The new iPad is a gutsy device that only Apple could make. Apple is known for going out on the limb and bringing the future to the present. Every time they do this the initial reaction is split. Some are filled with awe and wonder. Some with doubt and even fear (fear for how they think computers should be).

Every single innovative product, wither successful or not, has received this treatment. The Apple I, the Macintosh, the Newton, the iMac, the iBook, the Cube, the iPod, the iTunes and App store, the iPhone, the Apple TV, and now the iPad. I would say 3 to 5 of those have been revolutionary devices that changed the way we thought about personal computers, media devices, and mobile phones. Apple is now attempting to revolutionize the personal computer again. They just are not directly saying it.

John Gruber at Daringfireball.net has some great posts on the iPad. His latest has inspired this post. So do yourself a favor and read his posts on the iPad. Actually do yourself an even bigger favor and subscribe to his RSS feed or follow him on Twitter. @daringfireball and @gruber. I’m serious. Do it.

So how is the iPad redefining the personal computer? First, let’s see where the iPad can fit into your life. Apple says somewhere in between your iPhone, a powerful mobile computing device that fits in your pocket and your MacBook, a serious mobile computing device when you need flexibility and power. These fit into our mindset of a personal computer pretty easily.

So how does the iPad fit in to that mindset? For most tech geeks our expectations are always to the ceiling. Geeks were hoping for a glorious Minority Report style interface. (Does anyone remember the plot and characters of this movie or just the tech?) Although it would be cool, it’s not practical in any way for most of our current computing applications. A complex interface like this would appeal to the geeks and confuse the average Joe. And guess what? It’s the average Joe that Apple truly cares about with the iPad. It’s the average Joe that goes into an Apple Store and walks out with an Apple product that they didn’t know would enrich and enhance their lives. The average Joe is the mind share Apple wants. Apple set out to make a device that simplifies computing and hides all it’s complexities. You know, the things that geeks love but your average user doesn’t care about and despises.

I work with low and high level computer users everyday in my business. Even on a Mac people still have a hard time understanding the Finder and where their documents are saved. For example, the initial expectation when creating a document in Word or Pages is that the document is saved in the Word or Pages application itself. Not some documents folder that is in a user’s folder that’s on their hard drive. This was especially confusing to those using Office 2004. When you launched Word, by default it would take you to a list of recently used documents. No matter where the files were actually saved. So many had the belief that their files were in the Word application. Trying to explain that they were not was a real task. And looking back, why isn’t it this way? Why doesn’t it work like so many new users think it should?

Many Mac apps do a great job of hiding where they store the users files. iPhoto and iMovie are a great example. You import media into these two applications and you never once have to go through a save dialog menu and choose where to save your work. You can also share that media between iLife and iWork apps and never touch a file in the Finder. Even though iPhoto saves a packaged photo library in your pictures folder and iMovie saves it’s various files in the movies folder. The user can get away with never knowing or even caring where their files are saved. But on the flip side there are those that by all means must know where everything is saved. It’s like being obsessed about filing cabinets and folders.

These users got themselves in trouble at times. For example, I believe it was iPhoto 6 and prior, the iPhoto library was simply a folder in pictures where all the photos, thumbnails, originals, databases, and more were saved. It was very easy to completely fudge up iPhoto if you went into those folders and began moving or deleting stuff. The iPhoto database wouldn’t see the changes you made outside of iPhoto and therefore begin to bork your precious photo library with the wrong thumbnails and what not. So Apple “locked down” the library into a package. This prevented a user from messing with iPhoto’s complex folder system. You don’t know how many people who upgraded to the new iPhoto screamed bloody murder that they couldn’t access there photos. Mostly for uploading photos to websites. Those on Tiger 10.4 didn’t have a way to access their photo’s in the open dialog box. Once Leopard came out it give easy access to your media in the open dialog box and people settled down.

This is one area where the iPad will change our definition of what a personal computer is today. If you think about it. Apple has always done this. Adding a graphical user interface and a pointing device to the Macintosh suddenly brought computers into our homes and made them personal. No longer was a computer just used for number crunching and data entry in business. It allowed you to learn and create.

Over the next 25 years the personal computer began to take on more and more roles. From productivity, creativity, learning, and gaming. To an internet powered communication device and digital media hub. The personal computer keeps getting more and more loaded on it. But the basic management of the computer has not really changed. We still have a hierarchy of files and folders. Heck, we still have a terminal and command prompt! Computers were supposed to make life simpler, do the work for us,give us more free time. Now we spend more time than ever in front of the computer and a good portion of that time is managing the computer itself.

John Gruber puts it’s best:

That’s where Apple is taking computing. A car with an automatic transmission still shifts gears; the driver just doesn’t need to know about it. A computer running iPhone OS still has a hierarchical file system; the user just never sees it.

The iPad suddenly takes all the complexities that the personal computer has compiled and takes the essential tasks the user needs and puts it in front of them in a simple and easy to use device. Leo Laporte describes it as an appliance. Just like your toaster or microwave. There’s no learning curve. You know how it works and what to expect out of it.

When the original iPhone came out I had been working at the Apple retail store in Oklahoma City for less than a month. I got maybe 10 minutes of play time before we had to open the doors to the customers. The first time I unlocked the screen with the swipe of my finger and went to the photos app to pinch and zoom. It was magical. Of course we had training on how it worked but I watched thousands of people pick it up and begin to navigate around. There was no need for much explanation. Beyond what they could and couldn’t use it for. Many Palm Pilot nerds wanted to see a folder structure so they could store and arrange files. And of course they wanted to use a stylus. Some didn’t believe us when we said it wouldn’t work but they proceeded to try them anyway. Having the opportunity to watch and teach the world how to use a new device was really amazing. But mostly because it was fun. Doing a demo wasn’t a chore like demoing an iLife or iWork app. Although now on the iPad that would be really fun. Unlike teaching someone how to use a mouse the iPhone was fun.

I’ve spent many hours training elderly customers who’s grandkids got them a Mac. It was there first computer ever. Try explaining single click, double click, right click (especially on a Might Mouse), click through, drag and drop to a 90 year old who can not read any font less than 30 point and who has a hard time keeping their hands steady enough to click a tiny, red, close button.

