I would like to see some improvement on Apple TV, that Apple polishes this little box and turn it into a home media server with features that suit every member of the family, here is what I want on Apple TV:

1. Media Server
If Apple adds more HD space and more processor power together with a multimedia version of Mac OS X Server that receive our iphone, ipod and digital camera content wirelessly and broadcast it to every single device on the house.

2. Live Email
A home server that let you see your incoming emails in a widget while watching your favorite tv program.

3. Tags r US
A tagging system that let you mark any given program and that the tagged program get recorded in the background and upload it to your ipod or iphone for your traveling pleasure.

4. The usual DVR functions
Record live tv, picture in picture, ad skipping and Parental Control.

5. A Learn More System:
A direct connection to Wikipedia or WikipediaTV, something that let you understand what is being talked on tv, a reference system that update you as it goes, collecting words, cities, countries and personalities for an On Deman or for a later visit.

6. Ical Connect
A widget system that provides you with schedul information, just like a pop window at the bottom of your tv screen. The ical system can be updated remotely or can be programmed to broadcast to your iphone or ipod touch your schedule.

7. Wireless Keyboard
To set all these a keyboard will be required, a small, lightweight and wireless keyboard must provides access to the Home Media Server and will let you interact with the Live Rating System.

8. Live Rating System.
LRS is a system that let you rate instantly the quality of the content, if is suitable for minors or young children or what is the real audience for this kind of program. It will be learning from people to people and then this information can be access on demand everytime you need it as a reference.

To make this system work flawlessly Apple must collect information, not personal information, geographic location or people habits, just what people answer via the system. This will create an even better Parental Control.

Feel free to add your wishes to this list, send me yours to info@whataboutmac.com for a future update.

Apple has been a consumers company from day one and all its design and innovation work has served to position Apple in the front of the pc industry, Apple sales have skyrocketed every single quarter, but silently the enterprise sale has been not so excellent, Apple has managed to make son inroad into Business America and now that Windows Vista has been a fiasco, a large number of IT managers have started to look to Mac OS X and Mac as a solid alternative to Microsoft failed upgrade.

But for Apple really make a huge progress into Businesses the easier, smarter and riskier thing to do is to set free Mac OS X Server and let it runs on every single machine on the planet.

Apple won’t lose anything, this is a win-win situation and OS X Server won’t ever cannibalized the Consumer version and will provide fresh cash and market share immediately. Imagine Dell, HP, IBM, Sun, Acer and all the other PC companies providing Mac OS X Server as a real alternative to Windows and Linux. Mac OS X Server has a cheaper price against Windows Servers and is easier to use and more solid and virus proof and can work in Windows already deployed networks without a hitch.

It is a smarter move if Apple realizes that OS X Consumer Version and Server that they will get more on return selling millions of OS X Server than selling a few thousand Macs loaded with the Server, the Server price is 5 times more than the Consumer Version. So if Apple gets to enroll those big enterprise sellers like Dell and HP and provide an easy to migrate path together with a real business strategy that combines collaboration and innovation, Apple can win the IT heart and their pockets too.

Mac OS X Server is rock solid and what is missing in this elegant, easy to deploy and robust system is a strategy from Apple, maybe they don’t want to sell it to corporation, so let others do the job and keeps tuning it to take advantages of every single machine on the market. Apple can do it and you can bet that Dell and HP are ready to help.

Long live Mac OS X Server, long live Mac OS X.

I have never seen a marketing material for Mac OS X Server, on paper, internet or television and I think is time to place it into the enterprise where it really belongs.

Notice:
Whataboutmac.com is not recommending this product and is not endorsed by any company which products are portrayed in any of our post. Right Now We do not have any business relationship with the manufacturer of this product or service. If you do business with them, Nice, but we are out of that equation.

Apple’s much-touted new operating system, OS X Leopard, is in some ways worse than Windows Vista, says the founder of the Linux open source project, Linus Torvalds.

Torvalds was in Melbourne last week for the linux.conf.au conference and was invited to pass judgement on OS X versus Windows Vista in a wide-ranging interview.

“I don’t think they’re equally flawed – I think Leopard is a much better system,” he said. “(But) OS X in some ways is actually worse than Windows to program for. Their file system is complete and utter crap, which is scary.”

