Windows 7: The Ultimate OS X Killer?

Will Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 put the brakes on OS X's soaring market share gains? Does it have what it takes to out 'innovate' the world's best OS? Could it even be conceivable that it could somehow even kill off the world's most advanced operating system - OS X?

Well, those are good questions, but, in the mean time, one thing is for sure, and that is the reaction of the press concerning Windows 7 - it's a complete 180 degree turn around from what it has been for Vista, the OS that Microsoft would rather have us all forget about! From it's inception, it seems, Vista has been perceived, more-or-less, as a dog of an OS, and as such, people even compared it to Windows Millennium, which was absolutely one of the worst OS's ever fostered on an unsuspecting public!

It's hard to believe the difference in the press and their attitude concerning Windows 7, and especially so when compared to Vista. Even as a beta, people have been amazed and have likewise been tripping all over themselves as they gloat over how stable, secure and fast Microsoft's latest OS is. It's almost seems as if Microsoft were paying people to write such glowing and positive reviews. Who knows, maybe, in some instances, they are, I really don't know, except that I do know that, as the old saying goes , " perception is reality!" I also know that this perception could have a huge and positive effect on the adoption of Windows 7, and likewise, also have a negative effect on both the Mac and Linux crowd in their attempts to grow even more at the expense of Windows, the market leader.

It's also obvious to me, that this is going to make it a little bit harder for the people behind Apple's popular, "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" ads and other such advertising endeavors. It will be interesting to see how Apple responds to Windows 7, as Vista itself was such a really easy target for Apple to take advantage of. This to a large extent, of course, is going to depend a lot on how Apple's upcoming Snow Leopard will be perceived. Apple has said that Snow Leopard won't be concentrating on introducing any real new features, but, instead it will be concentrating on delivering a remarkable increased in speed, power, stability and over all security. These are all fantastic features to be sure, but whether they will be enough, or not, is another question.

Personally, in my mind at least, people are real suckers for shiny new features that look really cool, regardless of whether or not they are really practical or not. Windows 7 will certainly have lots of such shiny new features - from Microsoft improving it's Task Bar to be more like OS X dock like, to the adoption of multi-touch features, features that remarkably resemble the iPhone in it's look and feel. Well, we all know how that all turned out, but will it do the same for an OS as it did for a mobile device? Most likely it will and, luckily, for Apple, they have at least been granted a recent patent that covers pretty much everything that Windows 7 will do in that regard. Unfortunately, for Apple, it has also extended a cross-licensing deal with Microsoft, so Microsoft, for it's part, may feel they have every legal right to use multi-touch in any old way in which they feel, regardless of what Apple thinks!

Even without such a cross-licensing deal, Microsoft could still always challenge any Apple patents and thus drag the whole thing out for years and years to come, enjoying in the meantime all the benefits thereof. But that may not much in the end, because Apple too has also been planning to bring multi-touch to OS X's desktop, sooner or later, as well. Unfortunately, they just haven't given us any information as to when. Hopefully, Windows 7 will force Apple to bring multi-touch to the Mac sooner rather than later. At least I hope so, so don't be surprised if your surprised that this is indeed the case here as well. Hopefully, when Apple does announce the release of Snow Leopard they too will announce a date for the inclusion of multi-touch, or - who knows - maybe it will even be a part of Snow Leopard when it arrives! It wouldn't be the first time that Apple has surprised us, and hopefully we will have yet be surprised by another one of Steve Jobs famous, " - oh, just one more thing," when it comes to multi-touch on the Mac as well.

Personally, I like what I'm reading, hearing and seeing about Vista 2 - excuse me - I mean Windows 7, but I'm convinced that it will still not be anywhere near compelling enough for me or any other Mac user to switch over to. OS X has gotten too big and too popular for Windows 7 or any other OS to kill off completely, but certainly it makes a compelling secondary OS and will give any Mac user access to a lot more software that they otherwise wouldn't be privy too.

When it's all said and done, I must say that I love having choice and as such, well, Windows 7 will most likely become my second favorite OS of all time. Finally having a version of Windows that doesn't suck for a change, well, at least not as much as usual, will be a nice change indeed, and I'm looking forward to adding Windows 7 as one of my secondary OS. My first choice is, and, no doubt, will still remain OS X, and that, my friends, is exactly one of greatest reasons for using a Mac in the first place, namely - you can run virtually anything and everything on a Mac - be it another OS, such as Windows 7, or any and all of the software apps that goes along with it!

