Pasadena, TX--Journeyman electrician and social activist Isaac Leibowitz can claim that he owns one of the few Apple iPhones made in the United States, because he actually put it together himself!
"I was reading about the oppresive conditions in the Chinese factories that produce the iPod, and wanted to do something to help the workers overseas," said Leibowitz. "So I tracked down the suppliers of all of the components of the new iPhones, and placed an order for the parts to be sent to my home."
Leibowitz admits that "it took me a while to figure out how everything went together, but I have a couple working models now. Also, I tried to get my wife to help out as well, but she just kept burning herself with the soldering iron."
"My kids were not much help either," added Leibowitz. "Little Timmy installed the screen upside down, and put the power button on the bottom. Oh, wait, it does go on the bottom."
"Shit. Now I have to start all over again."
Leibowitz's version of the Apple iPhone is not cheap either. "Ordering all the parts separately just about quadruples the price," said the electrician. "But I think I can keep the price of the 4 gig phone under two thousand bucks, if I don't charge for my labor."
"Besides, this is all about taking responsibility for the impact we have on the world around us. And who could possibly want to put a price on that?"
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Scheduling Glitch Shelves Beatles iTunes Ad!
Cupertino, CA--The Apple Corporation is looking for an explanation from CBS after they failed to air a commercial announcing the upcoming release of The Beatles song catalog on their iTunes music downloading service. The 30 second long advertisement was scheduled to air immediately before the halftime presentation of yesterday's Super Bowl XLI broadcast, but was shelved by CBS when they discovered that the show was running a bit long.
Apple spokesperson Ellen Doppler stated that "Apple is very disappointed that our commercial was not aired as promised." The ad, featuring the Lennon-penned classic "Good Morning, Good Morning," showed Apple users all over the world enjoying this lesser-known track from the groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper's album, as they put on their iPods and went about their morning routines.
Doppler added that "CBS did finally get around to running the spot overnight during an 'I Love Lucy' rerun, but it didn't have nearly the same impact as it would have had during the actual Super Bowl telecast." The spokesperson went on to say that the licensing rights alone for the song snippet were "in the millions of dollars, not to mention the cost of airtime, and what we spent to produce the ad."
Apple spokesperson Ellen Doppler stated that "Apple is very disappointed that our commercial was not aired as promised." The ad, featuring the Lennon-penned classic "Good Morning, Good Morning," showed Apple users all over the world enjoying this lesser-known track from the groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper's album, as they put on their iPods and went about their morning routines.
Doppler added that "CBS did finally get around to running the spot overnight during an 'I Love Lucy' rerun, but it didn't have nearly the same impact as it would have had during the actual Super Bowl telecast." The spokesperson went on to say that the licensing rights alone for the song snippet were "in the millions of dollars, not to mention the cost of airtime, and what we spent to produce the ad."
Friday, January 12, 2007
"National Day Of Mourning" Declared For Purchasers Of 5th Gen. iPods
Washington, DC--In a recent blog posting, President Bush called for a national day of mourning on January 15th for anyone unlucky enough to have purchased a 5th generation Apple iPod+Video just days before the release of the kick-ass iPhone last Tuesday.
"I know it seemed like this day would never arrive," said the President in his weekly blog update. "And I know many of my fellow Americans have been hanging on to their iPod Photo players and their Minis expecting that full-screen 16x9 video player to hit the shelves at any moment."
"But for some of you, the temptation was too strong. So you went out and bought a 80-gig video iPod last month, hoping you would get to enjoy it for a while before the inevitable release of the new unit."
"Unfortunately for these miserable souls," continued President Bush, "the day of reckoning has arrived."
For those feeling particularly despondent or angry, the government has set up a 24-hour hotline where consumers can share their stories of buyer's remorse with a caring professional. In addition, the Secret Service will be escorting Steve Jobs to the office for the next few months as a precautionary measure.
"I still enjoy my original video iPod," said President Bush, "and I especially like watching those mash-ups of me rapping that Cheney gets from YouTube, though I'll admit I haven't used it much since the FBI got a hold of one of those new touch-screen jobbies for me a couple months back."
"That thing inspired me to call Steve Jobs last month to personally congratulate him for developing such a fine product for the American people. Too bad y'all have to wait 'til the summer to see what I mean."
"I know it seemed like this day would never arrive," said the President in his weekly blog update. "And I know many of my fellow Americans have been hanging on to their iPod Photo players and their Minis expecting that full-screen 16x9 video player to hit the shelves at any moment."
"But for some of you, the temptation was too strong. So you went out and bought a 80-gig video iPod last month, hoping you would get to enjoy it for a while before the inevitable release of the new unit."
"Unfortunately for these miserable souls," continued President Bush, "the day of reckoning has arrived."
For those feeling particularly despondent or angry, the government has set up a 24-hour hotline where consumers can share their stories of buyer's remorse with a caring professional. In addition, the Secret Service will be escorting Steve Jobs to the office for the next few months as a precautionary measure.
"I still enjoy my original video iPod," said President Bush, "and I especially like watching those mash-ups of me rapping that Cheney gets from YouTube, though I'll admit I haven't used it much since the FBI got a hold of one of those new touch-screen jobbies for me a couple months back."
