Stan's List

In an article entitled “Mistakes Made On The Road To Innovation,” BusinessWeek online cites Apple as the example of how to not to make them.

Apple Computer (AAPL ) shows how it’s done. Here’s a company that was trapped in an ever-dwindling niche of the PC business. Then came the iPod, a must-have device for music fans, and iTunes, an online music shop that turned music downloading into a profit-making business. By making iPod and iTunes work with Windows PCs, Apple broke out of selling only to its niche of loyal fans. But its transformation is even more profound than that: In essence, it switched from being a great designer of computer products into a great designer of consumer experiences delivered via devices and services. Now music represents 44% of Apple’s revenues, and an even larger share of profits. More …

iLounge’s Overseas Report spoted an unique elevator found in the Apple Store in Tokyo:

Most interestingly, Apple’s flagship Ginza store has now been outfitted with video pillars that explain what’s on each of the store’s floors. The tall (rather than wide) monitors play back floor-by-floor videos (right click to download properly) that are amongst the most wicked in-store demonstration videos we’ve ever seen - like something straight out of the movie Total Recall, only better. The smaller Shibuya store is sporting an iPod Bar in addition to its Genius Bar for Macs, paralleling what’s going to take place in updates to the U.S. stores over the next year. More …

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The long-rumored arrival of a hybrid mobile phone and iPod music player from Apple Computer Inc. has morphed from a question of “If” to “When” among fans and analysts. More …

Meanwhile, Shaw Wu of American Technology Research says he is “picking up” that Apple is working on a second iTunes cell phone that will feature “messaging” capabilities, with a focus on mobile IM rather than e-mail. Wu says that “time to market is not certain to us as it appears to be in the development phase.” More …

A Star-Ledger articles asks “Where is the cheapest and safest place to purchase an Apple iPod nano?” and concludes “Buying any Apple product from the company’s own online store is the safest because it’s easier to make a return or get prompt help in case you happen to get a dud or maybe push the wrong button. More …

5 Tips For Getting The Best Deal on Apple Purchases

Apple Matters has some pointers for getting better deals on Apple hardware this holiday season. “The day after Thanksgiving Apple discounts everything they make for one entire day. More …

Mac OS X Hints has the low down on getting Front Row working on your Mac Pro (or any Mac able to run OS X, but not Front Row). The problem is twofold: one, Front Row not being configured to run, you need to find the executable for it; two, it’s not technically supposed to run unless it detects the Apple Remote. This part is a little more challenging; fooling it into thinking you do have the remote involves a bit of hacking that may depend on what brand mouse you use. More …

MacFixIt points out a number of negative results when giving the same ID numbers to more than one user. The OS uses user ID to differentiate, not by username, as one might suppose. More …

Quoting unnamed sources, AppleInsider reports that the “new” iPod shuffle is selling extremely well and could become the star product in what is expected to be an outstanding holiday shopping season for our fave fruit company.

People familiar with the matter say Apple executives are thrilled with the strong response to the diminutive 1GB flash-based digital music player, which recently eclipsed the iPod nano by rising to the forefront of the company’s top seller list … The entry-level player is selling out at some resellers … and, come the close of the holiday shopping season, could account for as many as 6 to 8 million unit sales. More …

Earlier this week, IGM noted Universal Music CEO Doug Morris’ claim that iPod owners are music thieves. Today, comes the news from Reuters that Universal is suing MySpace, the world’s most popular online meeting place for the young and hip—130-million users to date.

Back in September,Morris hinted that Universal might sue MySpace and YouTube, saying that those companies owed his company “tens of millions of dollars.” YouTube reached a licensing agreement with the label not long thereafter. More …

AppleInsider: Inside its Cupertino, Calif.-based design labs, Apple Computer has been developing a multipurpose touch interface, similar to a track pad, on top of which users could place several alternative types of hot-swappable mechanical control interfaces, a recent patent filing has revealed. More …

Apple has updated its remote access and control application, Remote Desktop 3.1. Fixes and features in this release reportedly include:

• Install Package task now supports installing Apple Installer packages that have packages outside the .mpkg
• PCI Reports now called Expansion Card Reports
• You can now power on an Xserve with Lights Out Management
• Improved support for using right mouse buttons to invoke contextual menus
• Copy Items action now also works with computer lists More …