More proof of how Apple’s multi-touch user interface is changing how we interact with computers. Hand an iPhone to a 2 year old and they will have it down in less than 20 minutes. There is nothing more natural than touching a item to interact with it. I mean, that’s how our Creator designed us.

The iPad will be successful because it’s reshaping the personal computer. It’s dropping the learning curve significantly. People who have resisted the need for a laptop computer and need to replace their desktop will seriously look at this device.(Trust me, there are millions out there who still have tower PC’s.) As long as they can surf the web, view various media types, and share with their friends and family, they will be more than satisfied. Especially when they don’t need to worry about losing files, managing computer resources and a biggie, not running crap anti-virus software. I’ll save that explanation for a later post.

For the more than average user the iPad will entice them because of the 3rd party apps. Developers are going to make amazing apps for this device. Just like how the iPhone was born again with the App Store and OS 2.0. The iPad will constantly be evolving with every break through app released. It’s a blank slate (pun intended) with countless possibilities.

My philosophy on learning new technology is that most people learn best visually. Seeing a demonstration can dramatically reduce the learning curve. Actions are easier to reproduce when a user can watch a video or screencast that can be paused and replayed over and over.

A few weeks ago I discovered Screenr.com Free, web based screen recording software. I tried it out and found the quality to be excellent. They also hook right into your Twitter account so I could send a tweet out as soon as the recording was done. The recordings are also limited to 5 minutes. Now, most would see that as a problem but I actually see it as a good problem. Just like the 140 character limit on Twitter keeps your posts brief and to the point. The 5 minutes time limit on Screenr does the same. It makes me have to answer the questions in the most efficient manner (of which I am still practicing.)

Here is an example:

I am using Twitter and Screenr to connect with Mac users and help answer their questions in a quick and efficient manner. Ask @mactrainer and question on Twitter and you’ll get an appropriate response, via video or screencast. I’ve started a new Tumblr blog dedicated to just this purpose.

mactrainer.tumblr.com

Not only does the person who asked the question benefit from a free answer but anyone else you wants to learn more about their Mac. Please leave me some feedback and hit me up on Twitter.

Let the floodgate of Mac questions begin!

Well, here’s a list of 5 guaranteed gift ideas that any tech geek will love!

1. iTunes Store Gift Cards

The name iTunes really doesn’t describe what all is in it’s store anymore. It started out with Music and then added Movies and TV shows. Now it’s also the only place to find iPhone/iPod Touch applications. If your household geek has an iPod or iPhone. An iTunes gift cards is easy gift to give. You can find them at almost every check out counter and you can even send a gift card right from iTunes to their email with whatever amount you want to give. Easy.

2. iPod Touch

The Holy Grail of iPods. It play Music, Movies, and TV shows.You can also load it up with over 100,000 apps to choose from (really an insane amount). Lot’s of great apps are free or less than $5.00. This iPod’s real new claim to fame is gaming. There are some of the best mobile games of any device, including the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Games and Geeks usually go together well. Oh and yes it’s like having an iPhone but without the phone and without the monthly bill that comes with it. The iPod Touch (sometimes mistakenly called an iTouch) starts at $199. You can pick them up locally at Walmart or order online from store.apple.com and you can have your gift engraved with a special message for free.

3. Viper SmartStart

Does your geek love his or her car? And do they also posses an iPhone? This security system and iPhone application from Viper is the ultimate tech/automobile combination. The SmartStart system allows you to arm/lock and disarm/unlock your car using your iPhone. It also allows you to remotely start your car. FROM ANYWHERE. It uses your 3G connection to communicate from the iPhone to the installed security system in your car. Technically your car could be on the other side of the country and you could start it. You’ll also get notifications straight to your phone when the alarm goes off. Being able to start your car from the comfort of your home or office on a cold or hot day is a luxury we all want. If they only added a GPS tracker then I don’t know how this system could get any better. Of course the best gear does comes with a price. $499 for the SmartStart system + Best Buy installation + $30 a year subscription. Your car geek would simply die if this was under the tree.

4. Windows 7

Yes, your eyes didn’t deceive you. A Mac guy just put Windows on a Christmas wish list. Until we can afford to upgrade my wife to the #5 Geek Gift on this list she’s still rocking a two year old HP notebook that came with Windows Vista. The notebook was really not powerful enough to run Vista well. It eventually began to crash and became the usually frustrating PC we’ve grown not to love. She didn’t have her discs to reinstall Vista so I decided to install Windows 7. And you know what, it’s not half bad. Microsoft finally put in some effort in the user experience and design. Simple things like switching Wi-Fi networks no longer require 10 clicks or more. Her notebook runs much better now; no crashing, doesn’t slow down, and runs as good as my MacBook Pro.

Now all the PC manufacturers would love for you to run out this Holiday season and buy a brand new computer with Windows 7 on it. But you can save some money and just get the software. So if you’re still stuck on XP, it may finally be time to upgrade. The time that you waste upgrading your anti-virus database could be spent on, oh I don’t know, Facebook. Partner Windows 7 with Microsoft’s new and free Security Essentials software and now the PC isn’t so bad. However, Microsoft didn’t make upgrading to 7 an easy task. You have multiple versions to choose from with prices varying from $120 to $220. Of course you could fore go this headache and get a Mac.

5. The 27″ iMac

Apple makes it too easy to fill your holiday shopping cart with their products. Their newest drool worthy computer is the 27 inch iMac. This desktop Mac is not only beautiful but very powerful. The large screen is spectacular. New technologies like LED back lights and in-plane switching (IPS) make the screen evenly bright and viewable from almost any viewing angle. The display is also in 16:9 HD aspect ratio. Absolutely perfect for viewing HD content, whether it’s HD movies from iTunes or from the web like Hulu and YouTube. No, it does not play Blu-Ray HD discs. According to Steve Jobs Blu-Ray is “a bag of hurt.” I’ll let you translate that one.

But the one super neat trick the 27 inch has that it’s smaller 21.5 inch sibling doesn’t, is HD Video input. The Mini DisplayPort not only let’s you output it to another monitor but it also allows you to use it’s own display as a monitor for another device. For example, the iMac is your home computer. You have newer MacBook that you’ve been using on a project your working on and you’d love to use your iMac’s big screen as the display, with the 27 inch you now can. But it doesn’t stop there, more devices like Blu-Ray players, PC’s, and video game systems might soon support this connection (with or without a proper adapter). This means the iMac can double as a really impressive HDTV. Let that sink in for a bit.

