Two weeks ago, the ads stopped airing on TV after just a week-long run. Apple’s agency that produced the campaign said it wasn’t designed to run any longer than that. Still, the three spots that featured an Apple “genius” helping Mac users remained on the company’s YouTube channel and its own website. The Apple YouTube channel is a repository for all of its ads. And it hasn’t so far made a habit of pulling down month-old or even more drastically out-of-date ads: As MacRumors points out, the channel has Apple spots going back to late 2010.

Why pull them today? The controversy over the campaign, which some thought portrayed Apple customers as hapless or clueless, was sort of dying down. However, perhaps the last straw was former Steve Jobs’ associate and ad partner Ken Segall’s post yesterday. He accused anyone of thinking it was wise for Apple to target an older or less tech-savvy demographic — whose members are already spending a lot of money with Apple — of lacking “common sense.” Without saying it directly, he was also insinuating Apple itself was lacking that same sense in running the ads in the first place.

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Recommendation systems should instead ask users to compare products in pairs, not as stand-alone items, says Devavrat Shah, a professor at MIT’s Laboratory of Information and Decisions Systems.

According to Shah, the kind of star rating systems that are the status quo on the web today are flawed because, well, humans are flawed. “If my mood is bad today, I might give four stars, but tomorrow I’d give five stars. But if you ask me to compare two movies, most likely I will remain true to that for a while,” Shah says in an article published this week on MIT’s news site. “Your three stars might be my five stars, or vice versa. For that reason, I strongly believe that comparison is the right way to capture this.”

In a series of recently published academic papers, Shah, along with students Ammar Ammar and Srikanth Jagabathula, as well as MIT Sloan School of Management professor Vivek Farias, demonstrated that stitching “pairwise rankings” together into a master list is a more accurate representation of customer sentiment than relying on customers to rate things by themselves on a typical five-star scale. According to the MIT researchers, they have formulated algorithms that have proven to accurately predict shoppers’ preferences with 20 percent greater accuracy than the kinds of formulas most often in use today. They have built a website, Celect.com, to show off their theories in practice.

The success of using a more complicated algorithmic approach for recommendation engines has been proven by Apple’s iTunes software, and in particular, its Genius song selection feature. An Apple engineer disclosed last year that Genius uses much more than just the star ratings system to power its personalized song recommendation engine. In fact, iTunes use a complex combination of big data analytics and aggregated personal information to customize content for users.

Of course, finding programmers is tough as it is, and not all web companies can afford to hire Apple-caliber software engineers or MIT Ph.D.s to formulate their recommendation engines. Also, users on sites such as Yelp have become very confident in their roles as armchair critics, adding and subtracting stars from reviews for highly specific reasons. But then again, classic websites such as HotorNot.com — and even Facebook predecessor FaceMash.com — have shown that one-to-one comparisons can be fun, too. According to the folks at MIT, if comparison engines can make the leap from fun pastime into the big leagues of e-commerce, recommendation systems could get even more spookily accurate.

Image from the cover art of The Complete Works of The Critic DVD set, found on Amazon.com

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One of the selling points of the original Apple Store was the red “hot line” that the Genius staff could use if they were stumped on a problem. After a time, that phone disappeared.  Turns out, Apple didn’t want customers tying up the bar trying to play stump the genius (a surprisingly amusing pastime). What they actually wanted was for the Genius bar to take care of problems on the spot, and delight the customer with excellent, attentive service.

Over and over, Apple has been willing to change things up, experiment, make adjustments, and even throw away things that don’t work. Here are some other examples of those changes, large and small:

