No Steve at Macworld and the last Macworld for Apple?

Wow! What a twist of events.  I bet nobody saw that one coming. So I reached out to a source, we will call her "Insider E,"  to get her feedback as to why the sudden move.  Her initial response matches what all the other news sources had said.  "Apple does not need Macworld. It does not benefit [Apple] the way it once did." She explained that the endless hunger from fans for new products caused by these shows are not beneficial to Apple in the long run. These shows and the rumors leading up to them hurt  Apple, she said. 

"Apple is about creating amazing products that customers never dreamed of. Apple is not about creating products that the market want. That is called commoditization and we leave that to other companies. "

So there you have it.  It makes sense to me.  So Apple's stance is that rumor sites are bad and trade shows are feeding the frenzy.

We then had a long conversation about what my goal is with this blog site and why am I wasting my time on this. My response, was that if what she said is the DNA of Apple, to me, that's what keeps feeding my curiosity of "what's next." Apple is like watching a good movie that full of suspense where you never know what's going to happen next.

Plus, their marketing strategies at times are brilliant, completely unexpected and yet effective.  Great research information for a future master thesis. 

Macbook Pricing Follow-up and chat with "Insider C"

I don't know if any of you recall way back before the October 14th announcement of the latest MacBook/Pro, there was some yapping about this so called "$800" MacBook. I been trying to find out via my sources at an undisclosed Apple store where this info may have came from to get some additional insight.  As it turned out, the screenshot presented by Zollotech is straight from one of Apple's shipping and receiving systems. Our source, "Insider C" stated that this was not really that secretive. Almost anybody in the store could have pulled this data via one of the couple of systems that had access.  The data as she recalls was available months before and everyone knew that they belong to new products.  No secret there.  As for why people even thought that the price was for a MacBook, she couldn't figure that out.  According to our source, that was just pure speculation.  Any Apple store employee who had worked long enough to see a prior launch could have told you that the $899 was not for a MacBook. Whichever source that the various sites used to verify that info, must have been sleeping on the job.

$99 iPhone and Walmart

So I decided to go to Walmart this weekend to do some investigation on my own.  While walking around, I have to say that the employees at Walmart are very different from those at the Apple store.  Both are friendly, yes but the Apple employees seem to be from a different crowd.  Walmart and Apple stores are like from different planets.

So onto my mission.  I walked into the electronic department and went straight up to a sales guy.  Asked him when could I buy my $99 iPhone.  He smiled and said that he has been asked that question all day.  He hinted to me that there will be an iPhone but it will not be $99.

My next stop was to check with my Apple buddy to see if he has seen  a $99 iPhone in their store system.  He said "No"

So okay.  No 99 dollar iPhone at Walmart and no 99 dollar iPhone at Apple stores.... So what am I rambling on about today?

Basically, there is no way in the world that Apple will let Walmart sell a $99 dollar iPhone if they do not plan on selling a $99 iPhone themselves.  It would be counterproductive.  All those people that would normally go to an Apple store to buy an iPhone would end up at Walmart.  They would be there buying not just the $99 iPhone, but also buying the cheaper iPhone case and accessories.  That would hurt Apple's store business and add more profit to Walmart. My take is that Apple stores have been successful not just because Apple is successful, but also because they are profitable. What else would explain the sustained growth and number of stores they have opened to date? I doubt that Apple wants their stores to end up being like Gateway where the failure of the stores dragged the overall business down even further.

Breakfast with "Insider B"

We often hear rumor sites talk about sources but never hear much about what kind of person makes a good source. I am going to take a different spin here and let you get to know the source better before a story is posted. And of course, we are not going to let you know this person too well or else, they may get caught.

This morning I had breakfast with a buddy of mine who claims to be an inside source. I explained via a prior phone call that the meeting was going to be about introducing this person who will now be known as "Insider B" to readers. Below is my interview with Insider B over coffee.

Me: So, how did you end up telling the world about Apple?

Insider B: Hey, I don't tell everybody everything.

Me: Sure okay, then how did you end up being a source?

Insider B:  I was at a club in SF for a party and met someone who works for one of the many rumor sites.  I told her who I worked for and she started asking questions about my job.

Me: So what is it that you do for a living?

Insider B:  I spend my time sleeping in the office and telling my boss that I am busy so that he leaves me alone. I am an engineer.

