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Saturday, January 1, 2011
A year ago on Unclutterer
2009 Brainstorming resolutions for 2010Over the next couple weeks, I’ll write about how to create and organize a schedule for achieving your difficult goals. Right now, though, I want you to brainstorm on what you want to achieve in 2010. Make a list, or three or nine. Talk to friends, family and/or your boss about [...]
2011 Resolution #1: Get Fit
In an effort to talk about the power of goal-setting along with some methods of setting and achieving goals, I?m going to discuss my three resolutions for 2011 this week. As many of you remember, I set a weight loss goal for 2010 that I exactly halfway achieved. I’m happy with that partial success. What [...]
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A year ago on Unclutterer
2009 Vigilante road unclutterersThe Washington Post reported last week that there are numerous vigilante unclutterers cleaning up Virginia roadways as a hobby. Unitasker Wednesday: Fingertip oven mittsThat’s right, fingertip-only oven mitts do not look safe in the least. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they look unsafe. And, all you [...]
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How to Enjoy New Year's Eve at Home With Your Family
When all your plans for parties, going out, and having a wild time on New Year's Eve have fizzed for whatever reason and you realize you're left with the option of spending New Year's Eve with the family, it might seem a letdown at times. Yet, spending New Year's Eve at home with your family can be a fantastic opportunity to bond, have fun together and to see in the new year with your loved ones rather than with the crowds. And your family will care a lot more about you than fellow party-goers, so chin up, cheer up, and prepare for a great evening in. Here is how to spend quality time with your family on New Year's Eve.
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Should Apple stop selling software in its retail stores?
By Joe Wilcox, Betanews
It's the question to ask with the Mac App Store launching in one week. Software takes up valuable shelf space Apple could use for other things, particularly in many of its smaller boutique-sized shops. I've asked Apple PR if the company plans to stop selling software at its retail stores but received no answer before posting.
Apple is notorious for pulling the plug on something and pushing the consumer market forward, whether or not it's ready to move. I remember when in 1998, with launch of the Bondi Blue iMac, Apple removed legacy ports, shifting to FireWire and USB. A decade later, Apple ditched the internal optical drive on the original MacBook Air. The newer model replaces the hard drive with solid-state storage. There are many other examples and some quite displeasing to consumers, when Apple releases something new incompatible with what its customers already have.
Should digital download delivery only be the next push?
The Mac App Store offers many advantages developers can see from selling applications through iTunes for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Among the other advantages:
1. Applications can be made available across multiple-sized devices -- Macs, iPads, iPhones and iPod touches.
2. Developers can now scale their applications across devices.
3. Developers can sell apps for which they will be paid; the app store deters piracy.
4. Rights protection is built in so that customers aren't exposed to onerous piracy-deterring activation mechanisms.
5. The store makes applications easily available to customers and more easily searched for than scouring the Web.
6. Developers can easily get digital shelf space -- and, therefore greater exposure -- where they might not get retail shelf space at all.
Would Apple be so bold regarding software, by making the Mac App Store its sole distribution channel? It's not like Apple runs a record shop, selling CDs. There is iTunes for that and for selling mobile apps. Surely the developer benefits are compelling.
"I can't imagine them doing that," says Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis. "I suspect they would lose a lot of support from the major third-party software producers." Oh, yeah? But no one complains about selling mobile apps digitally.
"I think the genius of any app store for mobile was that it puts all the products together in one place for people to find, that was the challenge for mobile," he responds. "For computers we already had that, it is called a retail store. So yes, I think apps for a computer is just another name for a DDL [direct download] store."
Baker backs up his assertion with some convincing numbers. First, he concedes, people do buy software online -- about three-quarters of US computer users. "Of that, about one-third were subscription renewals, one-quarter were digital downloads and one-quarter were CDs," he explains. So while the majority of computer users have purchased software online, not many bought direct digital downloads.
"Only 43 percent of online software buyers want a digital download only," Baker says. "Thirty percent want a box and 22 percent want a download and a box."
Still, 43 percent represents a helluva lot of people, and right now Apple only needs to be concerned with Mac owners, as the store won't be available to Windows users next week. Like lemmings, so-called Macheads seem all too willing to leap over the cliff with Apple to the next big thing. No push required.
How do you buy or want to buy software? Please respond in comments.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
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