On February 28, 2004, Apple opened its newest flagship store after CEO Steve Jobs, Mayor Gavin Newsom and former mayor Willie Brown cut the ceremonial ribbon. This is not your typical software or hardware retail shop. Apple has five flagship stores worldwide, all designed to bring out and foster the creative side of Mac and Windows users alike.
Apple's hands-on approach in its retail stores encourages customers to test the products on display. Knowledgeable, ubiquitous staff are waiting to answer any questions you have. Something to note is that these folks actually can answer your questions, compared with other computer stores. They are passionate about the products, and eager to show you some of their own photos or home movies made with iPhoto or iMovie.
This store isn't as large as it neighbor across the street, the Virgin Megastore, but the space is well organized and the open architecture is very inviting. There are two floors displaying both Apple and non-Apple hardware and software in themed areas or stations. All the products are live and connected to other devices or the Internet to promote interactive use and testing.
The first floor is broken out into six stations, divided by an impressive glass staircase descending from the second floor. The most current devices are set up here for you to play with and eventually purchase, such as the iPod (from $249 for 4GB of storage to $499 for 40GB of storage) or Apple-compatible digital cameras ($179 for Nikon Coolpix 2200 to $999 for a Canon EO5 Digital Rebel). You will also find the G5 Server, iMac, iBook, PowerBook and flat-screen monitors on this floor.
Music fans can listen to the iPod with headphones or connect it to different space-age variations of loudspeakers. One station even has an electronic keyboard to make your own music using Apple's music application, GarageBand.
At the top of the stairs, you face an open-air theater. I didn't count them, but I've been told there are 39 theater seats (why not 40?) for folks interested in the free seminars offered daily. To the right of the theater is the Genius Bar, where you might feel the desire to order a drink but, instead, will find a dozen or so technical experts ready to help troubleshoot problems or answer questions.
On the opposite side of the staircase is an Internet Café and a Kids station luring customers into interactive sessions with the knowledgeable personnel we found everywhere in the store. There are 12 iMacs in the Internet Café, all providing free Internet access and configured with iSight video cameras for face-to-face communication. The Kids station looks like a mini café, literally. There are six iMacs on a lowered table, loaded with educational software found in the video software library directly behind the station. Behind the live workstations are how-to books and the software wall, displaying everything from OS X to the latest video games.
All products sold at this retail location conform to Apple's strict pricing policies. You can find updated pricing information online at www.apple.com.
For more information about the free events and seminars held at this retail location, check out: www.apple.com/retail/sanfrancisco/.
http://www.sfstation.com/the-apple-flagship-store-a64
Monday, May 21, 2007
Robotspeak
For computer music geeks Steve Taormina and Alan Stewart, opening a computer music shop was, in their words, an "inevitable progression". Serving the whimsies and needs of beginner bedroom producers, tiny basement recording studios and fanatical gear collectors alike, Robotspeak is firmly rooted in the San Francisco computer music community.
The half-subterranean room stocked with music gadgets and gear has been filling a void in the mostly guitar-centric music products industry for a little over two years. Taormina and Stewart, both computer music industry vets, saw a need for a place where people felt comfortable learning about and exploring computer music without the pretentiousness of gear snobs and free of pressure from overbearing salespeople who knew more about closing a sale than the products they were selling.
Music software accounts for a substantial portion of Robotspeak's wares. These programs include audio recording software, virtual instruments and programs for musical composition. Hardware stocked includes audio interfaces to transmit sound into and out of computers, drum machines, synths, mixers and all things MIDI. Taormina and Stewart pride themselves on running San Francisco's independent computer music shop. "[We sell] esoteric instruments—stuff with more character," Stewart says. "Big stores tend to gravitate towards Roland and Korg. Those massively produced synths are super impressive but tend to make everyone sound the same." For the last year they have also been an Apple retailer.
Robotspeak also provides friendly and indispensable services to its customers. In-store music software classes are held monthly and taught by guru Gustavo Lanzas, who the shop owners affectionately refer to as "The Gimp". Classes so far have been devoted to Propellerhead's Reason and Ableton Live, composition and audio loop-sequencing/MIDI composition software, respectively. A ten-student maximum ensures maximum attention in a nurturing environment.
