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CompUSA Makes a Comeback

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 10, 2009 at 9:50 am

comp_elpasoAfter Circuit City bit the dust earlier this year, you probably thought that Best Buy would pretty much be on its own in the electronics super-retailer category. Think again — an old name is making a comeback. CompUSA has now opened 30 locations — mostly in Florida — with a new outlook on retail.

Company execs call their effort “Retail 2.0.” According to Wired, Systemax is bringing back the brand through stores with better lighting, more inviting stores, aggressive pricing and in-store web access. The web access is intended to allow customers comparison shop right from the store to ensure they’re getting the best price.

No doubt CompUSA is also using its connection through Systemax to Tiger Direct, its sister company, to help it be more competitive in this retail environment. Tiger has generally been competitive when it comes to price as well. In fact, whether you go to Tiger or the retail store, the prices on products will be the same.

CompUSA will not restrict the Internet either — so a user could just as easily jump on Amazon and see if they can get what they’re looking at cheaper there. It’s somewhat of a risk, but the company feels that it will give consumers more confidence and thus lead to a sale.

With Circuit City gone, if this concept works well it could be an opening for CompUSA to re-emerge as a competitor on a national level to Best Buy. It could also be a plus for consumers — Best Buy would not have free reign on setting prices.

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Would You Buy a CrunchPad?

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 10, 2009 at 9:42 am

Lisa and Jackson buy a CrunchPadThe history of technology journalists getting into the computer business isn’t full of success stories (remember Adam Osborne?). But TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington and a bunch of co-conspirators have been noodling on the idea of a CrunchPad, a really cheap, simple tablet computer for surfing the Web. Yesterday, a bunch of photos “leaked” out, including some of CrunchPad that looked suspiciously close to final–in fancy boxes, yet. Then Arrington chimed in and gave an update on the project, but said he’s not ready to talk about details on availability. We still don’t know whether the CrunchPad would be a TechCrunch-branded product, or a design that other companies could license, or, for that matter, whether there are any plans to bring it to market at all.

I’m not saying I’m itching to buy a CrunchPad, but I’ve long been interested in the idea of a hunk of hardware that was designed for Web browsing and not much of anything else. I still think I want one with a real keyboard–I’ve yet to meet an on-screen substitute that I can love unreservedly–but I’m open to being convinced that I don’t need one. (I’m also intrigued by the idea of an Apple tablet, but for some mysterious reason, nobody at Apple is talking about whether it’s really working on one.)

So does the CrunchPad, or something like it, interest you?

CrunchPad

CrunchPad

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Microsoft's New "Apple Tax" Charts: Hey, They Look Familiar!

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 10, 2009 at 12:04 am

After I finished writing about the oddities and errors in the white paper Microsoft released today about the so-called “Apple Tax,” I read a post on the same topic by Joe Wilcox over at eWeek. He said the charts in the paper, which is credited to Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies, looked vaguely familiar. They did to me, too. So I dug through my e-mail to find the stuff Microsoft had sent me in the past about Windows PC and Mac pricing,

Here’s a chart that a Microsoft representative sent me back on October 24th, comparing the MacBooks against Windows laptops (sorry it’s so small):

Apple Tax

And here’s the laptop comparison chart in the new white paper:

Apple Tax chart

This is a chart on Mac and Windows desktops that Microsoft sent me on January 5th, when it and the world thought Apple might announce one or more cheap new Macs at Macworld Expo (it didn’t):

Apple Tax chart

And here’s the desktop chart in the white paper:

Apple Tax chart

Both charts have gotten updates–for instance, the new laptop one has the $999 MacBook with a DVD burner (which is right, even though it’s not the $999 MacBook configuration you’ll buy today) and some of the PCs are different.

I’m not saying there’s anything fishy going on here–maybe Microsoft hired Endpoint to create the charts and analysis it sent out earlier, but didn’t credit it that time.  But it’s worth noting that the new charts aren’t really new–they’re updates (albeit insufficiently updated ones) to ones that Microsoft was distributing under its own name several months ago. And Kay’s argument that the cost of Apple-brand networking equipment and a Sony Blu-Ray player is a penalty Mac owners must pay is also repeated from another round of materials that a Microsoft representative sent me on October 13th.

Bottom line: The white paper is a rehash, not a revelation…

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Good Grief, Even More Laptop Hunters!

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 9, 2009 at 9:47 pm

Microsoft has posted another commercial in its “Laptop Hunters” campaign, this one starring Lisa (mom) and Jackson (kid):

Same template as the earlier two ones: Show that Windows laptops come in all shapes and sizes, emphasize basic specs (and one cool feature in this case–Blu-Ray), pause to make the point that Macs lack substance, then show the happy shopper(s) with free laptop (a Sony this time–sorry, HP). And don’t even acknowledge the existence of Windows on the computers.

I’m tired of analyzing commercials, so I’ll just point towards my posts on the earlier ads: Lauren and Giampaolo. Most of my thoughts apply to this one too–but if you’re less tuckered than me, I’d love to hear yours.

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Microsoft Does the Math on the "Apple Tax." Badly.

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 9, 2009 at 8:10 pm

As I said in my post last Sunday on Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunter” ads, it’s unrealistic to expect TV commercials to contribute to a thoughtful discussion of anything. An exercise in comparison shopping between Windows and PCs that takes place in a sixty-second Microsoft commercial just isn’t going to be fair and balanced, any more than an Apple commercial is going to explain that it’s possible to get respectable Windows laptops for a whole lot less than the cheapest Macs.