He poured scorn on the modern trend to treat a new version or update of an operating system as a cause for major celebration and marketing.

“An operating system should be completely invisible,” he said. “To Microsoft and Apple (it is) a way to control the whole environment … to force people to upgrade their applications and hardware.”

Read the rest of the article at Sydney Morning Herald

Picture from: http://www.linux-mag.com

With the unsuccessful launch of Windows Vista and the great advantages that Leopard has over it, why not take the extra step in the server market to solidify Apple position in this area. It will be a combination of Apple marketing and business strategy, Apple should go directly to PC vendors and provide them with the tools needed to bring Mac OS X Server to PCs.

Apple has the marketing strenght and the money to put OS X Server in the front line, while linux and Microsoft are fighting for this market and it is already crowded, Mac OS X Server has the potential to attract those IT professionals that won’t upgrade to Microsoft Vista based Server.

With features like Podcast, wiki and spotlight working in the server will give Apple full advantages over Windows and Linux and the popularity of Mac OS X in the consumer market will validate the server.

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whataboutmac.com

Leopard has been a hit, extraordinary the man-hour put in this release, Apple really deserves all the credits for a polished, shiny and excellent Operating System. A lot of people recognize how good is this system compared to Vista and other OS around, it has been a long journey, now the beast is among us and we are crazy about the installation, the Finder interface, the Spaces, Time Machine and so on…, but once again I have to come down to earth and while looking inside the System I couldn’t find the Extreme Secret Features Steve was hiding off from Microsoft, while Vista is far and very far and away in usability and system responses, Microsoft can tries to catch up in the next Service Pack, it is delayed, maybe Microsoft is rethinking everything again…

Steve is a marketing Genius, he knows how and when to sell something and I don’t know why Steve and company hasn’t tried to let everybody know about how good is this system compared to what we all know. The strategy of tell people about those ultra secret features was to create expectation and put some pressure to the competition, a confirmation of the success of the strategy is that Apple sold 2 million copies of Leopard the first weekend, that is something to take note about, because Apple has grown to a level where nobody really expected.

Take the iphone, I have never in my whole life thought that I would see hundreds of PC users using/wearing something from Apple, the ipod and now the iphone have legitimated what we (mac users) have been telling them for years, Macs worth every penny spent, thanks God they realized it now that Apple is still in business. I have been buying 5-7 macs a year for friends or my Design Class students, but now my students are buying their mac directly from Apple, what it means is that more and more people knows what macs are and where to get them.

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Whataboutmac.com

Yes, Advertises Leopard like it markets the iphone, the ipod and itunes. What about a new TV campaign for Leopard? 300 new features, none of them advertised on TV? Let’s hope the ads aren’t ready for primetime yet, but they are new ipod touch ads on the pipeline. What I found very very strange is that OS X is the brain of some of the most important devices in Apple product line and in some future products, why don’t have a decent TV spot that show some of those 300 features, even comparing Vista Wow with Apple Yeeehhhhaa! They has been reluctant to market OS X the way it deserves.

If Apple wants to continue grabbing marketshare from Windows, it must show what OS X is capable, if they (Windows Switchers) don’t have nothing to compare, they won’t switch. In today market what you don’t advertise won’t be bought.

Let’s wait for those clever ads, maybe we get to see some Macpro, Macbook and AppleTV ads or maybe not.

Whataboutmac.com

Here is the information that makes this year the best one for Apple:

January 17, 2007: Revenue Exceeds $7 Billion; Record Profit of $1 Billion
The Company posted record revenue of $7.1 billion and record net quarterly profit of $1.0 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share.

Computers shipped
1,606,000 Macintosh® computers representing 28 percent growth in Macs over the year-ago quarter.

Ipods Shipped
21,066,000 iPods during the quarter representing 50 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter.

April 25, 2007: Earnings Grow 88 Percent Year-over-Year
The Company posted revenue of $5.26 billion and net quarterly profit of $770 million, or $.87 per diluted share.

Computers shipped
1,517,000 Macintosh® computers, representing 36 percent growth in Macs over the year-ago quarter.

Ipods Shipped
10,549,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 24 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter.

