Applications for your Apple Device

After the release of the iPhone and the iPod Touch , there has been a growing interest in adding all kinds of cool applications to these devices. There are games, coin flippers, handy tools. All kinds of neat little add-ons to your digital device. Some are free, while others have to be purchased.

The following are some of the most popular free applications-
1) Bubble Wrap

This application gives you a virtual sheet of bubble wrap. Via the cursor, one can pop the individual bubbles. There are time constraints, and the goal is to pop as much of the wrap as you can. A score is then given according to the amount popped. It is quite simple, but some people may feel a sense of relief or destressing by doing it. It could be great for keeping young kids occupied some as well. Lol.










2) Freebird

This is a neat one. With the Freebird application, one can have a virtual lighter, candle, or glo-stick emanating from their screen. The description says, "A fun little app that helps you out in any concert situation." The lighter is very realistic because it moves and appears as a real live light. Have the coolness of a full, glowing light without the heat or danger.












3) Google Earth

One can get all of the access to the satellite imagery and mapping of Google Earth. Never will you be lost for long again with this on your digital device. Parts of maps also have "W" logos. When these icons are clicked on, you get the Wikipedia entry for that specific place.












Popular pay applications-
1) Car Finder

This application will mark where you have parked your car. When you are ready to leave, you can then find your parking spot and car by getting exact directions to it, or by tracking where it is via a map. This could be real handy for people who are very busy, or for those that are a little more absent minded.












2) Flight Status

You can now check all of the flights around the world with this application. This program has access to over a thousand carriers and about 4,200 airports. One can search flights by many different items- number, airline, time, airport... For the busy traveler, this could be a very essential program to throw on the iPod.












3) iDrink

The regular alcohol consumer will love this application. There is a library of over 4,500 cocktail recipes available in iDrink. One can create a favorite tab of drinks. Also, edits can be made to recipes if you want one to be slightly different. A very handy program for deciding on or mixing a new drink.












This is just a "tip of the iceberg" for iPod applications. There are tons more out there, and tons more being created all the time. There is so much that we can now do on these little digital devices. It is truly amazing when you compare it to the technological devices we were using only a couple decades ago. To see an extensive site on Apple iPod applications, go to the following link: appstoreapps.com

iPod Photoshopped- messages and examples.

With the popularity of the iPod device, there has been numerous photoshopped pics relating to Apple and their famous iPod's. I decided to try to find the most interesting of these created. Many of them are sending a specific message to the viewer, while some are just for fun and humor. While weaving through some of the WWW, I came to a site- Worth1000.com. This is a large site that has contests, galleries, forums, and tutorials all about photoshopped images. One could spend a lot of time here browsing these changed images on all kinds of topics. After searching for "iPod", I was returned 428 results. I knew I would find some serious writing and thinking material off of all of these pictures.

Exhibit A














This picture is titled "Supernano". Once cell phones and mp3 players were here to stay on the market, many companies strove to make their products smaller and smaller. This helped for portability and for being able to slip devices into your pockets. Just with the iPod, there are nano's and shuffle's. This is an exaggeration of course, but "predicts" the next step in completely miniaturizing these new technologies for people.

Exhibit B



















A young Mozart pictured listening to his iPod while near his keyboard. This picture makes one think of the history and progression of music. What other masterpieces could have talented composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn written if they had the iPod and sharing of music technologies??? Nowadays, one can find nearly any piece or genre of music they want, and then incorporate it into their personal library. If this was available in the further past, we would have seen more experimentation, more collaboration, and all kinds of new, interesting music.

Exhibit C














Here is a scene shot from the famous movie Casablanca. It is modernized of course with an actor on an iPhone, and the other using his Apple laptop with earbuds. This use of anachronism was a common theme I saw throughout some of the photoshopped pictures. People will take scenes from the past and infuse them with the things of today. Also, some cleverness was placed in this work too. There is an Apple logo in the background smoke, and the man sitting in the back left has a striking resemblance to Steve Jobs.

