So, you haven’t been able to afford an iPad yet?  Well, now you can pretend to surf the web on an iPad.  Just go to ipadpeek.com.  There, you’ll be able to see how websites look on the iPad.  Be warned though…   The site does allow Flash to work on the simulated iPad, so it’s not a true simulation.  To switch between portrait and landscape, simply click the top left corner of the simulated iPad.

While working as a Mac Genius at the Apple store at Willow Bend, I dealt with thousands of customers over four and a half years. I took great pride in my job, and I always tried to do what was best for the customer, even if the customer did not always realize right away that I made the right choice. Often, customers came to me expecting a specific resolution, but left with a different one not realizing that if they had treated the Mac Geniuses with more respect, and courtesy, they may very well have received exactly what they wanted, or maybe something better. To help out customers seeking help at the Genius Bar, I have put together a list of 10 tips on how to get the best service.

1. ALWAYS treat your Mac Genius with respect, and courtesy. The Mac Geniuses, out of all of the Apple Store employees, have the most stressful jobs. If you add to that stress, you can expect to get their bare minimum effort. Yelling at them only makes things worse. Do you really want the people who are going to replace your hard drive to be mad at you? I can guarantee that they will not work very hard to retrieve data from your defective hard drive. Screaming and yelling never made me work faster, and it never made me have sympathy for the customer. Remember that the bridge you burn today over your smashed iPhone could be the ass you kiss tomorrow when your MacBook Pro fails just one day after the warranty has expired.

2. Remember that backups are YOUR responsibility. You are the one to blame if all of your data is lost. If you’re running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), or Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), you can use the built in backup software called Time Machine to keep your data backed up.

3. There is no “3 strikes” policy in place for computer replacements. The Mac Genius, along with the Apple store managers, make the determination to replace a computer in lieu of repairing it on a case by case basis. Remember tip number 1 in this situation. Being an ass to the Mac Genius will mean that he or she will follow Apple’s procedures to the letter instead of trying to make an exception.

4. iPods are fragile. When you drop them, they tend to break. This goes for iPhones too. If an iPod or iPhone shows damage consistent with accidents, or abuse, it will not be replaced under warranty no matter how much you scream and yell. Apple designs beautiful devices, but it’s up to you to protect them after you buy them.

The great iPhone death watch – Apple 2.0 – Fortune Brainstorm Tech.

Oh, how wrong they were!  This makes me wonder why anyone in the tech industry, or consumers for that matter, even take all of these people seriously.  Apple, like all other tech companies have had their share of flops.  The Newton, G4 Cube, and the Lisa all come to mind.  Microsoft has a lot of flops as well.  Windows Me, Windows Vista, the Zune, Plays For Sure, are some great examples of some of their many failures.  I won’t go so far as to predict that the new Microsoft retail stores will also fail, but look at this way…  You can buy a Windows PC anywhere.  You can buy a copy of  one of the many versions of Windows 7 anywhere.  What real incentive do consumers have to visit a Microsoft retail store?  Gateway, and Dell tried to launch retail stores.  Do you remember how those ventures went?  In case you didn’t guess, they failed miserably.  Perhaps all of the employees at the Microsoft stores should update their resumes, and have them ready.

With all of Apple’s successes since Steve Jobs came back to Apple, it makes me wonder why the tech pundits continue predicting Apple’s demise.  I think they resent that Apple continues to defy their expectations, even during a bad economy.  Apple stands conventional wisdom on its head, and continues to ‘Think different’.