Have An Apple At Starbucks

As I sipped on my morning Breakfast Blend, while reading the paper, my eyes were drawn to an interesting article in the business section. Evidently, Apple Inc. has lowered the cost of the iPhone by $200 in order to reach predicted sales by the end of September. Okay, so really, this is no surprise since Apple Inc. has been reporting lower sales on the cool phone since it came out in June. I actually played a bit in one of the AT&T wireless stores and they are fun, there’s no doubt about that, but for $600? I stick with my wonderful Blackberry.

The article also goes on to say that (and this really got my attention), that Apple Inc. is introducing a new iPod Touch. This new iPod has a cool touch-sensitive screen (which I loved when I had a Palm Treo cell phone), but it does not make and receive phone calls. The unique feature about this new iPod is it’s downloading capabilities. Evidently, you will be able to download songs wirelessly. That’s cool. The best news yet……you can go into a Starbucks with this iPod and sample and buy digital tunes using their free Wi-Fi. This, unfortunately, does not apply to computer usage as you will still have to pay for T-Mobile wireless but as far as downloading music,  Wi-Fi is free.

This partnership with my favorite coffee house begins at 600 Starbucks stores in New York and Seattle on October 2nd and is set to be in all Starbucks by the end of the year.

I love that Starbucks has partnered with Apple Inc. This might just make up for their decision to venture into the movie industry (we loved Akeela and the Bee). So, sometime after Christmas, you might just see me in Starbucks downloading tunes as I down my Tall Latte.