Exhibit D



















This is a clever creation here. A couple interesting things I would note about this picture, is that they use bright, vivid colors for the cigarettes. These are the kind of colors that Apple likes to use in its advertising, and on some of their devices. Also, they say that there is an "interchangeable USB filter". LOL. Everything Apple creates, and most all digital devices nowadays have a USB port integrated into them. This has become the standard way of connecting and transferring information for our technological devices of the modern day. Some expensive smokes I would guess.....

Exhibit Humor














Maybe this would make those moody and angry felines more approachable.















The iPod is ubiquitous, so someone has now created a prototype to have it as their bathroom wallpaper.

Positives and negatives of iPods on college campuses

I ran across two very interesting articles on the net here about iPods and their uses on college campuses. We will start with the "positive" article first.

iPods are now known to be used a study aid for some college students.
Excerpt- "Six schools — Duke, Brown, Stanford, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Missouri School of Journalism — recently participated in a pilot program with Apple called iTunes U."








Above: Two highly ranked schools intergrating iPods into their academics. Duke and Brown.

This format of iTunes allows students to download and organize lectures from professors. Some teachers have said that providing these lectures and materials has not hurt class attendance. There are noted incidents where class attendance was better because students enjoyed conversing more about what they watched and studied. I am sure there is a group of students that would use these technologies to not go to class as well. If I was short on time, I would bet I'd fall into that category to be honest. Since the iPod device has become ubiquitous among younger people, this is a great way to use it in an educational manner on campuses. Some think this is just a fad, while others think it is something that will last and stay. We will see...
Link- USA Today- "iPods now double as study aids" by Ken Fuson

____________________________________________________________________
Apple has recently made deals for consumers where if they buy an Apple computer/laptop, they will also then get a free iPod mp3 player. This can cause some problems for college students though. iPod use in the classroom can really disrupt the learning process. Also, many people will be "plugged in" to their iPod in between classes or while walking across the campus. This puts them in a virtual world of their own, removing them from the people and surrondings right in front of them. There were a couple very noteworthy quotes from this article in the Boston College paper-
1) Greg Johnson, student, said he usually prefers to listen to music while walking through campus. "I usually don't talk to anyone in between class," Johnson said. "It's nice to listen to music while you're walking. It's like a soundtrack."
2) Whether in the classroom or on the school grounds, a student body that remains checked out could minimize interaction, and communication could thereby suffer. "We must remember the virtual communities we create for ourselves cannot stand in place for our real communities," Lang said.
Link- BC Heights Student Paper- "iPods on campus may hurt classroom learning" by Jeff Davis.

This second article directly ties into our course book Interpersonal Divide by Dr. Michael Bugeja. There is a whole chapter titled The Blurring of Identity and Place that deals directly with this subject. Bugeja states, "Many have lost that sense of security due to the blurring of place." Also, there is a "blurring of identity that occurs when technology places an individual in two or more places at once." All of this iPod use should be thought about by my generation so we make sure we don't become isolated or disembodied from all that is in the "present, real community".Above: A younger lady tuned into another world via her iPod.

Songs and Bands on iPod ads

This video features the song "Technologic" by Daft Punk. This group is a duo of French musicians specializing in electronic music. They have numerous dance/pop hits. Their hit song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was used as the basis for the huge hit "Stronger" by Kanye West in the US.


Similar to the first video. Apple likes to use the solid color backgrounds and the shadows of people dancing in the ads. A cool effect. Simple, but effective, like their designs and devices... This features the band Jet. They are from Melbourne, Australia. My favorite song of theirs is "Look What You've Done". More laid back than the song used on the commercial ("Are You Gonna Be My Girl"). Good stuff.



All I can say is to watch both of the above videos to fully understand. The ad is based off the AWESOME dance scene from the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Music by Jamiroquai. Nice!!


