Apple Grrl

New group, first meet up to be in May. If you are a media maker in NH area, come on down!

NH Media Makers

Apple recently put a former big wig from Avon on their Board of Directors. Aside from the potential for jokes about the iPhone not being tested on animals or iPod coming with a matching tube of lipstick, this bodes well for a time of positive growth at Apple. Apple usually adds people to their company ranks that they feel will help in some way with future campaigns or changes. Avon is known for two things, both of which would be great for Apple: global marketing campaigns and being a company with a cause. Apple could use help reaching a global audience and becoming a greener company, so whether their new board member is there for one or both of those things is a positive.

I got a bit busy this week, as I mentioned over on Smoke Rings. That means I missed some excellent Apple news for you. By way of apology for tripping over my own deadlines this week, here is a quick recap of some of the highlights:

• MacWorld has opened registration for the the big MacWorld 2008 event and exhibition. Even better, for a limited time you can enter the code below at this site and get into the exhibit hall portion of the show for free. Yes, FREE. I wish I still lived in Santa Barbara - I’d so be there! (Use Priority Code: 08-E-VF01 to get the Exhibit Hall passes for free until October 5th.)
• This is a nice look at the man behind the beautiful designs of the iMac, iPod and iPhone, Jonathan Ive.
• The drummer from the Ramones, unable to resurrect his career legitimately, has decided to make some money by suing Apple and a host of others over use of his music. Git.
• This site tells you how to stream movies to your iPhone from iTunes. Awesome.
• Apple asks its workers to cancel holiday plans between Turkey Day and Xmas this year. The plan seems to be to release the new line of slim MacBooks,, and that coupled with new iPod options and other innovations may make this holiday season quite busy for Apple.
• Steve Jobs was subpoenaed by the SEC in the back dating case.

Have a great rest of your weekend! Can’t wait to see what Apple news and rumor abounds in the coming week.

You can also read my work today at Profy (NovelMaker, Mog vs LastFM), The Writer’s Well, and Smoke Rings. Enjoy!

Apple has released the fine print of the $100 iPhone credit. (SecretNotes)

Apple has released a software update for iMacs that fixes a few glitches. (Apple)

Marketers dissect Apple’s strategy for loyal customers. (CRM)

PC Magazine plays with the new iPod Touch. (PC Mag)

MacWorld talks about user driven news versus media conglomerate driven news. (MacWorld)

Learn to create Keynote slides for a series of images. (MacWorld)

Is Apple breaking into the movie rental business on iTunes? (Money)

Undercover security application recovers 4 MacBooks. (MacNN)

Macworld will be front and center at the Apple Event today, which begins at 10 AM PDT.

Get live coverage from MacWorld here.

My writing advice site, The Writer’s Well, is having a design contest - check it out!

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE MOD YOUR MAC CONTEST!!! LAST CHANCE!!Finally! The videos are starting to be posted online for the vicarious enjoyment of all of us who were not at All Things D to see Jobs and Gates on stage together. Enjoy (shown after the break)! (more…)

Who has the industry clout to bring Steve Jobs and Bill Gates together for an appearance on stage in what is an industry first? The Wall Street Journal, apparently. Their columnist, Walt Mossberg, has achieved the impossible: bringing Jobs and Gates together on stage at the Wall Street Journal’s D5: All Things Digital conference. What I would give to be in attendance there!

This is an historic moment in the technoverse. Two industry titans, normally at odds, playing nice for a day? Unheard of.

The tech titans from Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. didn’t even appear together when they announced a partnership that helped Jobs save Apple at Macworld in Boston 10 years ago. (Gates teleconferenced in remotely, appearing on a screen looming over Jobs.) It could be the first time they’ve been together in such a setting since Jobs famously interviewed Gates as a possible suitor for Apple’s new computer in an onstage version of the “Macintosh Dating Game” back in 1984.

So when is the big day? Wednesday at D5 is when computer junkies everywhere will get this rare treat. And what will be the big topic for the day? That is a hotly contested secret. Chic geeks everywhere are hoping for a true dialog on operating systems, the future of computing, the possibilty of bridging the Microsoft / Apple gap, future plans for each company, and so much more. Whether or not they delve that deeply into their 20+ year rivalry and look that closely at their respective futures remains to be seen.

I’ll update this post with links to transcripts and video of the historic meeting when they start appearing online after Wednesday’s momentous occasion.

Source Slashdot | Gates and Jobs to Share A Stage

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE MOD YOUR MAC CONTEST! CLICK HERE!

[tags]D5 All Things Digital, The D, Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jobs and Gates, Conference[/tags]