backtoamac.com

Recently, I spring-cleaned my Mac. It wasn’t starting to slog along, but I have so many photo files and half-started articles that I might as well start at the bottom of the mountain before it becomes a problem six years from now and I have .000005 MB of room left. That’s not even enough to house a flea motel. It’s an excuse, anyways, to buy a new mouse or keyboard also. I was looking around in the store and online at the new iMacs, and they basically look the same as what I have, except that they are television sized. I’m not quite ready for that, as Macs for me tend to be at least ten years old before I replace them. The old blueberry G3 was at least 10 years old when I bought it, but that’s cheating.

While surfing, I was really surprised to see that the prices were at or less than what I paid. In some ways, I expected the equivalent of my model to cost slightly less, and the brand spanking new styles to cost slightly more. Is Apple discontinuing something? Even though the price wasn’t dramatically lower, still, the list price diving $20-150 is something I have my radar finely tuned to. Shopping spree? Then, I realized I was surfing a CANADIAN price-comparison site for Macs. While the exchange rate isn’t what it used to be, where the dollar saved you 30% or more if you shopped over the Blue Water bridge or through the Tunnel. It’s not worth it to drive and pay duty by the time I get back, but sites such as www.canadapost.ca/shopper/apple/brand/30 certainly are a boon for all of you Canadian readers– you might have a hard time wading through American sites wondering if prices and even shipping area actually apply to you.  Sure beats visiting 100 tech sites individually.

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It’s not exactly the Wild West anymore when it comes to social networking. Sure, maybe the social networking site that will be huge in three years isn’t even a pitch meeting yet, but things are just so dominated by a handful of sites its really hard for new ones to make it big. The common complaint among users is ambiguous privacy policies. A little info about MyCube passed across my desk. It seems that they are not trying to pretend they’ll be as all-dominating as Facebook but looks like they are starting the old-fashioned way: identify the needs of the customers not being met and capitalize on it. Apparently, sharing is niche-based and privacy settings are high. Content, such as photos, is only shared with those with a true common interest. Points are awarded for activity and can be ’spent.’

Right now you can sign up for the MyCube private beta to be in the first wave of early adopters. (Enter in the code “blog” to join.) I am not quite clear if you need to have a lot of personal friends using it to make it worthwhile or there are enough connections with common interests for someone to jump in without their posse. There are so many sites languishing with too few users, but if a core group can get excited about it, time will tell.

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