The iMac also ships with a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard and the new Magic Mouse. This mouse has a multi touch sensitive surface like an iPhone. Scrolling through pages with the touch of your finger feels just right. Prices on the 27 inch start out at $1,699. That gets you 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of memory (upgradable to 16 GB!), 1TB hard drive, 8x DL DVD R/W drive, and 256MB ATI graphics card. Of course it goes up from there for those who want Intel’s new Quad Core i5 or i7 processors. Just add $300 – $500. My only complaint with this amazing machine is Apple nickel and dime-ing you for the Apple remote, $19. By the way, this iMac runs Windows 7 great, works great with the iPod Touch and those iTunes gift cards too!

The above article I wrote for the new business section of the December 2009 issue of Stillwater Living magazine. Thank you to Sarah Little for letting me republish the article here. Learn more about the magazine and publisher, Peacock Pro here. Be sure to pick up your copy, it’s only $2 at magazine stands around Stillwater.

]]> http://www.blog.yourappletrainer.com/2009/12/five-guaranteed-to-satisfy-geek-gifts/feed/ 0 http://www.blog.yourappletrainer.com/2009/11/backup-strategies-for-your-business/ http://www.blog.yourappletrainer.com/2009/11/backup-strategies-for-your-business/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:40:40 +0000 Chris http://www.blog.yourappletrainer.com/?p=190 In today’s digital world we often take the reliability and security of our computer and it’s files for granted. In the “analog” world making sure our valuable documents were safe was pretty easy to comprehend. We kept these important files in a nice fire proof filing cabinet. The Xerox copier was our friend, photocopy the original then place that original in the safest place we could afford. Of course the hardest part of keeping physical copies was the amount of space required for storage. Businesses would have a room full of nothing but filling cabinets. You made sure the files were organized so that to find one later would not take an entire day. Large companies would have positions for people who just took care of these files.

When the digital revolution came we rejoiced. Hundreds of thousands of documents that once took up a whole room and staff to manage it could now be stored all on the computer on your desk. An amazing thing for sure but this digital revolution has come with it own perils.

A physical document has a few threats to it’s survival; a natural disaster, theft, or just getting lost. If the fire/flood proof filing cabinet was in a secure location you felt pretty safe. That same document in the digital world suffers many more threats. Natural disaster, theft, accidental deletion, overwritten, file corruption, viruses, malware, computer crash, and hard drive failure. The digital file has so many ways for it to be altered or destroyed. The number one cause of file loss is human error but second is hard drive failure. Almost every computer today has a hard disk drive. It’s your computer filing cabinet. It’s made up of tiny spinning magnetic platters that are very sensitive. These HDD’s are great, they let us store all of this information that used to take up an entire room but they also fail. They fail Alot! It’s not a matter of if your hard drive will die, it’s a matter of when. It could be ten years. It could be two months. I actually had a customer who thought she was backing up her brand new computer and it turns out it wasn’t backed up and her HDD died. She had irreplaceable photos and files on that drive. She paid a specialist file recovery company $2,800 to recover maybe one hundred photos.

This is why it is so important to have your files backed up.

Let’s define what a backup is:

A backup is having two or more copies of your files at all times. Those additional copies must not reside in/on the same computer as the original. Those additional copies must be in a safe easy to access place.

What a backup is not:

Say you have a folder with your business’ most important files. It is not a backup if you move those files off your computer’s hard drive and on to a USB flash drive that lives in your pocket. Also, if your computer is backing up files to the same hard drive as the originals.

Basically if your files don’t exist in two or more places then they don’t exist at all.

Here are some backup strategies and tools that your business can and should use.

First is a local backup, this local backup is usually a USB external hard drive plugged directly into your computer. It can also be a drive on your network. The purpose of this drive is to backup your entire computer. Not just your user files but the system files too. If your HDD died you would be able to restore your entire system from this drive. This local backup is also great for when you accidentally delete or overwrite a file. You want a backup program that allows you to recover the single file you need.

All you need for this local backup is software and an external hard drive. Any USB or Firewire external hard drive will work. You also want a drive that’s capacity is twice (or more) the size of your computer hard drive. So if you have a 200 gigabyte hard drive, you’ll want a 400 or more backup drive. Keep in mind that this backup drive should only be used for your backup. Don’t let someone borrow it to load up their music library.

When it comes to software you shouldn’t need to buy any. Both Windows and Macs come with great backup utilities. For the Mac Time Machine is your friend. It makes it super easy to restore that file you didn’t mean to trash or restore your entire system. For Windows, I have been informed by my Twitter PC friends (remember I’m the Apple Expert not the PC Expert) that Windows NT Backup is a backup solution that works great. However, there are plenty of 3rd party solutions. Symantec has Backup Exec for the PC and SuperDuper! is a great solution for the Mac.

Tip: If you want to get even more secure with your local backups, get two hard drives. Have one for your daily backups then another that you just backup say once week or month. Take the 2nd backup to an offsite location. Maybe from the office to your home, a friend’s house, or better yet a safety deposit box. The benefit here is in case of physical threats like fire or theft your 2nd backup is safe.

So now we’re feeling good, we have a real useful backup of our system, is there anything else we can do? Yes, there is and like everything else today it’s happening online. The idea here is that your most precious files get backed up securely over your internet connection to another companies server automatically and in the background. Like a good local backup it just works and there’s little management on your part.

Not until recently online backup wasn’t possible. It was limited and expensive. But today many companies are offering attractive solutions for online backup. The advantage of having an online backup is that your files are stored off site. Way off site. So if a tornado rips through Stillwater, your business building may not survive but your files did because they live in another state where hopefully they didn’t have a tornado at the same time. The other advantage is that those files are accessible anywhere you have an internet connection. So if your traveling with a notebook you know that you can access those backup files and you can continue your backup while your traveling.

Companies offering online backup are popping up all over the web. Here are a few that are also securely encrypted so your files are safe while on their way to and from the servers and your computers.

