Macscoop/MacOSXRumors claims that Apple is finishing development on a 12" MacBook Pro described as "ultra-thin":
The new laptop should be even thinner and weigh less than the current models in the MacBook Pro line-up. In spite of this very tiny and lightweight form-factor, the miniaturized MacBook Pro should keep its built-in optical drive and sport a dual-core processor, providing unequalled size/performance ratio in the PC industry, sources told MacScoop.
This "ultra-portable" MacBook Pro is estimated to be priced in the $1700-$1800 range and sport a 12" widescreen display.
The introduction of 12" MacBook Pro would fill a gap left by the 12" PowerBook model, which was dropped during the transition to Intel in early 2006. Apple retooled their laptop models which previously offered 12" / 14" iBooks and 12" / 15" / 17" PowerBooks to a lineup with 13" MacBooks and 15" / 17" MacBook Pros.
One analyst made similar claims in mid-2006. At that time, analyst Benjamin Reitzes stated that Apple was working on an "ultra-portable PC" to be delivered by Macworld San Francisco 2007. Reitzes included comments about incorporating the use of NAND Flash memory to speed up boot times. This concept of Flash-based latops was revisited in September 2006 by Appleinsider -- with expectations that NAND flash would make their way into the next revision of MacBooks due in 2007. While these rumors line up with each other, MacScoop makes no mention of Flash memory in this upcoming "ultra-thin" laptop.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Sunday, December 03, 2006
LATEST BOYCOTT
FOR Rev. Jesse Jackson, the DVD release of the hilarious seventh season of "Seinfeld" is nothing to laugh about. Jackson is urging the public to boycott the DVD set, which, of course, features Michael Richards as Jerry's wacky neighbor Kramer. After Richards' racist tirade at the Laugh Factory in L.A., there was a spike in sales of the DVD set. Jackson has said he wants to give his black ancestors "dignity over degradation." He might also want a donation to his civil-rights operation.
Cops clubbing nightspots
Kalua one of many targeted
The Kalua Cabaret strip club in Queens isn't the only nightspot being targeted by the special NYPD task force at the center of the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Sean Bell.
The club enforcement unit is trying to close five other clubs - four in Chelsea on Manhattan's West Side and one in Jamaica, Queens, police told the Daily News.
In recent months, the task force has gone into state Supreme Court seeking to close Chelsea clubs like Crobar, Home, Stereo and Sol armed with evidence of alleged criminal activity, including serving alcohol to minors and drug use by patrons, authorities said.
The targeted clubs are all within an area bordered by W. 26th St. and W. 29th St. and Eighth and 12th Aves.
The NYPD began flooding the club scene in July after 18-year-old Jennifer Moore, a college-bound girl from New Jersey, was abducted, raped and killed.
Moore got into the Guest House on W. 27th St. and drank heavily with another underage pal on July 25 before wandering outside and eventually getting separated from her friend. Her body was later found in a trash bin in Weehawken, N.J.
Her death sparked outrage and led the NYPD to create the special club unit to combat underage drinking, drug dealing, gambling and prostitution at city clubs.
"It would appear that things are getting better," said Robert Benfatto, district manager of Community Board 4, which includes part of Chelsea. "The number of complaints have gone down."
The task force shut down Spirit, a trendy nightspot at 530 W. 27th St., on Aug. 25 after cops allegedly caught bartenders serving alcohol to minors, patrons selling drugs and partygoers smoking pot.
A new owner plans to reopen under the closed club's liquor license and a hearing is scheduled for next week.
But cops are determined to keep the club closed and see others around it shuttered.
The police task force has made 54 felony arrests, 74 misdemeanor arrests and issued 32 Criminal Court summonses at more than 100 clubs, lounges and restaurants in Chelsea since August.
The Kalua Cabaret strip club in Queens isn't the only nightspot being targeted by the special NYPD task force at the center of the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Sean Bell.
The club enforcement unit is trying to close five other clubs - four in Chelsea on Manhattan's West Side and one in Jamaica, Queens, police told the Daily News.
In recent months, the task force has gone into state Supreme Court seeking to close Chelsea clubs like Crobar, Home, Stereo and Sol armed with evidence of alleged criminal activity, including serving alcohol to minors and drug use by patrons, authorities said.
