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Latest Info On FFXIV
With the release of FFXIII in Japan and the loads of information leaking out about FFXIV one ca only get but excited about this game. This week FFXIVCore has a huge week roundup post with Screenshots, MP3 Downloads and loads of information of FFXIV. So head on over and check it out for the time being i am going to to playing FF Mu life as a Dark Lord and FF Tactics.
Lemons, and Apples
Sometimes I wish Apple would go back to being the 4% Market Share company it used to be. Back when the company had higher QC and pride them self in bringing you a solid product. It seems like all this popularity has come back to hurt Apple. Just check out this article in TechCrunch and you will understand what I am talking about. When you ask people what they think about Apple products you usually hear the same descriptions, elegance, easy to use, reliable, quality. Apple has always pride them selves in delivery just that, a product that is elegant, easy to use, and reliable. You pay more but you get quality.
This is one of the main things that Apple has going for it. Any hardcore Mac user can tell you amazing storys about how good Apple products are. They can truly stand the test of time. It is not unusual to find 5 and 6 year old Apple hardware still running strong. Browse E-Bay and you will see a huge array of old Apple hardware still circulating the for sale market. But this is not the case anymore. As of late , it seems Apple has been dropping the ball when it comes to quality. First it was the Nvidia fiasco, then the iPhone 3g cracked case, and now the iMac screen problems.
To be Honest this is to be expected, Apple need to be careful of what they wish for. The bigger you get the harder it is to deliver the same level of quality. Apple has seen a huge increase in market share in the past 3 years. This is mainly due to the iPhone and iPod popularity and also complement of Windows Vista. People get a taste of the "Apple Experience" and are willing to become switchers. This has aid in the increase of Mac users. The numbers speak for them self, Mac market share has grown exponentially. As Apple increases production we see an increase in failures and a drop in quality.
On my last trip to the Apple store I noticed that there was a huge waiting list of people waiting for repairs. While waiting for my iMac to be worked on I listen to customers explain their problems to the Geniuses. Everything from bad hard drives to faulty displays, stuck CD drives and even motherboard failures. To make things worst the Geniuses where quoting 3 to 5 days turnaround on the repairs. My iMac was at the Apple store for a total of 4 days and this was just for a hard drive replacement!!!! So what can Apple do to alleviate this growing problem? Clearly something needs to be done, either at the QC stage of production or at the stores, Apple need to step up their game and start offering better support. After all anybody that pays a premium price "Apple Tax" for a computer + warranty should not have to put up with long wait times and turnarounds or faulty hardware.
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Waving Goodbye to 2009
via youtube.com
Pretty cool Video, a small recap of 2009 using Google Wave, i gues wave is good for something after all LOL! Enjoy.
Posted via web from PCoraJr
FFXIV Beta Sign Up.
Friday nigh Square Enix started sending out E-mails inviting people to sing up for the FFXIV beta. From what I could tell it seems like they are going to run both PS3 and PC beta at the same time. When you sing up you are asked some questions about you MMORPG experience as well as system specs and playing habits. At the end you are asked if you want to apply for the PC or PS3 beta, if you want to sing up for beta make sure you have Square Enix. For more info check out the beta test application site.
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Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard
via theonion.com
You have to love Onion. Thanks to @IanDrummond in twitter for sharing this one.
Posted via web from PCoraJr
Apple Sings Lala.......
Friday to much of my dismay, I found out that my favorite online music service, was acquired by Apple. I been using Lala for about a month now, ever since they struck the music search deal with Google. I instantly fell in love with this service, I mean what could be better? I have access to their catalog for less than 10 cents per song. The trick? you can only stream these songs, but with the talk of a iPhone app being available soon whats not to like?
If you are like me then you are the kind of person that likes to explore new music. This can be a tedious and expensive undertaking but thankfully service like Last.FM and Pandora make it easy for you to discover new music. Lala acted as good method of discovery but also allowed you to have options when it came to purchasing your music. Lala offers a Websong option, a Websong is nothing but you purchasing the rights to stream that song anytime anywhere. of course if you wanted to listen to your music while off-line you could purchase the song for about 89 cent, and by the way the 10 cents you paid for the web song are put towards your MP3 purchase. So if the song is sold for 89 cents and you purchased the Websong for 10 cents, when is time to purchased the MP3 you only pay 79 cents.
Even better is Lala's Mover. This software scans your computer for music you already own. It then matches the music up to Lala's catalog and if the music is available on their catalog it is automatically added to your online collection, this allows you to have you music collection available on the internet. So instead of carrying around a portable HD with my 15 Gig's worth of music I can now access it via Lala's servers. Add to this a great integration to to social networks like Facebook and Twitter coupled with Lala's own social network options and what you have is a great tool to explore, and purchase music for cheap.
In comes Apple. And let me be clear what I have with Apple is a love/hate relationship. I love most of their product line, but I am also very critical about some of their practices. iTunes is the number one online music store in the internet as we speak. They have done a great job with itunes and the iPod. but when it comes to Music management itunes is the worst in the group. Apple has also fall behing in the price wars by allowing the record labels to dictate pricing and not allowing for a good ecosystem when it comes to revenue sharing with the Artist. So you can see why I am a bit worried about this deal. Lala has been able to built a great service that is good for the consumer, with great prices and flexibility.
Will Apple keep Lala going? Who knows... Lala has built a big following. It would be foolish of Apple to not deliver the same level of service that Lala has come to be known for. This means keeping the same pricing schema, offering the same options of purchasing, as well as keeping the social aspect of the service open. What I fear the most is that Apple might close the Lala service behind a subscription wall, or worst yet bundle it up with the CrappyME (Mobile Me) service. Only time will tell what the outcome of the acquisition will do to Lala, lets just hope that this is for the best and that Apple is not just out to dissolve what would of been a good competitor to iTunes.
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Chromium Latest Built
The lates built of Chromium browser brings with it Bookmark syncing support. After reading this article at TechCrunch I learned that Google is getting ready to release any day now what they call "Milestone 4". This released will be the first official Beta release of Chrome. But if you want bookmark syncing now then head on over to Chromium.org and download the latest built. I have been using Chromium for 2 weeks now and it is Rock Solid. I have not experienced any crashes or bugs so far, so it looks like Chromium is just as stable if not better than Chrome Dev built.
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