Carbonite.com – For personal use they offer unlimited online backup for $54.95/year. If your a one computer business this will work for you. They do offer volume sales for small business but no pricing is given.

Mozy.com – For personal use they offer a free 2GB of space. For businesses needing more back storage they offer MozyPro. $3.95 + $0.50 per GB/month. Mozy’s advantage is a monthly plan instead of a 1 year commitment.

iDrive.com – Their basic plan gives 2 GB free. Their iDrive Pro for personal is $4.95/ month for 150 GB. For Business $9.99/month for 50GB. They offer yearly and monthly plans.

All of these solutions require you to install software on your computer. All three also are PC and Mac compatible.

Ideally, you should have a combination of both local backup and online/offsite backup, this strategy will significantly reduce your risk of data loss. Remember if a file does not exist in two separate places, it does not exist at all.

The above article I wrote for the new business section of the November 2009 issue of Stillwater Living magazine. Thank you to Sarah Little for letting me republish the article here. Learn more about the magazine and publisher, Peacock Pro here. Be sure to pick up your copy, it’s only $2 at magazine stands around Stillwater.

It’s always tough trusting a third party for your crucial business communications. The comforting thing with Google Apps is that they use widely adopted standards and protocols for these systems. The advantage of using a non-proprietary system is that it makes it easy to get your email and calendars into almost any computer application or smart phone.

For example, my business uses Google Apps for all of it’s email, calendars, and instant messaging. Here is how Google Apps works for me and how it can work for you.

Email:

I have a couple of email addresses for my business. Some emails come to me and others go to my assistant (my awesome wife). I can check my email via the web interface (which allows me to access it on any internet connected computer), my MacBook Pro, and my iPhone. They all stay synced up thanks to IMAP. I can create a folder on my Mac and it will show up on my iPhone this allows me to move messages to those folders when I’m on the go or away from a computer. If I delete a message on my phone, then it’s deleted on my computer.

Another great feature is that Google has some of the best junk/spam filters around. So if one of your employees has put their company email address on too many “win a free iPod” sites then this will be a life saver. Google also uses industry-leading security so your confidential information is safe.

Calendars:

Much like email, I have calendars set up that stayed synced thanks to Google Calendar and it’s use of CalDAV. Once again I have access on the web, my computer, and my phone. The thing that can make calendars really useful are the alarms and notifications. We use our calendars to remind us of anything from appointments to phone calls. If I’m sitting in front of my computer I’ll get a pop up message with the reminder. If I’m on my phone I receive another notification with or without a sounded alarm. It’s really interesting when my assistant and I are both on our computers and have our iPhones out (notifications will go off on all four of our devices at once). There is no way we are going to miss a reminder!

An ideal situation is that I’m out on an appointment and my assistant books me a new appointment for later in the day. She sets a notification to go off 2 hours before the new appointment. So even if I don’t look at my calendar I get the notification alarm or vibration on my phone. Next time I look at my phone I will see the new appointment and see useful information like location and notes.

Another great use of Google calendar is it’s ability that each user can have their own personal calendar, it can set up group calendars with multiple administrators, and it can create public calendars that you can put on your website. If you ever need to post events and dates on your site, there is no better way then having a dynamic web calendar that people can interact with and even add to their own Google calendar so they don’t miss an event.

Instant Messaging:

I use Google Talk to communicate with my assistant. Either from iPhone to iPhone, or computer to iPhone and vice versa. Google Talk uses Jabber technology that many instant messaging applications like iChat on the Mac, Pidgin on the PC, and IM+ on our iPhones use.

If you ever received an email from a co-worker that says “Hey, what do you want to do for lunch?” then you may want to move those kinds of employee to employee communications to instant messages. Your email inbox will thank you!

You can do more than just text chatting. Depending on your computer and application setup, you can do multi-way voice chats, video chats, file sharing, and even screen sharing. This can help your office become more efficient if they use these tools appropriately.

This tool has actually helped expand my business outside the borders of Oklahoma. I have a customer on the other side of the country that I do personal Mac training with. We use iChat’s Mac to Mac screen sharing feature to see and control his desktop while talking through our microphones just like we were on a phone call.

Documents:

Google Docs are helpful if I’m away from my computer and I need to jump on a public computer to create a document. I can use Google Docs web based word processor, spreadsheet, or presentation tool and then send it to a customer. It’s not nearly as powerful as Microsoft Office but it is compatible.

So now your thinking “Okay Chris, this sounds great but how much is this going to cost me and my business?” Well, if you have less than 50 users you’re in luck. Like everything else Google it’s free. This free service is called the Standard Edition. For businesses who will need more than 50 users they have their Premier Edition which runs $50 per user per year. This also gives a few more features like 25GB of email storage per user, versus 7GB. You also get 24/7 phone support and more. Google Apps is as little as 1/3 the cost of solutions like Microsoft Exchange 2007.

You can learn more about Google Premier Apps benefits at: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/details.html

Getting all of this setup can be a little daunting. It requires some settings to be changed with your domain registrar. Google gives you instructions on what to do but if your not comfortable then contact your domain registrar. Most can get it all setup with a simple phone call.

The above article I wrote for the new business section of the October 2009 issue of Stillwater Living magazine. Thank you to Sarah Little for letting me republish the article here. Learn more about the magazine and publisher, Peacock Pro here. Be sure to pick up your copy, it’s only $2 at magazine stands around Stillwater.

No matter what business you’re in, one of the hardest things to do is build relationships with your customers. It’s symbiotic, one does not exist without the other. Your business will thrive or die based on the relationships you build with your customers.

The absolute best method for advertising your business is “word of mouth” advertising. You talked with your customer, got to know them, they got to know more about you and you begin to build trust that will lead to a fruitful lasting business relationship. The ultimate fruit of your labor is when your customers tell their friends and family about you and your business and sales continue. It doesn’t get any better than this. Or does it?

I believe the internet and social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook are changing this tried and true method and taking it to another level. For example, you have a very satisfied customer who just loves you. They might tell a friend about you. That friend then may or may not become a new customer. If they do, then without any extra effort on your part you’ve gained a new customer that in turn might tell their friends and family about you and your business. This is the domino effect that all businesses want. The quality of these relationships far out weigh the billboard you rented for the month.