Feeling comfortable asking questions is important, Taormina says, because computer music composition is not "self-evident". At Robotspeak people can try out gear and talk about it with knowledgeable people. Taormina and Stewart are genuinely interested in helping their customers progress. Their Robotspeak Sessions are one means they use to keep up-to-date with what people are doing musically. Each session features three 45-minute acts followed by a Q & A session with each of the performers. Robotspeak Sessions has featured everyone from customers to well-known acts, such as local Broker/Dealer and Chachi Jones.
The storefront is also an intimate setting for "Clinics" -- discussions and demos with the experts. Past guests have included electronic instrument and synth creator Bob Moog, synth inventor Dave Smith and Warp Records artist Richard Devine. Devine is a "sound designer" for software company Native Instruments and whenever new Native Instruments releases new products, Robotspeak's customers are treated to an in-store demo by someone from the company.
Robotspeak is fully equipped for computer musicians of every level. Yes, it can be costly. But people have been known to rock hard even with simple gear. It is really a matter of knowing how to use your gear well. Have questions? Don't know where to start? Stop by. These guys are enthusiastically waiting to assist you.
http://www.sfstation.com/robotspeak-a537
The half-subterranean room stocked with music gadgets and gear has been filling a void in the mostly guitar-centric music products industry for a little over two years. Taormina and Stewart, both computer music industry vets, saw a need for a place where people felt comfortable learning about and exploring computer music without the pretentiousness of gear snobs and free of pressure from overbearing salespeople who knew more about closing a sale than the products they were selling.
Music software accounts for a substantial portion of Robotspeak's wares. These programs include audio recording software, virtual instruments and programs for musical composition. Hardware stocked includes audio interfaces to transmit sound into and out of computers, drum machines, synths, mixers and all things MIDI. Taormina and Stewart pride themselves on running San Francisco's independent computer music shop. "[We sell] esoteric instruments—stuff with more character," Stewart says. "Big stores tend to gravitate towards Roland and Korg. Those massively produced synths are super impressive but tend to make everyone sound the same." For the last year they have also been an Apple retailer.
Robotspeak also provides friendly and indispensable services to its customers. In-store music software classes are held monthly and taught by guru Gustavo Lanzas, who the shop owners affectionately refer to as "The Gimp". Classes so far have been devoted to Propellerhead's Reason and Ableton Live, composition and audio loop-sequencing/MIDI composition software, respectively. A ten-student maximum ensures maximum attention in a nurturing environment.
Feeling comfortable asking questions is important, Taormina says, because computer music composition is not "self-evident". At Robotspeak people can try out gear and talk about it with knowledgeable people. Taormina and Stewart are genuinely interested in helping their customers progress. Their Robotspeak Sessions are one means they use to keep up-to-date with what people are doing musically. Each session features three 45-minute acts followed by a Q & A session with each of the performers. Robotspeak Sessions has featured everyone from customers to well-known acts, such as local Broker/Dealer and Chachi Jones.
The storefront is also an intimate setting for "Clinics" -- discussions and demos with the experts. Past guests have included electronic instrument and synth creator Bob Moog, synth inventor Dave Smith and Warp Records artist Richard Devine. Devine is a "sound designer" for software company Native Instruments and whenever new Native Instruments releases new products, Robotspeak's customers are treated to an in-store demo by someone from the company.
Robotspeak is fully equipped for computer musicians of every level. Yes, it can be costly. But people have been known to rock hard even with simple gear. It is really a matter of knowing how to use your gear well. Have questions? Don't know where to start? Stop by. These guys are enthusiastically waiting to assist you.
http://www.sfstation.com/robotspeak-a537
Adolph Gasser
I admit I've never been an early adopter of the latest gadgets. I was the girl still transcribing my college papers on an electronic typewriter when everyone else graduated to the computer. Maybe it's because I'm cheap, but I'd like to tell myself that I am just practical. If I don't need something, I won't go out and buy the newest thing just because it's available.