And the final video you can view is of the famous American rapper Eminem with his hit "Lose Yourself". He is also known as Slim Shady, and as I like to call him at times, Marshall Mathers. This is his actual name that you rarely ever hear.
Apple has made some of these ad songs hot items to download and purchase. Their ads are appealing to the consumer and have helped to spur on certain hit tracks and groups.

Apple Environmental Report

The heads at Apple placed an environmental update and report on their site for the public to view. Apple has been making strides toward being more and more environmentally friendly over the last few years.

They have vowed to remove mercury and arsenic from their displays. They are going to be replacing this with more efficient LED technology. They are also working on eliminating PVC's and BFR's from all of their products (see links below to learn more about these abbreviations).

Here is a quote describing Apple's stance on its products and the environment- "The new MacBook family features only LED displays and continues our progress representing the greenest notebooks we’ve delivered to date."

They have become involved much with recycling of products. They have product take back options almost everywhere. You can give back your old or worn out Apple products to the company and they will recycle of them in a positive way. Dell supposedly was a company that pioneered some of these greener ideas.

Apple and other companies are becoming more aware of the environment, which is great. They are focusing on keeping down greenhouse emissions from their factories and devices. Apple has made all of their info. on this "green work" available to the public via the web.

Links- 1) Apple Environmental Update from Steve Jobs
2) Apple 2008 Environmental Performance















"Going Green"

Toys R Us and Apple.

While searching the net, I came across an interesting site. The site, called iPodNN, is an extensive site relating to this media player. There is a wealth of information on the site. Its main headings include: iPod News, Podcasts, Reviews, Blogs, Forums, Services, and Contact. Check it out....

Anyways, I came across an article about an agreement between Toys R Us and Apple. Who would have thought that the ultimate toy store geared towards younger kids would be a seller and avid supporter of the iPod? The new media is passing down to younger generations pretty quickly.

Toys R Us is a dedicated toy and baby product retailer. They have over 1500 stores throughout the nation. There are also some stores titled Babies R Us that are strictly geared toward the younger ones. The company began in 1978 and is based in the state of New Jersey ("joo-sey" if your from the East Coast).
The company has a huge store in New York's Time Square. It has a giant Ferris wheel (above), and is a favorite tourist attraction for some NY visitors.

To my news (lol), there is one of their stores located here in Fargo:
TOYS"R"US - FARGO [9538]
4603 13TH AVENUE SOUTH
FARGO, ND 58102
Phone: (701)281-8697

Anyways, the products of Apple that Toys R Us will carry are: the iPod Touch, the Nano, and the Shuffle in blue, pink, or silver. There will of course be accessories as well, such as: cases, car adapters, iTunes gift cards, and some iHome goods. The store plans to create "iPod Boutiques" sections. This will be the specific Toys R Us zone for everything iPod.

Check out the iPodNN article mentioned above.

Also, according to this article, it has been rumored that Wal-Mart will soon begin to carry the iPhone. We will see......

iPod Ecosystem

Again, I will talk some about accessories for the iPod. They have acquired quite a market. This makes many companies happy because they get a large profit margin for these add-ons. A study found that the global sales on iPod cases, car chargers, and docking stations last year was up to 850 million!! This in turn makes the player even more popular of course.

All of these extras for iPods has been coined the "iPod ecosystem" by some. The straightforward, "bland" style of the iPod has possibly aided in people acquiring more of these add-ons as well. Some smart people over there at Apple.

There have been some quite luxurious add-ons. Here are some to name a few:
- $200 python iPod case by Coach.
- iJoy massage chair from the Sharper Image catalog.
- and my favorite, the TuneBuckle belt for the iPod nano.

A quote from a NYT's article sums some of this ecosystem up:
Mr. Humphrey of Kensington, which makes about a dozen iPod accessories, called the accessory market "a real phenomenon," adding, "I've never seen anything like it in my career."

A link to this excellent NYT's article by Damon Darlin.- "The iPod Ecosystem"

Check out these wild pictures (iPod add-ons in visual):
















Coach's Python cover.













THEE TuneBuckle for the iPod Nano.