So, is Windows 7 an OS X killer? No, not by a long stretch, but it is still a great OS on it's own merits and as such, it merits the praise that it has so far received and it makes a great choice either as a secondary, and for some folks, their primary OS. As much as I'm looking forward to Windows 7 , I'm looking even more forward to Apple's upcoming Snow Leopard, because when the dust settles, and when it comes down to what really matters, Snow Leopard should make mince meat out of Windows 7. Even though Windows 7 may possibly end up with a lot more shiny new features, Snow Leopard should end up with the best, most important and the most usable features of them all.


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, January 30, 2009

iPhone Apps That Make You Look Smart!

Be it either from laziness or just plain stupidity, or much more likely, a combination of the two, I could never quite get the hang of solving that little thing known as the Rubik's cube.

Nope, not even after a million, billion, gazillion attempts on my part, could my itty-bitty brain quite figure out how to solve that damn thing! I could get one side matched, two sides and even three sides, but could I get all four sides matched? No....... way! It's was just so frustrating, not to mention so embarrassing, that I have taken a perpetual wow to never go near the thing again!

However, thanks to a new iPhone app called, CubeCheater, I'm now beginning to think that I might just reconsider my vow and start taking up the challenge of the Rubik cube once more, or as I call the cube - 'the automatic cursing device', because that's pretty much what I end up doing when ever I try to solve it.

As you can, see by clicking on the above YouTube video, now even a 100% certified dummy, like myself, can pretend at least to solve the bloody thing! Yep, it's now a piece a cake as you can see, and for only a modest 99 cents anyone can now take revenge on the bloody thing for all of the frustrating times that it may have made them feel stupid or frustrated in the past!

And there you go, just one more reason to yet go out and buy an iPhone, if you don't already have one. Yes, it's true that CubeCheater may not exactly be the greatest app out there, but hey, if your like me, and your not smart enough or patient enough to be able to solve the Rubik cube on your own by simply using the old noggin, well, then at least you can be smart enough to use your iPhone to solve it for you! 

As for me, if I ever get to solve that cursed thing I'm going to need help, be it by cheating, or otherwise, and it now looks like CubeCheater could be just the ticket that I was looking for. 

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, January 29, 2009

Rubik cube pic via: Wikipedia 

The New and Amazingly Powerful, Fast and Sexy Mac Pro: How Soon?

When can we expect to see a new MacPro, and what kind of machine can we expect to see? The answers: Soon, very soon and oh - their going to be freaking fast, extremely powerful and apparently very, very extremely sexy to boot! Not only that, but they won't be based on your ordinary run-of-the-mill Nehalem, or i7 chips from Intel either, but will be based rather on the more expensive, faster, powerful and much more capable Xeon versions of the same!

This information is coming from a rumor site, but mind you, it should noted that - they have actually seen and handled the machine in person! And what they are reporting is extremely exciting! For one thing, even though the current casing for the Mac Pro is not that bad, the upcoming casing will be, according to them, a big improvement over the former and will take up a very reasonable amount of space in comparison as well. The current model is a big fat left over from the old Power PC G5 era, and an era that required a considerably large enclosure to help ensure adequate cooling! Not any more, however, as the Xeon Nehalem architecture allows for more speed and power, but with a lot less heat dispensation.

Even though the new Mac Pro enclosure will be similar to the current model, the silver cheese grater appearance will be modified and made a lot less noticeable! It will now sport a black matte in a taller and much more slender format, according at least to those who have actually seen it. It should also be quieter, and even more so than the current models which already are some of the most, if not the most, silent towers on the planet. Air flow should also be considerably better than the old and it's being reported that most of the internal fans rarely, if ever, have to even kick in at all! In fact, it's also being reported that most of the dust-clogging problems of past models should be entirely eliminated in the new Mac Pro enclosure as well.

How sweet that is, how very sweet!