This applies to my Pentax SLR camera that I received for my 17th birthday. I used it from my classes in beginning photography in high school through photojournalism in college, and haven't switched over to digital yet, even though I know it would make it easier for me to upload the images I took for this article.
Fortunately, I can painlessly bridge the worlds of the past, present and future of film and photography at Adolph Gasser, an institution for anyone who has a passion for the captured image, be it still or motion, manual or digital. When you walk in, you're not overwhelmed with the latest in digital photography, though they do carry that. My little Pentax would feel at home here among the well loved and cared for cameras in the glass display cases. You won't find any other place like it in the city, with three stories full of products and services for the amateur and professional.
There's so much here, it's hard to know where to start. In fact, I could use this whole space to describe the massive amount of inventory (the largest in Northern California), and still not touch upon their range of services.
Unlike most film stores you find these days, Adolph Gasser is still family run and owned. Adolph, along with his son John, is still active in the store's operations. Originally a photographic repair technician, Adolph Gasser opened the store in 1950. The store moved to its current location in the 1970s, a site which was formerly one of the first photography studios in San Francisco. Check out the images lining the wall on the stairs from the street level to the top floor; those were the kind of images that were created back in the 1860s and 1870s in this same building.
Adolph Gasser's three floors are lined with new and used 35mm cameras, medium format, 16mm and 35mm motion picture and video equipment, accessories and supplies.
On the street level, Adolph Gasser provides services such as photo processing, camera sales and rentals. There's an in-house color lab for negative or slide processing (sizes 35mm-6x6) and digital printing on photographic paper. Their labs are staffed by employees that can assist you with C41 and E6 color print developing. They provide EBox prints (electronic digital prints) of 4x6 images for 21 cents each. If you're in a rush, you can process your own images in an instant for 45 cents each.
New and used digital and manual cameras, lenses, lights, meters, etc. are all for available for purchase on this floor, such as the Canon Digital 5 MEG Powershot SD400 for $399.99 or a SystemPro Lite Tent for $59.99.
Rental equipment includes all still camera formats and video systems, as well as studio and location lighting, including the Nikon CoolPix 5400 for $40.00, a Sony DV Cam for $300.00, or a light meter from Minolta for $10.00.
If your camera isn't producing the types of images you are looking for -- maybe there is a scratch on the lens, or the shutter isn't closing properly -- the technicians downstairs can diagnose and repair all major brands. Film, paper, chemicals and any other supplies you need to develop your images are also stocked downstairs on this level.
The top floor is all about the moving image. You'll find all types of equipment to make a motion picture, including the Super 8 Canon 310XL for $202.00, gaffer's tape for $9.30 a roll, or 10 feet of Comprehensive Video Group power cable for $39.99.
By the way, if you need a passport photo so you can take fantastic travel photos in all of those exotic locations you visit, they can take care of that for you, too (Two photos for $10.00). If you are a starving student, don't forget to bring you ID card for discounts, such as 10% for photo finishing and 2% for processing chemicals.
When it comes to service, be patient. Though it may seem quite quiet in there, they are busy. People come in with detailed questions, and the staff takes their time to answer them carefully. It's not like walking into a box or chain store where the sales people only know enough about the equipment to close the deal. They're always learning new technologies to keep up with changes in the industry, making them a great resource to their customers.
http://www.sfstation.com/adolph-gasser-a1507
This applies to my Pentax SLR camera that I received for my 17th birthday. I used it from my classes in beginning photography in high school through photojournalism in college, and haven't switched over to digital yet, even though I know it would make it easier for me to upload the images I took for this article.
Fortunately, I can painlessly bridge the worlds of the past, present and future of film and photography at Adolph Gasser, an institution for anyone who has a passion for the captured image, be it still or motion, manual or digital. When you walk in, you're not overwhelmed with the latest in digital photography, though they do carry that. My little Pentax would feel at home here among the well loved and cared for cameras in the glass display cases. You won't find any other place like it in the city, with three stories full of products and services for the amateur and professional.
There's so much here, it's hard to know where to start. In fact, I could use this whole space to describe the massive amount of inventory (the largest in Northern California), and still not touch upon their range of services.