The targeted clubs are all within an area bordered by W. 26th St. and W. 29th St. and Eighth and 12th Aves.
The NYPD began flooding the club scene in July after 18-year-old Jennifer Moore, a college-bound girl from New Jersey, was abducted, raped and killed.
Moore got into the Guest House on W. 27th St. and drank heavily with another underage pal on July 25 before wandering outside and eventually getting separated from her friend. Her body was later found in a trash bin in Weehawken, N.J.
Her death sparked outrage and led the NYPD to create the special club unit to combat underage drinking, drug dealing, gambling and prostitution at city clubs.
"It would appear that things are getting better," said Robert Benfatto, district manager of Community Board 4, which includes part of Chelsea. "The number of complaints have gone down."
The task force shut down Spirit, a trendy nightspot at 530 W. 27th St., on Aug. 25 after cops allegedly caught bartenders serving alcohol to minors, patrons selling drugs and partygoers smoking pot.
A new owner plans to reopen under the closed club's liquor license and a hearing is scheduled for next week.
But cops are determined to keep the club closed and see others around it shuttered.
The police task force has made 54 felony arrests, 74 misdemeanor arrests and issued 32 Criminal Court summonses at more than 100 clubs, lounges and restaurants in Chelsea since August.
She prays for 'Sopranos' star & officer
Domenica Brancato remembers the four words that have changed her life.
"Something happened to Lillo," her husband said.
She had been sound asleep in the early hours of Dec. 10, 2005. She had last seen her son a few hours back, when he was awakened by a phone call.
"Steven [Armento] called my son to go out," she recalled tearfully. "He went and never came home again."
It has been nearly a year since Lillo Brancato, who appeared in the movie "A Bronx Tale," and HBO's "The Sopranos," allegedly killed off-duty cop Daniel Enchautegui in the Bronx.
Brancato didn't pull the trigger; his friend, Armento, 49, did. But the 30-year-old actor is charged with murder because the shooting occurred during the commission of another felony. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
"Lillo Brancato did nothing wrong that night," said defense attorney Joseph Tacopina. "My client is innocent, and his story is corroborated by witnesses and ballistic evidence."
"Lillo didn't have a gun, There was no burglary, Lillo never even went into the house, he did not enter the dwelling or commit a crime inside."
Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, thinks otherwise. Accompanied by dozens of cops at each court date, he has branded Brancato a "cold-blooded killer."
"Do not be fooled by the Hollywood and the drama this star is going to produce," said Lynch. "This is a drug-addicted, cop-killing team."
But beyond lawyers and angry police union officials, there is a mother who sees only a son.
Domenica, 55, says she continually prays for Lillo - but also prays for Enchautegui and his family. "There is a young officer who died, and my son is in jail," she told the Daily News. "I pray for the officer and his family as well as Lillo. This situation is very tragic and very sad."
If her prayers are answered, Brancato's son will return home to Yonkers cleared of the murder charge.
"My son did not shoot anyone," Domenica insisted after attending a recent court hearing with husband, Lillo Sr., 59.
"I believe he was at the wrong place at the wrong time," she added. "He's not a tough guy, he's a mushy lamb."
The actor says he didn't know Armento, a convicted junkie, had a gun when prosecutors say they broke into an apartment next to Enchautegui's Pelham Bay home on Dec. 10 in search of drugs.
When Enchautegui confronted them, Armento shot him, according to prosecutor Terri Gotlieb. The 26-year-old officer returned fire, wounding Armento and Brancato, who had dated Armento's daughter Stephanie.
Soon after the shooting, the actor's mother said police officers converged on her Yonkers home. They wanted to search Lillo's room, and she let them because she "had nothing" to hide.
"Something happened to Lillo," her husband said.
She had been sound asleep in the early hours of Dec. 10, 2005. She had last seen her son a few hours back, when he was awakened by a phone call.
"Steven [Armento] called my son to go out," she recalled tearfully. "He went and never came home again."
It has been nearly a year since Lillo Brancato, who appeared in the movie "A Bronx Tale," and HBO's "The Sopranos," allegedly killed off-duty cop Daniel Enchautegui in the Bronx.
