BooTechTV.net

were kind enough to send me a review unit of the Huawei E586 mobile MiFi to test.

My training Video for @Gordon_Keenan (Btw this is a joke video not a serious review) on how to use the Bogsy blogging application for the iPad.

I have recently joined another irc network as I knew some friends that were already on this network which is irc.ipocalypse.net.

I had been talking with a couple of friends from Ipocalypse who when it got mentioned about their podcast that they had restarted every Saturday afternoon at 5pm (UK Time) and mentioned that I would’nt mind being a guest on their show. Anyway to cut a long story short i was invited as a guest for Saturdays show (2nd October) and we met up on the Friday to go through the topics we were going to discuss on the Saturday ( i do like it when podcasts are done this way as you get to know what is going to be discussed on the podcast when it goes live).

A lot had happened this particular week with one of the biggest stories of the week being Tech Crunch being bought by AOL but you can see the topic’s we discussed below:

Tech Cunch news of the year also Tech Crunch and AOL a match made in heaven

Congress Turns Volume Down on Commercials

4chan DDOS to IRA websites Leaks Email database also here

Will Tweetbeat Put an End to Twitter hashtags?

Stupid carry thing for the Ipad (most ridiculous thing i have seen yet)

The Zeus Botnet

ISP scanning customer’s PC’s – What is the real reason for this?

FBI Wants backdoors into encryption communications

As you can see we covered a wide variety of subjects and in all honesty we could have went on quiet easily for alot longer than the hour we had allocated to do this and the time just flew by. I am used to doing podcasts with video however this is the very first podcast I have done with audio only but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I would like to thank the staff over at Ipocalypse for a really great time and for inviting me onto their show.

You can listen to the podcast here

B00

So I decided to have a day trip to the Apple store in the Arndale Centre in Manchester as I had never visited one before and since I had heard so many times from people that it was all about the user experience.

The journey itself is just under a 100 mile round trip from Lytham St Annes to Manchester Victoria with a change at Preston.

I have never been to an Apple store before however had seen lots of pictures of Apple stores so the expectation was in my mind something light, airey and with plenty of glass. I had arrived at Manchester Victoria and from here it was literally a 5 min walk to the Arndale Centre. I had already looked up this particular store and knew it was located on the upper level of the Shudehill entrance.

On walking into the shopping centre as I walked onto the concourse I instinctively looked up and saw the familiar bright Apple logo on the floor above me. I located the stairs which were on my right and while I had a feeling of excitement with it being my first time at an Apple store when I got to the top of the stairs and looked in the direction of where I had seen the position of the Apple sign my jaw dropped to what I was seeing, in fact the below picture is a picture of the entrance to the Apple store in the Arndale Centre, Manchester.

What I had before me was nothing like I had seen previously and what was going through my mind were thoughts and questions as to what I had been told about the user experience. There was not a single piece of glass to be seen and once in the store not a single window either, the store itself was quite small inside and a rectangular shape. It was quite busy after all it was Friday 13th March which was the “new iPad” release day and the store even with its small size there was a customer at most of the stations that were on the desks.

I managed to get help from an assistant and purchased the Apple TV which is why I had gone there in the first place and then left. What also was funny was that I did not,see anyone else with a purchase as I left infect in all the time I spent in the Arndale Centre after my purchase I did not see one person carrying one of the unique Apple bags you get with your purchase.

Was this a user experience I had been led to believe when you visit an Apple store unlike any other? Not at all it was just like visiting any bog basic shop in a shopping centre apart from this one had a big Apple logo stuck to the outside. I was quite disappointed in all honesty and probably the highlight of my visit (apart from the purchase) was when the assistant had asked me if I wanted the receipt printing off there and then or emailing to me instead which I opted for the latter.

I think next time I will stick to ordering my Apple items on line at least that way I won’t be as disappointed as I was making an actual trip to the store itself.