Unlike most film stores you find these days, Adolph Gasser is still family run and owned. Adolph, along with his son John, is still active in the store's operations. Originally a photographic repair technician, Adolph Gasser opened the store in 1950. The store moved to its current location in the 1970s, a site which was formerly one of the first photography studios in San Francisco. Check out the images lining the wall on the stairs from the street level to the top floor; those were the kind of images that were created back in the 1860s and 1870s in this same building.
Adolph Gasser's three floors are lined with new and used 35mm cameras, medium format, 16mm and 35mm motion picture and video equipment, accessories and supplies.
On the street level, Adolph Gasser provides services such as photo processing, camera sales and rentals. There's an in-house color lab for negative or slide processing (sizes 35mm-6x6) and digital printing on photographic paper. Their labs are staffed by employees that can assist you with C41 and E6 color print developing. They provide EBox prints (electronic digital prints) of 4x6 images for 21 cents each. If you're in a rush, you can process your own images in an instant for 45 cents each.
New and used digital and manual cameras, lenses, lights, meters, etc. are all for available for purchase on this floor, such as the Canon Digital 5 MEG Powershot SD400 for $399.99 or a SystemPro Lite Tent for $59.99.
Rental equipment includes all still camera formats and video systems, as well as studio and location lighting, including the Nikon CoolPix 5400 for $40.00, a Sony DV Cam for $300.00, or a light meter from Minolta for $10.00.
If your camera isn't producing the types of images you are looking for -- maybe there is a scratch on the lens, or the shutter isn't closing properly -- the technicians downstairs can diagnose and repair all major brands. Film, paper, chemicals and any other supplies you need to develop your images are also stocked downstairs on this level.
The top floor is all about the moving image. You'll find all types of equipment to make a motion picture, including the Super 8 Canon 310XL for $202.00, gaffer's tape for $9.30 a roll, or 10 feet of Comprehensive Video Group power cable for $39.99.
By the way, if you need a passport photo so you can take fantastic travel photos in all of those exotic locations you visit, they can take care of that for you, too (Two photos for $10.00). If you are a starving student, don't forget to bring you ID card for discounts, such as 10% for photo finishing and 2% for processing chemicals.
When it comes to service, be patient. Though it may seem quite quiet in there, they are busy. People come in with detailed questions, and the staff takes their time to answer them carefully. It's not like walking into a box or chain store where the sales people only know enough about the equipment to close the deal. They're always learning new technologies to keep up with changes in the industry, making them a great resource to their customers.
http://www.sfstation.com/adolph-gasser-a1507
Miniature gas turbines could provide portable power, replace batteries in electronic devices
Inventors in Australia are working on micro-electromechanical systems technology that could provide a miniature power source to replace batteries in portable electronic devices. These micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) use fuels such as hydrogen or butane to spin a tiny turbine at very high speeds -- as much as 2 million RPM. The spinning of the turbine is then used to generate electricity that powers the device.
This is a potential contender for replacing batteries and could compete with micro fuel cell technology that is now emerging. One advantage of micro-electromechanical systems technology is that it can also be powered by hydrogen, just like fuel cells, meaning that the exhaust would be primarily water. The drawback is that the fuel source for MEMS systems is flammable, meaning that such portable power devices may not be allowed on airplanes or other places where explosives might pose a safety risk.
About Author
Mike Adams is a holistic nutritionist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of energy efficient LED lights that greatly reduce CO2 emissions. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NewsTarget subscriptions. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and adult gymnastics. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
This is a potential contender for replacing batteries and could compete with micro fuel cell technology that is now emerging. One advantage of micro-electromechanical systems technology is that it can also be powered by hydrogen, just like fuel cells, meaning that the exhaust would be primarily water. The drawback is that the fuel source for MEMS systems is flammable, meaning that such portable power devices may not be allowed on airplanes or other places where explosives might pose a safety risk.
About Author
Mike Adams is a holistic nutritionist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of energy efficient LED lights that greatly reduce CO2 emissions. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NewsTarget subscriptions. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and adult gymnastics. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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