“Words of Astonishment” don’t cut it for the new Apple sales numbers

I tried to think of “words of astonishment” to adequately express my …. uh …. astonishment at one of the numbers that Apple released this week.

“Holy Cow!” << not strong enough

“Holy Mackerel!” << sounds like a flashback to decades ago

“Good Heavens!” << too tame

“Holy Smokes!” << ( interesting sidebar: lots of these phrases contain the word “holy”.)

“Great Caesar’s Ghost!” << I think this comes from Perry White of Superman fame

“Goodness Gracious” << wayyyyyy too calm

I give up.

I can’t find a phrase to adequately express my astonishment.

For what, you ask?

For this astounding fact that Apple released a few days ago:

(read slowly, now, to digest this, fully)

For the last quarter (that’s THREE MONTHS), Apple sold 34,000 iPhones an HOUR.

EACH DAY, 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK, FOR THREE MONTHS ……

That’s 34 THOUSAND iPhones EVERY HOUR!!!

I just can’t get my head around that number. 😯

If you have any words of astonishment that suits …. I would appreciate it. 🙂

No Tech Tinsel …. Part Two

The whole tinsel thing got a lot of nostalgia going.

Isn’t it funny how you can absolutely remember the very feel and texture of the stuff? (if you are of-a-certain-age!)

As for Part Two:

My dear daughter-in-law, Carmen, also did a video version of the history and chemistry of tinsel, and if you are still interested, you can view that video, here.

No-Tech Tinsel

If you’re looking for a technology related post today on this blog…. you’ll be disappointed.

I can’t resist linking to an article about TINSEL.

Why? you ask? (good question!)

Three reasons:

Reason number one: It is an interesting article about the history of Tinsel. For all of us of a certain age….. remember the beautiful stuff that hung from our trees back in the 50’s? It was heavy, and made the tree look just wonderful. But did you know that that tinsel of yesteryear was made of lead? I didn’t. Whodathunkit. LEAD!!!!

Reason number two: My dear talented daughter-in-law wrote the article. 🙂

and

Reason number three: The article includes a photo of yours truly, back in 1950, eating said LEAD tinsel. Yum. It was delicious. 😯

Enjoy!

What Is Tinsel Made Of, And How Has It Changed Over The Years?

Technology + Neighborly Cooperation = WOW

A group of neighbors in Yucaipa, California, worked together to put together this amazing holiday display of lights. Uploaded to YouTube earlier this week, it immediately went viral.

I can’t imagine the effort that had to go into this. Filmed by a drone, and set to music by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, it is well worth three+ minutes of your time.

Sit back and enjoy!

The Solarbox: Great idea! More, please!

London is full of iconic red telephone booths. Unfortunately, since the invention of mobile phones, most of the phone booths are now useless.

Here is a photo of my hand, holding up the remnants of what used to be a real phone, and clearly over time it was duck-taped and mended …. but never actually repaired.

It didn’t work.

I never found a working phone inside a red phone booth (and I did look …. I was curious!).

and so ……

Enter the solarbox!

The solarbox is an old red phone booth with an upgrade. It is painted green and has solar panels on the roof.

Step into the solarbox and you can plug in your phone or tablet to get power. FREE power. You’ll have to watch a few ads for the privilege, but I think most people would agree that that’s ok. A fine trade-off. A few ads for a power-up. Yay!

The solar box webpage sums it up with a single sentence:
“Transforming disused telephone boxes into free solar powered charging points for phones”

The first solarbox just ‘went live’ a few days ago, with plans to add 5 more around the city by April 2015.

Congratulations to the solarbox designers. A clever, clever idea that I’m guessing will spread to other cities as well.

uh oh. The iPhone 6 Plus can BEND in your pocket! ** gasp **

This is not good news.

Oh, my.

And so begins a new chapter in Apple’s history: #bendgate

The iPhone 6 Plus bends, but not by design.

Some iPhone 6 Plus owners accidentally bending their phones in their pockets.

Improving the Paperwhite: Amazon Introduces the Kindle Voyage

Last week the tech world was all abuzz about the new iPhones. In the middle of all that excitement, Amazon quietly released a bunch of new goodies. (at least it seemed like it was “quietly” to me….)

I know that many of my readers are HUGE Paperwhite fans (me, too!!!).

Honestly, I could not imagine how it would be possible to improve that device. It seems darn near perfect.

And yet, as technology moves forward, so do the devices, and Amazon has now ramped up their Paperwhite to a new level, and they are calling this NEW eReader the Kindle Voyage.

So how did they improve ‘perfect’?

1. It’s THINNER.

2. TWICE as many pixels as the Paperwhite, making the text super-crisp.

3. Added tapping sensors on the edge so that you can gently press to turn a page.
(I like love this. I missed my buttons.) You can still turn the page with finger swipes.

4. Automatic light sensors will adjust the light according to the light in the room. It will gradually decrease in a dark room, as your eyes adjust to the dimmer light.

5. General re-design, including a flush-front.

Wifi only, with special offers, costs $199. Removing the special offers hikes the price to $219. (I have the “special offers” appearing on my Paperwhite, and it really doesn’t bother me at all.)

