Blog
The Day We Fight Back
At MacAtoZ, we take issues like security and privacy very seriously. Our clients, and many people generally, are very concerned that their personal data and identity information stay both secure and private. Our ongoing efforts in this respect have been enormously damaged by the mass surveillance programs run by the US Government’s National Security Agency (NSA). Simply put, we cannot presently guarantee that any data a person puts on their Mac will remain either secure or private.
That simply should not be. We store our most intimate thoughts, our financial data, our prized work on our computers. Even if that data were unimportant, the Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to the US Constitution do not permit the government an NSA-level of intrusion into the lives of law-abiding citizens.
Today, I hope you will join me in telling our elected representatives that the NSA’s mass surveillance program must stop. If we want a successful democratic republic, we must not have a government that spies on everyone.
24/7 Live Call Reception
Two years ago, MacAtoZ added a reception service so that every call we received during regular business hours was answered by a real person. We believed—and still do—that this was infinitely preferable to putting callers into a “phone tree” where you are forced to listen to a series of automated recordings and to push various buttons to try to get help. (Indeed, is there anything more vexing than being on hold in one of these systems then hearing, “Your call is important to us”? Answer: No.)
The response to our reception service has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve liked it too, with one caveat: Not all our clients’ computer issues happen during regular business hours. As no amount of hoping is likely to change that, we’ve set out to solve the problem.
Effective January 15, 2014 you can call MacAtoZ (503-507-0410) at any hour of the day and talk with one of our receptionists here in Salem, Oregon. You don’t have to think, “It’s too late to call” or “I don’t want to bother anyone so I’ll just call in the morning.” Beginning January 15, call whenever you like—whenever it suits you—and talk with one of our fabulous receptionists.
Since we need our beauty rest, we won’t necessarily be available to chat if you ring at 1 AM, but you can leave your message with reception and we’ll return your call as soon as we’re able (which is to say both vertical and coherent). We hope this expansion of our reception service will allow you to get any Apple help you need even more quickly than before.
Holiday Hours
In order to celebrate the holidays with our families, we will be closing the office on December 24, December 25, and January 1. For the two weeks of December 22-January 4, MacAtoZ will be providing remote support to MSS clients only. We will be returning calls and setting up our January schedule, however, so please don’t hesitate to call (503-507-0410) should you require assistance.
Ty’s Skills
Via LinkedIn:
This gentleman is most patient and courteous with this client. Been depending on him for some 4 years and would suggest Ty to any Mac owner. Fine young man with a growing business.
— Bruce Nelson
Salem, Oregon
I would recommend Ty for any Mac support needed
From LinkedIn:
I would recommend Ty for any Mac support needed. He’s been a great resource in keeping all my personal Apple devices up and running smoothly. Because Ty is a Certified Apple Consultant, we are able to use MacAtoZ as our Mac support at work, where having minimal downtime is critical.
—Marsha Minten
Salem, Oregon
World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2013
We start with a brief commercial ode to design followed by Apple CEO Tim Cook coming to the stage. The 24th WWDC. Attendees from 66 countries; about 64% are at WWDC for the first time. Six million registered developers; WWDC sold out in 71 seconds.
Updates: 1 million Apple Retail Store visitors. 407 stores worldwide in 14 countries.
App Store 5 years old next month. 50 billion apps downloaded. 900,000 apps in the store. 93% downloaded every month. 375,000 apps for iPad. 575 million accounts (most with credit cards—more than any other store on the Internet). Developers have been paid $10 billion in those 5 years, $5 billion of that in the last year. That’s 3x more than all other platforms combined.
New company, anki, launches an on stage today. Robotics guys from Carnagie Mellon. Anki Drive is the first product. Little cars that run around a track by themselves. Real life video game. Fascinating stuff. (I wonder about the price.)
Mac installed base 72 million, double what it was 5 years ago. iMac is the #1 desktop in US. Mac 5 year average annual growth rate 15% (versus 3% for PC). Five year total growth: 100%. 28 million copies of Mountain Lion (10.8) shipped—35% of users on ML versus 5% on Windows 8.