But what if that positive conversation the first customer had with their friend could be heard by potentially millions of others? That one positive conversation can be amplified when it happens online. This is the potential of social networking and your business working together.

Also, keep in mind that the exact opposite is true with word of mouth advertising. If someone has a bad experience it can be multiplied without you even knowing about it until it’s too late. This is where participating in social networks can be a relationship repairing tool. Here is a true story of how a business turned a bad review on Twitter into a die hard fan and customer for life:

A friend of mine in Oklahoma City went to try a new restaurant in town with his wife. Unfortunately, the new place didn’t impress them and they felt like they received very poor service. When he got home he sent out a tweet stating his poor experience and suggested his friends and followers not bother with the new restaurant.

Now this is something any new business owner dreads. Especially when the customer doesn’t come straight to you with the disappointment and instead tells everyone but you. Now the business owner also happened to be on Twitter. He used Twitter’s search tool to find tweets and updates with the name of his business as a keyword. Upon his surprise he found my friend’s tweet about their poor experience. He then proceeded to send a reply tweet to my friend stating he was the owner of the restaurant and would love to have a second chance. Offering dinner on the house helped entice them to give the place a second try and guess what? They loved it. Not only did they tweet about the much better experience but they also become friends online with the owner. The owner took their negative tweet as an opportunity to repair his relationship (one he didn’t even have before) with them and knock it out of the park, thus creating customers for life.

But it didn’t stop there. Not only did he save his relationship with one customer but I guarantee he gained possibly more than fifty new customers who where Twitter followers of my friend. People love businesses that give them a great experience but they love businesses even more than can own up to their mistakes and go above and beyond to fix them. This business owner didn’t just create new customers he created new fans of him and his business ethics.

So how do you get started?

Surprisingly, when it comes to Twitter you don’t even have to sign up to search all the public tweets. (Yes, some people protect their updates and make them private. To me this defeats the whole purpose of Twitter. Facebook is more suited to those who want to a more private walled garden experience.)

Try it yourself. Go to http://search.twitter.com. Try searching for your businesses name, keywords about your business, your location, heck search for your competition! See what people are saying. If you find someone said something positive or negative then you might want to contact them. But to send them a reply (a public message) you will need to sign up for a free account.

Here are some tips when you do sign up. Make sure you fill out the complete profile. You’ll want to fill out your location (city and state), a brief bio about you and your business, and be sure to put in your web address. Finally, upload a picture, you can use a logo or a picture of yourself. I know it’s scary putting yourself out there but using a well cropped personal picture of yourself helps people trust you more. It’s like talking face to face, it increases a person’s comfort level when communicating with you.

Another strategy is to answer questions that people are asking online. If you are knowledgeable in that area they will appreciate any answers they get. Then they may possibly decide to follow you because you made yourself valuable to them. When you send out a tweet asking if anyone needs help with such and such, tell them you’re here to help, they may “re-tweet” your message to their followers and say, “I recommend this person, they helped me out with my problem”.

Companies that treat Twitter as an advertising tool will not be successful in building those valuable relationships. Sending out a link to your weekly sales page won’t cut it. You must add value and engage people even if it’s not about your business. If someone says they like a certain music group and you like them too, then share that with them. Start a conversation. Who knows what will happen? The good news is seasoned users will be more than willing to help you learn the ropes.

Just like any aspect of your business it takes time, effort, and attention. These conversations are happening online every second. “Word of mouth” is great and if it’s in the form of a tweet it can be priceless.

The above article I wrote for the new business section of the September 2009 issue of Stillwater Living magazine. Thank you to Sarah Little for letting me republish the article here. Learn more about the magazine and publisher, Peacock Pro here. Be sure to pick up your copy, it’s only $2 at magazine stands around Stillwater.

Email

Mobile Me provides you one email address @me.com (you can have up to 5 alias address that point to your main address)

Features: IMAP for syncronized email and folders across devices. The email also has PUSH abilities when used with a PUSH enabled device like the iPhone. Web access is available though me.com.

Pros & Cons: email through Mobile Me is that is very easy to setup with any Apple device. Apple’s Mail app and the mail app on the iPhone/iPod Touch. All you need is your user name and password. No settings to mess with. Simple. On the flip side the PUSH doesn’t seem to work as advertised. So results will vary.

The Email Alternative

Gmail from Google. 

Features: IMAP & POP for using with any email client. Great web interface. Over 7 GB of storage. Integration with other Google apps. Good server side spam filter. FREE. Setup as many accounts as you want.

Pros & Cons: I have never heard of someone running out of space with Gmail. The storage is always growing, although at a slower pace than a few years ago. 7 GB is a lot. The spam filtering in Gmail is really good. It also prevents unnecessary junk mail from going to your mail client. Apple Mail apps for mac and iPhone have the settings for Gmail built in. The only con is if you don’t like the idea of Google’s targeted advertising. Which only matters when you are using the web interface.

Gmail is an easy alternative to Mobile Me. No brainer here. All of my business email is handled Google Apps which allows me to have yourappletrainer.com email.

Calendars

Mobile Me works with the calendars you created in iCal.

Features: Syncing calendars made on iCal with other Macs and iPhones. Publishing your calendars online. Great web interface on me.com. PUSH updates.

Pros & Cons: A simple check mark in Mobile Me’s settings let you sync your calendars with any Mac and iPhone you own. Create as many calendars you want and share them all. The keyword is ALL. You can not choose which calendars get synced. The PUSH updates in my experience has worked really good. Another downside is that you can not use a PC calendar app like Mozilla’a Sunbird to view and edit your calendars. A PC user would be stuck with the web interface which is very good but not a local app.

Google Calendar

Features: Web based calendars. CalDAV for use with calendars apps and iPhone. Sharing calendars with other Google users. HTML embedding of a public calendar on your website. Works with PC apps like Sunbird.

Pros & Cons: It is integrated with the rest of the Google apps. CalDAV allows you to edit and manager your calendars right in iCal and on your iPhone. It even syncs the colors that you set online. Sharing calendars is really powerful. You can set permissions for each person you share with. You can allow someone to only read the calendar or full editing access. Also the options you have embedding your calendar on your own website is very powerful. Setting up Google to work with iCal and the iPhone isn’t super easy. Especially for more than one calendar. An average user would be lost.

