4 posts tagged “glasgow”

I've got myself a new toy.

Purely by chance we happened to be in the Glasgow Apple store this afternoon (having had some fantastic tapas and wine at La Tasca), and we dropped in for an iPod shuffle skin.

They didn't have any that my wife took a shine to....however they did have the new iPod Touch....and I got a 16gb one

OMG is it nice - the interface and the screen is absolutely stunning. It really does blow away anything you've seen before.

So why not wait for the iPhone here in the UK - after all it was announced yesterday as arriving on November 9th via O2?

Well, my rationale is that I can get a 16gb iPod touch for £269, however I can only get an 8gb iPhone for the same money. The £35 per month I also could not justify at the moment as my employer provides a phone free gratis.

My wife hit the nail on the head - if I waited for the iPhone then no doubt there would be a new version of it in early 2008 probably with a better camera, 16gb or greater and 3G. For once I listened to her.

UPDATE: Well, I only listened to her for a few months... Apple released the 16gb iPhone in February and of course, I got one. I sold the iPod Touch to a colleague (who of course is delighted with it) so that softened the blow. I am even more impressed by the iPhone - with the new applications & home screen widgets it really is the first useable mobile computing platform. Can't wait for iPhone 2.0 s/w in late June.

In true Apple geekdom style I attended the Grand Opening of the new Glasgow Apple Store on Saturday 25th August 2007. I waited in line from about06:15am (I was about number 60 in the line) next to Fraser Speirs (he of the FlickrExport - we truly are not worthy) and the team from CoffeeBreakSpanish.com (Mark, Kara & Leslie).

Apple brought us coffee about 07:30am (courtesy of Starbucks) - kept us all going until the grand opening at 09:00am.

The Store itself is amazing, the glass staircase does appear to defy gravity and is truly beautiful.

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I took loads of photos, posting them to my Flickr account and my new .Mac webgallery:

Flickr: here

.Mac Webgallery: here

So what did I buy? Well, not having a lot of cash to splash around I plumped for the new slim keyboard from Apple and a Dr. Seuss A-Z game for the kids.

The new slimline Apple keyboard is....awesome - it is fantastic to type on, my typing is more accurate and faster to boot!

I happened to be passing the new Glasgow Apple Store this morning on my way into work and noticed that they have removed the black window coverings, revealing the inside of the new store to the world at large.

I took a few snaps and have uploaded them to flickr:

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Originally uploaded by Alex Waddell.

As is normal for this time of year, Glasgow City Council goes all out to make George Square the centre of Christmas in Glasgow. The most striking thing I think about the whole setup is not the ice rink or the massive Christmas tree (in the background), rather it's the column that is lit up every year. It just looks amazing, don't you think?