Internet Marketing & Home-Based Business

Archive for the ‘Business Gear’ Category

I’m a fan of gadgets, smart phones, iPods, and all sorts of things like that. So, naturally, when I heard that the first Google Android-based phone was being released upon the public, I was curious. You see, I’m at a bit of a phone crossroads right now.

My current carrier, Alltel, has been great. I have had no real problems out of them (though I wonder if that trend will continue since they have been bought out by Verizon) in the several years I’ve been a customer. My contract is almost up, and it’s time I enter the smart phone territory.

Most of my business takes place online, and almost all of my business communication does as well. I need something that has full online capabilities. Naturally, the iPhone is one way to go. After all, I have an iPod Touch, and I love it. There’s also the Blackberry, but they don’t have an app store that I know of. That is one of Apple’s best features, and I use it regularly for my iPod (it’s now a PDA with great music playing capabilities, renamed The AwesomePod).

That’s one reason why Google Android phones look so interesting to me. Google plans on having an app store for Android apps. From what I hear, it will be more open and user-friendly than the Apple app store, but that alone isn’t reason to go with one over the other, in my opinion.

I think that the software will eventually be about the same. If that happens, one will have to pay attention to the hardware to find something that suits their needs. This is where Apple’s iPhone blows the T-Mobile G1 out of the water. Specifically, I’m referring to storage space. The G1 comes with 1GB of storage (I think it’s an SD card), but the base iPhone has 8GB of storage. That space difference is very important, especially considering that the phones are priced similarly.

On the other hand, if the G1 does use SD cards for memory, you could just upgrade to a 16GB card from newegg.com for cheap.

I’m going to sit and wait to see what happens. The iPhone and AT&T’s data network is proven. The G1 and T-Mobile’s data network need some time to prove themselves. Then there’s also the issue of other phones coming out with Google Android as their operating system.

Any predictions?

I picked up a 16gb iPod Touch this weekend. I got it basically to be a PDA with great music capabilities. I wasn’t really sure how the PDA functionality of it would compare with a traditional PDA. After using it for a few days, I can already tell that it will be invaluable as a business tool.

If you have employees, get these for them instead of some other device. If you are on your own looking for something with some basic PDA functionality, get one of these. It can’t do it all yet, but with the release of the iPhone SDK, it’s only a matter of time before it can.

Not only have I been listening to my music collection on my iPod (AwesomePod, really), I’ve been listening to marketing podcasts, checking up on my business projects via wifi hotspots, and keeping all of my “todo” notes in one little place. Now that my “notes to self” will be in one location, as opposed to scattered and lost, I’ll have no choice but to get stuff done.

I highly recommend this product as a business tool. It’s not just for entertainment any more. Business training podcasts, videos, and applications can make you (or your staff) better at what they do. I’m already getting some good ideas listening to business podcasts. I think the device will pay for itself quickly.

Check them out here.

Businesses need computers. It’s just a fact of competing in today’s market. You need computers, and those computers need to be fast and reliable. Slow computers slow down your work, and computers that crash make you want to throw them out the window. I know… I used MS Windows systems for years.

Get a Mac. If you work by yourself, get a Mac. If you have employees, get a Mac for everyone. Since the introduction of OS X, Macs have been top-class systems for just about any use. The only problem has been software. A lot of commonly used software wasn’t on the Mac platform, or didn’t work quite right.

Well, times are changing, and with the new incarnation of OS X, Leopard, smooth sailing is ahead. The OS is light, powerful, and flexible. The dual core Intel processors are fast and can handle any application out there today. Application compatibility is at what seems to be an all-time high.

Some arguments against the Mac are founded in ignorance of the current product, and also the business market dominance of Microsoft products. Now, let me back up a step and say that Windows-based systems aren’t horrible. There are many great applications on the platform, and Microsoft has come a long way in keeping their product from crashing all the time. But they’re just behind in the game. Leopard blows Vista away. There’s really no competition.

Another argument I’ve heard is that Macs are expensive and PCs are cheap. Well, that’s not exactly true. If you judge this argument on price tag alone, sure the PCs are cheaper, but that’s not really the whole story. Those cheap PCs are cheap for a reason: They are built with cheap parts. The cases are not sturdy… the motherboards crap out more often because of lax production… basically the parts are like buying an “economy” car instead of a nice Acura or similar. Better parts, better car. Better parts, better computer. That’s the Mac. And when you compare similarly constructed PC systems with the Mac, the price argument goes away. In fact, Mac blows the PC away in this category. Take the middle ground MacBook that currently costs $1299. You get so much for your money it’s almost embarrasing for the MacBook’s competitors. Use the link below to check out Macs current offerings and see what I’m talking about.

Everything considered, the Mac is the way to go for business, creative, and personal computing. In my opinion, the only area in which the Mac is still lacking loads of software is gaming. But even that is changing rapidly. For more details and to see just what Apple systems can offer you and your business, click the link below. Learn, choose, buy, and be more successful.

Apple Computers

I must say that I’m quite pleased with Avery and a recent product of theirs.

You see, I went to Staples with a very simple MS Publisher standard TEMPLATE to make some business cards. I was ready to give in on some of the coloring options (like make the artistic brackets the same color, as opposed to the current black on the left and gold on the right). I could go with all black, or even drop the brackets all together.

Before you accuse me of printing ignorance, let me say that I do understand that professional printing is very different from desktop publishing. However, what I was told wasn’t exactly acceptable.

Here’s a paraphrase: Hmmm. The best I could do is 4 colors for $115 (1000 cards), but we don’t have that shade of green, or the gold, and they won’t do the fade [a simple gradient that my 8 year old kid can replicate].

The result: I left and went to Wal-Mart. I picked up another color ink cartridge for my printer, and then headed over to the printer paper section and found my saving grace. Avery now puts out a thicker weight business card sheet, with NO PERFORATIONS. Anyway, I just printed a test page, and only a trained eye could tell the difference between my cards and the “economy” cards from a professional printer.

The card sheets are #28877. Head over to Avery or to your local office supply store and check them out. For those of us on a very tight budget, being able to print some quality business cards on demand is a nice strategic advantage.

Disclaimer: These cards may not be new, but they’re new to me. I also won’t be held responsible if you buy the product and then print extraordinarily ugly cards.