iPad Released Today - It Affects You!

The effects of the new iPad will reach into the machine embroidery hobby! I'll explain...

If you are one of the 400,000 people who pre-ordered their iPad than it should be showing up today at your doorstep. If you ordered the 3G version then you have to wait a few more weeks but you'll be one of the uber-cool when it does arrive. Analysts expect Apple to sell more than 6 million of these things in the first year.

Six million isn't a lot compared to the 300 million folks who live in the USA. And that 6 million is spread around the globe so it is less than one out of every 50 people in the US that will have one of them in the first year. So that's not a lot of market penetration is it?

There's more to this story that affects everyone who uses technology today. It will have no effect on the tribal folks in New Guinea, but the rest of us will be affected indirectly by the changes this brings about.

There will be knock-offs. Even though Apple will only sell 6 million this year, you can bet other manufacturers are scrambling to come out with competing devices. Together they will probably sell many times the number of devices as what Apple sells of their iPad.

Those clones will mean the total market for these products will be much bigger than just the Apple market.

An even bigger change will be to the "content creators". That is the magazine publishers, website creators, book publishers, book sellers, newspaper companies, television networks, and movie producers. Thinking through how this change will affect their products will make your head swim!

For example, magazine publishers will either provide their content in digital format for iPad users or lose some of their subscribers to those magazine who DO produce their content in iPad format. Some will make the change and some won't. Those who don't will lose more of their customer base.

The same thing happens with newspaper publishers. They're already struggling to make ends meet. I think that the only newspapers that are in the black now are the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and I'm not sure about USA Today. (I am sure about the WSJ.) Both of these newspapers already deliver content online. Some of the others will follow. They may stay in business.

What about websites? Fortunately, the iPad won't make a lot of changes in how websites are produced because browsing the web from an iPad is pretty much the same as browsing the web from your computer. With one major exception... There is a type of animation used online called "Flash" video. The iPad doesn't include a flash video player.

That's not a problem for most websites as the only flash playing on them is an occasional video or advertisement. But some websites have a flash video as their home page. You've seen those sites before where you go to the site and it plays through this little video thingy and then you click to get into the actual site. Those sites will have to change their home page or lose the iPad browsers.

How does this affect US as machine embroidery hobbyists?

Even if you don't own an iPad yourself initially, and even if you have no intentions of ever buying one, you will see changes in newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and web sites, all driven by this new technology. And it's likely that some of your favorite print magazines won't make the transition to digital print. If your favorite doesn't make the journey, try writing them or emailing them and ask them to do so. Realizing that their subscribers are interested in viewing their magazine in new media may help them decide to do it.

Another way it will affect you is in how websites operate. You'll likely see changes to many of you favorite site's home pages as a result of this new media.

The most profound change we're likely to see is in design transfer. The first generation of iPad's does not have any kind of memory card slot, but I think it's inevitable that the second or third generation will have a way to download and transfer files to other computers around the home, including the ones hooked to your embroidery machine. I EXPECT this to happen and we are preparing our business to keep up with the changes as they occur.

Duct-Tape surgery:... A friend just had her lap-band removed after 2 years. I'm thinking I just need the duct-tape surgery. If I can wrap 6 ft of it around my head, covering my mouth. Then I could stop snacking and lose some weight. I know it can be removed, but the pulling on my hair would probably keep me fr.om taking it off very often. Off to Wal-Mart now to buy some duct-tape!

We haven't updated the look of our newsletter for a couple years now. And the ATW website is still the same as it has been since 2004. Both are due for some updates.

What has changed since 2004 that requires changes to our website? Three key things have happened since then...

Thing 1) Computer monitors have GROWN in size. Back in 2004 most people had an 800x600 monitor resolution and a 15" monitor. A few people had a 1024x768 resolution. We made the ATW website just 730 pixels wide back then so it would fit into those 800 pixel wide screens with a little room to spare on the side.

Today most people have a monitor that is displaying at least 1024 pixels wide and some have them as wide at 1920 pixels. When viewing our site on those monitors, it looks like a thin vertical strip running up and down the center of the screen. I think we can spread out a bit and make use of the extra space now.

You may recall a survey I did a little earlier this year asking what your computer screen resolution was set to. There was nobody left with a 640x480 setting. At least none of the hundreds that answered the survey. About 5% are still running 800x600. Everyone else is using at least 1024 x 768 or larger.

Thing 2) Another change has been in the world of internet video. Back in 2004 very few video clips were viewed online as many people had computers and internet connections that couldn't handle the requirements of video. Today, video compression improvements and better hardware make it easy enough to view YouTube videos on our cell phones, let alone on our computers. Because of this, we are making the site more video-friendly.

Thing 3) And the the third change has been the growth of social networking technology. There are so many people today using sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube that we want to incorporate some of those options into the ATW site.

The updates we have planned for ATW involve making the newsletter easier for us to publish with videos, photos, and links, as well as making more use of the wider monitors available to our readers today.

We hope to roll out those updates over the next couple weeks. It shouldn't affect anything you currently do today on ATW but it should make it more fun when we can plug in some additional features related to these updates.

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Orlando Florida Area
"Digitize In A Day"
Saturday, Jan 23rd, 2010

Holiday Inn Express -
4050 Hotel Drive, Davenport, Florida - (863) 420-6611

This hotel conference room will seat a maximum of 12 students. Cost is $129 for the day. You may bring a friend for free. Just call us and let us know so we can reserve a seat for your friend.

Your name goes here...

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Easter-Bunny

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Baby Nursery

"I bought this design from All Designs LLC quite a few years ago and made it for a friend who just had her first baby. It took about 4 hours but am very happy with the way it turned out! All of the background is applique so cutting took the most time."

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Finger Puppet

"I've been making finger puppets lately, and thought some of you might like to make some for Easter basket gifts. Fun to make. Instructions are included."

Mary B. / Britt Designs

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Member-2-Member Designs Click Here To Enter Member-2-Member Or pick a post from below... Click Here To Enter Member-2-Member!

Color-Flower-Eggs

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Smocking

(Note to members... when you post a photo in the gallery, it is automatically entered into the contest for that week's prize drawing. But, if the photo includes an embroidery design you must say what website or digitizer the design came from like mjaybee did with this photo, in order for it to win the prize for the week. If the design came from another digitizer, that's okay, you can still win with the photo, but we have to be able to credit the other digitizer's work or I can't post the photo here in our newsletter so I can't let that photo win. Okay? Cool. You guys rock! -- Larry)

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Autumn Splendor
September 2009

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Stick Family 3

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