Our very own Simone Renee checks in with her thoughts on the iPhone as the next big gaming console.

written by Simone Renee \\ tags: Gaming Consoles, iPhone, iPhone Games, Mobile Gaming

Apple User Groups are an incredible way to network with other Mac users in your area or school. They also provide a great support group to help you with any questions you may have. Every university should have an Apple User Group, but many do not. My school, in particular, did not have an Apple User group until I took it upon myself to create one.

Initially, I was surprised when I found out that it’s not so difficult to start an Apple User Group at the University level. In fact, Apple provides most, if not all, of the tools you need! I’ve been working on it for about a week now and I already have a constitution, 15 committed members, and a faculty advisor!

The Apple User Groups website has been extremely helpful.

If you are considering starting a Apple User Group, I suggest taking the following steps:

• Get in contact with your Student Organizations Council (or similar body) and find out what paperwork you need to submit.
• Speak with a professor that you know uses a Mac and see if he/she is willing to be the Faculty adviser. If they’re too busy for it, ask them to recommend another faculty member.
• Recruit members. The easiest way to do this is by creating a Facebook group; I had 20 members in the first day of the group being created.
• Write the constitution. Apple provides a fantastic sample that gives you all the fancy wording you’ll need.

Then, voila! You’re all set to go with your Apple User Group!

written by Simone Renee \\ tags: Apple User Groups, Mac User Groups

Every day, I see more and more Apple products popping up all over campus. From iPhones to iPods to MacBooks… it seems that Apple is catching fire all over the place. But surprisingly, many of these users have no idea what they’re doing! Practically once a week, someone in one of my classes well approach me after class, having observed me using my MacBook, and ask, “Hey… sorry to bother you… but I just got a Mac and I have NO idea how to use it!” This usually leads into a couple minutes of me giving my newfound friend basic pointers and cleaning up his or her desktop.

I realize that many readers of our blog are avid, Mac-obsessed users, but I decided to make this handy-dandy list of my top 10 tips for new Mac users.

1. Your new Mac is NOT a PC!
I realize this may appear to be an obvious statement, but indeed, it is not; many new users try to treat their Mac like a PC. For instance, Macs are designed for many applications to be viewed on the display at one time. Instead of dragging the window of your applications to full screen, leave them small and display many at the same time. At any given moment I have iChat on the left of my display, Safari in the middle, and the iTunes mini-sized player on the lower right. All in all, Mac displays are meant to be compartmentalized.

2. There’s more to your Mac than Photobooth, don’t be afraid to explore!
Click around, have fun, and see what you may find. Check out Exposé and Spaces under System Preferences and play around. There is very little you can mess up and if you do something you shouldn’t have, make an appointment online for your local Apple retailer and a Mac Genius can easily help you out (or even call up Apple Support).

3. Use Spotlight
In the upper, right-hand corner of every Mac is a little icon of a magnifying glass. When you click this, it takes you to Spotlight, Mac’s search engine. Many new users see the computer search as enemy, because Window’s search is so ineffective. But this is not the case for Mac! Spotlight produces accurate results within seconds and displays them in a convenient dropdown menu. I even have some friends who exclusively use Spotlight to open anything on their Mac.

4. Keep your desktop clean, and don’t put application icons on it
Your dock is there for a reason, leave your application icons on it!

5. When installing a new application, eject the installer once you’re done
Many times, when I get onto a new user’s Mac, it’s mostly cluttered with old .dmg files and installers not yet ejected.

6. Use ctrl + click for the traditional, Windows “right click” affect
Self explanatory enough?

7. Keep your files clearly organized in folders
This is true across the board, whether you are using Mac or PC. It’s very important to keep all your files organized. I have all my files for each of my classes neatly organized in folders titled with the name of the class within a folder titled “School.” If you simply through all of your documents into My Documents it’ll leave your head spinning when you begin looking for them in the future.

8. Explore iLife
iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand have a lot to offer and they are extremely user friendly. Just by opening the program you will open yourself up to a world of possibilities.

9. Add folders that you frequently use to your Dock
This is a nifty little shortcut. Drag and drop folders from their destination to the left of the trashcan. When you click on the folder the contents will fan out.

10. Don’t download AIM, just use iChat
Don’t download AOL’s Instant Messenger, silly! iChat is way cooler and won’t give you any problems like AIM may. If you don’t understand how to add your screen name, simply click iChat > Preferences > Account > click + button on lower left.

If you have any of your own personal tips, please share them with us in the Mactropolis OS X Tips and Tricks Forum

written by Simone Renee \\ tags: Mac Newbies, My 2 Cents, OS X Tips

So… iTunes is now the #2 music retailer in the US, holding 10% of the market share, only second to Wal-Mart - which holds 20% of the market share. Many analysts project that by the end of 2008, iTunes will have overtaken Wal-Mart as the #1 spot. But what does this all mean? And how does it affect the consumer and the music industry?

