What with a kid and a new camera, this is the perfect year to give one of Apple’s photo books for Christmas. Anna and I, along with my sister’s family, put one together for my Grandpa. He has very poor eyesight and a book with 20 pages of big, full-sized, 8.5×11 pictures featuring his grandkids and his great grandkids will make an excellent gift.
This is the first time I’ve ordered one of the photo books from Apple and I don’t think it will be the last. It’s a hardcover book, with 20 (or more if you want to add them) full-color pages, printed and shipped for about $32. The pages are full-bleed, the color is brilliant, and the construction quality is top notch.
Not to mention it’s easy to make. You do it within iPhoto by picking the “theme” you want your book to have, dragging and dropping the photos you want, and clicking the button that sends it off to print. A few days later it shows up at your doorstep.
Our book arrived a couple days ago, and when I opened the shipping box I was a bit embarrassed to find the book wrapped in a white cardboard sleeve with nothing but the Apple logo on the front.
Moreover, inside the book on the very last page is the Apple logo again with the tag, “Made on a Mac”.
This is very much like Apple — their logo adorns all their gear — but the book itself is so removed from Apple’s traditional product lineup of consumer electronics that I was surprised to see the logo plastered on the front like that. And then — well — I was surprised that I was surprised.
The photo book isn’t really an Apple product, it’s a product Apple makes. And I am embarrassed to give it as a gift which, when first opened, is an advertisement for Apple. It’s like Apple’s version of a product with “special offers“. People see this book and they see it’s “Made on a Mac” and maybe it gives them one more reason to buy Mac.
The answer is as simple as removing the cardboard sleeve and tossing it in the recycling bin before wrapping the book for Christmas.
Update: Turns out there’s an option to remove the inside logo before sending to print. When you’re building the book click “Options” (lower right corner of the iPhoto app) → Book Settings → uncheck “Include Apple logo at end of book”.
