gave me a little ticket, numbered 25. They were still on number 3 and having problems activating any iPhones. I asked how many phone they had in stock but apparently they couldn’t tell us that. It was “confidential information.” This sounded crazy to me. So I was waiting around on the assumption that they even had enough to get to number 25. The sales reps were running around complaining about crashing computers. One was on hold, trying to activate over the phone for an hour and 45 minutes. Others simply couldn’t even access the database.

The minutes ticked by slowly and turned into hours. The system was clearly not working. People were ordering phones for friends, totally flouting the 1-per person mandate. There was a guy in front of me talking on his old cell-phone trying to relay the price plans to his girlfriend as he tried to activate a phone for her, on top of his own. A man who came in an hour after I did somehow coerced a Rogers rep over and was signing a contract in spite of those of us who had been waiting for hours. It seemed to be the law of the jungle.

Many people who had numbers lower than me just ended up leaving. I was there for about three hours and finally got my turn. They were long since sold out of the 16-gig models so it was 8-gig or nothing. The sales rep then told me that nobody was leaving the store with an iPhone. The system had crashed and they couldn’t do in-store activations. I could sign a contract and they’d put a phone aside and call me once they got it activated but it “probably won’t be today.” Having already stood there for three hours, I figured I might as well bite the bullet and sign the mandatory 3-year contract. So I did. And then walked out without a phone. Who knows when I’ll see it.

Rogers has had months to prepare for this day. This was supposed to be the “most important product launch” in their history. I’ve heard this is happening right across Canada. Some say it was an iTunes crash that’s causing a problem with activation worldwide. But even getting to the activation stage was a nightmare. The fact that Rogers was so ill-prepared is totally baffling. In the end, they got my money. I guess I’m either a die-hard or a sucker. But the amount of customers they must have lost, who weren’t willing to put up with as much as I did, had to be staggering. Overall, just a bad experience on what should have been an exciting day. I actually switched carriers to get an iPhone so this is my first Rogers experience. It has not been a good one… And as I type this, I still have no iPhone.

With the big hub-bub all around us on the insane plan prices offered by Rogers, I thought it might be useful to provide our Canadian readers with 5 options for ’sticking it to the man’… or, in this case, Rogers Wireless.

Here’s the short list of ideas. Use em, don’t use em… Agree or disagree with them, these ideas when put into action will ensure Rogers gets the message loud and clear.

1) Don’t buy the iPhone until next year. You’ve gone this long without, you can last another year.  Rogers has invested a lot of time and money upgrading their network specifically for the iPhone - stick it to them and let all that effort go to waste, and let them know through our forums, ruinediphone.com’s petition, letters to editors of tech publications, or anything else you can think of.  Speaking with our wallets is the only way to be heard, and historically the Canadian consumer complains a lot, but when it comes time for action there is none.

2) Bell and Telus have competitive data rates. Chances are all we’re going to do is Facebook and Youtube, so ask Bell and Telus for special data plans for just that.  If you really need email access, for $15 you get unlimited email data on a blackberry through Bell and Telus. They want your business to not go to Rogers - ask and ye shall receive.

3) IF you really want the “touch” features of the iPhone - the iPod Touch isn’t too expensive. Granted you’ll need a separate phone, but for what you’d pay on the iPhone, you could have better off any other mobile device.  As I said in #1, you’ve lasted this long without an iPhone and have had to juggle 2-3 devices in your pocket, you can do it for a little longer to make a point to Rogers.

4) Peaceful protest - as most of us will do, line up in front of the Apple stores and Rogers stores around Canada.  Wait in line beginning the previous day/night.  When the doors open and Apple/Rogers begins sales of the iPhone, walk into the store, pick up an iPhone, get in line and when they bring up the pricing plans act shocked and say “Why would I pay that much and not get unlimited data?!?!” and walk out.

Enough complaining Canadian consumers. It’s time to take action. Put your wallet away… Raise your voice, and you will be heard.

Special thanks to member mpancha for help on this post.

