New Apple Website Feature: Find Out How

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Apple has added to its website with a new subsection dedicated to video tutorials called "find out how (http://www.apple.com/findouthow/)." The section includes video tutorials for Mac OS X, Photos, Movies, Web, Music, and Documents.


http://images.macrumors.com/article/2008/01/30/182135-FindOutHow_300.jpg
(http://www.apple.com/findouthow/)

In all, over 30 short tutorial videos are presented along with many additional text tutorials. The videos present an addition to Apple's guided tours of Mac OS X Leopard (http://www.apple.com/findouthow/guidedtours/leopard.html) and iLife 08 (http://www.apple.com/findouthow/guidedtours/ilife.html). Similarly, Apple posted a guided tour for the iPhone even before its launch (http://www.macrumors.com/2007/06/22/iphone-guided-tour/), which in turn helped early adopters become experts with the device.

Most of the tutorials seem to be mainly aimed at the beginning Mac user, so questions not immediately answered by Apple's site may be more satisfactorily answered in our Guides (http://guides.macrumors.com/) or Forums (http://forums.macrumors.com/).

Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/30/new-apple-website-feature-find-out-how/)

[twoodcc]

yeah i noticed there were these videos on there. i was actually watching one yesterday. i guess they were a hit, so they made a section for them on the site?

[G4DP]

So this is why we're still waiting for 10.5.2 then.

[ziwi]

I think this is a good idea. Especially for the folks who have switched and spent the money and are asking "Now What?".

This will probably be a hit.

[timsutcliffe]

Seems like a good idea to me, i think i'll go and watch a couple.

[longofest]

yeah i noticed there were these videos on there. i was actually watching one yesterday. i guess they were a hit, so they made a section for them on the site?

I think this could be a big hit for people thinking about buying a Mac, but want to see more how it works first. They can watch the tutorials to hit the ground running when they take the plunge.

I know watching those iPhone videos before purchase made life so much easier when I got mine.

[PlaceofDis]

I think this could be a big hit for people thinking about buying a Mac, but want to see more how it works first. They can watch the tutorials to hit the ground running when they take the plunge.

I know watching those iPhone videos before purchase made life so much easier when I got mine.

exactly. seeing is easier and makes buying a simpler task if you know what you're getting in to

[madmax_2069]

i wish they could have added the 10.5.2 update to the site. lol i had to say it

that section does seem nice.

[Doctor Q]

This is a nice addition. They are great for Mac beginners, but can be handy for everyone on occasion.

Apple sometimes shows "training" videos, which are really also ads for the software, in the retail stores that have theater areas. I think the videos are fun to watch, and now and then I learn something new.

[dual64bit]

far out, man..

[a1016neo]

This is great for people who are new to the mac:apple:

[esquire360]

This is exactly what apple needed to do. show people how to use it. these videos are key.

[basset hound]

i wish they could have added the 10.5.2 update to the site. lol i had to say it

that section does seem nice.

Since I've just recently returned to a Mac from the "other side" (PC) I have watched most of the videos in this section. They have been very helpful.

As for the 10/5.2 upgrade delay, I too hope it will come soon and include a way to use Time Machine with my AEBS. I'm very unhappy about that "bug" and feel that Apple hasn't been exactly honest about the problem.

[elppa]

I stumbled across these a few weeks ago. Very useful for beginners. They give more of an overview and don't go into much detail in a step-by-step fashion.

[Jason S.]

They've been on the site for several weeks now.

[Di9it8]

This is great for people who are new to the mac:apple:

And to those of us who are already there:D

[happydude]

great idea! help newbies out, help convince people on the fence (a little eye candy always helps), good faith effort to help the switchers. any guess as to how long there will be a mac vs. pc ad about the site? prob not, but they could get creative with mac saying how helpful apple is when you get a new computer and how pc is lost in a dessert somewhere shouting for help with a long echo . . .

[Di9it8]

I stumbled across these a few weeks ago. Very useful for beginners. They give more of an overview and don't go into much detail in a step-by-step fashion.

Those are the next steps??
What about a macrumors video/podcast competition?:rolleyes:

[NAG]

This is a good move. A lot of people don't read manuals for one reason or another yet are perfectly fine with watching movies. So if this lets people help themselves then good for Apple.