Personally, even though I have always loved the internal design of the current Mac Pro's, the outer shell, with it's big cheese grater look, well, that wasn't quite so swell. Now, however, with the new enclosure any allusion to a big old kitchen cheese grater should be a lot less apparent this time around. It's about time too! That ugly old big cheese grater design, of course, had a huge benefit, allowing as it did, the Pro's to much better handle and control it's air intake and internal air flow in a very highly and efficient manner, thus helping to keep the machine cool and it's fan levels running at a bare minimum. This, in turn, made the Mac Pro's one of the quietest towers to be found anywhere, but also, in my opinion, one of the externally uglier ones as well.

According to this well known rumor site, they also state:

"All in all, we couldn’t be more impressed with the enclosure which we’ll be able to describe in even more detail (handles, subtle touches, port locations and internal layout, et cetera) soon once another source embargo expires. But what really impresses is far more than skin deep — the Core i7 Xeon components inside delivered performance and thermal/energy efficiency numbers that simply crush any other computer we’ve ever seen by astonishing margins."

Oh, it also doesn't hurt either, as they have noted, that this speed demon will also have up to 16 cores! I even read, in the past, that it might even go up to 24 cores, but that yet remains to be seen. However, one thing is sure - this is one machine that already has me wondering which bank I'm going to have to break into in order to get my hands on one! It just sounds that good that I might be willing to do something bad in order to get my hands on one, since, unfortunately, my present situation probably won't allow me to afford one - bummer!

Seriously, this is truly one machine that sounds like a winner both for it's speed, power and upcoming sheer sex appeal. As nice as the MacBook and the iMac both are, well, they just can't touch the Mac Pro's for it's power, speed, prestige and status! These are the big boys of the Mac line, the Big Mac with all the brains and brawn that one could ever hope for. They are expandable, flexible and, sadly - really, really expensive. But not necessarily any more so than any other high-end PC tower, and machines lacking the luxury of being able to legally run every OS and piece of software out there that you can possibly throw at them! For the most part, considering their specs and it's performance levels, these machines should probably give you more bang for your buck than your likely to find from any other system.

All-in-all, these machines and the info that is slowly, but surely emerging and now beginning to leak out, is one of a machine that is sure to fill a lot of people, this guy included, with a lot of lust or envy. These machines should, hopefully, be here by June and announced at least by the time of Apple's next Worldwide Developer's Conference. They could also possibly coincide with the official unveiling of Snow Leopard, a 64-bit OS that should handily be more than able to squeeze out every little nuance of speed and power out of those 16 or 24 Xeon cores!

So, if your having a Big-Mac-Attack and want to know more, then, by all means, check out this rumor site's article by clicking here, or clicking here for all the yummy, and delicious specs.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, January 28, 2009


Current Mac Pro photo: Apple

The Palm Pre - Dead On Arrival?

That fabulous iPhone kicking Palm Pre won't be coming out for several months, but now that Apple has recently been awarded a 358-page patent covering every nuisance of it's multi-touch software, some people are now predicting that any shiny new Palm Pre may just end up - DEAD ON ARRIVAL!

So, could this really be the end of the Palm Pre and, by extension, the very end of Palm Inc. itself?

Palm was, until the Pre came along, already considered to be an irrelevant dinosaur, and headed for extinction . The Pre was seen as the last hope for the company that first defined the very concept of the smart phone, and the news of the Pre was not only the biggest hit of the recent Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, but it was seen also as being it's very savior. Naturally, all that is in now question because of Apple's recent and official multi-touch patent victory, and who knows, according to some, it might just very well be the end of the once high-flying company. If not the end, than at least it will certainly make it a lot harder for the company and end up having a very detrimental effect on it's stock and it's market evaluation.

Responding to Apple's interim CEO, Tim Cook statement that Apple wouldn't allow anyone to rip off their intellectual property, Palm's, Lynn Fox, however, basically responded by saying that they were not worried about Mr. Cook's remarks - remarks that were seen as being pointed directly and squarely at Palm and their new iPhone killer, the Pre.

Lynn Fox responded to any veiled threats by saying:

“Palm has a long history of innovation that is reflected in our products and robust patent portfolio (31 pages of patents in Google Patent Search), and we have long been recognized for our fundamental patents in the mobile space,” she told Digital Daily, and,

“If faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves.”