In many ways, the creation of the iPod and the introduction of iTunes saved the music industry; but that in itself is a controversial statement. In the early 21st century, Napster ruled all and CD sales plummeted. I distinctly remember most of the record stores in my neighborhood closing. Then the music industry fought back, kicking Napster’s ass and beginning arrests of hundreds of teenagers; still today we are reminded on a regular basis that the cops might come knocking if we illegally download music (even though it’s not a realistic scenario).

So what’s the next best thing? Getting inexpensive, digital copies of the songs we love off the net and Apple provided just that! In 2001, the music industry partnered with Apple to allow the 99-cent song downloads, thinking it would do the industry good. And it did just that for many years. But now, the record labels are beginning to realize that the sales model of same-price for every song may not be the best. Is it truly appropriate to price a classic Beatles track at the cost of an up and coming artist? It seems not. But now that Apple has over 50 million costumers worldwide who have bought over four billion songs, we can be sure they won’t be willing to raise prices.

As ownership of music becomes less and less important, perhaps Apple’s bubble will be bursting sooner than expected—further expedited if the industry successfully forces Apple to raise it’s prices. Today, most consumers are satisfied with simply live streaming music off the net until they’ve overplayed it. Artists simplify the process by adding the music to their Myspace pages, allowing consumers to listen to the songs an unlimited number of times.

It’s hard to say what the future holds for the music industry. To me, the worst-case scenario would be advertisements placed directly into the songs. Could you imagine the only option of music as free and commercial-packed? Hopefully, iTunes will stay strong and the 99-cent song will prevail.

written by Simone Renee \\ tags: iTunes, Wal-Mart

Many consumers are surprised that the iPhone still has no internet-video player. Adobe has a tight grip on this technology on mobile devices and it’s unbelievable that Apple and Adobe still haven’t reached an agreement. “Why?” is a reasonable question to ask. Unfortunately, it appears that the only man with an answer to that question is Steve Jobs himself. When asked, no other spokesperson or employee of Apple could answer the question.

Luckily, with the release of the SDK prone to come by the end of February, many sources believe that Adobe will be able to develop the flash player at that time. But the question still stands, why has Steve Job’s been delaying the process? Is there some underlying issue here? Unfortunately, with no official statements being made, us bloggers are left to be the ones to speculate. With so little sources, even the author of the article quotes Andru Edwards over at the Gear Live blog.

My opinion? Apple has something in the works, most probably a video player of their own creation. This would be quite the feat because almost all videos online are flash-based. This would also be a surprising move because Apple and Adobe have a history of a strong relationship, caused by both of their products driving the sales of the other so solidly. Really, all we can do is speculate and wait to see what happens.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal 02/21/08 P. B3]

written by Simone Renee \\ tags: Adobe, Apple, iPhone, iPhone SDK

I began preparing for my purchase of the iPhone the day that Steve Job’s announced it’s coming. You could even say I was stoked! I’m pretty sure that if Apple made a couch, I would buy it. Kidding aside, the idea of a phone by Apple was mind blowing. I began my obsessed preparation by slowly adding all of my phone contacts into my MacBook’s Address Book, so that the day it came I wouldn’t have any fuss.

To my dismay, I hadn’t thought to take the day off work so it turned out that the day it went on sale, I wouldn’t be able to make the line! At first I was devastated. I’m the type of person who loves crowds, commotion, and excitement. I was heartbroken that I wouldn’t be able to partake in the historic event. Then the day came and I discovered that the Apple Stores had extended hours! I got off work at 10p.m. and still had plenty of time to visit the store. I ran there as fast as I could and I was startled to find a nearly empty store (only nearly because it was filled with associates). Apparently I was the only customer who “got the memo.” I immediately approached the perky girl standing at the iPhone booth. I greeted her and she gladly responded, “4 GB or 8 GB?” I answered, “8 GB please!” Then she proceeded with, “One or two?” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at her question; one iPhone was going to damage my wallet enough! The transaction finished up and I left the store, proudly carrying my exclusive iPhone bag.

In the tradition of my obsession, I had watched all of the tutorial videos explaining how to work the technologically advanced device. It felt so comfortable in my hands, as if it belonged there. I felt from the start that the iPhone was extremely intuitive.

It’s several months later and, if anything, I am more obsessed than before! I’m beginning to realize my complete dependence on my iPhone. Now that I have it, I can’t imagine living without it. For instance, when I’m on one of my many road trips to visit my friends a few hours away, I can eat whatever I’m craving. I’m just a few clicks away from finding the nearest Waffle House! It’s also quite empowering to have access to the Internet at all times, at any location. As one of my friends once put it, referring to his iPhone in his pocket, “I’m surfing the web right now!” I’m not implying this is a good thing, but I’m also not saying it’s a bad thing.

Are we rapidly approaching an entirely technologically-dependant society?

written by Simone Renee \\ tags: iPhone, My 2 Cents