[Beric]

This is a great idea. If only they'd put these types of things in their ads. Stop just bashing Vista and show all the great features Leopard that makes it better than Vista. We all know that Leopard is better, but your average windows-user doesn't. The Time Machine ad was great.

[japanime]

Thanks for bringing these videos to our attention!

And still there are folks who are rating this announcement "negative." Why on earth...

[Beric]

Thanks for bringing these videos to our attention!

And still there are folks who are rating this announcement "negative." Why on earth...

They must be negative people. :D

[meagain]

They're probably negging it because it's not a MacBook Pro announcement. :)

This would've been a godsend to me when I switched. In 3 minutes, I already learned something.

[Techguy172]

I found some of these videos helpful when i Ran into them yesterday I really like that it lets you download them to itunes and watch them there.

[G5Unit]

Doesn't anyone think that Apple's website is the most beautiful site on the web?

[4God]

I watched the "Anatomy of a Mac". It was cool. Quick question though, about 30-40 seconds in he goes through Dashboard. What's that widget between Calculator and Dictionary, you know, that Core Image or Core Graphics icon thingy?

[Techguy172]

Doesn't anyone think that Apple's website is the most beautiful site on the web?

I don't know about the most beautiful but they do a really nice job I would love to be on their web design team.

[robanga]

As a fairly recent switcher, these tutorials have been enormously helpful to me. However TUAW and others are reporting these as new and seems like they have been on the site since at least December 1. I could be mistaken.

[caliguy]

Hmmm, I think I found a mistake.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/macosx/#customize-screenshot

Command Option 3?
It's Command Shift 3.

[caliguy]

I watched the "Anatomy of a Mac". It was cool. Quick question though, about 30-40 seconds in he goes through Dashboard. What's that widget between Calculator and Dictionary, you know, that Core Image or Core Graphics icon thingy?

That's available for developers and comes with Mac OS X Leopard in the developer toolkit thing.

Edit: Sorry for the double post, but I can't delete this and merge it w/ my previous post.

[~Shard~]

Great move Apple! There are a few coworkers of mine who are switching soon and I will definitely direct them towards this section. :cool:

[Jesstastic]

Hey everyone, been reading for awhile, and I've finally decided to register now that I've made the switch!

Anyways as I said I recently switched over to a Mac. So I'm really excited to check out these tutorials. Good stuff. Makes me even more excited about my Macbook. :)

[HLdan]

So this is why we're still waiting for 10.5.2 then.

I would much rather have Apple take the time and set up these videos. My best friend's parents are about to buy their first computer ever. They have never used a computer and we were talking about them paying $99.00 to the Apple store for the Mac training. These videos are free and make starting out a lot easier.

To hell with the 10.5.2 update being on time if they can post something useful like this for newbies and switchers.

[offwidafairies]

Doesn't anyone think that Apple's website is the most beautiful site on the web?

yes

and these tutorials are so cool

[mzd]

i gotta say, the iWork videos are particularly useful. especially if you are much more familiar with Word. nice.

[EricNau]

Based upon Apple's iPhone tutorial videos, and MacBook Air's included trackpad videos (in system preferences). Apple clearly feels videos are more effect than reading manuals, and I suppose it only makes since considering Apple's introduction of multi-touch motions, which are easier to show than explain.

[imwoblin]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A93 Safari/419.3)

I just tried out this page on my iPhone and wouldn't you now it, it doesn't work

[andrewh]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A93 Safari/419.3)

I just tried out this page on my iPhone and wouldn't you now it, it doesn't work

You're right. so much for the "not a watered down version of the internet"... Their own site doesn't even work on it.

[aosman]

lol thats pretty funny

[roland.g]

That is pretty slick. I would love to get my wife on there but she probably wouldn't take the time.

[Quillz]

Doesn't anyone think that Apple's website is the most beautiful site on the web?
No. It looked awful prior to the current design, and this one is nice and functional, but really nothing special. There are many sites that I think look and work better.

[djellison]

This is what I was saying the TV ads should be more like - explaining what it is that makes OSX good, instead of an arrogant trendy idiot going "vista sux"

Doug

[Quillz]

This is what I was saying the TV ads should be more like - explaining what it is that makes OSX good, instead of an arrogant trendy idiot going "vista sux"

DougExactly. The commercials tell you absolutely nothing about the Mac or Mac OS X. All they imply is that it's better, but they never explain how.