• The Genius Bar originally didn’t have appointments. You just walked in, wrote your name down on a piece of paper, and you were given a pager to tell you when it was your turn. Apple migrated to an electronic waiting list and then implemented appointment times. After the iPhone, the service queue was split up into separate Mac and iPhone/iPod lines.
• The Genius Bar originally did all the product training in the store. Apple later rolled out ProCare with training sessions included, and then split training off from ProCare into One to One. Now One to One is only available for new Mac purchases, and group training has been emphasized.
• Theaters were installed in all stores for product demonstrations and education. Theaters remain in the flagship stores, but the floor space has been given over to the Genius Bar and Creative training areas in smaller stores.
• The Rhonda app on all of the display machines would turn the screen a certain color so that staff would be alerted to a customer waiting for help (Help Me Rhonda. Help, Help Me Rhonda!). This was later dropped.
• Stores were directed to get average repair turnaround times under 2 days. In order to meet the challenge, stores started to keep parts for quick repairs on hand so that they could get some done on the spot.
• The original store layout had several cash drawer stations around the store where customers would queue up to make purchases. EasyPay changed that so all credit card transactions could be handled on the floor. Cash drawers started to disappear and many stores only have one for the occasional check or cash payment. The EasyPay system migrated from a Windows CEapplication running on Symbol hardware to an iPod touch outfitted with a card swipe reader and bar code scanner.
• With the cash drawers gone, stores started posting greeters at the front to direct customers and introduce them to the way things worked. This position was formalized into a special Concierge position. Later the concierge would check you in for your Genius Bar or One to One appointment with an iPod touch or iPad app.
• Apple installed receipt printers under tables throughout the store which meant sales staff could stay closer to the customer. Staff can now request product to be delivered from the back room, so the customer can continue to ask questions or receive help.

After 10 years and billions of dollars in profits, it is easy to look back and think that Apple Retail was an inevitable success. But Apple has had its finger on the pulse of consumer desire for all that time, and the ability to identify changes in that pulse and adapt quickly is a quality that should help Apple continue to succeed in the coming decade as well.

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The Genius feature, like that already found on iPhone and iPod touch, delivers a listing of apps that you may enjoy, based on your past purchases. The Genius featured on the iPhone has been fairly useful, and I check it from time to time if I’m looking for something new I may have missed in my other searches. When a suggestion isn’t useful, just use the “Not Interested” button to let the App Store know that the app suggested wasn’t your cup of tea.

Unlike the iPhone, the iPad’s Genius feature offers two flavors of suggestions: the kind I mentioned above, which is based on prior purchases, as well as the ‘Upgrades’ view. Upgrades reveals apps that you purchased for iPhone, and which have an iPad equivalent that may be of interest to you. (Obviously this doesn’t matter for apps that are universal between the two devices.)

If you’re looking for some new apps, the search just got a little easier. Fire up Genius in the App Store on your iPad and go find some new apps to plunk down some money on.

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Genius Mixes can now be rearranged, renamed or removed. You can rearrange Mixes with click-and-drag.

And Mixes can be removed by right-clicking and choosing “Remove Mix” or using the “delete” key. If you accidentally remove a Mix, you can “Restore All Mixes” by right-clicking on Genius Mixes in the lefthand source list or on the background.

To rename a Genius Mix, click directly on the title. As seen below, use the Esc key to cancel editing and revert to the original title.

The iBookstore is not yet available in the iTunes Store, but Audiobooks are now found under “Books” in your library and we have to assume that this is where you will manage iBooks content as well. It might be of interest to some that the iBooks app appears to be the first app in the App Store (as opposed to the apps that are built-in to the firmware releases) that will sync content with iTunes directly. I know a number of developers that would love to have USB-syncing of content for their own apps, but I suspect that this feature is restricted to Apple’s iBooks at the moment.

It is possible, but pure speculation on my part, that the filesharing settings that have been spied in the iPad might open up a standard method of syncing content between computer and iPad. If so, we can only hope that this feature will be brought to the iPhone in a 4.0 release.

Some cosmetic changes were made to the Advanced tab of the iTunes Preferences window to include iPad among its more diminutive counterparts. Of course, seeing “iPad Remote” immediately makes me dream of a new Universal App release that utilizes the bigger display for an even better iTunes/Apple TV remote.