OS X Mavericks is the next OS X release, first non-cat named release in about a decade. (I was hoping for OS X ‘Grumpy Cat.’) Finder Tabs. Tags for documents locally and on iCloud. Multiple Display support improvements (very nice—almost like running two synchronized computers at once). Timer coalescing and memory compression to provide improvements in power management. New version of Safari. New iCloud Keychain—looks like a 1password competitor. Improvements to Notification; respond within the notification without having to open an app. Calendar: Looks better! Also adds travel time! Maps app for OS X. Directions can be sent to iOS devices! Great! iBooks to the Mac! Yay! Preview copy of 10.9 today for developers. Final release for general public this fall.
New MacBook Air(!) with all-day battery. 40% faster graphics. 11″ MacBook Air battery from 5 hour to 9 hours, 13″ from 7 hours to 12 hours. 802.11ac networking (3x faster). Lower prices (see Apple web site). Ship today!
New airport base stations. Extreme 802.11ac. Beamforming antenna array. Up to 3x faster than 802.11n.
New Mac Pro: Sexy! It’s a cylinder! Crazy specs. 2x faster (at least) than previous Mac Pro. Coming later this year. Assembled in the USA. That is one cool Mac.
iCloud: 300 million iCloud accounts. iTunes in the Cloud (300 million users). Game Center (240 million users). Deeply integrating iCloud into iWork. New iWork for Mac and iOS coming later this year.
iWork for iCloud: Pages, Numbers, Keynote through a web browser. Safari, IE, Chrome. Mac or PC. Developer beta today, public beta later this year.
iOS. 600 million iOS devices sold. iPhone usage 50% greater than Android. iOS with 60% of mobile web share. iPad web market share 82%. 3x-4x more mobile shopping on iOS vs. Android. #1 Smartphone in Customer satisfaction (JD Power). Customer satisfaction = 97%. 73% very satisfied. 93% of iOS users on iOS 6. Android fragmented like crazy. (Not good and not news.)
iOS 7 announced today. And it looks cool! “The biggest change to iOS since the iPhone.” Paralax views! Multiple pages within folders. Notification center from the lock screen. Lots of one-handed gestures. Ten features:
1. Control Center: Swipe up for instant controls. Very nice!
2. Multitasking: For all apps. intelligent scheduling, opportunistic updates, adapts to network conditions, coalesced updates, push triggers. Easier to switch between apps.
3. Safari: New full screen look, smart search field, parental controls, new tabs, iCloud keychain, new 3D tabs view.
4. AirDrop: Share with people right around you with any app that supports it. “No need to wander around the room bumping your phone.” Works on iPhone 5 and later.
5. Camera: Video, photo, square, pano. Live photo filters.
6. Photos app: Adds Moments, Collections, Years. Shared Photostreams (yes!). Video support on iCloud photosharing.
7. Siri: New interface. All new voice, male or female. Last voicemail, increase brightness, turn off bluetooth, twitter integration, wikipedia integration, bing integration. Looking forward to trying this.
8. iOS in the car: iOS integration in 2014 with virtually all car manufacturers.
9. New App Store: Find popular apps by age range or by your current location. Automatic app store updating.
10. Music: New player. Lots of cool features. iTunes Radio built into Music app. Create your own stations. Looks great. Free with ads or Free no ads with iTunes Match subscription.
Other features include: FaceTimes Audio; Activation Lock; Notification sync; wifi hotspot 2.0; Phone, FaceTime, Message blocking, and more.
Activation lock: Must have AppleID to reactive phone even if phone is wiped. Big theft deterrent.
Developer beta today for iPhone. Final iOS 7 this fall.
Works on: iPhone 4 (and later), iPad 2 (and later), iPod 5th generation, iPad mini.
This consultant is always there for me!
From the MacAtoZ Apple Consultants Network page:
He promptly gets back to me when I leave a message to call me for how to’s and what if’s. If he cannot contact me immediately, he offers an alternative to look forward to instead of letting me guess when he will be available. He attempts to keep explanations short and to the point, e.g.through screen sharing, and consultation on Apple products to meet my needs. He makes sure that I understand before ending a session or makes arrangements so that I can get back to him for further help. Over the years (since 2006), he has been there for me. I am very satisfied with his work ethic, knowledge, courtesy and punctuality and have already recommended him to others who needed help. I rank him as A+.
— Raven13
Salem, Oregon
We help people with Apple technology.