Brancato didn't pull the trigger; his friend, Armento, 49, did. But the 30-year-old actor is charged with murder because the shooting occurred during the commission of another felony. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
"Lillo Brancato did nothing wrong that night," said defense attorney Joseph Tacopina. "My client is innocent, and his story is corroborated by witnesses and ballistic evidence."
"Lillo didn't have a gun, There was no burglary, Lillo never even went into the house, he did not enter the dwelling or commit a crime inside."
Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, thinks otherwise. Accompanied by dozens of cops at each court date, he has branded Brancato a "cold-blooded killer."
"Do not be fooled by the Hollywood and the drama this star is going to produce," said Lynch. "This is a drug-addicted, cop-killing team."
But beyond lawyers and angry police union officials, there is a mother who sees only a son.
Domenica, 55, says she continually prays for Lillo - but also prays for Enchautegui and his family. "There is a young officer who died, and my son is in jail," she told the Daily News. "I pray for the officer and his family as well as Lillo. This situation is very tragic and very sad."
If her prayers are answered, Brancato's son will return home to Yonkers cleared of the murder charge.
"My son did not shoot anyone," Domenica insisted after attending a recent court hearing with husband, Lillo Sr., 59.
"I believe he was at the wrong place at the wrong time," she added. "He's not a tough guy, he's a mushy lamb."
The actor says he didn't know Armento, a convicted junkie, had a gun when prosecutors say they broke into an apartment next to Enchautegui's Pelham Bay home on Dec. 10 in search of drugs.
When Enchautegui confronted them, Armento shot him, according to prosecutor Terri Gotlieb. The 26-year-old officer returned fire, wounding Armento and Brancato, who had dated Armento's daughter Stephanie.
Soon after the shooting, the actor's mother said police officers converged on her Yonkers home. They wanted to search Lillo's room, and she let them because she "had nothing" to hide.
Adviser: Clinton Actively Considers '08 Presidential Bid
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun active consideration of a 2008 run for president and has personally asked some fellow top New York Democrats for their support in the event she goes ahead with such a campaign, a top adviser said Sunday.
``As Senator Clinton said, she was going to begin actively considering a presidential run after the election. That process has begun,'' said Howard Wolfson.
``She is reaching out to her colleagues in the New York delegation and asking for their advice and counsel, and their support if she decides to make a run,'' the Clinton adviser told The Associated Press.
Wolfson said he did not know when she might make a decision.
The former first lady is coming off an easy re-election victory to the New York Senate seat she has held since her historic election in 2000. National polls show her as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
Wolfson's comment mark a public acknowledgment of what had been widely expected _ that once her re-election campaign was out of the way, Clinton would turn her attention to a possible White House bid that, if successful, would make her the first woman to hold the office.
Also eyeing the presidential race on the Democratic side, among others, are Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack began his campaign for the nomination last week.
``As Senator Clinton said, she was going to begin actively considering a presidential run after the election. That process has begun,'' said Howard Wolfson.
``She is reaching out to her colleagues in the New York delegation and asking for their advice and counsel, and their support if she decides to make a run,'' the Clinton adviser told The Associated Press.
Wolfson said he did not know when she might make a decision.
The former first lady is coming off an easy re-election victory to the New York Senate seat she has held since her historic election in 2000. National polls show her as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
Wolfson's comment mark a public acknowledgment of what had been widely expected _ that once her re-election campaign was out of the way, Clinton would turn her attention to a possible White House bid that, if successful, would make her the first woman to hold the office.
Also eyeing the presidential race on the Democratic side, among others, are Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack began his campaign for the nomination last week.
Parallels beta works with Boot Camp partition
Parallels quietly unveiled a new beta version of Parallels Desktop for Mac, its software that makes it possible for Intel-based Macs to run Windows operating systems and software without needing to be rebooted. It’s available for download now, and is free for registered users. Parallels Desktop for Mac costs $79.
With Parallels Desktop for Mac installed, an Intel-based Mac can run Windows XP and other x86-based operating systems, including older versions of Windows and versions of Linux, inside a window on Mac OS X as a “Virtual Machine.” This is distinctly different from Apple’s Boot Camp software, which enables Intel Macs to run Windows after being restarted.
