Wallpaper your desktop with Flickr

Mac OS X only: Freeware application DeskLickr grabs new images from Flickr and automatically sets them as your desktop wallpaper.[...] Thanks to SeaMowse for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 44Diggs).

What other users say about this:

luke16: This is great but its a bit of a memory hog

Multiply Launches iPhone Edition

Features include video sharing, photo sharing, blogging, commenting, inviting new users and joining groups; essentially all the features of the website.[...] Thanks to obeezy for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 18Diggs).

What other users say about this:

Multiply Social Network Comes To iPhone

A few days after everyone went into a tizzy over Facebook launching an iPhone-specific website, another social networking service,[...] Thanks to maheshee11 for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 91Diggs).

What other users say about this:

kenvsryu: digg fix the comment system before thinking about the iphone.

mltv: Very slick. And coupled with the posting via email feature I actually have some uses for my iphone

ppezaris: This was also covered here: http://blog.insiderchatter.com/2007/08/17/facebook-iphone-hype-busting-multiplycom-rules-13-mobile-media-ways/ with a comparison chart vs. Facebook.

[disclaimer: I work for Multiply]

bigpapi009: Wow.. this interface is pretty sweet.. Facebooks is blah.. Multiply did good with this release… Way to go Multiply.

The secrets to Apple’s success in marketing to teenagers

For some time now, Apple has been noted for its ability to sell products (even expensive ones) to teenagers and for its high brand recognition. So why does Apple do so well with teens?[...] Thanks to MrBabyMan for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 107Diggs).

What other users say about this:

chris9902: They aren’t Microsoft. That’s it. If Apple was #1 and 90% of people used it they would look for something else.

stuartjmoore: It’s because they don’t sell an “eXtreme Mac!!!!”

maklershed: Teenagers like it cause they wanna be cool like Kevin Rose.

SwissCamel: Teenagers are stupid and do what they are told, even if they don’t think or recognize that.

schestowitz: Young people are more receptive toward exploration and change. They are not Luddites.

Darkhacker: I saw a television program (I think it was on CNBC) about the iPod. They mentioned one of the big things was the white ear buds. Before the iPod, everyone either wore black ear buds or black headphones. The players themselves were dark colors too. All you need is a hip trendy person to walk around with a bright white MP3 player and white ear buds, acting like they are “teh shitz”. I personally think it is the fact that you would stand out in a crowd with an iPod that made it a success.

As for their laptops… http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZoJIfEmLGJo

mseneschal: “Unique Cultural Cachet”
1. Meet a real need.
2. Design matters.
3. Let fans and the media do your marketing.
4. You don’t have to be for teens to reach teens.

If every company focused on the first bullet, ‘meet the REAL need’ then we would have much better products.

rickcarson: Isn’t it interesting that the question is even asked. Noone scratches their head trying to figure out why Nike is so successful at appealing to teenagers (except, to emulate them).

Unlike many adults, teenagers _don’t have an emotional stake in Apple’s failure_.

For them, Apple will pretty much always have been the plucky underdog. They won’t remember the dark years where Apple wandered in the wilderness (pre 97). Teenagers wouldn’t have been sitting around on their couches drinking beer with their buddies and saying “yup, Apple is shurely doomed, might as well close up shop and give the remaining money back to the investors, ayup”.

Teenagers won’t have lost money on Apple stock.

Teenagers won’t have invested their reputation telling everyone that Windows is the way of the future.

For most teenagers, Apple is just a company that makes cool stuff. What is the big deal about that, no shortage of companies like that. Why so much emotional baggage? Sheesh.

Apple Takes a Step Back with iMovie ‘08

Last week, Apple released a new version of its iLife suite—its $80 package containing iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb and GarageBand. The suite also comes preinstalled on every new Mac. The enhancements in iPhone, iWeb and GarageBand are great. But iMovie ‘08 is an utter bafflement.[...] Thanks to jshayne for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 1431Diggs).

What other users say about this:

BLACKEAGLE: good isheep deserve this

maybeinoregon: I agree with previous posts – I have both HD Movie and IMovie 08 – and once you understand how to use 08, it is actually easier and faster than HD – if you want to throw together a quick movie – you cold NEVER throw a movie of 120 pics w transitions, and a 15 minute audio track in 5 minutes in HD Movie – and have the transitions, length of viewing pics, and audio track automatically match – but that is exactly what I did in 08 – with no problem.

devmage: I upgraded to iLife ‘08 but I hadn’t tried iMovie yet how disappointing it was to read this article. While some seems to like here in the comments I am probably one that will find it too limiting. Looks like I will finally have to buy that upgrade to FCE.