[hbchad]

I agree that the commercials should focus on the merits of mac, however they do seem to be working. My girlfriend was talking to me about getting a new laptop yesterday and said, "I don't want the new windows thing because it has a lot of problems. I either want a mac or an xp computer." I asked her why she thought vista was bad and she cited the mac commercials. The ads seem to work well on her...she really took them to heart. If she goes mac the videos will be a great thing to help her transition.

[BobbyDigital]

Based upon Apple's iPhone tutorial videos, and MacBook Air's included trackpad videos (in system preferences). Apple clearly feels videos are more effect than reading manuals, and I suppose it only makes since considering Apple's introduction of multi-touch motions, which are easier to show than explain.

That's because SJ doesn't think people read anymore, remember? :D

[JonasLondon]

Based upon Apple's iPhone tutorial videos, and MacBook Air's included trackpad videos (in system preferences). Apple clearly feels videos are more effect than reading manuals, and I suppose it only makes since considering Apple's introduction of multi-touch motions, which are easier to show than explain.

you meant to write "makes SENSE" - but yes, I fully agree otherwise ;-)


Great move by Apple, lovely design and the perfect site to direct any switcher, newcomer, heck, even experienced users may pick something up in those 2-3 minutes it takes to watch one of them. I just learned heaps about Garageband for example. Cool!

[sachxn]

as far as my experience goes these tutorials are of immence help as I learned most of the functions of my iPhone in India through these.

Sachin (http://sql-plsql.blogspot.com)

[aLoC]

yeah i noticed there were these videos on there. i was actually watching one yesterday. i guess they were a hit, so they made a section for them on the site?

Yup, they are not new (I've watched several of them before) they've just reorganized their site.

[ramases]

Ok, silly question here. Why don't they sync to my 80gb Video ipod? They download into the podcast folder in iTunes, but don't appear to sync over?

[hhaeschen]

Exactly. The commercials tell you absolutely nothing about the Mac or Mac OS X. All they imply is that it's better, but they never explain how.

That's kind of brilliant marketing. Keep telling people persistently that something is better than another. Even if you have no proof at all, after some time people will believe you and buy your product.

[bigbadnewill]

I think video tutorials are always a good way for beginners! So much easier to watch someone do it, and follow along at the same time!

Nice work Apple

[japanime]

Hmmm, I think I found a mistake.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/macosx/#customize-screenshot

Command Option 3?
It's Command Shift 3.

Right you are. Good catch!

[SvenSvenson]

So this is why we're still waiting for 10.5.2 then.


That's right - the people who make these videos only write OS updates in their spare time.

;)

Steve

[MacBoobsPro]

They don't work on my iPhone. It asks for QuickTime 7.

[Merkuryy]

Good Good Good !!!! After the release of the new iPod lines, I find AAPL more attached to customers feeling about the using of the machine: the new UI of the iPod, the new website guide, very good!!!!!

[drditty]

Maybe apple could put these on youtube

[Darkroom]

this is great. i'll have to send this link to my dad who just bought his first iMac.

[sterlingindigo]

I'm a visual guy, so I'm very appreciative of them. They are well done. Good job Apple!

[HLdan]

Hmmm, I think I found a mistake.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/macosx/#customize-screenshot

Command Option 3?
It's Command Shift 3.

Good find! But I think you got too much time on your hands. :p

Exactly. The commercials tell you absolutely nothing about the Mac or Mac OS X. All they imply is that it's better, but they never explain how.

Agreed but let's not complain without offering merit. The Time Machine ad is good and not bashing.

[dpalmes1]

Anyone notice that in the "Anatomy of a Mac" video the iMovie icon is different?

[4God]

Anyone notice that in the "Anatomy of a Mac" video the iMovie icon is different?

How so? It looks like the iLife '08 iMovie to me.

[dpalmes1]

How so? It looks like the iLife '08 iMovie to me.

It's just a bit different. I'm guessing they're going to have an update soon?

[4God]

It's just a bit different. I'm guessing they're going to have an update soon?

Hey, you're right. Good catch.

[Prof1950]

OK, 10.0 was for propeller-heads only, 10.1 was functional, and 10.2 was actually for the masses.

But where were all these tutorials (let alone documentation) back when we REALLY needed it? I guess someone must have held Steve's hand every step of the way when they converted his machines from 9 to X, but rest of us were just supposed to "take it and love it."