I’ll just say that like Gmail I have switched all of my calendars to Google. Especially since the new iPhone 3.0 software  supports CalDAV. Now my wife and I can share calendars on our iPhone and post events to a public Google calendar.

Contacts and Bookmarks

Mobile Me let’s you sync your contacts and bookmarks wirelessly.

Pros & Cons: Simple and easy to setup. Works great with iPhones, Macs, and PCs. This is super useful for me and my wife who share the same address book. We each have of groups so we don’t have to scroll through each others contacts. But at the same time it’s nice because I know if she adds a new or updates a contact it will be on my iPhone within seconds. Bookmarks sync as well but I do wish it would sync the browser history too.

Contacts alternative:

Microsoft Exchange. If your with a company that has an Exchange server your set. Mail, Contacts, and Calendars will sync with your iPhone. When Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 is release your Mac will also be able to sync with an Exchange server.

For the majority of us who do not have Exchange there is another option via Google.

Google Sync actually uses Microsoft Exchange technology to sync contacts and calendars. It does not sync email.

Pros & Cons: It’s a another free service to Google users. It also works with those using Google Apps. It is also a PUSH system. So it updates quickly. However it is not the easiest process to setup. Setting up Sync on your iPhone requires going to the mobile site to turn on and off which calendars you want to see on your iPhone. Not a limitation to Google Sync but your iPhone can only be setup with one Exchange account.

File Storage

A standard Mobile Me account gives you 20 GB of total online storage. This storage is shared between email, iWeb sites, photo galleries, and general storage.

Features: Built in support on your Mac. iPhone and PC app available to manage files on your iDisk. Solid integration with Mac and 3rd party apps. Large file sharing. Size is upgradable for an additional cost.

Pros & Cons: If you have multiple Macs and PCs then this a great way to have a central file server that is available anywhere you have an internet connection. You can even turn on iDisk syncing so that every file that is on your iDisk is kept locally for when you are offline. Once again on the flip side I’ve had good and bad experiences with the syncing feature. Sometimes they just wouldn’t sync and it was hard to tell what files are definitely synced up with the online iDisk.

The File Storage Alternative

DropBox

Features: Synchronization between multiple Macs and PCs. Share folders with other Drop Box users. Free 2GB of storage. Sharing large files with anyone. Upgradable to 50 & 100 GB for a fee. Built in photo gallery.

Pros & Cons: It’s simple. Just like the iDisk you access it in your Finder and you can drag and drop files. Create folders and organize things just like your used to in the Finder. Dropbox also has a nice menu bar icon letting you know when it is syncing in the background. It saves local copies for offline access. The only con I have found is that the default is that your files are set to do a move instead of a copy like the iDisk. Example: I went to my iTunes folder to share some music with my wife’s PC. I drag & dropped a folder into the DropBox folder and I didn’t know I had just moved those files out of my iTunes library. I learned I need to hold down the option key so it does a copy instead. Your Mac treats it like a standard folder and not a mounted drive.

DropBox works great and for pure file storage it is a better deal. $99 a year will get you 50 GB. $199 gets your 100 GB which is almost enough to do a complete backup of your system.

Publishing Web, Photos, & Video

There are many solutions for publishing websites, sharing photos, and posting videos. Here we are looking at solutions that integrate with the applications on your Mac. Warning: this is a long one!

Mobile Me’s integration with iLife and other Mac apps is hard to beat.

Features: Publish websites with iWeb. Create Photo and Video galleries with iPhoto, iMovie, and Aperture. Post photos and videos from your iPhone. Web interface to completely manage your galleries. Password protect individual galleries and videos.

Pros & Cons: It doesn’t get much easier than this for Mac users. I think the web galleries are just beautiful. Makes it easy for people to navigate all your photos and videos. Also the option to let people download a high quality version is nice. There is even an RSS subscription. This is awesome for other iPhoto users. For example my mother-in-law has a MacBook Pro. I simply go to our photo gallery, select the group, select subscribe in iPhoto and her iPhoto launches and asks to confirm my subscription. All the photos download to her iPhoto and as we add photos to that gallery they will automatically download to her iPhoto the next time she launches the app.

For those using Aperture you get the Mobile Me galleries too with the added ability to post an optimized and master version. This is great for needing to share with those who may want a copy of the unedited version.

There is not one single service that matches Mobile Me when it comes to integration and sharing. So we are going to look at a few options that could be used together.

Photo Alternatives:

When it comes to sharing photos Flickr is one of the most popular and best sites out there. Especially if you want to share your photos with a community.

Features: Free & Pro accounts. Built in support in iPhoto 09. Private or public options. Great web integration. Community focused with pools, comments, and more. Many apps designed to browse, upload, and share photos in Flickr. You can also upload short videos in HD.

Pros & Cons: iPhoto 09′s Flickr integration is decent. I like that is shows your Flickr sets in the sidebar along with all your other albums. Unfortunately it doesn’t give more powerful tools like tagging. Aperture 2 so far doesn’t have the native Flickr support like iPhoto yet. However there is a 3rd party solution for both of these. Ubermind makes an Flickr up loader for both iPhoto and Aperture. They provide all the tools that one would need to get photos to Flickr. They run $20 for iPhoto & $25 for Aperture.

Another option is the open source Gallery. My web host DreamHost has Gallery as a One-Click install on my web server. This is an online photo organizer that runs on your server. I haven’t used it yet so I’m not going to proclaim any expertise on it. But I do think it can be very compelling solution for those who have a lot of storage space on their web server. My deal with DreamHost gave me “unlimited” storage space. Right now we have about 5 GB of photos on Mobile Me. Also since we use Aperture as our preferred photo app Ubermind also provides a FREE Aperture to Gallery plugin.

Pros & Cons: From what I can see it’s awesome because it’s free and your in complete control. On the other hand it’s a lot more work. Like any other open source software solution if it breaks you fix it. There are forums and groups of people that will be glad to help you out. So if you like to “roll your own” this is the way to go.

