At least a few of my customers seem to be obsessed with the rise and fall of Apple Inc. shares on the stock market. They assume that because I sell the company's products I must own the stock. In fact I own no Apple shares to my knowledge. Maybe I own some indirectly through mutual funds, but if I do I've never taken the time to find out.
My attitude on this subject is that I take plenty enough risks purchasing their products and hoping I can sell them for a modest profit. In the current competitive environment, and given the cost of doing business these days, there are no guarantees even of that.
If anything, my attention is drawn to the extraordinary rise of Apple's website.
I do spend a lot of time looking at websites all day long: distributors' websites, manufacturers' websites, news websites, and my customers' business and informational websites.
Nowhere have I seen a website that even comes close to accomplishing what Apple's website does.
Like most major businesses, apple.com advertizes and promotes its products. And it does so in about 20 languages. It also sells its products in so many languages, and has parallel online stores for students and teachers....again, in multiple languages.
Behind the scenes it has another ordering system for parts to supply its vast network of independent Apple service centres and independent dealers.
For Apple users it has another section of its website for technical support, forums for resolving technical issues, an area to enter the serial number of any Apple computer purchased and find out its specifications. You can download product manuals. You can take courses on how to operate a Macintosh, and how to operate the many computer programs Apple publishes.
Then there is the enormous iTunes store which sells millions of songs by download, rents and sells movies and television programs, sells audio books, and now millions of downloads of games and software applications. Then there are the growing podcasts, some for sale, some for free.
I listen and watch podcasts as far flung as programs from the CBC, TVO, the New York Times, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CBS, the Guardian, Al Jazeera television, the New York Review of Books, New Yorker Magazine, the London School of Economics, the Council on Foreign Relations, Slate Magazine. fora.tv. I listen in on courses given at Yale, Duke, Cornell, and special lectures at Princeton, Stanford, and Oxford. I even listen to lectures given by authors at the University of Minnesota bookstore. I listen to new programs every week and, so far, I listen to all of this for free on iTunesU while I commute to and from work, and while I exercise.
It entertains me and, equally important, it constantly upgrades the formal education I received 30 years ago and more.
No wonder newspapers and magazines are struggling to survive.
iTunes also helps me sort through the thousands of radio stations worldwide that now stream on the Internet, so now I listen to hours of uninterrupted commercial-free music, and so do my customers.
If you haven't looked lately, there are some truly remarkable applications for sale on the App Store. One to open your car. One to help you identify bird calls. One to bill customers for your labour. One to jot down that tune that's floating through your head. In my years of selling general interest software I have seen many, many different kinds of software. And today most of them -- or varients of them -- are for sale on Apple's website for use on its iPhones and iPod touch.
On Apple's website you can find links to software built on its OS X platform, and you can find calendars built for its scheduling program, iCal. I downloaded the Toronto Maple Leafs schedule for my iPhone. You can find widgets galore.
Apple's website builds communities like no other I've seen. Not amazon.com. Not facebook. Not eBay or craigslist. Not even google. Each of these goliaths has their specialties, and each influences my life. But none in ways so profoundly as apple.com.
And that only scratches the surface. More later on what's behind the scenes.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Intelligent Creatures
Between us and Ed's Real Scoop you will find a quiet unassuming building housing Intelligent Creatures, one of the most innovative creators of computerized special effects in the feature film industry.
Intelligent Creatures is a Visual Effects studio dedicated to helping cinema's finest directors tell their most compelling stories; working on such films as Watchmen, Hairspray, Babel, Stranger Than Fiction, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The Company stands among the industry's most progressive Visual Effects creators.
With fully integrated 2D & 3D compositing and animation pipelines and a wealth of on-set experience, the Company stands among the industry’s most progressive VFX creators. Intelligent Creatures relentlessly pursues its mission to be the leading company in the world providing Visual Effects that plays a strong supporting role in high-end creatively driven feature films.
The current owners and co-founders of IC, Michael Hatton and Lon Molnar met while working in the Visual Effects Industry in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, both of them holding senior positions, covering all aspects of visual effects production: visual effects supervision, digital compositing, 3D animation and production management.