New to Mac Beta Build 3036 is improved usability; a “Virtual Machines” catalog that lets you view all the virtual machines you may have installed, if you run more than one instance of Parallels Desktop; one-click Virtual Machine aliases; a resizable main window; auto-adjusting screen resolution and the ability to drag and drop files and folders between Windows and Mac.
Also of import is the ability to use a Boot Camp partition — so you don’t need to maintain separate installations for Boot Camp and Parallels, which will help to conserve hard disk space (and reduce licensing issues with Windows).
Other changes have also been made, including better USB peripheral performance and 50 percent better graphics performance on some applications.
With Parallels Desktop for Mac installed, an Intel-based Mac can run Windows XP and other x86-based operating systems, including older versions of Windows and versions of Linux, inside a window on Mac OS X as a “Virtual Machine.” This is distinctly different from Apple’s Boot Camp software, which enables Intel Macs to run Windows after being restarted.
New to Mac Beta Build 3036 is improved usability; a “Virtual Machines” catalog that lets you view all the virtual machines you may have installed, if you run more than one instance of Parallels Desktop; one-click Virtual Machine aliases; a resizable main window; auto-adjusting screen resolution and the ability to drag and drop files and folders between Windows and Mac.
Also of import is the ability to use a Boot Camp partition — so you don’t need to maintain separate installations for Boot Camp and Parallels, which will help to conserve hard disk space (and reduce licensing issues with Windows).
Other changes have also been made, including better USB peripheral performance and 50 percent better graphics performance on some applications.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Microsoft Vista: Companies Can Wait
Corporate buyers may be slow to adopt the new operating system and Office business programs
it's been five years since the last release of Microsoft's Windows operating system, and more than three since the previous iteration of its Office word-processing and spreadsheet program debuted. So when businesses get the chance to buy the newest flavors—Windows Vista and Office 2007—on Nov. 30, you might think there would be a lot of pent-up demand. Not so much.
When Microsoft's two most important products become available for businesses (the consumer version of Vista will be ready in January), adoption is likely to be modest at best. To some extent, that's because companies are cautious about adopting new technology. They want to make sure new products work with existing systems. And they don't want to disrupt employees who are accustomed to using what they have.
it's been five years since the last release of Microsoft's Windows operating system, and more than three since the previous iteration of its Office word-processing and spreadsheet program debuted. So when businesses get the chance to buy the newest flavors—Windows Vista and Office 2007—on Nov. 30, you might think there would be a lot of pent-up demand. Not so much.
When Microsoft's two most important products become available for businesses (the consumer version of Vista will be ready in January), adoption is likely to be modest at best. To some extent, that's because companies are cautious about adopting new technology. They want to make sure new products work with existing systems. And they don't want to disrupt employees who are accustomed to using what they have.
Much to Be Thankful for at Dell
A better-than-expected third quarter earns Dell CEO Kevin Rollins some needed goodwill on Wall StreetIn its first upbeat financial news in more than a year, Dell reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, raising hopes that the PC maker may finally be finding its way out of a prolonged slump.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
TRACY 'TRASHED' AGAIN
'SNL' VET IN DWI BUST HERENot - so - funnyman Tracy Morgan was caught stinking drunk behind the wheel in upper Manhattan yesterday - earning his second misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated charge in 11 months, cops said.
The comedian, who got more snores than laughs on "Saturday Night Live" and currently plays a drunk, washed-up comic on "30 Rock," was arrested at 4:30 a.m. when cops allegedly spotted his Cadillac Escalade weaving in and out of lanes on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 158th Street.
He was a few minutes from his apartment in Spuyten Duyvil in The Bronx.
Morgan, 38, is still on probation after a Hollywood bust for impaired driving last December, when cops stopped him for speeding. He pleaded no contest in February to a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving and had to attend an alcohol-education program.
"I am coming from a club," cops said the boozy-breathed, watery-eyed Morgan told them during his pre-dawn arrest yesterday. "Yes, I had some beer."
Once taken to the 28th Precinct, the stand-up comic was falling-down drunk, Manhattan prosecutors charge. He gave an allegedly stumbling, unsteady performance during his coordination test - which he failed.
He also blew a .126 on his breath test, indicating his blood-alcohol content was well above the .08 limit, cops said.
Morgan's blood-alcohol level had been .13 after his Hollywood arrest.
