Apple didn’t invent ______, but Apple made it better

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Every time you mention the fact that another loser competitor copied Apple, you always get the argument that “Apple didn’t invent that.” That may be true, but let’s look at some of the things that Apple didn’t invent, but made better. […]

Fender Squier Vintage Modified Series

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New to the series is the Vintage Modified ’70s Stratocaster, a sweet-looking model that delivers the distinctive look of the 1970s workhorse Fender guitars. Available in all-Black maple-fingerboard and Vintage White rosewood-fingerboard, both models feature a large headstock, vintage-tint gloss neck and black plastic parts typical of that era.

The Squier line of guitars are typically less expensive than the Fender guitars, but I’ve had a Squier Strat since 1985 and love it. Being less expensive doesn’t mean it’s cheap.

Acer commits most blatant ripoff of Apple yet

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Acer came up with a good idea. Let’s put pics, documents and media in the cloud and make them available to all of your devices… oh wait, that’s called iCloud. No matter, we’ll just steal the idea and call it AcerCloud. Oh and to save time, we might as well steal Apple’s presentation slide too […]

BBEdit 10

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Thanks to Bare Bones Software and BBEdit 10 for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop.

BBEdit 10 from Bare Bones Software — The leading professional HTML and text editor for the Mac just keeps getting better, with more than one hundred new features. Download the demo and see for yourself!

Apple Asia’s Lunar New Year sales

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Apple Asia’s one-day Lunar New Year sales event has begun in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand. According to YJ, who sent me the info from Singapore, this sale is like the annual Thanksgiving sale in the U.S.

Avast!

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Joshua Schnell:

In an article about Apple’s attempts to thwart piracy on the internet, Grant apparently made the mistake of starting his post off with, “Avast! Apptrackr, a repository for cracked iOS apps, is under attack from Apple’s legal team.” For those not schooled in grammar-fu, the word literally means stop, cease. Apparently our usage of the word avast has incensed the Avast AntiVirus team so much that they’ve taken to tracking down our writer and tossing obscenities at him on his personal blog, as well as badgering him in his email inbox.

Wow, that’s pathetic.

RIM may license BlackBerry software to Samsung, HTC

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Research In Motion is reportedly working toward a major transition that will see the company begin licensing its BlackBerry software to third-party vendors including Samsung and HTC.

Great, now nobody but iPhone users will be able to send email.

If Apple Made An iBeard…

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Build-A-Beard:

… it would look like Jim Dalrymple’s. The editor-in-chief of The Loop has been writing about Apple for more than 17 years, but growing his 15″ beard since 2007. You must be somebody pretty special if Steve Jobs once recognized you (with or without facial hair). BaB had the esteemed privilege to speak with Jim about how his beard “kind of snuck up on him and took over his life,” the craziest moment he’s had playing with another serious bearded professional, what his beard likes to drink, and the best conference to attend for true facial hair scouting.

I had a lot of fun doing this interview.

Moron Kanye West says he’s the next Steve Jobs

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Donda will “pick up where Steve Jobs left off,” West said of the late, visionary Apple founder. With 22 divisions of writers, DJs, publicists, designers, musicians, scientists and much more, the company will strive to “make products and experiences that people want and can afford,” West said, “to help simplify and aesthetically improve everything we see hear, touch, taste and feel,” and “dream of, create, advertise and produce products driven equally by emotional want and utilitarian need.. To marry our wants and needs.”

Kayne West is a moron if he thinks that he is anything like Steve Jobs. His name shouldn’t even be used in the same sentence as Steve Jobs. Idiot.

[Via Macgasm]

Build your own Canadian stereotype

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Canada has long enjoyed its reputation of being one of the friendliest and drunkest of nations on earth. However, somewhere in between the gestures of kindness and brewing the best known beer to mankind, we’ve managed to do some great things.

I laughed out loud.

Letterpress business cards

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Just before the holidays I decided to order new business cards, but instead of the traditional type of cards, I went for something a little different. I wanted letterpress business cards. I contacted Evan Calkins at Hoban Press and he did them for me. I’m really impressed with the quality of the work, the price and how fast Evan was able to get them to me.

If you need some letterpress work done, I highly recommend contacting Evan.

Comments and MacStories

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In consideration of the reader, how we want the site to look, and due to the amount of time we can spend keeping an eye of this stuff, we will be removing comments from the next iteration of MacStories. And yes, it’s the nuclear option for keeping the site clean. Removing comments also means that we’re doing an incredible disservice for the readers who’ve already left great comments, and we hate having to remove those from the discussion. Decisions like this are tough because we have to do what’s best for us while minding our reader’s thoughts.

Not a surprise really. This seems to be the way more sites are moving these days. I’ve said before that I find more people communicate using Twitter than comments these days.

Verizon doubles iPhone sales

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Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile carrier, sold 4.2 million Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhones in the fourth quarter, more than doubling from the third quarter, said Fran Shammo, finance chief of the company’s parent.

Seems like it’s going to be a big quarter for Apple.

[Via Matt Richman]

Destroyer of violins

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Chris Martucci on PayPal making someone destroy a violin to get his money back:

Indeed, the company specifies in its Terms of Service: “PayPal may […] require you to destroy the item and to provide evidence of its destruction.”

So the seller is out $2,500 and a violin that made it through WWII.

iPad users download 3 billion apps since launch

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iPad users are estimated to have cumulatively downloaded three billion applications since the launch of the iPad in 2010. This was 19% of all cumulative downloads by Apple users. The iPhone took as long as two years before being able to achieve this level of downloads, while the iPad made it within nearly a year and a half. In comparison, Android tablets only have around 440 million downloads thus far.

WOOHOO, Android is winning. Oh wait…

Apple legal targets App Store piracy

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Cult of Mac:

Apple has begun an attack on App Store piracy. The popular resource for cracked iOS apps known as Apptrackr recently said that Apple has begun sending large amounts of takedown notices, thereby forcing Apptrackr to relocate many of its servers and implement more steps for its users to avoid legal ramifications.

Good for Apple.

iPhone 4S arrives in China, 21 other countries on Jan. 13

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Beginning Friday, January 13, iPhone 4S will be available in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

FontShop’s best typefaces of 2011

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To celebrate the end of another exciting year in type, our type experts put their heads together to compile our annual “Best Of” list, highlighting the typefaces that surprised, impressed, and delighted us.

Peter Frampton reunited with 1954 Gibson Les Paul after 31 years

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The Salt Lake Tribune:

In 1980, a plane carrying Frampton’s equipment (but not Framton himself, of course) for a show in Panama went down, supposedly destroying all of the instruments on board — including Frampton’s cherished 1954 Gibson Les Paul.But two fans, one in Holland and one on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, as well as the CEO of the Curaçao Tourist Board, were albe to reunite Frampton with the guitar in an emotional meeting last month in Nashville.

Picture Credit.

Composer Richard Lainhart dies at 58

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As most of us were celebrating the holidays and getting ready for the new year, one music legend was fighting for his life. Unfortunately, Richard Lainhart didn’t win his battle. Below is a note posted by his wife. There are also plenty of links to his music and videos […]

Fender introduces the Select Series guitars

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The Fender Select Stratocaster HSS takes the refined elegance of its triple-single-coil brother and amps it up through the roof with the extra power of a humbucking bridge pickup. Features include a striking Antique Burst gloss-lacquer finish and natural binding on a sleek flame maple-top body.

Okay, I want one of these.