The enterprise is all over the iPad. RIM can’t put the genie back in the bottle, no matter how hard it tries. But what is it about the iPad that appeals to IT departments and employees alike? Why the sudden shocking proliferation? Read more »
Recently, I stumbled across a new service called Alice that lets you buy all of your household essentials online. Alice is awesome, and as soon as I figured out just exactly how awesome Alice was, I couldn’t wait to tell everyone I knew about the service. Read more »
Steve Jobs said yesterday that Apple plans to “keep our powder dry” for “one or two” strategic acquisitions in the future. He was referring to the $50 billion in cash assets Apple is currently sitting on. But what fight is he gearing up for? Read more »
ambition, n.: an earnest desire for some type of achievement and the willingness to strive for its attainment
Thinking about ambition reminds me of Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement address at Stanford. The words “stay hungry” have followed me ever since reading them. Read more »
The Apple TV is facing stiff competition from Google TV and others, like Roku, for consumer dollars. But is that really where it stands to gain the most? The blue screens of death we see all too often in retail displays say otherwise. Read more »
Research in Motion finally unveiled its much-rumored BlackBerry tablet yesterday, and it looks a lot more impressive at first glance than the company’s most recent handset, the Palm Pre-like Torch. But is this a game-changing device, or will it stumble out of the starting gate? Read more »
They say marijuana is a gateway drug; meet Apple’s new innocuous gateway gadget. Think twice about buying just because of that attractive $99 price point for the new Apple TV. It could cost you a whole lot more in the long run, if Apple’s plan succeeds. Read more »
In this two-part post, I’m going to talk about managing “busy-ness,” or what Timothy Ferriss describes in “The 4-Hour Workweek” as “working for work’s sake.” As your business grows and your workload increases, it becomes more and more important to manage “busy-ness.” Read more »
There comes a point in your business when you reach a Catch-22 situation. Your workload is maxed out, you want to continue growing, but you’re at a difficult point where you can’t quite afford help, but you can’t survive and grow successfully without it. Read more »
My last visit to an Apple Store was a week ago when I picked up my new iPhone 4 and, though I’ve visited the stores plenty of times before, waiting in line reminded me of what makes Apple’s retail plans such a success. Read more »
Small business owners are still optimistic and confident, both in themselves and in their businesses, and if you were to ask any of them, they would each have unique lessons to share, things they know for sure. Here are some things that I know for sure: Read more »
A lot of small business owners feel that there’s a cringe-factor associated with marketing. It is possible, though, to create buzz-worthy promotional events around your business that not only get you in front of your target audience, but might even be fun to coordinate. Read more »
As you may have heard, Apple plans to shut down streaming music service Lala.com at the end of May. At the time, speculation ran rampant that Apple was planning on using the service to launch its own streaming music venture. Read more »
London newspaper the Evening Standard reported a very interesting rumor following Apple’s quarterly financial report Tuesday. According to the British paper, Apple is in talks with ARM Holdings, the U.K. company that designs the chip used in the iPhone, along with a huge percentage of the chips found in mobile devices in general. Read more »
Many businesses set up Facebook pages when everyone was jumping on board to see what all the hype was about. Yet they didn’t know what to do with those pages in the longer term, and now they languish across Facebook. Read more »
Recently I’ve been surprised by how hard it is to find anything that I would call remarkable. Everything seems to be declining in quality, and a lot of people seem to be indifferent when it comes to the quality they bring to their work. Read more »
The rumors of Adobe being bought by Apple come up every so often. Apple could easily afford such a purchase and the results would be interesting. I would love to see Adobe restructured by a company like Apple. Adobe has many applications that are the gold […] Read more »
The real work begins when everything is turned upside down. You want to take advantage of new opportunities, but in order to do that, you have to adjust your systems, support and tools to accommodate that growth and expansion. Read more »
Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook wasn’t shy about the company’s focus through 2010, in a conversation with Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey. The talk took place at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference this Tuesday in San Francisco, and was given before an audience […] Read more »
When you’re trying to run your own business, you need time to experiment and try new methods and approaches to your systems and your work, but you also need time to reflect on what’s working so that you can modify your direction as you go. Read more »
What’s the one thing you need to do on a regular basis to keep your car running? It needs fuel or else it stops running. Every car needs refills — just like every business needs clients to bring in income. However, a car runs better and […] Read more »
I put myself squarely in the “Working Mac User” category. My MacBook sees daily use in an Enterprise. I freelance write about the Mac and use mine in school. Outside of web surfing and the occasional game, very little of my time at the keyboard is […] Read more »
This is another post in our Small Biz Corner series where each month we cover a specific topic specific to Small Businesses who use Macs. If you need something more powerful than iCal, but don’t need Snow Leopard Server with CalDav, then BusyCal from BusyMac Software […] Read more »
If there’s one thing I’m figuring out, especially lately, it’s that you have to be willing to make the approach. You have to be willing to ask for what you want. Ask the person to be a guest for your blog or podcast. Ask to be covered on another person’s site or radio show. Ask someone to join you for lunch or coffee. Just ask. Read more »
The effect of Apple’s still speculative tablet on the electronics industry continues to amaze me. Not only has it prompted countless computer makers to join the fray and release their own slate devices, but now it’s affecting e-book pricing policies over at the biggest player in […] Read more »
Maybe I am too set in my ways, but I never even really tried using Bing all that much when it was released. I also found it too busy. Sure, I’m all for beautiful sweeping nature photography, but not on my search page. So I stuck […] Read more »
While social networks are rarely viewed as corporate services, they can help make you a smarter business person and provide value on several levels. It’s time to exploit social networks for your business, and here’s how. Read more »
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but a former senior marketing manager at Apple posted an article today “confirming” that the company does indeed purposely leak information in order to amplify the buzz surrounding an upcoming product, or for any number of other reasons. The […] Read more »
Many readers expressed an interest in knowing more about my accountability partnership, so here’s a follow-up to my previous posts, answering the questions that were raised. Q: Is an accountability partner the same as a business coach? A: I don’t think so. While they have similarities, […] Read more »
Do you somehow still doubt that the App Store is a huge money-making enterprise, at least for a lucky few? Then consider the news that Tapulous, the development studio behind the wildly popular Tap Tap Revenge rhythm game franchise, rakes in a cool million every month. […] Read more »
Yesterday, I wrote about the value of having an accountability partner. This is the perfect time to set up a partnership with someone for the New Year. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of the relationship. Read more »
Welcome to a new monthly series from TheAppleBlog. Each month we will cover a a specific topic specific to Small Businesses who use Macs. As a small business owner/sole proprietor, connecting with customers is hard. There are all sorts of communication tools available, with social media […] Read more »