Well, when I read that my reaction was - what in hell do you expect her and Palm to say? Of course she would say that, and even though it's obvious that Palm has done a lot of research and possibly holds a ton of patents, it doesn't, in any sense, mean that they have anything to do, what-so-ever, with multi-touch, because clearly, if that were the case, it would have effected the U.S. Patent Office decision when issuing Apple their multi-touch patents!

Palm, in other words - is just blustering, plain and simple!

It doesn't take much of a stretch for some people to imagine where Palm first got the idea's behind the Palm Pre either. It's may even seem obvious, to some, that they got them not only directly from Apple's iPhone, but possibly also from one of it's former chief engineer's, John Rubenstein, and the other Apple engineers that he took along with him to work at Palm. Did John Rubenstein and the others work on or have vital iPhone information? No one is saying if they did, nor do we know for sure, but it certainly raises some valid concerns. I personally can't say, because frankly I don't know, but I can't say that I blame anyone for thinking that way.

The Palm Pre, some have pointed out, was the one and only phone that seemed to dare to even tread on ground that other smart phones, such as Google's Android based phones, dared to tread, less they accidentally violated any of the iPhone multi-touch patents.

The Pre is an amazing device, and in some cases, it surpasses even the iPhone itself in certain areas such as it's OS X desktop like touches, it's battery and it's physical keyboard. It's the one phone, other than the iPhone itself, that I personally would love to own, but now - if it looks like what I think it looks like - then either the Palm Pre is about to completely disappear off the face of the earth, or the Pre may legally have to go through a major downgrade, a downgrade that will make it completely unacceptable to those who were expecting what they originally saw demonstrated at CES!

If only Palm would have delivered a phone much closer to Google's excellent Android, or RIM's BlackBerry Storm, which, by the way, is going through a type of storm all of it's own these days, and then, maybe, just maybe the Pre might have had a chance in the market place, but as it stands now, that is beginning to look a little questionable, unless, of course, Palm undertakes drastic action by downgrading the device, stripping it of any or all of it's iPhone like multi-touch capabilities?

Some believe that Apple's failed attempt with it's Newton personal digital assistant is what gave birth to Palm in the first place, but now, the important question is: will Palm's death be because of Apple's success with the iPhone? I'm not sure, but it's certainly possible with Apple's mountains of money and it's now official multi-touch patents, that come this June, it may be that the Pre may either be delivered horribly maimed and hobbled, or worse - it will be delivered dead on arrival!


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Palm Pre photo via: Engadget

The Five Sexiest Computers of All Time!

Beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder and in my eyes the ugly computer above is absolutely beautiful! It may sound strange, but this ugly photo beautifully shows us just how far we have come from the earliest days of the personal computer.

This photo was published by the Telegraph.co/uk as part of their celebration of the Mac's 25th anniversary and it also inspired me to ask the question: what are the five sexiest computers of all time; and what would be the sexiest one of them all?

Again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the sexiest computer of all time, and the four runners up, are in my mind the machines listed below. These machines are listed not because of their power, speed, usability, or lack there of. No, I'm listing these computers simply and solely based on their stunningly good looks and their ability to enlist in a person a desire to touch, caress, use, and own them.

Starting from the last, my fifth choice was a computer that a I thought, at first glance, was down right ugly, and yet they grew on me to the point that I eventually went on to buy four or five of them! That would, of course, be the first generation (actually, for me - the second gen) of the translucent and colorful iMac. Yep, it was one of those things that just sort of grew on you and eventually won you over, as it did for me. I still have a fully functioning unit left, even though I rarely use it. The photo of this beauty is from Vectronic's Apple World.


