Mumbling Again

Short Short Long: AppleCare and Cinema Display Woes

Let this be a lesson to the wise: Don't try to troubleshoot problems yourself when the warrantee is at stake. My 20" Apple Cinema Display and/or the video card on my workstation started acting strange about 6–8 weeks ago. The backlighting was not full strength and the power light started blinking in a pattern of short, short, long. I consider myself a power-user so I went to the Apple Support site to solve the problem. I followed the advice, and re-seated the ADC connection with a restart. Problem solved, that was easy! Good thing I didn't waste my time calling AppleCare—wait maybe not.

Unfortunately the same thing came back again a couple weeks ago. Now I'm starting to think that it could be a problem. I depend on this workstation for my livelihood, and leaving it at the Genius Bar for a sleep-over isn't a very appealing proposition. Besides I've got an AppleCare package and its still got a couple months... right? Anyway, it's another quick fix by re-connecting and restarting.

Today it happened again.

New Ad Touts Macs with Intel Chips

While the Apple iPod has grown considerably in popularity, its advertising has followed suit with a slew of high profile iPod ads featuring celebrities such as Eminem and now Wynton Marsalis. Conspicuously missing is any advertising for Apple's flagship product, the Mac. That's all about to change. Yesterday at the MacWorld conference keynote address, Steve Jobs previewed a new ad featuring the iMac with an Intel Core Duo chip.

This ad gave me the chills. Admittedly, I follow Apple like a rabid cult member, however its not my affection for Apple, but rather the pure genius of the marketing message here that got me. They personify the Intel chip and make it so you can relate to it:

The Intel chip. For years its been trapped inside PCs. Inside dull little boxes. Dutifully performing dull little tasks. When it could have been doing so much more. Starting today the Intel chip will be set free, and get to live life inside a Mac. Imagine the possibilities.

I bet a lot of people can relate to that chip. Trapped inside a cubicle dull little box, doing a dull career little task. This ad makes you feel trapped and bored and then sells the idea of freedom, creativity and fun. Everyone knows that Apple is fun, cool and free-spirited from the iPod ads, so this isn't far to jump.

Convergence: Apple's Media-centric Home Strategy

I’m not a very good chess player, and it’s often too late before I glean my opponent’s strategy. There’s that “ah ha” moment when you realize a few of the opposing pieces are all converging on one space and you know you’re about to get your ass kicked. If I was Bill Gates, I’d be saying “ah ha” right now because Apple’s been putting a few new pieces on the board, and the strategy is all pointing in one direction. A new way to deliver multimedia content through out the home with a revolutionary new interface, and an online movie store.

Get Free Music Through iTunes

I just found this over at Mac OS X Hints thanks to slytle and momerath. Apple gives away some free music each month to new iPod owners, and even if you already own an iPod—or never owned an iPod—you can find a link to the free music sampler through this google search. You'll want to use the search result that contains phobos.apple.com in the URL. This link will open the iTunes Music Store to the place where you can get the free tracks. It changes every month or something so check the search again in the future.