Though some critics like to vilify Apple for its practice of building devices with inaccessible batteries, the benefits definitely outweigh the consequences for such a tradeoff. The MacBook Pros are rated for up to eight hours of battery life, the iPod nanos get up to 24 hours of audio playback and the new iPad is touted to go for 10 hours on a single charge. But what happens when your iPad doesn’t get a great charge anymore? Similar to programs in place for the MacBook Pros and iPhones, Apple has announced its iPad Battery Replacement program and it’s not a bad option, all things considered.

The rules are pretty simple. If your iPad no longer holds a charge as good as it used to, you can pay Apple a service fee ($99 plus $6.95 shipping) and it will replace it. Of course, if your iPad is damaged because of an accident, neglect, liquid contact or if there is another hardware issue, then Apple reserves the right to say “No, sorry.” Fortunately though, unless your glass screen has been smashed, Apple is rarely picky on these types of issues. If your device turns on and displays what its supposed to on the screen and can connect to a computer to sync, it’s pretty much eligible for a battery replacement.

What is interesting about the iPad Battery Replacement program is that Apple outright acknowledges that your data will not be preserved because you will receive a replacement iPad. In reality, this is what usually happens with an iPhone replacement as well, but its refreshing to know Apple is actually acknowledging this now. Replacement devices (iPad or iPhone) are technically considered “refurbished” but, as a company who puts extra care into every little detail of the experience, refurbished to Apple means “almost new” to most users. As is the case with iPods and iPhones (and will likely be the case with the iPad) the “refurbished” unit will come with a new exterior case so even if your previous unit did have a few superficial scratches, you’ll end up with a fresh and clean device.

Arranging for a replacement can be done by calling AppleCare or through Apple’s website. Additionally, users can get service through the Genius Bar at their local Apple Store. Once the initial iPad demand settles, Apple Stores will begin to carry additional iPads as “service parts” which means that, should you need a battery replacement, you can simply walk into an Apple Store, pay your fee and walk out with your replacement.

If you’re not keen on paying Apple such a price for a battery replacement or you’re one who doesn’t sync their device and therefore do not want to lose all your apps and settings, you can look into third party service providers for battery replacement options. These will likely be cheaper than going through Apple, but this route means you will lose the benefit of getting a nice, new and clean scratch-free exterior.

What are your thoughts on Apple’s built-in batteries and their replacement plans? Have you had your iPhone or iPod replaced because of battery issues? Do you think their plan is fair? Sound off in the comments and share your thoughts!

Since upgrading to iTunes 9, I’ve used Genius Mixes exclusively on both my computer and my portable devices. Contrast this to the two or three times I ever used a Genius playlist since their introduction in iTunes 8.

Get Your Mix On

First, in case you’re like me, it’s possible you need a little help in getting your Genius Mixes set up in the first place. The key is that once you upgrade your iTunes installation, there’s one more step to take before they appear. Go to your “Store” menus, and click on “Update Genius.” Once Apple (s aapl) delivers your results, your new Mixes will appear in the source menu in the left-hand side of the iTunes window, right under the Genius atom icon.

Clicking on it should reveal 12 squares with album cover composite images that show artists representative of the content found in each mix. I say should because I’m not sure if iTunes will necessarily generate all 12 for smaller library sizes, but you should at least have a few to choose from so long as you have more than a couple artists in your collection.

My Mixes

Individual mixes are named so as to give you an idea of what genre of music they contain. For example, some of my mixes are as follows:

• Indie Mix — Based on: Death Cab For Cutie, Rilo Kiley, The Most Serene Republic, and others.
• Hip Hop Mix — Based on: Kanye West, Common, The Fugees, and others.
• Pop Mix — Based on: Ray LaMontagne, Rocky Votolato, Adele, and others.
• Punk Mix — Based on: Rancid, Rise Against, Brand New, and others.
• Country Mix — Based on Wilco, Neko Case, Lucinda Williams, and others.

Most of my mixes look like those above. Smart, clearly defined, and pretty much how I would’ve divvied up my library if I ever bothered to arrange tracks into genre groupings. A few seem like collections of assorted odds and ends Apple couldn’t quite fit into the other categories. All are admittedly interesting, and most importantly, useful ways of sub-dividing my music collection, though.

How Well Does it Work?