My fourth sexiest computer of all time goes to the Mac's big sister - the Lisa. Ah, it was big, it was boxy, and it definitely was far and away too expensive, but, boy, oh, boy - was it a looker! It had only a black-n-white screen, but at a amazingly huge 12 inches, it was something to lust after for sure! Lisa's photo below, along side that of her little brother, the Mac, is from: TheAge.com/au


My third choice for sexiest computer of all time wasn't a Mac at all - it was rather the Mac inspired all-in-one from Dell, namely, it's stunningly beautiful XPS One! This computer, unlike others from Gateway or Avertec, etc., was a lot more original and it had a touch of class that was purely it's own. From it's twin speakers gracing either side of it's black monitor, to the way it would turn on, simply by waving one's hand in front of it's built-in motion detection sensor, this is one computer that I wouldn't mind owning if only it also had the ability to legally run OS X, much the way that a Mac can legally also run Windows in addition to it's own primary OS. Photo below: Dell computer


The third sexiest computer of all time is a computer that was very similar to the original iMac in that it too, seemed at first glance - downright ugly! This computer just happened to be the original iMac's eventual replacement, namely - the famous i'Lamp version of the iMac, complete with it's floating screen that seemed to just hover in the air over it's bubbled shape body. Like the first, it too had me saying to myself - " What on earth are these guys thinking anyway? That thing is ugly?" However, like the original, this iMac eventually won me over even though I never did end up buying one. I came close, mind you, but as they say, no cigar. I still think that this computer is still one of the best looking and best designed computers ever, bar none and I'm seriously thinking of trying to pick one up via eBay! The photo of this iMac G4 is from: EveryMac.com


The sexiest computer of all time, however, goes to a computer that is sexy simply because of it's - simplicity! This stunning computer evokes an emotional response from me each and every time I see one. This computer is none other than the present 24 inch aluminum iMac! Yes, it's getting a little long-in-the-tooth, but design wise it's sleek and graceful body remains a thing of unadulterated beauty, and especially so when used with it's wireless mouse and keyboard. This model is expected to see an upgrade soon, but it's design is expected to remain pretty much along the same lines as the current model.

Personally, I would love to see Apple include, in any upgrade, a pair of premium matching speakers, running along the sides of the monitor, much like Dell's XPS One. I would also prefer them to be detachable, so you could easily place them where ever you wished. Maybe, also a smaller chin, and, as well, some kind of motion sensor, again like the Dell's XPS One, and a biometric log-in reader. Apart from that, I can't see how anyone could possibly improve upon the design of this all-in-one beauty. Photo below via: Apple.com



There are a lot of other sexy looking computers out there to be sure, but none of them can quite match the beauty of the five listed above. I'm not listing any laptops, like the new MacBooks, or some of the beautiful PC's equivalents such as HP's Voodu's, Toshiba's Satelites, or Sony Vaio's, nor any of the tower systems such as the stunningly beautiful HP Blackbirds, Dell's or the Mac Pro. These are all fine looking computers in their own right, but none of them can hold a candle to the all-in-one's list above for shear sex appeal. Until recently, most of these were from Apple, hence it's dominance in this category. However, I expect that, like the Dell XPS One, a lot more of them will be showing up in the near future.


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, January 26, 2009

The Little Computer With A Big Impact: The Mac Turns 25!

Tomorrow the 24th. of January just happens to be the big 25th. anniversary for the Mac, the little computer that could. The Mac was only the second computer with a graphical user interface to hit the market, right after the first - it's big sister, the Lisa. Where it's big sister had a bigger footprint, bigger screen (12 inches vs 9), bigger 'Twiggy' floppy drives and a much bigger price - $7,500 vs $2,500, the Mac itself went on to have a much, much bigger impact on the world of computers than the Lisa ever did!

It was the Mac, after it's flashy and expensive Super Bowl TV introduction in 1984, that eventually went on to popularize and make ubiquitous both the graphical user interface and, as well, the mouse. The Mac also went on to popularize so many of what we now take for granted, things like: cut-n-paste, hierarchical menu's, re sizable windows, drag-n-drop, the ever popular trash can and, as well as a host of other things that today's computer users, be they Windows, Linux, or Mac users, all now take for granted.

Looking back on the first Mac, it's hard to believe just how far personal have advanced. But advanced they did and we owe it all, in part, to the pioneering work of the original Mac development team, including the pioneering work of Jeff Raskin, the father of the GUI. The Mac's advanced Motorola CPU, running at a whopping 8 MHz and it's huge, at the time, 128 K of RAM, and it's 400 K built-in floppy drive, where all pretty impressive at the time, even though compared to what we see today in today's computers, it now all seems almost laughable.

