Archive
Look, Ma! Do-it-yourself MacBook Pro repair
About six months ago, I tripped on a running shoe and stepped on the case of my MacBook Pro, cracking the glass. The MacBook was less than a year old at the time, and a repair through Apple was going to cost me more than I wanted to spend.
I’m going to fix it myself!
Years ago, I was a systems analyst, which was a fancy name for a girl geek who did everything from software training to server upkeep. I also maintained more than 50 laptops for a national news organization, so I had seen my share of abused laptops; they usually weren’t mine, though. If I had cracked my display in 2003, I would have fixed it myself. So why not now?
I did some googling, found a place that sells MacBook glass, bought the panel, a tool kit and a special suction cup. Then I let all that shit sit in the Amazon boxes for three months — until the other day when I got up the nerve to do the repair.
I watched a couple of YouTube videos that explained the complications of replacing the displays on the Unibody models, and I finally settled on one by Small Dog Electronics, an Apple reseller and Mac repair shop in Waitsfield, Vt. The tech in the video was clear, concise and careful. She was precise in her message, explaining this was not a beginner’s repair and urging caution and patience. She was right; it was not. Although I succeeded in replacing my glass panel, I did not need to replace the LCD — and if I had, I’m not sure whether I would have attempted it. If you do, and if you’re thinking of replacing it yourself, heed the advice of Small Dog Electronics and consider having a pro do it. Watch the video, which has a second part, and see for yourself.
When trivial became good again: On iPods, 9/11, and Steve Jobs
In 2011, it’s hard sometimes to remember there was life before Facebook or iPhones. It’s hard to remember that one had to sit down at a computer and log into an email account rather than having the messages delivered to a smartphone in a pocket. It’s hard to remember the once-coveted music compact discs and their portable players, and it’s nearly impossible to remember music was once played by a moving stylus on a plastic disk with grooves. And although new names make headlines every day, a look at the past decade’s nearly frenzied embrace of technology shows the influence, the reach of Steve Jobs.
Although I had used Apples and Macs at school and work for years, Apple gave me my first real taste of truly personal tech in 2001. Shortly after 9/11, the news service where I worked received two supercool-looking gadgets from Apple they wanted us to test drive and write about. It was called an iPod, and its 5GB hard drive held “1,000 songs in your pocket.” (A 1,000 songs?!! Really?!!) I got to take one home and play with it — and I played with it for hours, which turned into days. After my test drive, I was able to pre-order one. I was one of the first people in America to own an iPod. It’s probably my greatest achievement.
Read more…
Steve Jobs: R.I.P. 1955-2011
UPDATE 10-06-2011: I say goodbye — and thanks
UPDATE 7:59 p.m.: The Wall Street Journal story
UPDATE 8:13 p.m.: WSJ interactive timeline of Steve Jobs’ life
UPDATE: #iSad trending on Twitter
UPDATE: Twitter mourns a genius
Apple products have been my life, all my life; purchased or used over 60 major Apple products over the years. #iSad—
Jeff Richardson (@IamJeffRich) October 06, 2011
"We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will." #iSad #RIPSteveJobs—
Jennifer Smuckler (@jsmuck) October 06, 2011
Amazon’s new Fire heats up tablet race
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) unveiled the Kindle Fire on Wednesday, a 7-inch tablet that The Wall Street Journal says could be Apple’s “biggest” challenger to the almighty iPad. 
Much like iPad’s Android competitors, the Kindle Fire’s price is sure to compel consumers to give it a second look: It’s priced at an attractive $199; the cheapest iPad2 is $499.
The Kindle Fire was just part of Amazon’s growing Kindle family: Also announced were a lighter, cheaper Kindle ($79), the Kindle Touch ($99) and the Kindle Touch 3G ($149). Read the full news release about the Kindle family here.
The Amazon Kindle Fire at a glance:
- Weight: 14.6 ounces (413 grams)
- Size: 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm)
- 1024 x 600P resolution at 169PPI
- 8GB on-board memory
- Battery Life: Up to 8 hours of reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off.
- Full charge in approx. 4 hours
- Free cloud storage for all Amazon content
- Audio: 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers
- Wi-Fi: 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.1X standard
- USB 2.0 port (micro-B connector)
- Warranty and service: 1 year limited
- Supported formats: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8
EARLIER: Acer Iconia A500: A honey-sweet alternative to iPad? ~J’s Pages, May 26
EARLIER: A honey-sweet alternative to the Xoom? ~ J’s Pages, April 9
Remember Ellen Feiss? From Apple’s ‘Switch’ campaign?
