Apple Launches
A Bunch of
New Services

Apple quietly announced minor updates to the iMac, iPad mini and Airpods wireless headphones last week but saved bigger news for their launch event today, which focused heavily on subscription services and . . . a credit card (with Goldman Sachs)?!

The headliners were beefed-up Apple News, Apple TV, Apple Pay, and a new subscription gaming option called Arcade; some available now (News), most coming soon.  Lots of info here, but a few takeaways:

• You no longer have to buy an AppleTV to use the new TV app; it’s coming to many smart TV’s and even Roku and Amazon Fire devices. That’s huge.

• Privacy, trustworthiness, and consumer-friendliness were key. Advertisers won’t follow you as you read magazines (hurrah!), Apple won’t track where you shop, and getting clicks affects the ranking of news sources less than trustworthiness (vaccines, anyone?).  

• If you buy hardware from Apple with their credit card, you get 3% cash back. That’s the first real discount from Apple on their own products I can recall, and perhaps a reason to postpone that new laptop purchase until the credit card is available.

• Subscriptions are a much better deal if you use Family Sharing.

• Newspapers include the Wall St. Journal and LA Times, but not the NY Times or the Washington Post.

Oh and a bunch of celebrities were trotted out, from Steven Spielberg to Oprah. Yawn.

 

And on the Rest of the Planet. . .

Some other recent announcements have triggered a FLOOD of questions. Plus, thoughts about when it’s time for an upgrade.

Change your Facebook Password

Facebook got sloppy with how they stored user passwords. So far there’s no evidence of a breach, but get ahead of the problem by changing your password NOW.
 

Last word on Mozy -> Carbonite

As expected, Carbonite just put the kibosh on Mozy’s free accounts. You should no longer be running Mozy. Instead:

• If you had Mozy free, consider iDrive’s free plan.

• If you were a paying Mozy customer, you should now be running Carbonite; when your subscription is up, re-evaluate your options.

 

Last word on Google+

Did you receive an email from Google saying “Save your Google+ content before March 31, 2019?”

• Yes, that’s a legitimate email from Google (so far; watch out,  an enterprising hacker may create a fake version)

• No, you are not about to lose your Gmail or Contacts or other data.

• No, you likely don’t need to download the archive or do anything else, because you probably weren’t using Google+. Hardly anyone did.

Detailed info here.
 

 

Last Days:
When is it Time to Upgrade?

Laptops typically last 3-4 years, and desktops 4-5.  Most people put off upgrading until:

• you can’t update anymore (Windows 7 users: this is your last year).

• it’s unbearably slow, despite all the usual troubleshooting

• you have a serious problem you can’t repair yourself and you’re out of warranty. But repair $ may be better spent on a replacement.

When it’s time to upgrade there are tons of options, including the updates to the iMac line and a well-reviewed Dell XPS 13 laptop. We’re happy to advise, but here’s a free tip:

 the most common mistake  

  when buying a new computer or device:  

not enough storage space.
 

Disk space, closet space: you can never have too much, but it’s pricey, so find out how much you need BEFORE you shop. Simple instructions are in our latest YouTube videos:

Check disk space on a Mac   
or 
  Check disk space on a PC
 

The Robocall Plague

John Oliver’s campaign to robocall the FCC  might help, but the robocall nightmare continues.  There’s little help for landlines (unless your phone service comes from your Internet provider–then you should be using Nomorobo) but Verizon’s long-promised FREE call screening service for cell phones should be out this week.