Watch this….
Diameter
Fifteen Years and Counting /
Ten Year Apple
On June 7th, 2003, I was hired by the most admired brand in the world, Apple. At the time we were called Apple Computer, Inc. There was no iPhone or iPad, iCloud was called .Mac, optical drives were still common place, and our stock was eight dollars and change.
We were the underdog. We were opening retail locations and being told we would be the next Gateway. Best Buy scoffed at iTunes Store. Michael Dell was telling Steve Jobs to give the stockholder’s money back. We were 'more than just a store.'
It is hard to put into words what my journey with Apple has been. I have spent nearly half my life working alongside some of the most incredible people I’ll ever work with. And I have a historical perspective on the company and the technology industry that very few have or will ever have. If you want to criticize Apple for anything, you’re free to do so but if I’m around, you’re asking for a frank discussion about how you are likely very wrong.
Having tried to fit into a concise and fitting message, I couldn't do it. I would need a short book to say all that I want but I think I can give a glimpse into my story in my favorite way possible
I think one of my favorite ways to tell my story is:
Jaguar
Panther
Tiger
Leopard
Snow Leopard
Lion
Mountain Lion
Mavericks
Yosemite
Sierra
High Sierra
Mojave
Alpine
Big Bear
Kirkwood
Apex
Telluride
Sundance
Innsbruck
Okemo
Monarch
Whitetail
Tigris
Yukon
14 iPhones
16 iPads
36 iPods
14 Airport Basestations/Time Capsules
5 Apple TVs
4 Apple Watches
G3
G4
G5
Intel
A4
S1
W1
6 version of Final Cut Pro
Motion 1-5
Shake
Color
DVD Studio Pro
Aperture 1, 2, and 3
.Mac, MobileMe, iCloud
iTunes Music Store, iTunes Store, Apple Music
Beats by Dre
iLife
iWork
Apple Pencil
AirPods
AirPlay
HomePod
iPod Hi-Fi
iPod Socks
Studio Instructor, Creative, Programming Expert, North Michigan Avenue Historian, Video Creative
Retail Marketing Video Production
MLS 2014
Cupertino
Cooper
Genesis
Bristo
Apple Local Market
HDYWA?
In-store Core
Apple North Michigan Avenue
Apple Lincoln Park
Apple Pioneer Place
Apple Michigan Avenue
Caffé Macs Alves
Apple Pride, Apple Diversity, Reservation Pass
Chicago Community
I Am
North Michigan Avenue Family
Sport Pepper
GR 4
Studio Series
Genius Bar
iPod Bar
Mobile Bar
The Briefing Room
The Boardroom
The Malk
The Theater
The Studio
The Forum
Pizza
ProCare
One to One
Joint Venture
100% Renewable Energy
No surpises
5 down, 95 to go
More than just a store
Today at Apple
The Chicago Series
Teacher Tuesdays: Exclusive with Anthony Stirpe
An unknown number off iBooks, PowerBook, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, PowerMacs, eMacs, iMacs, iMac Pros, and Mac Pros
And a badge number so low, people think it is my zip code.
There are too many people to thanks during all of my time at Apple but if you're reading this, I hope you know who you are. Thank you for all your support, friendship, companionship, love, tears, some damn good arguments, and nerding out ever so wonderfully.
Rumor has it that fewer than 100 people can are at Apple today with the same number of years or more. I’m not sure where this journey ends but there is a lot of exciting things to come.
During an After School Matters visit to Apple North Michigan Avenue, I was asked by a student what Apple's benefits were like. I could not talk about the internal aspects of how we do things at that level but my response was, "the biggest benefit is who I get to work with every day." This teen wasn't impressed by my response but it is true and from the heart. To all my friends and colleagues, you're all amazing and I would never have been anywhere for fifteen years without you.
“We’re just enthusiastic about what we do.”
Acorns /
Saving money can be challenging. There is so much cool stuff to buy, vacations to take... bills to pay. I have a 401k, a savings account, and a change jar. I feel pretty good about my savings overall but years ago I wanted to have something a little more automatic and silent.
Great thing about a 401k, you can’t really touch the money until you retire. Bad thing about savings, you can pull from it whenever. Funny thing about the change jar, I rarely use cash so if there is ten dollars in that jar, it is a lot.
When Apple Watch launches in 2015, a lot of developers were showcasing their skill and ideas in what they could do making apps for watchOS. One that caught my eye was a very stylish app named Acorns—a digital version of a change jar but also a lot more.
The Basics:
Opening an account with Acorns, you link any debit or credit card(s) you’d like. Ever purchase you make using the registered cards will rounded up to the next dollar and that money is then deposited into you Acorn account. They call them 'Round-Ups.'
Like a change jar or piggy bank, that change adds up pretty quickly. You need not do anything other than pay for things as you would normally.
After you hit a threshold, five dollars is the default, that money comes out of your checking account and is deposited into the your Acorns market.
Additionally, you can setup automatic deposits every week or month. You can open up the app on iPhone or Apple Watch and deposit a specific amount anytime. The Apple Watch version is exactly that an watchOS app should be—quick, simple, at-a-glance, functions.
The best part is that you’ll have the opportunity to pull money anytime, should you need it, without any penalty. I’m not an investment advisor but I’d vote on keeping it in the account longer than shorter.
When setting up the account, it will ask you how to manager the investments. Since this is a secondary investment opportunity for me, I have it set to aggressively invest the money. I don’t have tens of thousands in Acorns so it doesn’t bother me to see it fluctuate but over all it has made gains.
There are some other functions that are fun and helpful. Found Money is a feature linked to some of the biggest online retailers and brands like eBay, New Balance, Nike, Walgreens, and Apple.
When you purchase things from those companies through the Acorns app, a specific value or percentage of your purchase is gifted to your Acorns account. If you buy some Nike shoes, for example, the investment is currently 5% of you purchase. Not bad.
Over the years I’ve used it, I’ve literally saved months of rent worth of money. Because it is not something I access frequently, I’m not tempted to spend the money. Being a beautiful app, fun, easy to use, and nicely designed, Acorns adds a little incentive to saving money.
It ranks in as one of my favorite apps simply because of how it works and its design but it also is a favorite service. I definitely recommend it. Make it your digital piggy bank and save for a vacation, your future, or just have some backup money for an emergency.
Download and everyone who signs up gets $5.
Price: Free