Our final option is Google’s Picasa. Thanks to Ubermind once again when can get a plugin for Aperture & iPhoto to send photos to Google’s Picasa service. I believe you get 1 GB of free storage. Just another option provided by Google. So if you like everything Google then this maybe for you.

Video Alternatives:

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. YouTube is the only built in alternative in iMovie 09 to publishing your videos other than Mobile Me.

Features: Free. Public and private videos. Optional High Quality & HD. Easy sharing and embedding. Direct support in iMovie 09 & Keynote 09.

Pros & Cons: YouTube isn’t going any where soon with Google being daddy now. The quality keeps getting better and better. On the downside your limited to 10 minute long clips. You also have to deal with ads.

There are many other video social sites on the web today. Popular ones like Vimeo and Flickr may not have direct support on your Mac (yes you can upload via the web interfaces but we are going to integration) there is a new video sharing Mac app on the scene called Clipstart.

Clipstart is a very smart little app. First, it finds all of the video on your Mac, lets you tag and organize your videos, then let’s you trim them and upload them to YouTube, Vimeo, or Flickr. The app is $29. What I like is that if I have a video I’m edited in iMovie Clipstart will find it and let me upload it. It also allows direct import from my iPhone 3GS, this is much better than uploading the videos to iPhoto. As you can see in it’s icon it also also great for those with Flip cameras.

Web Publishing Alternatives:

In the past if you wanted to use iWeb for building easy websites you had two choices. Mobile Me and site folder export. Again Mobile Me makes this easy. One click publishing. The export into a folder option only worked for those used to sending those new files via a separate FTP app. Now in iLife 09, iWeb now has built in support for FTP. This is a big deal for those who like iWeb and it severs the exclusive need for Mobile Me. Any web host you choose is now supported in iWeb. I’ve really enjoyed Dreamhost as my web host.

Back to my Mac & Find My iPhone

If the stars align right with your home network then Mobile Me let’s you turn on Back to my Mac. The idea is that if you travel with say a MacBook and have another Mac at home then Back to my Mac would allow you to connect to that Mac just like you were on the same local network. Browse files and even share the screen and control your home Mac remotely. Pretty cool. This is basically a fancy and “easy” to setup VNC and VPN setup. There are many solutions to do both of this without Mobile Me. Chicken of the VNC is one that comes to mind. But once again for the non tech savvy user it doesn’t get any easier “if” like I said the your network doesn’t get in the way. If your running an Apple Airport router it is setup to allow the right NAT connections.

As for Find My iPhone, this is one feature of a Mobile Me subscription that I don’t think anyone else will be able to reproduce. Find My iPhone let’s you log in to me.com and track on a Google map where the phone is located. You can also PUSH a message with sound to the phone. And finally you can remotely wipe the iPhone of all your data. So if you happen to lose your precious iPhone you don’t have to worry about someone getting any of your personal data. For some this exclusive feature is alone worth the $99 a year.

The Verdict

For any Mac user, Mobile Me does a whole lot and makes it effortless and painless. It is possible to have almost every feature of Mobile Me for close to free. The alternatives are possible but require a lot more work. So if your the tech geek who likes things the hard way then some of these alternatives are for you. For me Mobile Me is worth the $99 a year for what I use it for. Contacts, calendars, bookmarks, photo galleries, and Find My iPhone. I’m using Gmail for all my email and calendars that are public. I also use Drop Box for shared folders with friends. As you’ll notice Google is providing many free alternatives that are good and getting better.

So what are your thoughts on Mobile Me? Is it worth it to you? Or do you have some other compelling options to Mobile Me that you use?

I upgraded from my beloved original, first generation, bought on day one, 8GB iPhone. My wife upgraded from a Sony Ericsson walkman phone that was four years old, still going strong too.

The best part about both of us having a iPhone now is that my wife doesn’t get jealous when I’m playing a game or tweeting, she has her own. We also can keep our calendars perfectly in sync. My wife loves setting alarms for up coming events and to-do’s. There is no way we will miss any alert when both of our phones go off and both of our notebooks.

One of the big factors that pushed us over the edge with the 3GS was video. The ability to take a picture or record a video an instantly be able to share it with each other or the world has been awesome. See we own a Nikon D40 which is great for stills but we did not own a true video camera. Now the iPhone’s video camera isn’t going to rival anything like the Flip Mino HD but I would say that any other cheap, non-HD cam is definitely up for a battle. Simply because the iPhone is always with us and the data connection. So we will have no excuse not to capture our little girls best and worst moments while growing up.

I did mention that we have no 3G coverage in Stillwater but the iPhone faster internal performance seems to make even loading large web pages faster than me previous edge (2G) only iPhone. It’s also been nice to use the GPS.  Which can tag your photos and videos with location data. So now you’ll remember where you took that awesome shot.

I could just keep gushing and gushing over this but if you have any questions about your iPhone or thinking about getting one I am here for you.

Chris

Here’s how to win:

• You can post a comment on this blog post on why you really could use 1 hour of training?
• If you can fit it in 140 characters or less, send me a Tweet @thecreative with your reason.
• You must live in or around Stillwater or if you are willing to cover travel expenses then I’ll be there.

I will then post a poll where others can help me decide which reasons are the most deserving. Remember you can be fun and creative or you can tell some me sad sad tale of why you need a free session.

Right now I want to give away 4 sessions, but depending on the amount of response I could do a few more.

So why do you want to win? And what could you learn?

First, there is always new things to learn, especially on your Mac or iPhone. Maybe you are new to the Mac and need some help switching your brain over from Windows or you would just like someone to see how you use your Mac and help teach you how all the cool shortcuts and ways to make your daily computing more efficient.

For business owners it could be helping you find the right software solution for running your business on a Mac. Or even you just need some help setting up a network, even if that network has PC’s on it.

For those who just love or even hate their iPhone. Sit down with me for an hour and I promise you will love it or at least like it.

Heck, even if you don’t own a Mac, iPhone, or iPod but just need some general computer guy help, I’m here.

First off, thank you to everyone who attended. It was one of those times where we just needed a longer lunch hour! I’m sure our bosses would not of minded. It was a pleasure to meet all of you and I truly hope Stillwater can be a fruitful garden for all of our businesses.

This post is packed full of information from our meeting. The main portion is a question and answers section. We also have a list of useful links.