If anything was responsible, however, for the Mac's success it would have been the brand new world of desktop publishing, an industry virtually created on and by the Mac, and one that would help to define the Mac for over a generation to come. I can still remember, as a youngster, religiously reading MacWorld and MacUser magazines and scouring all the articles and ads for every thing about the Mac. I remember too, as if it were just yesterday, reading all of the ads for PageMaker, the program that turned the Mac into the desktop publishing powerhouse that it became. The desktop publishing revolution was primarily created by three main contributors: Apple with it's Mac and LaserWriter, Aldus Corporation and it's PageMaker program and Adobe with it's Post Script language that would empower the LaserWriter with the ability to print beautiful fonts that other printers couldn't even dream of.

Especially important to the Mac and desktop publishing was Apple's introduction of the Apple LaserWriter. This printer, though it cost close to $7,000 at the time, was considered to be a virtual bargain when compared to professional printers from IBM and Xerox that were up to ten times the cost! The Apple LaserWriter was just one more thing that this poor boy had to dream and lust over, but sadly it wasn't something that I could never afford to own until many, many years later. But boy, do I ever remember dreaming of owning one. Today, of course, laser printers seem to be almost a dime-a-dozen, as we say here in Canada. I've seen them selling brand new for as low as $79 and even lower! Wow, time really does change things, now doesn't it?

With the onslaught of cheap Microsoft empowered PC's, many were soon predicting the death of the Mac, but thankfully, with the return of Steve Jobs' the Mac was reborn as the iMac and the rest, as they say, is history. The original beige Mac gave way to a kaleidoscopic world of color of the translucent bubbled shape iMac. This particular version of the Mac was a huge success. No one could have possibly failed to notice how different it was from ever other computer. The iMac broke the mold and the image of what a computer looked like and it eventually went on to inspire not only future Mac designs, but also to inspire even PC manufacturers to create their own beautiful 'Mac like styled' PC's as well.

The Mac after all these years - a full quarter of a century later - still lives on, but now only they are much more powerful, faster, cheaper and so much more beautiful than anything from it's glorious past. The original Mac's Classic OS is now pretty much history, being replaced as it was with OS X, which is really nothing more than Steve's other great OS - NextStep, but with certain Mac elements grafted in along with newer ones such as the Aqua interface!

So that's a quick look back, but what about the Mac's future? Does it even have one? I'm sure that it does, because even if Windows or Linux or some other new, yet unseen, OS were to emerge that completely killed it off, well, the Mac would still live on in those OS's themselves, since they themselves borrow so heavily from the original and current Mac platform! As such, they are all nothing more than Mac clones, as one major PC publication once stated many years ago. The Mac changed all other OS's, and all other computers and it also changed the world and how we all interact with technology. Not only with computers, but also with many other things, as the Mac's metaphor of utilizing icon's and what have you have also made their way into appliances and gizmos, be they fridges, stoves, tv's, radios and virtually everything else that you can think of!

So, in conclusion, I would like to thank the Mac for all the many wonderful memories that it has personally given me throughout the years. The Mac was and still is a big part of my life and I can't imagine my life without it. So, to all of the Mac's founding fathers and pioneers: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Dr. Gil Amelio, Michael Spindler, Fred D. Anderson, Bill Atkinson, Paul Brainerd, Steve Capps, Jean-Lousi Gassee, Bill Gates (yes, that Bill Gates), Ellen Hancock, Andy Hertzfeld, John Sculley, A.C. Mike Markula, and Michael Scott, and all of the untold thousands who have contributed to the Mac's past, a very special thanks for all of their hard work and dedication in help making the Macintosh what it would eventual become - the little computer with the biggest impact of any computer in all history!

Thanks guys!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, January 23, 2009


MacWorld cover photo: MacWorld

Apple's Amazing Quarter Proves Me Wrong - Dead Wrong!

In yesterday's post I asked the question, "What's wrong with Apple's stock?" Well, today I'm happy to answer: NOTHING - absolutely nothing at all!

It seems that, unlike previous times in the past, many times to be exact, Apple's stock traditionally nosed dived after posting it's numbers, but happily this time, they took off like a Saturn V rocket. Usually, and despite good numbers, including some pretty cool record breaking on Apple's part, analysts would always still seem to dump on the stock, and sending it, as a result, straight to the pits! I've seen it happen many times before and I was actually preparing myself for the same, this time around.