Me: What do you  "engineer"

Insider B: Can't say more then that for now.

Me:  So you met this girl at some club and... Sounds like a dumb story at this time.  Feed us some real info.

Insider B: Well, I gave her my number and email address and a couple weeks later I got invited to some party where I sat down with her friends and started hanging out. Every once a while they ask questions about what I am up to like any other friend would. We rarely talk about my work. If its about rumors, most of the time, they already know what is up and am just looking for confirmation.

Me: So why do you do it? Isn't Apple a super secret place?  Aren't you afraid of the guys with the black suits and shades coming after you?

Insider B: Not sure why I do it to be honest. If  I really think about it, yeah its risky.  I could lose my job but my friends at other companies will take care of me. Plus its fun getting invited to all sorts of parties that these websites host.

Me: Dude, your a trip. So what are you working on these days.

Insider B: Can't talk about it.  I am under NDA.

Me: That's messed up. After all I done for you! Fine, I'll invite you to some parties. Send you Shark's game tickets.

Insider B: Ha-ha.

Me: Fine, take your coffee and run.  I got others that are more grateful then you.

Prototype MacBook Air on Ebay is stolen property

Come on guys!  This is obviously stolen property.  I spoke to my sources in Apple and was told that prototypes are always destroyed when no longer needed. So how in the world did the guys at this Mac Repair shop get their hands on the prototype? Who knows. Our friend Brett who bought it on Ebay is a brave guy taking stolen property and putting it back onto Ebay. We all know how Apple and their army of lawyers deal with offenders.

Source from Macrumors.com

Carbon Fiber, Apple Air, and Lotus Engineering

AppleInsider's Kasper Jade wrote in a November 11 posting that Apple  "is rumored to be unsatisfied with the system's weight" of the Macbook Air. Then the articles talks about Apple"reportedly looking to adopt" Carbon fiber "for only a portion of Air's enclosure." First, where did Kasper get this info from?  I did not see any references or even a note about an inside source.  I think Kasper just made it up.

Regardless, if you look to car manufactures, one can come to their own conclusions. When building a high performance car, manufactures pick and choose materials based on a number of factors including cost and strength. Lotus Engineering decided while designing the body structure of the Lotus Elise sports car that bonded aluminum would provide stiffness and cost savings that could not be matched by Carbon composites.  GM while building the latest Corvette ZO6 decided that a mix of balsa wood, carbon fiber, and aluminum would do the trick. While Ferrari decided to go with Carbon Kevlar for their 400K+ Enzo.

Now back to carbon composites. There are basically  two methods "Wet" and "pre-impregnated" Pre-impregnated is the better method as it creates a stronger material with less mass.  It is also expensive and requires a special equipment called an autoclave to cook the material under pressure. The "Wet" method is simple and can be done in your garage by someone with experience working with Fiberglass. So basically, Pre-impregnated would be the way to go if you are looking to make light and strong fiber composites. But will it be a better material then aluminum? Keep in mind that fiber composites break down over time when exposed to the elements. This takes us to our next factor to consider which has to do with heat dissipation. Too much heat, and the resin in the fiber may start to break down.

MacNN recently reported that Apple recently filed a patent on cooling technologies which describe an aluminum plate behind the display connected to a liquid cooling system that would dissipate heat. Maybe this is how the heat will be drawn alway from the fiber. Hey if so, you heard it here first.

So what will the next Macbook Air be made of? My guess... Balsa wood.

The Apple Netbook...Dude People.. It already exist

I read this a couple of weeks ago and have been laughing since.

http://www.intomobile.com/2008/10/23/apple-iphone-hd-spotted-online.html

I keep seeing  rumors online about the Apple Netbook.  Dude, wake up! You already have the perfect Apple Netbook. Its called the iPod Touch. It is small. Fits in your pocket and lets you surf the web as well as download applications. What more could you possibly need? Some big screen that you lug around because you are getting old and can't see clearly? 

Lets talk about the logic of Apple coming out with a Netbook.  You have the Touch. You have the iPhone. Both are selling like hot cakes why would you want a product that competes with your own? Some may argue that a bigger screen would improve the experience but realistically after dreaming about smaller and smaller devices with more functionality, would you really want something bigger?