Please leave any comments or questions below.

Here are the questions that we just didn’t have time to get to. Myself, Tawny, and Kristen have gone through and answered them to the best of our ability. There is some really good stuff here! Thanks also to Kim and Susan for collecting and typing out these questions.

1.    Can you and should you use MySpace for business?

Kristen -  I would use MySpace for your business if it is targeting 13-18 year olds or if it is music or film related. If you promote musical groups I would recommend your clients have a presence on MySpace.

2.     Can you and should you use FaceBook for business?

Kristen – Yes you can have a business page on Facebook. Facebook is another way customers can find out more about your business when you are not open.  It is an easy way to promote new items or features. If your business sets up a facebook account I would recommend you let people know you are on Facebook and encourage them to become a fan. I would also encourage a few of your best customers to comment on your products or services as a testimony. When you go to facebook.com you have the ability to set up a personal profile and/or a business account. If you have a personal account you will want to add a business page (if you are the business owner and the only one managing the account). If your business is going to have its own account because you might have more than one person updating you will want to create a page for a celebrity, band or business. There is a link under the green sign up button. This will allow you different features than a personal profile like calendar of events and store information.

3.     What is the difference between HOME and PROFILE on FaceBook?

Kristen – The HOME on Facebook gives you a listing of all your friends updates or changes to their pages. You will be able to see recent postings of your friends without having to go to each of their pages to check current status. The PROFILE takes you to your profile where you can update your information and see who is commenting on your page.

4.     Are ads effective on FaceBook?

Kristen - I can only speculate on their effectiveness. The ads allow you to reach thousands of people, could create a demand for your product, can quickly create image and text-based ads that precisely target by age, gender, location and more. There is no set price it is based on page views or click throughs. It allows you to tell them what you can afford.

Chris - The power of advertising on Facebook is how targeted they can be. However, like any ad, they can be ignored. People learn to tune them out just like skipping commercials on their TV. So if you do place ad, you need to make sure that it is going to catch their eye and offer something valuable so that they might buy in and click.

5.     Can you have multiple Twitter accounts, personal and work?

Tawny – Yes, you can have as many Twitter accounts as you would like.  However, you will have to use a different email address for accounts.

6.     My company is concerned about viruses from FaceBook, MySpace, etc.  Is there any way to protect yourself?  Suggestions?

Kristen – My suggestion is if you are using the Internet you should have a good virus software protection in place. There are a variety out there. Personally I try to be careful and not accept stuff from people I don’t know or applications I don’t want to share my information with. I also do not download files from people I don’t know or trust. So far I have been lucky.

Chris – You could get a Mac! But seriously, you are the best protection that there is. When you are on these social sites they are putting in a lot of effort  to keep them clean. You should do the same with your computer also.

1. Keep up on your software updates. Especially Windows update, as Microsoft releases security patches for your PC weekly.
2. Use a current up to date web browser. Internet Explorer 7, FireFox 3, and Safari 3 are FREE! So there is no reason to use Internet Explorer 6 or lower. A modern browser can actually help you make the right decisions and let you know if something is safe to download.

Not that I’m 100% forever unaffected by virus’s while using a Mac, I just don’t have to deal with the headache of Anti-Virus software and finding out which one is the “good” one, which isn’t going to cause more problems, and which one isn’t going to slow me doooown. I also wouldn’t for one moment pay money for anti-virus software. It just doesn’t compute.

7.     If you had to pick one social networking site for a company to start with, what would you choose?

Chris – This is really tough and totally depends on what your business is. If your potentially customers are teens, then I might say MySpace. If your customers vary in age then I might say Facebook. Heck even my grandmother is now on Facebook. If you think that building relationships with individuals is key to your business then I would say Twitter.

Kristen - I would recommend MySpace is you are targeting 13-18 year olds or promote music or film. If your business promotes music groups I would recommend them having a MySpace page. If you offer a professional service like pr or data management you might be better off with LinkedIn. Facebook offers a middle ground with features of a calendar, information about your business and allows people to follow you. It also gives customers a way to praise your business and for you to let them know about upcoming sales or events.

8.     Do you have to have a Twitter account in order to view a Twitter account?  To follow a Tweeter?

Chris - You do not need to sign up for an account to view a users public timeline. You also do not need an account to use search.twitter.com However, if you want to send any type of message , follow, or interact with the community you will need an account. It’s free and all you need is an email address.

9.     What is the best way to “market” your business on these sites when you are just starting?

Tawny - Start by deciding what your targeted goal is for using social media.  Is it to build your brand’s awareness?  If so, try using a Twitter account.  Is it to build your customer base in numbers?  You might try a Facebook (FB) or MySpace site but which application needs to be based on what your target market is.

Chris – Build relationships. People will naturally begin to trust you and then they will be more responsive when you tell them about your services or products. They may even become a fan of you (wether they use your services or not) and tell others about your business. It’s good ole word of mouth relationship building practices.

10.  What is the purpose of a FaceBook Group and as a business, why should I set one up?  Join one?

search.twitter.com- Search what people are saying right now.
Tweet Stats – Useful stats on how often you or another Twitter user is tweeting. Great for seeing how much time you are spending.
Adobe Air – A Mac and PC platform for applications. Some of the best Twitter apps are require Adobe Air. It’s a free download.
TweetDeck – The most popular Twitter app for PC and Mac. Runs on Adobe Air. It is a free download. It also does Facebook too!
DestroyTwitter – Another Adobe Air app for Twitter. Great for those who don’t like TweetDeck which takes up a lot of screen real estate. It’s also fun to customize the colors and I think the simple word style buttons make it easy for a new user. Disclaimer, this is my personal favorite.
Ping.fm – A great way to update all of your social networks from one place. They are also from Tulsa, Oklahoma!
Twitterberry – A Twitter app for BlackBerry phones.
Tweetie – A very popular Twitter app for iPhone and Mac users.

Articles to read about social networking:

Twitter first to report on Hudson crash
Twitter 101: 7 ways to make better sense of Twitter
3 steps to beating the Twitter learning curve
Build an army of passionate followers
How a local coffee shop uses Twitter
Zappos CEO: How Twitter can make you a better and happier person.

@TawnyDotson on Twitter