Well, I'm very happy to report that I was DEAD WRONG! It was the type of prediction that I was hoping I would be wrong on and, thankfully, I was! In fact, not only did Apple post some great numbers, but it went on to report that it had broken all previous records in it's entire 30-year history - and for the first time, Apple's quarterly revenues managed to top the more than 10 billion dollars mark! As impressive as that was, what's really impressive is the fact that when you take in deferred income from the iPhone, that 10 billion dollars is actually well over 11 billion dollars, and much closer to 12 billion!

Those are huge and pretty impressive numbers indeed, and numbers which saw Apple's already big fat piggy bank increase to well over $28 billion dollars! This makes it undoubtedly one of the largest corporate piggy banks in the world. That, my dear, two or three readers of mine, is even more than big old Microsoft's cash hoard! Wow.... now that's what I call really - really impressive indeed!

What's really even more remarkable about all of this is that this all happened when it really shouldn't have - in the middle of one of the worst recessions in recorded history! Remarkable, remarkable indeed!

Way to go Apple!

When it came to the Mac, the recession be damned, because despite all of the gloom and doom of the present market the Mac still grew by a very respectable 9% overall. That's well over 2.5 million units sold, with the majority of them coming from the MacBook line, which itself grew by a whopping 34%! Sadly, like that of most other desktops, the Mac desktop line saw a rather disappointing 24% drop.

The iPod, by the way, was clearly the biggest surprise of all - almost 23 million of them where sold in the quarter - an all time record! This is truly amazing, because analysts have been predicting for years now that the iPod faze was coming to an end. Clearly this isn't the case and they have been proven wrong yet again, and who knows - maybe it's the analysts time that should be coming to an end? With just under 23 million iPod's sold in the quarter, I'm guessing that this is far more units than all of Apple's rivals shipped combined, including Microsoft's Zune! Of course, let's just hope that Apple doesn't let their guard down, because you never know - you know - Microsoft and others could sneak up from behind, if they're not careful! I doubt it, but, as I said, you never know - you know?

When it came to the iPhone, sales where good, but not quite as good as the 6 million plus units sold in the previous quarter. Still, with over 4 million units sold the iPhone is still a force to be reckoned with, and one of the most interesting things to come out of the earnings call was the statement that Apple wasn't interested in producing any type of cheaper iPhone at all. He said they were not interested in the number of iPhones sold, but rather the quality and that it, the iPhone, was the best possible  smart phone of all time!

Does this mean that all of those rumors concerning a iPhone Nano are not true? Hell if I know, but I do expect that, considering the importance of the device for Apple, we can still expect to see newer and more advance models in the coming months, and models specifically designed to 'one-up' the increasingly crowded market of 'iPhone copycats'.

This all lead up to yet another remarkable statement coming from Tim Cook, who, when asked about the competition, and especially between the similarities of the new Palm Pre and that of the iPhone, which, by the way, it not only copies many of it's IP's, but as well, many of those from OS X's desktop as well! This, of course, is when it got really - really interesting indeed, as Mr. Cook surprised the reporter by answering:

"We like competition, as long as they don't rip off our [intellectual property], and if they do, we're going to go after anyone who does."

And, as well, Tim also went on to add:

"Don't want to talk about any specific company, just making a general statement. We are ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off and will use whatever weapons we have at our disposal."

Well, I remember very well Steve Jobs clearly saying as much, and that Apple would vigorously defend any or all of their more than 200 iPhone patents, including many that Palm's Pre and other iPhone copycats, including Google's Android, seem to be copying. Could they now find themselves being legally targeted by Apple? I don't know, but I would think that John Rubenstein and Palm should be quaking in their boots at such a statement, at least, I know that I would be.

Could this also mean possibly that Apple will even go after Microsoft's new OS X inspired TaskBar in Windows 7 too? Or how about their Surface initiative? I don't know, but if they ever did, Apple at least has one major advantage over that of Microsoft, namely - it has a hell of a lot more money! Personally, I'm really glad to see Apple defending their intellectual property this way. It seems that every patent troll in the world either has, or is suing Apple for this or that alleged patent infraction, so, if you ask me, it's about time Apple did the same likewise and starts showing them who's the boss!