Officially opening its doors in 2003, Intelligent Creatures has attracted such clients as Warner Brothers, Miramax Films, MGM, New Line Cinemas, and Twentieth Century Fox. IC’s portfolio spotlights the visual effects its partners set out to achieve. Working on such films as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Stranger Than Fiction, Babel, Number 23 and Watchmen, Intelligent Creatures continually raises the bar when it comes to seamless visual effects and creative design.
I asked Donovan Zulauf, New Business Development Manager for IC what brought the company to Queen St. E.: "As for what brought us to the Beach? I would say that Lon and Michael just really liked the neighbourhood, and thought it would be a great place for the studio out of the craziness from downtown."
Keep in touch with Intelligent Creatures by becoming their fan on facebook.
Here are some examples of their work.
Intelligent Creatures is a Visual Effects studio dedicated to helping cinema's finest directors tell their most compelling stories; working on such films as Watchmen, Hairspray, Babel, Stranger Than Fiction, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The Company stands among the industry's most progressive Visual Effects creators.
With fully integrated 2D & 3D compositing and animation pipelines and a wealth of on-set experience, the Company stands among the industry’s most progressive VFX creators. Intelligent Creatures relentlessly pursues its mission to be the leading company in the world providing Visual Effects that plays a strong supporting role in high-end creatively driven feature films.
The current owners and co-founders of IC, Michael Hatton and Lon Molnar met while working in the Visual Effects Industry in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, both of them holding senior positions, covering all aspects of visual effects production: visual effects supervision, digital compositing, 3D animation and production management.
Officially opening its doors in 2003, Intelligent Creatures has attracted such clients as Warner Brothers, Miramax Films, MGM, New Line Cinemas, and Twentieth Century Fox. IC’s portfolio spotlights the visual effects its partners set out to achieve. Working on such films as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Stranger Than Fiction, Babel, Number 23 and Watchmen, Intelligent Creatures continually raises the bar when it comes to seamless visual effects and creative design.
I asked Donovan Zulauf, New Business Development Manager for IC what brought the company to Queen St. E.: "As for what brought us to the Beach? I would say that Lon and Michael just really liked the neighbourhood, and thought it would be a great place for the studio out of the craziness from downtown."
Keep in touch with Intelligent Creatures by becoming their fan on facebook.
Here are some examples of their work.
eyeon software
Another of my neighbours, in the Queen and Lee area, is eyeon software, the makers the very popular Fusion compositing software.
eyeon Software Inc. began in Sydney, Australia, in 1987 as New York Production & Design. Its principal business was 3D computer graphics and digital special effects postproduction for industrials, commercials and feature films. When NYPD needed to create an effect, they built the software and hardware themselves. They adopted previously separate elements into a fully integrated system. As a result, eyeon quietly emerged from NYPD to become a world leader in compositing and digital creation technology, using their core solution, Fusion as a vehicle.
From the beginning, eyeon invested heavily in research and development and, dedicated to the global success of Fusion through the application of leading-edge development techniques, eyeon developed Fusion on the Windows platform from the ground up. Without sacrificing the quality and performance of much more expensive solutions, eyeon provides one of the fastest, most comprehensive postproduction applications available.
eyeon is dedicated to the proliferation of the compositing arts through the fierce and aggressive development of our unique solutions. eyeon keeps an ear to the ground, working closely with our clients and postproduction professionals to pursue the most comprehensive and practically applicable tools, features and functionality in everything we set out to accomplish.
For more information go to eyeonline.com.
eyeon Software Inc. began in Sydney, Australia, in 1987 as New York Production & Design. Its principal business was 3D computer graphics and digital special effects postproduction for industrials, commercials and feature films. When NYPD needed to create an effect, they built the software and hardware themselves. They adopted previously separate elements into a fully integrated system. As a result, eyeon quietly emerged from NYPD to become a world leader in compositing and digital creation technology, using their core solution, Fusion as a vehicle.
From the beginning, eyeon invested heavily in research and development and, dedicated to the global success of Fusion through the application of leading-edge development techniques, eyeon developed Fusion on the Windows platform from the ground up. Without sacrificing the quality and performance of much more expensive solutions, eyeon provides one of the fastest, most comprehensive postproduction applications available.
eyeon is dedicated to the proliferation of the compositing arts through the fierce and aggressive development of our unique solutions. eyeon keeps an ear to the ground, working closely with our clients and postproduction professionals to pursue the most comprehensive and practically applicable tools, features and functionality in everything we set out to accomplish.