Our friend Michelle over at TIME tipped us off to this article that was recently published on TIME.COM. It raises some valid points and interesting things to think about when it comes to the new iPhone 3G… and porn.

It is no secret that ‘adult entertainment’ is a multi-billion dollar industry. When the iPhone arrived on the scene, it brought a form and function that lended itself well to being used for ‘adult entertainment’. In the past, mobile phones, treos, even BlackBerry devices could browse the internet for ‘adult’ material if they wished, but browsing was cumbersome, limited and hard to do (still is in most cases). But with the iPhone and the upcoming iPhone 2.0 Firmware, adult entertainment companies could and should very well be looking to cash in.

In a nutshell, the iPhone is by far the ‘porn-friendliest phone’. Lets see Apple put that in their awards case

The iPhone’s ability to handle video and mobile chat will surely open doors for entertainment companies looking to pad their wallets with even more money.

Apple spokespeople have commented that they ‘do not condone iPhone porn distribution and will ban adult content from official applications, just as it has restricted adult content in the podcast section of the Apple store.’

But the fact of the matter is you can’t keep down a billion dollar business. And while Apple does not ‘condone’ distribution, there is certainly not much they can do to keep people from downloading or subscribing to it on their own volition.

At any rate, the only reason I bring this up is I thought it was a great conversation starter to say the least. A billion dollar industry at the starting point with a brand-new revolutionary handheld device… one that could make them many more billions of dollars in the future.

What do you think? Is ‘iPhone Porn’ going to proliferate with the release of the new iPhone? Are we going to see new apps from ‘adult entertainment’ companies built with video and live chat in mind? You can bet they’re hard at work on R&D. I would have to guarantee it.

Discuss this in the Forums >

I’ve tried them all. The BlackBerry, Treo, Blackjack, and iPhone to name a few.

It seems that no matter who you talk to, people either love having a physical keyboard with actual buttons to press, or they love the ‘virtual’ touchscreen keyboard like the one on the iPhone. That’s all well and good, and I respect each and every users’ right to have their own choice and opinion… But I can’t say that I belong in either of those groups… Not to be too big of a ‘grump’ here, but let me tell you why I’m not a big fan of either.

I enjoy the physical touch and tactile feel of a full QUERTY keyboard like those found on the BlackBerry 8800 and 8300 series. But that being said, I do not feel comfortable typing on them one bit. While I do a lot of email, when I’m on the go if I am on the go and receive an urgent message on a BlackBerry, most of the time I’ll simply call the person back. It should be noted that I currently own a BlackBerry 8700, 8800 and 8300 series, and all of these were purchased for me by the company I work for. I’ve also tried out the 8100 (Pearl). Of all these devices I enjoyed typing on the 8300 Curve series the best.

Same deal with the touchscreen keyboard on the iPhone (Yes, I own one of them too, except this one I bought for myself). At first, I honestly didn’t like it at all. In fact I hated it. But as I began to use it, I started to appreciate the way it recognized words and phrases, and after not a long time I was already up to the typing speed I had reached on the BlackBerry. The ability for the controls and keys to change on the fly was also a hit with me.

So why am I not a fan of either? To tell you the truth I can’t exactly pinpoint one exact reason. Perhaps I’m just an all around grouch, or perhaps it’s just very, very uncomfortable for me to clutch onto my device, while pecking away with my thumbs or fingers on a device no wider than the width of my hand. It’s uncomfortable. It’s a social no-no to do it while in the company of friends or family… and often times it is simply a huge distraction, especially when I’m driving around.

Is it just me that feels this way? (Please tell me it isn’t!) Maybe I need to join some sort of self-help group on this one, but I don’t think so. You get what you want out of the devices, and most of the time I choose to use them sparingly when it comes to email and messaging.

So, if you were to ask me, ‘Grump, what do you prefer… typing on a device with physical keys like a BlackBerry or Treo… or typing on the virtual touch keys of devices like the iPhone?’ My honest answer would be I don’t like either. Both do the job equally well (or should I say ‘un-well’) for me. I’m not a fan of either. My hands weren’t meant to scrunch up into that claw position.