Playing through these mixes, I found that Apple has indeed improved their Genius engine, since the results were much more impressive than they’ve ever been using Genius playlists based on a single song. My collection is diverse enough that I don’t always want to just turn on iTunes DJ, but a Genius Mix sets the mood perfectly for parties, for work, for working out, or just for relaxing.

Apple still needs to make some improvements before I’m completely sold, though. As of right now, you can only view your mixes in Grid mode, and only the track currently playing is visible. To see what’s coming up next, you actually have to fast forward to the next song. While it’s kind of exciting not knowing what’s in store, I’d much rather be able to see a playlist like in iTunes DJ or in classic Genius mode.

I also don’t like how you have to specifically select the playlists in your Audio settings and sync your iPhone or iPod in order to get Genius Mixes on your device. Genius should be able to analyze the content you already have on your iPhone or iPod and create Genius Mixes specific to the device. Maybe this doesn’t affect people whose libraries match on both, but my computer-based music collections far exceed the capacities of my mobile devices.

Recommendations

As for Genius recommendations, I do find that they’re much better than they were when they were first introduced. Of course, Apple’s had a year to collect data from millions of users to make things better, so it would be more remarkable if there wasn’t any noticeable difference in the returned results. Also, Genius will always be a subjective thing, so it’s hard to determine the efficacy of results beyond just the size of the catalog of artists available.

How are you finding your experience with Genius Mixes? Is Apple’s recommendation and organization engine finally worthy of its moniker?

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Also new in 3.1 is a relaxation of the API limitations! Just kidding. But there are some nice user-side improvements that make it easier to forget about all the fuss surrounding the App Store lately.

Genius

Apple’s dubiously named Genius recommendation engine comes to the App Store in 3.1. The service will check what you’ve already installed on your device and return results based on those selections. Thus far, I’m none too impressed with the mental acuity of Genius for Apps, which seems to be largely keyword-based.

iPhone OS 3.1 also supports the new Genius Mixes feature available in iTunes 9. iTunes will automatically create up to 12 playlists based on what’s in your library, without you even having to select a track as a starting point.

Home Screen

Finally, there’s a way to organize your various iPhone and iPod touch Home screens that isn’t painfully slow and liable to drive you completely nuts. With iPhone 3.1 and iTunes 9, you’ll be able to rearrange app icons visually on your computer, and then sync that arrangement to your portable device.

You can even select and drag multiple apps at once, and change the order of entire Home screens at a time, just like you should’ve been able to do from the start.

Syncing and iTunes

With iTunes 9 and OS 3.1, you should see improved syncing for all media, including new sync options like the ability to sync Faces from iPhoto ’09. Students can organize their iTunes U content, and you can now redeem gift cards and promo codes in the App Store application. You can also see how much credit is available in your account right on your device.

As mentioned above, you can now download ringtones wirelessly from the iTunes store on your device. That means it’s far easier to spend $1.29 on something that will give you at best a week’s worth of pleasure and those around you months of agony and annoyance.

Video

As seen in early builds of iPhone OS 3.1, video editing is now non-destructive thanks to a new “Save as new clip” option that preserves the original. You can also save received videos from email and MMS into your Camera Roll, making them easier to review and share with others.

Many Little Things

iPhone OS 3.1 also brings a whole host of small changes and adjustments, including a fix for that nasty icon display issue, anti-phishing measures in Safari, Voice Control access via Bluetooth headsets, phone number pasting in the Phone app, and maybe most impressive, the ability to remotely lock your iPhone with a passcode for MobileMe users.

My early hands-on experience with 3.1 also seems to indicate that general performance is much improved, resulting in much snappier, tighter OS performance overall. Bugs will no doubt raise their ugly heads, but for now, it’s all roses. Just plug your iPhone or iPod touch in and click the “Check for Updates” button in iTunes to get rolling.

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For many of us, the iPhone has become a staple item in our daily assortment of tech gear. Like any product that gets heavy use on a daily basis, sometimes it can fail. For the iPhone, that means a trip to the often-crowded Genius Bar for help. Now, as more consumers are adopting the digital device, Apple is facing an increasing number of iPhones in need of repair. The good news for consumers is, the majority of those repairs can now be done by your local Genius.