For more information go to eyeonline.com.
Quillsoft
One of my neighbours on Queen Street is Quillsoft, the renowned developer of Word Q, a software designed to help people with learning disabilities how to write.
WordQ is a software tool used along with standard writing software. WordQ suggests words for you to use and provides spoken feedback to help you find mistakes. Users of all ages who have problems writing and editing, particularly those with learning disabilities (LD), can benefit from using WordQ. It features a carefully thought-out design with only essential functions that have demonstrated benefits to help students write. Word prediction and speech feedback are important functions that bolster students' strengths to assist writing. Read more...
WordQ was researched and developed at Bloorview Kids Rehab, an internationally renowned children’s rehabilitation hospital located in Toronto, Canada along with educators and professionals working with students with learning disabilities.
Install WordQ and begin using it immediately with any word processor. State-of-the-art word prediction suggests words when you have trouble spelling or choosing the right word. A special text-reading mode helps you proofread. With Microsoft® Word, WordPad, Notepad or Outlook, text can be highlighted and read aloud within that application.
WordQ does not correct your grammar, sort out your punctuation or provide you with creative ideas. Instead WordQ allows you to independently write your own ideas, and check your spelling, grammar and punctuation so that you can become a more competent and confident writer.
WordQ benefits a wide range of users; it helps develop confidence, improves productivity, increases self-esteem and fosters a spirit of inclusion – some of our users say that it has changed their lives! The main advantage of WordQ over other products is that it is extremely clean, simple and easy-to-use. Teachers in special education will appreciate its simplicity.
WordQ 2 includes:
* Natural sounding text-to-speech
* In-context prediction for corrections
* Usage examples for confusing words
* Predictions based on creative spelling
WordQ 2.0 for Mac OS 10.4 - 10.5 is their first release for Mac OS X. It is functionally identical to WordQ 2.6 for Windows. An update for Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard is planned for November 2009.
WordQ is a software tool used along with standard writing software. WordQ suggests words for you to use and provides spoken feedback to help you find mistakes. Users of all ages who have problems writing and editing, particularly those with learning disabilities (LD), can benefit from using WordQ. It features a carefully thought-out design with only essential functions that have demonstrated benefits to help students write. Word prediction and speech feedback are important functions that bolster students' strengths to assist writing. Read more...
WordQ was researched and developed at Bloorview Kids Rehab, an internationally renowned children’s rehabilitation hospital located in Toronto, Canada along with educators and professionals working with students with learning disabilities.
Install WordQ and begin using it immediately with any word processor. State-of-the-art word prediction suggests words when you have trouble spelling or choosing the right word. A special text-reading mode helps you proofread. With Microsoft® Word, WordPad, Notepad or Outlook, text can be highlighted and read aloud within that application.
WordQ does not correct your grammar, sort out your punctuation or provide you with creative ideas. Instead WordQ allows you to independently write your own ideas, and check your spelling, grammar and punctuation so that you can become a more competent and confident writer.
WordQ benefits a wide range of users; it helps develop confidence, improves productivity, increases self-esteem and fosters a spirit of inclusion – some of our users say that it has changed their lives! The main advantage of WordQ over other products is that it is extremely clean, simple and easy-to-use. Teachers in special education will appreciate its simplicity.
WordQ 2 includes:
* Natural sounding text-to-speech
* In-context prediction for corrections
* Usage examples for confusing words
* Predictions based on creative spelling
WordQ 2.0 for Mac OS 10.4 - 10.5 is their first release for Mac OS X. It is functionally identical to WordQ 2.6 for Windows. An update for Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard is planned for November 2009.
Tech in The Beach, Toronto
On a day-to-day basis, many people come into my store to ask about Macintosh, iPod, or just to ask how's business. And I ask them: "How's business?" And this is when I get to find out who's doing what in The Beach. People tell me so many things, but my little brain loses much of what I hear so quickly these days.
So I've created this blog to help me remember who does what in The Beach, most particularly, who does what in tech. What people do around here is remarkable, and that is what I'm going to share with you...right here.
So I've created this blog to help me remember who does what in The Beach, most particularly, who does what in tech. What people do around here is remarkable, and that is what I'm going to share with you...right here.
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