I thought long and hard about this, because I really love my Paperwhite. I did not feel the need to level-up ……. UNTIL I saw that page-turning sensor. That is the one thing I have always missed on the Paperwhite. I am a bed-reader, and when you are comfortably reclining on your side, holding the kindle with one hand, it can be awkward and inconvenient to try and swipe the pages. It’s a nightly struggle to position the Paperwhite just right, and usually I don’t. I missed the old Kindle buttons on the earlier models.

And so I am going to try it. Amazon’s generous return policy makes this a no-brainer for me, because if I don’t like it, I can easily return it. No harm, no foul.

To my surprise, MANY people must be ordering this, because when I tapped the “buy” button on Friday (just a short time after the quiet launch) …. I was told that I won’t be receiving my Kindle Voyage until NOVEMBER 28! 😯 (when it first went on sale, the shipping date was in October!). Wow. I guess the market is strong for this new eReader.

Amazon has also released 4 other products.

1. A Fire HD tablet for only $99. Cheapest tablet available.

2. Fire HD KIDS Edition. “If they break it, we replace it. No questions asked.” If there are Kids in your life, this is worth a closer look.

3. FireHDX 8.9 Big improvements to this tablet.

4. Basic Kindle. Touch screen. No light, but lots of other features. $79

For further information on all of these products, just go to Amazon. They are all displayed on their home page with links to more details.

Poor Fellow DROPS his new iPhone 6

Today is release day for the new iPhones. Lines, lines and more lines.

Shown in this video is the FIRST person to get a phone in Perth, Australia.

Poor guy.

He unveils his prize …… and DROPS IT!

(thanks to Al for bringing this to my attention!)

A New Word for you to Learn: Phablet

If you haven’t heard it yet, you’ll hear it soon.

Phablet

Phablet – a phone that’s big enough to be (almost) considered a tablet.

Samsung has produced a phablet for years with it’s Galaxy Note. And do people like it? They seem to love it. So Apple is now jumping on that bandwagon with the iPhone 6 Plus.

iPhone 6 Plus = the newest phablet on the market.

There was a great review of the iPhone 6 Plus in the New York Times today. Written by a bona-fide big-phone hater, he talks about the time he spent with this new phablet, pros and cons.

I think he surprised himself.

He finds many pluses to make up for the lack of pocketability.

Read the whole article, here:

With Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus, Phablets Get Serious.

Now I’m starting to get excited to get my hands on one.

I’ll not be in line at the Apple stores on Friday (I’m not THAT crazy ambitious 🙂 )

But …

I placed my order! And I should get my iPhone 6 Plus (aka Phablet) in about 3 weeks.

If you are considering the iPhone 6 Plus, I would suggest you take a few minutes and read the NY Times review.

You now have a choice: iPhone 6 Plus or iPhone 6

It’s now official.

Apple is releasing the iPhone 6 in TWO sizes.

The iPhone 6 will have a 4.7 screen.

The iPhone 6 Plus will have a 5.5 screen (yes!).

(To be clear…. both models are LARGER than the iPhone 5)

While there are positive tweaks (such as better battery life, Retina HD display), a disappointment is that the camera will remain at 8 megapixels (rival Android phones are doing better). They have made several other improvements to the camera, however, including a new sensor and video features.

Preorders for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus begin this Friday, with the phones shipping on September 19 (in the US).

Prices and capacity for the iPhone 6 Plus:

Prices and capacity for the iPhone 6:

This will bump back the prices for the older models. A 16 GB 5S will now cost you $99, and you can have a 8GB 5C for free.

Also announced:

The iWatch leaves the rumor mill and is now a reality. This smartwatch will not be called “iWatch” (as everyone was guessing). It is officially called the Apple Watch.

It will come in two sizes, and have a dial (digital crown) that will be used to interact with the watch. In other words, the screen would be too small to use your finger, so this dial will allow you to do whatever it is that you need to do (zoom in or out, etc).

This Apple Watch won’t be released until 2015 and will need an iPhone (models 5 and up). It’s also pretty pricey at $349. I don’t really get this one… but then again, I didn’t “get” the whole internet idea back in the 90’s, so I’ll sit back and let others explore this new watch. I’ll wait to be impressed.

Also announced:

Apple Pay. This is a new mobile payment system for the iPhone. Other companies have tried it but so far it just hasn’t seemed to catch on. Whole Foods, Disney, Walgreens and Macy’s are among the retailers who are going to accept this new system, where you pay via your credit card after taking a photo of it with your iPhone.

I know people are concerned about security for things like this, and I certainly am, too. However I also find that if I can only use it here and there, it’s hardly worthwhile. Personally, before I would jump in the mobile payment water, I would want it to be around for a while and something that is commonly accepted everywhere. I don’t care to be a trailblazer.

And finally….

iOS 8. This new operating system will not only be appearing on the new iPhones, but will be available to current iPhone and iPad users as an upgrade.

As soon as I have the iOS 8 up and running, I will gradually cover the new features …. slowly …. on this blog. One feature at a time. Just for us regular folks. 🙂