But Microsoft’s latest salvo in the Windows-vs.-Mac war isn’t a commercial–it’s a ten-page white paper by veteran analyst Roger Kay (a friendly acquaintance of mine, and, like me, a former IDG employee). Roger is independent and knows the personal computer market as well as anyone on the planet, but his paper was sponsored by Microsoft, which means that even if it’s a third-party take on things, it’s going to be one that the company is comfortable with. But the whole point of vendor-sponsored white papers is bring an independent expert’s analysis and data into a discussion in hopes that it’ll be taken more seriously than mere marketing materials.

Roger’s paper includes a bunch of tables that compare Windows PCs and Macs–sort of like what I’ve been doing, although in less excruciating detail–and an analysis of the cost of ownership of the two platforms that concludes that a family than buys two Macs instead of two Windows machines will pay a cumulative Apple tax of $3,367 over five years.

In his laptop section, Roger compares the white MacBook, new MacBook, and 15-inch MacBook Pro against various notebooks from Dell, HP, and Sony, and finds, unsurprisingly, that the Macs cost more. He shows, for instance, that the $999 MacBook comes with a skimpy 1GB of RAM, a bare-bones 120GB of hard disk space, and Intel’s uninspiring x3100 integrated graphics. For hundreds of dollars less, the chart proves, you can buy a Windows laptop with double the RAM, more than twice the disk space, and better graphics.

Pretty compelling. Except that the $999 MacBook doesn’t come with 1GB of RAM. (It has 2GB.) It doesn’t have a 120GB hard disk. (It’s 160GB.) And it doesn’t have X3100 graphics. (It has the considerably more potent NVIDIA GeForce 9400M.) Here, look for yourself. The analysis is based on the old MacBook configuration that Apple refreshed more than two months ago, but the white paper talks about it in the present tense.

Continue Reading →

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Is Twitter Overhyped? A Debate. (Please Join It!)

Posted by David Worthington and Harry McCracken on April 9, 2009 at 4:18 pm

T-Debate[A NOTE FROM HARRY: Introducing a new Technologizer feature–T-Debates! In this inaugural one, Dave Worthington and I have at it about the value of Twitter–he’s doubtful it has much at all, while I’m a Twitter optimist. But we’re mainly doing this in hopes that you’ll continue the conversation in comments, whatever your stance.]

David Worthington begins:

The Twitter fad is so oversaturated that someone has to say “enough already.” Twitter must either make money and prove that it has a viable purpose, or accept a fair market valuation to be acquired and become a part of something that’s more interesting.

There are times when Twitter is useful, and it unquestionably has millions of users who do like it. It is a handy tool for journalists who cover events, it helps companies and celebrities connect with people, and can wrap multiple parties into a conversation.

Beyond those few use cases, I question what’s the point? It solves a question that nobody asked, and feeds the narcissism that pervades our culture.

Twitter has been over extended and over used. George Stephanopoulos’s gimmicky Twitter “interview” with former U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain was especially pointless.

Continue Reading →

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Telephone, Internet Outage in Silicon Valley

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 9, 2009 at 1:19 pm

Wire services are reporting that a massive telephone and Internet outage is affecting Northern California, including portions of Silcon Valley. Telephone and Internet is out for Verizon customers in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, NBC News reports. This does appear to be a case of deliberate vandalism: as many as five AT&T fiber-optic cables have been severed, and a Sprint cable was severed hours later.

The incident occurred around 1:30 am PT (4:30am ET) this morning. Verizon is sending technicians to the scene to assist AT&T in repairing the damage, although at this time it is not known how long the repairs will take. In the meantime, AT&T has begun to take steps in order to reroute traffic.

ZDNet were affected by the outage, with slow page loading times and time outs. 911 and other emergency services in the region have also reported some connectivity issues.

Who’s the vandal? AT&T is currently involved in tense negotations with the CWA over contracts for landline workers. The CWA has issued a statement, denying that its members have any involvement, and condemned “vandalism.” More on this as we get it…

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Just How Easy is it to Get Pirated iPhone Software?

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 9, 2009 at 12:04 pm

app_storeYou might remember Brian Chen at Wired’s reporting on iPhone App Store piracy. That got us to thinking, is it really an issue, or just an exaggeration of a minor problem? To test our theories, we decided to attempt to install a pirated app on one of our own iPhone 3G’s here at Technologizer.

We’d like to apologize ahead of time to the developer whose apps we have used in this experiment. Your app wasn’t singled out or anything, it was merely selected to show the process. It has since been deleted: Technologizer has no interest in participating in this activity.

Anyways, back to our test. The first step in the process was to use the website Mr. Chen sourced, The Monkey’s Ball. We found that from a perspective of actually searching for sources say via Google and the like, easy-to-use sources for average Joe Pirater are not readily found. Yes, the searches will uncover places to download apps, but you’re pretty much on your own to figure out how to use them.

We surfed around TMB and found that there wasn’t any download links to use when looking through the applications, so we moved on to Appulo.us. Success. Within minutes I had surfed to find MLB At Bat 2009.

The next part absolutely floored me. I clicked on one of the apps and Firefox detected the .ipa extension as executable by the iTunes app. Fair enough, I selected “open.” Within moments, the full version of At Bat 2009 was in my list of Applications. That’s scarily easy.

We hit a road block however — MLB could not be installed because iTunes could not verify them. So we moved on to Capcom’s Mega Man II. Same error. So we did some searching, and found out why. To install cracked apps you need to have a jailbroken phone, and the application IPA Prep installed.

So, for the most part, developers can breathe easy because a majority of us are running non-jailbroken phones. But for those who have jailbroken phones, all you need is an app and a web browser, and just about any application you can imagine is well within your reach.

Apple has just made it too darn easy.

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