"That thing inspired me to call Steve Jobs last month to personally congratulate him for developing such a fine product for the American people. Too bad y'all have to wait 'til the summer to see what I mean."
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Gen 2 iPod Shuffle 2 Easy 2 Lose?
Cupertino. CA--After numerous consumer complaints on forums and message boards, the Apple corporation is considering a recall of all second generation iPod Shuffle mp3 players to fix a serious defect in the trendy and popular music devices.
Apparently, after conducting some high-level focus groups to deal with the issue, Apple now admits that the form factor of the redesigned iPod Shuffle is now too small for most consumers to locate in their pockets, purses, and automobiles.
"I guess this had to happen at some point," said Apple spokesperson Ellen Doppler. "We keep making these things smaller and smaller, and it looks like we have designed ourselves into a corner this time."
"The problem is," added Doppler, "it is a corner in which nobody can seem to find their iPods anymore!"
College student Randall Wolfe is one of the thousands of shoppers who purchased a new iPod Shuffle as soon as they hit the shelves last week. "It looked so cool sitting there in the package, that I had to break it out of the plastic and touch it before I got home."
"Unfortunately," Wolfe continued, "it popped out of the package, and landed on the floor of my car somewhere. That was almost ten days ago, and I still can't see the damn thing anywhere!"
Apple is proposing a temporary fix while they work on a new redesign for the player. "Any customer who returns their new Shuffle to the Apple store, assuming of course that they can still find it, will receive a special snap-on case with an extra two inches of plastic added to the base and a lanyard to make the device easier for consumers to locate," explained Doppler.
Also, customers will receive a voucher to trade in their iPods for a larger replacement model, whenever Apple actually gets around to making one.
Apparently, after conducting some high-level focus groups to deal with the issue, Apple now admits that the form factor of the redesigned iPod Shuffle is now too small for most consumers to locate in their pockets, purses, and automobiles.
"I guess this had to happen at some point," said Apple spokesperson Ellen Doppler. "We keep making these things smaller and smaller, and it looks like we have designed ourselves into a corner this time."
"The problem is," added Doppler, "it is a corner in which nobody can seem to find their iPods anymore!"
College student Randall Wolfe is one of the thousands of shoppers who purchased a new iPod Shuffle as soon as they hit the shelves last week. "It looked so cool sitting there in the package, that I had to break it out of the plastic and touch it before I got home."
"Unfortunately," Wolfe continued, "it popped out of the package, and landed on the floor of my car somewhere. That was almost ten days ago, and I still can't see the damn thing anywhere!"
Apple is proposing a temporary fix while they work on a new redesign for the player. "Any customer who returns their new Shuffle to the Apple store, assuming of course that they can still find it, will receive a special snap-on case with an extra two inches of plastic added to the base and a lanyard to make the device easier for consumers to locate," explained Doppler.
Also, customers will receive a voucher to trade in their iPods for a larger replacement model, whenever Apple actually gets around to making one.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Social Activist Builds His Own iPods In The Garage
Pasadena, TX--Journeyman electrician and social activist Isaac Leibowitz can claim that he owns one of the few iPod Nanos made in the United States, because he actually put it together himself!
"I was reading about the oppresive conditions in the Chinese factories that produce the iPod, and wanted to do something to help the workers overseas," said Leibowitz.
"So I tracked down the suppliers of all of the components of the new iPods, and placed an order for the parts to be sent to my home."
Leibowitz admits that "it took a while to figure out how everything went together, but I have a couple working models now. Also, I tried to get my wife to help out as well, but she just kept burning herself with the soldering iron."
"My kids were not much help either," added Leibowitz. "Little Timmy installed the screen upside down, and put the headphone jack on the bottom. Oh, wait, it does go on the bottom."
"Shit. Now I have to start all over again."
Leibowitz's version of the iPod Nano is not cheap either. "Ordering all the parts separately just about quadruples the price," said the electrician. "But I think I can keep the price of the 4 gig Nano under a thousand bucks, if I don't charge for my labor."
"Besides, this is all about taking responsibility for the impact we have on the world around us. And who could possibly want to put a price on that?"
"I was reading about the oppresive conditions in the Chinese factories that produce the iPod, and wanted to do something to help the workers overseas," said Leibowitz.
"So I tracked down the suppliers of all of the components of the new iPods, and placed an order for the parts to be sent to my home."
Leibowitz admits that "it took a while to figure out how everything went together, but I have a couple working models now. Also, I tried to get my wife to help out as well, but she just kept burning herself with the soldering iron."
"My kids were not much help either," added Leibowitz. "Little Timmy installed the screen upside down, and put the headphone jack on the bottom. Oh, wait, it does go on the bottom."
"Shit. Now I have to start all over again."
Leibowitz's version of the iPod Nano is not cheap either. "Ordering all the parts separately just about quadruples the price," said the electrician. "But I think I can keep the price of the 4 gig Nano under a thousand bucks, if I don't charge for my labor."
"Besides, this is all about taking responsibility for the impact we have on the world around us. And who could possibly want to put a price on that?"
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