July 25, 2007: Mac Sales Set New Record
The Company posted revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $.92 per diluted share.

Computers shipped
1,764,000 Macintosh® computers, representing 33 percent growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous company record for quarterly Mac® shipments by over 150,000

Ipods Shipped
9,815,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 21 percent growth over the year-ago quarter.

Predictions for this Quarter:

October 22, 2007: Today everybod is expecting a new Mac sales Record
The company is expected to post $6.01 billion, fueled by back-to-school demand. Profit may have climbed to 84 cents a share from 62 cents in the year-earlier quarter.

Computers shipped
2 million machines were shipped last quarter, analysts estimate.

Ipods Shipped
10.4 million to 13 million iPods in the fourth quarter, according to five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Other Financial News to take notice

Market Share:
Apple’s PC market share in the U.S. widened to 8.1 percent from 6.2 percent in the third quarter, Gartner Inc. reported this week. Mac shipments rose 37 percent, with Apple posting the fastest growth among the top five PC makers.

Apple passes Amazon to become the #3 US music retailer

Apple has double the Dell market cap: Check NASDAQ here

Apple has passed HP market cap: Check NASDAQ here.

Iphone Sales Reached the Million Mark
In September 9, 2007 Apple is rumoured to has reached the Million Mark ahead of forecast.

So this year was full of excitement for mac users around, the next one will be even more dramatic because there is rumours about the resurgence of the Newton, in January we may see a new version of the iphone with more hard disk space, more applications and cheaper and Leopard will be helping Apple grabs more market share from Windows.

Buy some Apple stock while you can and check for an update tomorrow.

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whataboutmac.com

With Leopard Apple will grab more marketshare from Windows because Vista hass been a train derailed with poor aceptance and sales, even traditional Windows fans have been recommending XP over Vista, confusing Vsita versions, too much money for what it offers and strange marketing pitch “WOW”.

The ball is in Apple court, everything has been orchestrated perfectly, recently Apple grabbed the 3rd spot in PC sales in the United States, marketshare grew to 8.1%, the iphone is selling like hotcakes, the ipods are doing fine and now the release of Leopard, the timing is the perfect to inflict more damage to Microsoft and its partners.

Game and corporate sales are Apple Achille’s heels and something dramatic should be done in those areas if Apple wants to keep growing, other product that needs Apple attention is AppleTV, this little box doesn’t fit well in any Apple strategy or isn’t clear for us. I think that Apple must transform it into a DVR in steroids or a home server.

Leopard will give Apple more public Spotlight and ther rest of Apple products will validate what we have known for years, mac are excellent and reliable computers to trust in.

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whataboutmac.com

Mac OS X Leopard
Analyst weighs in on Leopard, expected Macworld launches, Appleinsdider.com.

Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Dock 1.6, Appleinsdider.com.

Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Spaces, Appleinsdider.com.

Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Finder 10.5, Appleinsdider.com.

Sources: Leopard finalized, 10.4.11 inching closer, Appleinsdider.com.

Apple expands Leopard training to all of AppleCare, Appleinsider.com.

Leopard poised to leap last weekend in October, Thinksecret.com

Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 GM Candidate Build (9A581), Macrumors.com

More Evidence for October 26th Leopard Target Release?, Macrumors.com

Apple issues internal Leopard Gold Master candidate builds, Arstechnica.

Leopard: All signs point to 10/26, Tuaw.com

Aggresive Viral Marketing: Mac OS X Leopard II, Whataboutmac.com

What kind of launch is Apple preparing for Leopard?, Whataboutmac.com

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whataboutmac.com

Apple should make a simultaneous broadcast on TV and Internet, forget about the iphone for a while and dedicate a big advertising space for the new system, the system that will give apple back what other had robbed, a system that will show how is to make an Operating System for the masses.

Apple knows how to make good ads, but this time is about power, strong message in your face all the time, the same resources that made the ipod a advertising success, clean, colorful and appealing. I don’t remember the last time I saw a mac ads that wasn’t for an imac, and I have NEVER seen a Mac OS X ads on tv, I believe there is not OS X ads for TV. But I do remember the last time I saw the Wow Moment from Microsoft.

So please Apple do your things with the Mac OS X marketing, you need it.

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whataboutmac.com