Morgan was brought before a Manhattan Criminal Court judge by 2:30 p.m. and charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and the violation of operating a motor vehicle while impaired.
He refused - at least for now - a plea deal in which he would avoid jail by paying a $1,000 fine, serving five days community service.
SOLITARY MAN
LILLO Brancato Jr., the fledgling actor who appeared in "A Bronx Tale" and is now a Rikers Island inmate, is doing his third stint in solitary confinement (referred to as "punitive segregation") after sources say he tested positive for heroin. The first two times he landed in solitary, sources say the punishment was for disrespecting an officer. Brancato is being held on murder charges relating to the shooting death of Police Officer Daniel Enchautegui in The Bronx last year
3 BIMBOS OF THE APOCALYPSE
NO CLUE, NO CARES, NO UNDERWEAR: MEET THE PARTY POSSE OF THE YEAR
- THEY have already been dubbed "The Brit Pack": three girls, increasingly famous for making spectacularly bad choices, marshaling their collective brain power to navigate the booths and banquettes at Hyde or Spider Club or wherever it is they're drinking it off on any given night.
Paris Hilton, her frenemy Lindsay Lohan, and newly separated Britney Spears: three party girls without a care (babies? what babies?), a high tolerance for alcohol, or a good publicist.
In the past week, Spears - who has a 1-year-old and 2-month-old at home - has spent every single night partying with Hilton (and, occasionally, Lohan). A quick study, Spears - long absent from the scene, what with being married and pregnant and all - has already picked up such "It" girl tricks as how to make sure your picture winds up everywhere. Such as, don't wear underwear and flash your crotch while pretending you hate the paparazzi and tearfully beg for them to leave you alone.
JUDGE & FURY
A day after claiming police used "excessive force" in the strip-club car shooting that left an unarmed man dead on his wedding day, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday said he was speaking only as "a civilian" - but then stated he wants the cops tried in Queens.
Responding to criticism from the police unions for labeling the actions of five cops who unleashed 50 rounds "unacceptable," Bloomberg stated, "I said what I believed. I am a civilian. I am not a professional law-enforcement officer."
And although not a single indictment has been handed up in the shooting death of Sean Bell, 23, the mayor - who urged New Yorkers not to rush to judgment - was already talking about where the jury should sit.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Grease & quiet?
O.J.'s ex sis-in-law: News Corp. tried to buy my silence in failed TV, book deal
The O.J. Simpson book fiasco took another shocking turn yesterday when his former sister-in-law claimed that Rupert Murdoch's deputies offered her family "millions of dollars" in "hush money."
Denise Brown concluded the money was intended to buy her family's silence on Simpson's print and TV deal with Murdoch's News Corp. in which Simpson was to expound on how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
But the offer made to the Brown and Goldman families over the weekend - after criticism erupted over the book and TV deal - amounted to a hollow promise because it was contingent on the book and TV special turning a profit.
With advertisers balking at backing the TV show, stores threatening to keep the book off shelves and millions of dollars in expenses, any profits would have been iffy at best.
Simpson, much to the fury of the Browns and Goldmans, may get the last word on his scandalous tome titled "If I Did It." His attorney Yale Galanter told The News that Simpson is planning to break his silence and do "a couple of major interviews" to react to the book debacle.
Both the Brown and Goldman families turned down the money offer made by senior News Corp. executives, and on Monday, Murdoch pulled the plug on the entire project calling it "ill-considered."
"They wanted to offer us millions of dollars. Millions of dollars for, like, 'Oh, I'm sorry' money. But they were still going to air the show," Brown, 50, told NBC's "Today."
"We just thought, 'Oh my God.' What they're trying to do is trying to keep us quiet, trying to make this like hush money, trying to go around the civil verdict, giving us this money to keep our mouths shut."
Mills: Split worse than limb loss
Heather Mills has said she would rather lose the rest of her limbs than repeat the trauma of her marriage breakdown.
In her first television interview since her split with Sir Paul McCartney, she told US entertainment show Extra she would never marry again.
The 38-year-old former model, who lost a leg in a motorbike accident in 1993, said she had been "vilified".
"I would rather someone come up and chop off all my limbs than go through what I went through," she said.