I still remember the first time I connected my digital camera to Mac OS-X and instead of the old Version 9 dialog box that asked where I wanted to save my photos, everything was automatically sucked into some cryptic location by iPhoto. A huge pain when what I really wanted to do was edit them in Photoshop. Then I discovered that iPhoto (along with everything else in OS-X) had virtually no documentation at all, just a couple items under Help that were strictly for weenies.

Of course, Apple eventually gave us the option to over ride iPhoto;s automatic download tyranny -- but the fact this and virtually all of the i-Apps operated in ways that were radically different from System 9 wasn't documented in any meaningful way for another 2 years. We were literally just supposed to "take it" (whether we loved it or hated it).

Now, 4 years later, Apple finally decides that they really DO need to supply users with some basic information. That hardly rates a HOORAY from me.

And then there are all those sad folks (5-10% of the user base) who never made it off System 9. I know the geeks think those people are pathetic, but how about some blame for how badly Apple screwed up the transition to OS-X, and how slow they have been in supplying useful information.

Now its seems they finally have admitted that users shouldn't have to go out and buy a third party book just to figure how to use OS-X and the software that comes with it. Whoppee.

[SheriffParker]

far out, man..

Just slip the rent under my door...

;)


As for the Find Out How, I think its great. Easy to use, easy to learn how to use.

[elppa]

I guess someone must have held Steve's hand every step of the way when they converted his machines from 9 to X

I highly doubt this, because Steve Jobs didn't use OS 9, he ran NeXTSTEP on generic X86 hardware. As Mac OS X owes a lot to NeXTSTEP and NeXT was his company, I'm kind of doubting he needed much hand-holding.

Whilst he made a good success of selling Power PC hardware and an OS which was showing it's age, he didn't actually think enough of these products to use them himself.

how about some blame for how badly Apple screwed up the transition to OS-X, and how slow they have been in supplying useful information.

I think this is a dubious claim at best. Considering the huge upheaval in the move, they did a rather good job of providing Classic and Carbon as a stepping stone for developers.

[Orng]

Well, now we know why we don't have a frikkin 11" G5 PowerMacBook Pro for under $1000 that can cook a roast and run out to the store and get me a bag of Fritos and a pack of smokes, gawdammit. Holy crap! :mad:

[psychofreak]

These are great, but the default Leopard background still puts me off...it makes most of the menubar that horrible grey...

[stoutboy1]

I wish they had some more adavnced videos, but I gues that would be getting to specific.

[Orng]

I wish they had some more adavnced videos, but I gues that would be getting to specific.

It would be nice to have a video explaining how to get two Os in "too" and two Ss in "guess" when they only have one of each on the keyboard. And apparently the V and A are reversed on some models too.

[caliguy]

Good find! But I think you got too much time on your hands. :p



Agreed but let's not complain without offering merit. The Time Machine ad is good and not bashing.


Yeah possibly. But then again I only looked at about 3 sections including the screenshot one and thats when I noticed :)

[joefinan]

My PB G4 takes about 10sec to open applications like Numbers - in the videos they open instantaneously. Is that crafty editing of the video or do the newer, Intel-based Macs really open applications that quickly?

[Prof1950]

Quote: Originally Posted by Prof1950
I guess someone must have held Steve's hand every step of the way when they converted his machines from 9 to X

I highly doubt this, because Steve Jobs didn't use OS 9, he ran NeXTSTEP on generic X86 hardware. As Mac OS X owes a lot to NeXTSTEP and NeXT was his company, I'm kind of doubting he needed much hand-holding.

Whilst he made a good success of selling Power PC hardware and an OS which was showing it's age, he didn't actually think enough of these products to use them himself.

OK, so Steve didn't even have to pay attention to the transition because, unlike all the users involved, he wasn't even familiar with the products and systems that his company was abandoning.

Quote: Originally Posted by Prof1950
how about some blame for how badly Apple screwed up the transition to OS-X, and how slow they have been in supplying useful information.

I think this is a dubious claim at best. Considering the huge upheaval in the move, they did a rather good job of providing Classic and Carbon as a stepping stone for developers.

Hmmm... Support for developers = GOOD, Support for users = WHO CARES. I guess how badly botched the transition was depends on whether you could find all the documentation you needed in the Developer's Kit that accompanied YOUR copy of OS-X, as opposed to the non-existent User's Guide, Manual, and Tutorials that Apple never bothered to create for the rest of us.