moisie: Is it me or is it much faster at exporting than Quicktime or the old iMovie – which is odd since it uses quicktime.

whiteyMcBrown: A couple of thoughts. Surely it would have been easier for Apple to upgrade their existing iMovie than rewrite it from the ground up, so you couldn’t really call it laziness. If they came up with a system that makes for faster, easier movie editing, then I suppose the place for that would be at the entry level of their movie editors, under the “i” moniker. They still make the same number of versions of movie editors as they had before, so it’s placed about right. Making it easy as possible for people to get into software, I think, has always been the point of the iLife suite. Keep in mind that this software comes free with all new macs and for the rest of us, it’s still a suite of some pretty awesome programs for $79 (CDN). As part of the free market system you have to accept that people can make and sell whatever they like… and you can choose to buy it or not.. if there’s something you like better, buy it.

chewy5000: Since when does the iPhone come with iLife?

danny951: This is all getting out of hand, even the article states what everyone seems to be overlooking, in that “the company is offering a free download of the previous iMovie version to anyone who has iMovie ‘08. In that regard, all the wailing is a bit overblown; Apple is not actually taking away the older version. The only real raw part of the deal is that people who pay $80 for a new software rev expect an enhanced version—not another copy of the old one.”

StoverDaniel: Knowledge in the form of an informational commodity indispensable to productive power is already, and will continue to be, a major –perhaps the major –stake in the worldwide competition for power. It is conceivable that the nation-states will one day fight for control of information, just as they battled in the past for control over territory, and afterwards for control over access to and exploitation of raw materials and cheap labor.

prestige: I have no plans to become the next George Lucas. Editing a simple Christmas video in iMovie ‘06 took my wife and I three hours and was painfully slow rendering transitions. I recently made a little ‘trip to the zoo’ video using ‘08 and it took about 20 mins at most including transitions, text, images, video, and multiple songs. It might be a step backwards in terms of editing power but it’s leaps ahead in terms of usability. Piecing together a home movie is no longer a chore.

Proctor: iPhoto 8 sure is badass.

mrfletch: You have to remember that this is not the iMovie you knew. They completely re-wrote this from the ground up, and it is exactly what they say it is, a brand new application. For a version 1.0 release I think it’s amazing, they’ve made several improvements on what was already out. Sure a few features didn’t get put back in, but this is 1.0. I can’t wait to see what 2.0 has in store for us. Personally I love the new look!

Matrix_Prime: A this point, Windows Movie Maker looks better. And yes, I own a Mac.

cicovc: You mean iPhoto, right?

b3brett: I have one thing to say in support of iMovie 08. iMovie 08 fixes the poor photo quality that was present in iMovie 06 for slide shows. In iMovie 06 the pictures are not at the original quality and look bad. They look perfect in iMovie 08, just as good as you see in iPhoto. This is a huge improvement. Try making a slide show in both an you’ll see what I mean.

payndz: The only thing I’ve used iMovie (06) for is making ‘Phantom Edits’ of DVDs, like turning the two Matrix sequels into a single, 117-minute film. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think I’d be able to do anything that complex in iMovie ‘08. I guess Apple want me to buy Final Cut Pro…

9 Takes on the iMac Aluminum

Apple’s new iMac has a sweet 70’s future style that will have many reassessing the line. But it’s about more than looks. And while Brian Lam already published a fantastic rundown on the new machine, what we need here is a consensus for iMac users: to buy or not to buy. So here is our mega review for the lazy, or just efficient (same difference)[...] Thanks to mklopez for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 27Diggs).

What other users say about this:

Apple Expo Paris – September 25-29th. New Products?

Apple Expo takes place on September 25-29th this year in Paris, France. In recent years, Apple has not used Apple Expo in Paris as a launching ground for new products. The last official Apple keynote speech was given in 2004 by Phil Schiller and introduced the iMac G5. The last time Steve Jobs pa…[...] Thanks to obeezy for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 22Diggs).

What other users say about this:

Quickdood: I bet they won’t announce a new Ipod in europe, it probably is just going to focus on bringing the iphone to europe. Does anyone know if Europe gets their Apple products the same time the US does? If not then I bet Apple on Sept 18th releases the new widescreen touch ipod which will not have any wifi or bluetooth capabilities due to the fact we haven’t seen any FCC approval requests yet. I also bet Apple will only release this Ipod in the US for now and will wait for the iphone to get some traction in Europe before releasing the new ipod there.

badwithcomputer: iPhone with GPS maybe? I won’t hold my breath.

Ironic: Apple’s New Tiny Keyboard Ships in a Ginourmous Box

It’s no surprise that Apple’s new sexy keyboard packs a lot of eye candy into a waifish body. Apple just loves sleek, minimal design. So why does the keyboard ship in a box a billion times its size?[...] Thanks to chanpory for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 47Diggs).