If these devices weren’t constantly given to me for work, I’d never use them. Give me the freebie phone from the local carrier and let me be.

Ok, that’s enough of a grumpy rant for today. Now I want to know…What do YOU prefer?

When I started college way back in 2002, (as a mere slip of a boy, of course) I had never touched a Mac. I knew next to nothing about them and figured they were for elitists and niche programming geeks. Part of me was intimidated to learn a new platform after growing up using nothing but a PC. Six years later, as I’ve forged a career in video production and photography, I own two Macs and haven’t used a PC in years.

There are countless articles out there debating the virtues of each platform so I won’t get into that here. I do want to briefly explain the four main reasons that Mac works for me as a freelance photographer and video producer.

System stability – Working against tight deadlines is stressful enough without worrying about whether or not I’m going to get through my project before the next system freeze or blue screen of death. My MacBook is a workhorse and I need that.

Performance – A lot of times I’m rendering something in After Effects while editing a raw file in Photoshop and fine-tuning my timeline in Final Cut Pro. I can flip between programs quickly and easily and my Mac keeps chugging along.

Maintenance – Spyware, adware, drivers, viruses. These are all four letter words in my vocabulary. Fortunately this just has never been an issue since dumping my PC. I need my computer to fire up quickly and work quickly. If I’m constantly running spyware, hunting down pop-up windows and installing driver updates – this is lost time I could be working.

Reliability – The PC laptop I bought in college spent as much time in the shop as it did in my possession. My Macs almost always work when I need them to. Which isn’t to say that they’ve always been perfect. I had the motherboard go on my Powerbook right when I was about to start a massive editing project. But it was replaced quickly and no data was lost. Crisis averted.

PC’s have come a long way the last several years. One could certainly make the argument that they’re cheaper, more customizable, and potentially even faster. But when I’m grabbing my pile of camera gear to go on a shoot, I throw my MacBook into my bag and I’m ready for battle. It does what I need it to do and I’m geared up to fend off my next looming deadline with poise and determination. Now where did I put those car keys?

Thanks for reading my first entry here at Mactropolis. I’m a newbie around here and hope to contribute as often as I can from the standpoint of a professional photographer/videographer. I was employed at a tv station for several years as a video journalist but have recently left the machine to do freelance work. I’ll try to poke around the forums as much as I can so feel free to give me your feedback - good and bad. I can take it! (I think!)

I was sitting in my office the other day, working away on my MacBook Pro. Let it be known that I love my setup. 15″ MBP with a 23″ cinema display leaves me in dual monitor heaven… However, I got to thinking, man, I wish I had a pimped out Mac Pro to take things to the next level.

As you may or may not know, I do a lot of web and print design… and it is not uncommon for me to have Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, a few FTP programs, my handy newsreader, and about 24 Firefox tabs opened at the same time. While my MBP performs beautifully, the thought of a brand new Mac Pro makes my arms numb, and it’s not because of the fatty foods I’ve been eating recently.

‘Well, lets go check it out’ I thought… and off I went to price out an ideal Mac Pro for me. I didn’t want anything too crazy, just something that could perform to the level I needed. I would of course have to pick up another display to keep my ‘duelies’ going. Lets see what I chose and what the pricetag was!

Ok, lets head to Apple, click on Store, Mac Pro starting at $2799… Ok I’m there. Now lets configure this bad boy:

1. Processor: I’ll be needing Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core) ($800 upgrade)
2. Memory: 4GB should do me nicely ($500 upgrade). Stock is 2GB, and you can upgrade all the way up to 32GB for another $8600!!! Why must memory be so darn expensive through Apple?
3. RAID Card: Yep, I’ll take one of those. ($800 upgrade)
4. Hard Drives: Well, lets get 2. One main drive and another used for storage and backup. Lets upgrade the first to 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s (a $50 upgrade) and ditto for the second drive as well. I should note, on a Mac Pro there are 4 hard drive bays.
5. Graphics Card: Ok, things are starting to get a bit pricy, but I’ve got to go with the mid-road 3 x ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB ($260 upgrade).
6. Displays: Yep, I’ll need an extra 23″ Apple Cinema Display ($899 upgrade). Already have another 23″ here in the office.
7. Extra Optical Drive: Nah, I don’t do a lot of burning, think I’ll leave this one out.
8. Airport Extreme Card: Yep ($50 upgrade).
9. Software and Extras: Fibre Channel Card, modem, Mighty Mouse, Keyboard, OS X Server, plus all of the other software up for offer… I think I’ll pass.
10. Apple Care Protection Plan: Lets leave this out for now. I can always purchase it at a later date ($249 upgrade).