She added: "It's a fact because if your limbs are chopped off you ... get another limb and there's light at the end of the tunnel.
"When you're vilified for doing nothing but falling in love with an icon ... I'd rather have all of my limbs cut off that's the God's honest truth."
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Meet me at the Apple Store
Walk by the Staten Island Mall's Apple Store on any given night, and the scene is similar: inside are just as many young teens mugging for the digital cameras as hip elders learning how to edit their own movies and cut their own podcasts. The toughs in baggy jeans futz with iPods and try to lay hip-hop tracks on the digital synthesizers (with, often, the computer belching their discordant notes back at them through high-fidelity speakers). And the computer brainiac workers recognizable by their shirts emblazoned with the word "genius" are the most sought-after people in the place.
It's a place where computer geeks and the tech-savvy download, surf and shop in harmony.The customers say they love it.
"I always come in here," says Michael Tedesco, a 20-year-old from Tottenville. "It's like a social attraction."
The Staten Island store's arrival was hailed as a sign that the borough "could be achieving cultural hipitude," by the magazine Time Out New York, which also pointed out that the shorter wait times for technical help at the Island store make it a magnet for Mac lovers from other parts of the city. It also received an accolade from Apple as having some of the fastest service the company offers, which the staffers brag about with little prompting.
"It's the bridge between average Joe and computer elite," says Joshua Toro, one of the store's geniuses, who spends hours every week giving one-on-one lessons newly available in the store.
Toro speaks with casual confidence about today's tech-savvy consumers. Those consumers are using their computers to do what radios, CD players, televisions, desk calendars and even alarm clocks are supposed to do. They are becoming homegrown radio stars by publishing podcasts.
And they are showing up in droves at the Apple Store to learn and play.
Toro says the store has hooked into the changing attitude of electronics customer -- from "How do I use it?" to, "What can I do with it?" -- so that as consumers incorporate these devices into their lives, the Apple's tech support structure becomes an important part of their lives as well.
But, more simply, Apple Stores are seen as cool, and part of the answer to why may lie in their shrewd minimalist design: though all the other electronics-centered stores allow customers to sample and test the merchandise, the light-wood, open-spaced setting of all Apple Stores is uniquely inviting. And the merchandise, ranging from sleek iPods to elegant laptops, resembles works of art. The experience is fully hands-on: shoppers are encouraged to come in to play music, browse the Web, check email -- basically, to do whatever they want on Apple's dime and time. A low table, squishy seats and computers stocked with colorful games appeal to the younger critters.
It's a place where computer geeks and the tech-savvy download, surf and shop in harmony.The customers say they love it.
"I always come in here," says Michael Tedesco, a 20-year-old from Tottenville. "It's like a social attraction."
The Staten Island store's arrival was hailed as a sign that the borough "could be achieving cultural hipitude," by the magazine Time Out New York, which also pointed out that the shorter wait times for technical help at the Island store make it a magnet for Mac lovers from other parts of the city. It also received an accolade from Apple as having some of the fastest service the company offers, which the staffers brag about with little prompting.
"It's the bridge between average Joe and computer elite," says Joshua Toro, one of the store's geniuses, who spends hours every week giving one-on-one lessons newly available in the store.
Toro speaks with casual confidence about today's tech-savvy consumers. Those consumers are using their computers to do what radios, CD players, televisions, desk calendars and even alarm clocks are supposed to do. They are becoming homegrown radio stars by publishing podcasts.
And they are showing up in droves at the Apple Store to learn and play.
Toro says the store has hooked into the changing attitude of electronics customer -- from "How do I use it?" to, "What can I do with it?" -- so that as consumers incorporate these devices into their lives, the Apple's tech support structure becomes an important part of their lives as well.
But, more simply, Apple Stores are seen as cool, and part of the answer to why may lie in their shrewd minimalist design: though all the other electronics-centered stores allow customers to sample and test the merchandise, the light-wood, open-spaced setting of all Apple Stores is uniquely inviting. And the merchandise, ranging from sleek iPods to elegant laptops, resembles works of art. The experience is fully hands-on: shoppers are encouraged to come in to play music, browse the Web, check email -- basically, to do whatever they want on Apple's dime and time. A low table, squishy seats and computers stocked with colorful games appeal to the younger critters.
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