Spying on the Tokyo Apple Store via iChat
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, News, iChat, video
Faithful Macenstein reader Aaron Cabral writes:
As a super Mac geek I have the AIM of like 30 Apple Stores, and when the people in Apple Stores log on I always chat with them – sometimes even video – and I have actually helped answer people’s questions. I have a recorded video chat with the Tokyo store. Enjoy!
I found the video to be pretty interesting. First, it was cool to see that the Japanese really DO speak in subtitles. I thought that was only in Godzilla movies. (Actually, Aaron unfortunately forgot to hit the “audio” button on his copy of Screenium, so we are forced to rely on the text.) It’s also funny to see that a least 2 “American-looking” customers can be seen browsing the Tokyo store (although I can’t blame them. I know visiting the Apple Store is pretty much the first thing I would do once my plane touched down in Tokyo, after getting my picture taken with Gadzookie, of course).
Finally, it’s odd to see an Apple Store where the employees outnumber the customers. Here in Awesometown NJ, the Apple store is always ridiculously packed. Is it a bad sign that the Apple store is the one place in Japan that is not overcrowded? 
Rumor: New Apple Instant messaging app “Conversation”? [UPDATED]
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Opinion, Rampant Speculation, Rumors, iChat
Here’s a baffling quote from Jim Cramer, from TheStreet.com and Mad Money fame:
“Cramer also said that a new Mac product, Conversation, will bring Apple to the forefront of instant messaging. He said the product will be similar to the iPod in its impact. “The analysts don’t see it because the analysts don’t use it,” he said. “I think this is a gigantic product.”
Hmm… How would he know about it? Why would he be allowed to talk about it? Why wouldn’t Apple just call it “iChat”? What can Conversation do that iChat can’t do? All these questions and more must be answered by you in the comments.
[EDIT: Arn from Mac Rumors has let us know TheStreet article apparently took Cramer's quote out of context. Apparently Cramer was merely talking about iChat AV. Original show can be found here, if anyone cares.]
So, why is there no “Invisible” in the iChat Menu Bar?
Truly one of life’s great thrills is going online in iChat with your status set to “invisible“. It’s pretty much the closest you can get to joining the CIA without actually getting off the couch and enlisting. But as much as I love the ability to spy on my iChat friends without them knowing I am online, one thing thing that puts an extra dagger in my Cloak and Dagger web surfing is that for some reason “Invisible” is not an option from the iChat status icon in the Menu Bar, requiring me to make an extra mouse click or two and launch iChat’s buddy list in order to conceal my online identity. What this means is that I briefly appear on my friend’s buddy lists, blowing my cover, and opening myself to all sorts of “Hey, how r u?“’s (you know who you are, Jordan).
Above: iChat lets you set your status to “Invisible” from the Buddy List…
Above: …but not from the Menu Bar iChat icon.
Anyway, I’m filing it as a bug with Apple, as I can see no reason for this disparity. In the meantime, does anyone know of a work around to this? (um, besides Adium). Thanks!
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