So what’s the damage? $5,558 USD. Expensive!!! If you subtract the monitor ($899) and RAID card ($800), the system all of a sudden comes in at a more respectable $3,859. Much better. Still expensive, but I would think manageable for those out there that are considering a serious step up in performance.

Anyone I’ve talked to that owns a Mac Pro swears by it. The system is lightning quick, solid, and extremely expandable and upgradeable. They are expensive, but in my books you get what you pay for. For the design professional that needs a solid in-house system, you can’t argue with the Mac Pro. For a design geek like myself that is often on the go, and needs the extra portability, you’ll have no problem getting by on a MacBook Pro… as long as you have a nice big monitor to go with it when you’re at your home base

I wish I could justify spending that amount at this time… While Apple does have business financing options, it’s not something I’d consider at this point, especially when you consider my system is running fine (knock on wood). Only bad thing is it does ‘chug’ from time to time when I get the spinning marble of doom.

So, are there any other Mac Pro users out there that have any advice for me? Keep what I’ve got going here? Or would you rather see me go ahead and drop the cash, take the leap, dive off the deep end?

Discuss in the Forums >

As some of you may or may not know, in my non-spare time, I work as a solicitor in the UK dealing with, amongst other things, IT and e-commerce matters. The overlap is a good thing to me because it allows me to indulge my love of all things tech and mix in a little law for good measure.

Now, it was never my intention to use this space to write about legal issues but, sometimes, you feel compelled to veer off down an unplanned path – this is one of those times. It all comes down to an email I received the other day about a study that had been carried out by Dotmailer into email marketing compliance (click here). But don’t click away just yet, this might get interesting!

Let me give you some background. There is a whole raft of rules and regulations on email marketing. They are designed to prevent spam emails (which clearly is less than effective) and also to protect consumers when trading online. The protective measures ensure that you are given a certain amount of information about the company that is sending you the email so that you can have some idea about who they are, where they are based, where they are registered* and so on. This is really basic information and should not be difficult for any company to provide.

Dotmailer sampled marketing emails from 46 companies and found that 21 were breaking the rules. And they weren’t tiny little one-man bands - amongst them were some massive household names such as Game, CD-WOW and Waterstone’s.

The consequences of breaching the rules are a fine of up to £1000 plus a further £300 per day that the contravention continues. But who is protecting you, the consumer, by enforcing the rules? Well, it seems like nobody is.

The fines are potentially small beer to the companies involved but more important to them will be the potential loss of customer confidence. I act for a number of companies, drawing up their terms of use, email footers and privacy policies and a good company will have these in place, giving you plenty of information that will protect you and them.

I am sure that the vast majority of companies mentioned in the report are doing great things for their customers but they should not be allowed to ignore rules that are designed to protect their customers. At the end of the day, it really does benefit both sides to have everything clearly set out.In the meantime, while waiting for someone to do something – anything - about this, my message to UK consumers wanting to buy things online is that you could do worse than go to the Trading Standards website here where you will find some useful information on your rights.

From the company’s side, I would ask that you consider what message you are sending out to your customers if you are not going to give this most basic information. There are thousands of companies out there that are willing to go that extra mile for their customers. If you are not happy to do the same, don’t be surprised if they go elsewhere – however big you are.

James Barisic

* I’m not going to give too many clues as to how this might be relevant to this site but one company we all know seems a little forgetful about putting company registration details on its UK marketing emails…