When the iPhone first launched, Apple offered a “loaner” program (with a fee) for consumers who had iPhones that needed to be repaired. This program, which received little attention in the press, finally disappeared from Apple as it began offering instant iPhone swaps, instead of asking a consumer to wait a few days for an offsite repair. (Come to find out, the “waiting” technique may work well for iPods, but doesn’t fly for iPhones). In an even more efficient move, Apple now offers a new service allowing Geniuses to perform actual repairs of the screen assembly to your iPhone at the store.

What? No more free swaps?

For the business-minded, the talk of your Genius Bar appointment being even longer while a Genius dissects and operates on your iPhone may make you scream, “No fair! Usually you just give me a new one and I’m on my way.” We all knew, though, that it would not be cost-effective for Apple to simply swap out an iPhone on a whim when things went bad. With the ability to perform certain repairs in-house, this means you keep your original iPhone and won’t need take the time to sync up a replacement iPhone before you are back in the game.

Cracked screen? No worry!

The biggest component likely to either fail or be damaged is the screen. Similar in construction to the screen on the iMac (minus the touch-sensitive components and newer oleophobic coating on the iPhone 3GS), the screen can be removed from your iPhone via a large suction cup. (Though I’m sure Apple has a very “specialized” device that does this — much like the infamous unbent paper clip that doubles as the SIM card ejection tool). Geniuses can now replace a defective screen for free if your iPhone is under warranty or, if not warranty-related, for a nice hefty $199. (Standard disclaimer: Defective doesn’t mean cracked beyond belief because your estranged ex drove over it in her Hummer. That does void your warranty, as does liquid damage and jailbroken phones.)

Before Apple began offering this service, consumers faced choices like iFixIt or iResQ, which offer similar repair services (or just components) at rates cheaper than Apple. However, such solutions do void your Apple warranty. These solutions also require you (in repair instances) to send off your iPhone, so you will be without it for a few days. Going the Apple route, provided you can actually find a Genius Bar appointment at your local Apple Store, they should be capable of (provided the parts are in stock) replacing your screen assembly within five to 10 minutes. When a Genius graces your iPhone, your warranty remains intact.

Apple’s talented Genius team can also perform other repairs to the iPhone, as the screen assembly contains other parts that can fail, including the receiver or touch sensors. In order to continue to reduce costs and provide quicker turnaround to consumers, Apple will likely follow its trend of performing more repairs in store. As crowded as the Genius Bars usually are, Apple will have to keep repair times under consideration. Most stores allocate 10 minutes per iPhone or iPod appointment. When times are busy and the Geniuses get behind, taking the time to swap the screen may only extend wait times for others. At the time of this writing, the Apple Store is unable to do screen replacements on the iPod touch or the classic iPhone due to slight construction differences. (Hint: These models do not feature the same two screws found on the bottom of the 3G and 3GS.)

Most importantly, please remember to back up your iPhone before going to the Genius Bar. You never know when your iPhone may need more than just a simple screen replacement.

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Genius results are about as accurate as you might expect based on your experience with its usage regarding music. The top results are always episodes from the same series and season as the content from your library. When I tested it out using “Battlestar Galactica,” Season 1, recommendations from beyond the series were fairly accurate, at least getting the genre right, and included “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and “Firefly” among the top results. A similar test with “Heroes,” a far more mainstream program, brought back bizarre results, with the top recommendation outside of the series itself being Dexter. Only parallel I can draw between the two is that Dexter is a serial killer and Sylar is sort of one too. And both star hot girls, maybe?

You also get a new TV Shows tab in the Genius: Just for You subsection of the iTunes store main page. As you can tell from the screenshot from my own recommendations, I am indeed a huge nerd, and aside from Supernatural, iTunes knows me all too well. I suppose it would have shown me Movies recommendations as well, but I don’t actually own any iTunes-purchased movies as of yet. Let us know in the comments how well those recommendations are working out.

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