ED’S NOTE: The commentary here reflects my interest in advertising as a marketing student. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.
It’s amazing the distractions a student can find doing research on YouTube. I stumbled on one of Apple’s 2002 “Switch” ads, TBWA\Chiat\Day‘s followup campaign to 1998′s “Think Different.“ The “Switch” ads, directed by Errol Morris, supposedly featured real people who had switched from a PC to a Mac, “telling their story in their own words,” according to the press release. The ads were simple, shot against a white background, and were ripe for parodying. 
In this clip, high school student Ellen Feiss tells us how she lost a “really good paper” while working on her PC. And although the success of the “Switch” campaign has been debated, it’s nine years later and I remember Ellen Feiss and her paper. I bet others do, too — which should settle any question over the campaign’s success.
Consider this: It’s hard to remember in 2011 how difficult that sort of imprint would have been to achieve for Apple, despite its re-emergence in the market the late 1990s with the iMac G3. PCs still ruled in 2002; the iPod — having been released only in late 2001 — had not yet saturated mainstream society. There was no iPhone. Tech was not that personal yet. The term “viral marketing” wasn’t used in everyday conversation. YouTube was still three years away. Even so, Apple and Morris got our attention and piqued our curiosity: ”Have you seen the new Apple ad? What’s up with that girl? Is she real? Is she high?” Despite the speculation, we were interested in what she had to say — and we knew the brand she was promoting and still do.
Acer Iconia A500: A honey-sweet alternative to iPad?
The Wall Street Journal says Acer’s Iconia Tab A500 is “compelling competition to Apple’s dominant iPad in one crucial area: price.”
At the time of this writing, the Wi-Fi-only A500 was priced at $449.
Full article is here.
The Iconia Tab A500 at a glance:
- Weight: 1.7 lbs.
- Dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor
- 1.0GHz processing speed
- 1GB DDR2 memory
- 16GB eMMC on-board memory
- 4G LTE connectivity
- 2MP front-facing camera
- 5MP rear camera
- HDMI
- Supports microSD up to 32GB
- High-speed USB 2.0 port
EARLIER: A honey-sweet alternative to the Xoom? ~ J’s Pages, April 9
Yahoo News on USA TODAY’s revised strategy
Yahoo News looks at some of USA TODAY’s recent efforts to reinvent itself in as a digital destination, which includes a rollout of mobile applications for devices such as the Apple iPad and the new Motorola Xoom, which is powered by Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
From the story:
USA Today’s applications for mobile devices have been downloaded more than 6 million times, including 1.25 million designed for Apple Inc.’s hot-selling iPad. Mobile applications of The New York Times, another national newspaper that’s trying to gain more readers and make more money on the Web, have been downloaded more than 9 million times.
Xoom: A return
On the bleeding edge: Android Guys' Sam Herren reviews the Motorola Xoom — Weighed, measured and found wanting. http://bit.ly/gZH2sJ—
Jacqui Barrineau (@JBnotes) March 09, 2011
Mobility, mobility, mobility: Who’s using what
comScore Jan. #mobile subscriber report: Samsung has 25% of handset market; Android is 31% of smartphone platforms. http://bit.ly/gpXEFd—
Jacqui Barrineau (@JBnotes) March 07, 2011
Also of note: Apple has 7% of the handset market, and 25% of the smartphone platforms. And Research in Motion shows no signs of going away.
Who’s J?
I am Jane Q. Public: consumer and citizen. As I go, so goes the nation. Sometimes.
(But really, click the link.)
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No, really, who’s J?
Jacqui Barrineau
Editor. Writer. Consultant.
I'm an editor and writer with certifications in public relations and e-Commerce. I also have a background in information technology. (In another life, I was a systems analyst.)
When I'm not editing copy for USA TODAY, I write an occasional short story or poem. My work has appeared in Calliope and the feminist journal So to Speak, and I'm a regular flash-fiction contributor to Paragraph Planet and Doorknobs & Bodypaint. Also on occasion, I interview editors for The Review Review, a comprehensive guide to literary journals and the people who produce them.
My points-of-view are collected on such esteemed outlets as Wordpress, Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed here and elsewhere are mine, not my employers'.
I live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with my husband, Trey, our Shetland Sheepdog, and two unhelpful-but-funny cats.
