Once or twice a month I get a call from someone who wants advice on buying a new Mac. It's fun. I love helping people who are excited about the Apple ecosystem and want to find ways to take their Apple experience to the next level.

Chances are that you didn’t sign up for your internet service with the coronavirus in mind.

I've always liked postcards. They're one of those simple things in life that are at once trivial and priceless. I exchanged weekly mailings with Pam when we were dating across the country.

What's cool about Apple Photos is that it lets you see your entire photo collection all in one place. You can drop all your old pictures right in the library along with the iPhone shots you took just yesterday. Your whole life right there in your pocket.

I’m a sucker for “on this day in history” websites that offer timely trips down memory lane. It’s probably caused me a month of wasted time over the years of internet surfing. Of course it’s contributed mightily to more than one round of Trivial Pursuit, so I guess it all balances out in the end.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, he said it all by offering to deliver "1000 songs in your pocket." It was the promise of unlimited music at your fingertips, anywhere you were, all the time. And it launched the experience of mobile media.

When I was somewhat younger than now, I tended to leave all my clothes where they fell, thinking, I suppose, that my house elf would fold and stash them away in my bedroom closet and chest of drawers.

If you ask people what they use to manage pictures on their iPhone, they probably won't say “Apple Photos.” Same for their Mac. Or iCloud for that matter. And it doesn’t help that the name of what it is is the same as what it does.

New Years being the annual festival of resolutions, this is the time of year I always commit to being “better” about managing my picture clutter and organization, right along with more exercise and eating healthy. In this mobile age, photos have become so integrated into our lifestyles that pictures have arguably replaced language as the method of choice to communicate, share experiences, and validate our relationships with other people and the world.

We are the weakest link. It’s embarrassing but true.

Last night a friend was starting a yoga class when she got a call from Apple that her account had been hacked. The nice guy wanted to get it fixed and proceeded to confirm details. Among those details was her login password.

“I knew that was wrong the instant I said it,” she told me.

The story goes that an irate customer brought their new iMac back to the Apple Store, ticked off because the thing wouldn’t power on. A longtime (but unhappy) PC user, they had finally been badgered enough by their Mac friends to spend the extra money for a brand new iMac with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, upgraded hard drive, extra memory, Retina screen, and so on. The works.

But it wouldn’t start up.

My mother taught me to label everything when I traveled, in case it was left somewhere. If she had box of gifts for family, or a bag of craft materials to occupy her time, she would attach a neatly written label with her home address and phone number. And just for good measure, another one inside. Sure, there was the practical reason, but I think it was mostly the ritual of travel, born as she was in a time when people dressed up to get from place to place. 

One of my colleagues posted to Facebook last week that her client was locked out of the family photo collection. Not all that unusual by itself, except for one thing. The client’s wife was the keeper of the couple’s photos and she had passed away. Her iPad was locked and he had no way to get at years of family pictures, much less any other important documents that she had saved.

If you tried to make an Apple photobook as a holiday gift or a New Year’s look back at 2018, you will have found that Apple photobooks are no more. On October 1st, 2018, after a 16 year run, Apple got out of the printing business.

The annual photo reboot.

Like with so many other things, January is a good time to revisit your photo strategy and get everything in order for the coming year.

The other day, our office assistant mentioned in passing that all the entries had disappeared in the Notes app on her iPhone. Could I take a look at it? Usually, missing entries are not gone, but just hidden. Notes supports multiple lists and it’s easy enough to make entries someplace unintentionally and then close it up.

There was a time when I updated my software for fun. Updates weren’t a daily event, like now, so it was a bit like Christmas where every new download came with “must have” features and insider tricks to amaze your friends. I still love the hidden space man zapper in QuarkXPress. Those were simpler times.

Of all the issues I hear about the iPhone, running out of storage space tops the list. Whether it’s no room for more photos, can’t download movies, or can’t update the software, sooner or later almost everyone I know has wrestled with the challenge of too much stuff on their iPhone.

Let’s get this blog off with a bang! There, I said it.

Enough of that.

When I take photos with my iPhone, sometimes I feel like a tourist. You know the thing; iPhone pinched between your fingers, pinkies raised. Then that awkward balancing act to get a finger on the shutter without dropping the whole phone over a railing. If you have long fingernails, it’s a real challenge to get your fingertip to touch the screen.

Lately though, I’ve switched to a camera grip when taking pictures and I love the difference.