What other users say about this:

cwcheang: Maybe Apple saw this video:
http://digg.com/videos/people/How_UPS_Really_Delivers_Your_Packages

10goto10: Maybe the rest of the box held all the hot air that comes with each Apple product.

ncaauwe: I got mine in a box that big too, and wondered why they couldn’t have just shipped it in the small box. It was the same way they shipped me the old keyboard earlier this year, which happened to be about a week after Apple became a Green company. In fact, I was going to post my own pictures soon, looks like you beat me to it =)

JGaskin: I can verify that that’s the box it came in, I signed for it at the office. This is a total waste of resources.
(That’s me in one of the photos on the lifeclever site)

titanicfan: i belive it, but apple’s display packaging should NEVER be used for shipping, but they do that with there servers

chanpory: Nope, that’s the real box it came in.

OS2Guy: Apple doesn’t ship in the box you display. My new keyboard arrived in a box just a bit bigger than the keyboard itself. I think you’ve fudged the box claim to gain a little publicity. Bury it.

More Japanese dork-bots to ‘dance’ to your iPod

The Sega Toys “iPenguin” dances and lights up in various colour patterns in time to music. The iPod compatible toy goes on sale next month.[...] Thanks to ilkeryoldas for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 23Diggs).

What other users say about this:

Early iPhone Adopters Extremely Satisfied: Best Rating of any Cell Phone

Better than three-in-four (77%) owners report they are Very Satisfied with their Apple iPhone and another 15% say they are Somewhat Satisfied, for a combined 92% Satisfaction Rating – the best we’ve seen for a cellular phone device[...] Thanks to CLIFFosakaJAPAN for providing this nice story on Digg (more than 989Diggs).

What other users say about this:

optophobia: Well I have an iphone and so does my friend. When he calls me it sounds as though he is underwater. Also I have heard other people saying when I call them, it sounds muffled too. Does anyone else get this. The rest of the phone is great but the actual phone quality is pretty poor. I don’t mind that much cos I hardly use it for a phone.
I would be interested to hear other peoples feedback.

scotticus: I don’t get this thread… my posts don’t stick

bigwillystyle: I cant wait to get mine. Only complain is the 8 gigs of onboard memory.( i know im being a little ridiculous) But that should hold all of my favorite music and videos.

gladio: e sticazzi non ce lo mettete? do ya know that?

jabberwolf: If I had purchased something for 600 bucks, and was asked if I were happy with it or not?
If you answer no, then you’ll look like the fucking mactard you are for buying into the hype.
So who would actually answer no, unless they were royally pissed off.

It’s so lacking (like most expensive Apple products) that people make excuses for having it or face looking as stupid as they really are!

Ok lets start the digg down from the mactard nation.

jamesrouse: For starters I work for AT&T and I own an iPhone and a Blackberry. They both have their place. The iPhone is great for entertainment and personal use. However, if you depend on email, Blackberry or Windows Mobile w/ Direct Push is the way to go.

bloodclot: Of course iphone customers are extremely satisfied, if I owned an iphone / paid $600 for a phone, I would NEVER look at the phone’s negatives.

shortysmyname: I have to admit I love my iPhone…I wanted to hate it, I really did. I had a HTC P3450 before and it was nowhere near as good as the iPhone.

digitallysick: i wish it were cheaper, and had some better options, having to use ifuntastic is great, luckly we got that.

gailwin: i’d say fuck the iPhone! it’s overpriced and lacks a lot of features cheaper phones have, like 3G.

and the keyboard fucking sucks

wait… what keyboard?
well whatever it is it fucking sucks!

Economist35: what about the poor 13% that are stuck with a $600 phone and a 2 year service agreement? poor fools.

ohmar: Its because the drink the freakin Apple Kool-Aid

kufurex: It’s a God damned phone…get over it. I see morons all the time carrying around their iPhone and talking about it like it’s the best thing ever made. Recently at a restaurant in Beverly Hills, this older guy was trying to impress his younger date with his iPhone.

You like your phone? Great! Now, shut the fuck up!

OHiggins: This what your stupid arguments amount to:

Digger #1: I like this kind of taco because I enjoy the taste.
Digger #2: But that taco is expensive, WHY would you EVER by such an expensive taco you idiot?! It doesn’t even have as many toppings as other, cheaper tacos!
Digger #1: I enjoy the taste, and in my opinion this taco is worth it.
Digger #2: You are clearly a moron and obviously deluded for enjoying this taco.

scotticus: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2007/07/iphone-the-cell.html

I commented on this before, but apparently saying that the iphone is less than stellar is offensive to diggers.