Well, there you go - another amazing quarter for the giant from Silicon Valley, and one achieved in the face of a very, very ugly recession. Apple did it this time around, but with the recession taking down big banks, Circuit City and many other giant companies, can Apple really be expected to continuously keep achieving the same type of results going forward? Well, if anybody can do it - I would think that it would be Apple. So far, they have proven that's it's at least possible with and by their latest results. That doesn't mean they will, of course, in the future continue to do so, because, and very clearly, that will end up depending on just how long and just how deep the recession will continue to be, but I'm sure hoping that they can and that they do.

As great as Apple's first quarterly earnings are, I can't help but think how much better these same results would have been if we were not in such increasingly desperate economic times? It's hard to say, of course, but lets all hope that not only will Apple continue to prosper and continue to go on to greater heights of innovation, but let's all hope and pray that the whole economy, in general, will likewise also do the same?

Apple yesterday proved me and many others wrong, but now that's it's miraculous earnings are over and done with, I can only hope, that it, being the 22nd of the month, that Apple will finally go on and produce just one more miracle for the week - by announcing a new Intel i7 Quad-Core, 25th. Anniversary iMac!

This Saturday just happens to be the Mac's big 25th. anniversary, so please Apple - can I please have my new 28 inch 25th. Anniversary iMac by tomorrow or at least this coming Saturday please... pretty, pretty please? If you can miraculously produce record breaking quarters in the mother of all recessions, surely a new Anniversary iMac isn't too much to ask for, now is it?

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, January 22, 2009

What's Wrong With Apple's Stock?

What's wrong with Apple's stock? Apple's stock has been taking a beating for the past several months, resulting in it's market cap nose diving from approximately $172 billion to around $70 billion today - a staggering loss of $100 billion smackeroo's! This has been the result of many negative factors, of course, including all of the recent speculations and rumors over it's iconic CEO's health, the lack of new product updates, and, of course, the biggest one of them all, and one that has effectively been inflicting major pain on every other business, big and small, namely, the recession resulting from the 'credit crisis' that has ended up in economic gloom gripping the world as a whole.

All of this cannot but help make me wonder, wonder what will happen to Apple's stock after it reports on it's quarterly earnings this evening, and wondering just what it is that is having the biggest negative factor on Apple's stock? If anything can negatively or positively affect a company's stock, of course, well its got to be their their quarterly earnings and it's future guidance, and tonight should be particularly interesting, giving all that's going on with the economy and Steve Jobs' health. This will naturally give all more impact coming from this evenings earnings report, but just what single factor, if any, is it that could possibly be having the biggest negative impact in the minds and hearts of all of the street's analysts, and thus Apple's stock?

Could it be the Mac's slightly slowing growth, or maybe the economy's impact on the iPod or the iPhone? Or could it be all of the fuss over Steve's health, or a combination of them? Again, just what is it that is having such a negative impact on stock analysts impression of Apple's stock?

Actually, all of the above is naturally having some type of impact on Apple's stock, but the biggest possible negative impact is something besides those. After all, despite all of that gloom and doom of the economy, Apple, as it usually does, is apparently doing much, much better than the rest of the industry and Apple's iPod and Mac sales are looking good ahead of it's earnings call, and according to a post by the Silicon Valley Insider:

"Good news for Apple (AAPL) investors ahead of Wednesday's earnings report: December quarter iPod sales could surprise, and Mac sales look in-line with expectations, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. In a report today, Munster estimates:

* 19-20 million iPods shipped during the December quarter, beating the Street's 18.6 million expectation, based on analyzing retail data from research firm NPD Group.
* 2.5-2.6 million Macs shipped, in line with the Street's ~2.5 million expectation: "

"Hopefully, this news will help Apple to avoid the wrath of all of the skeptical analysts, and, hopefully, as well, they won't have some knee-jerk response that will result in the stock spiraling downward after it's all over? Unfortunately, I'm personally very skeptical about all of these skeptical analysts, because, as a post in Macnightowl.com recently put it:

"The problem is, of course, that the stock market doesn’t necessarily recognize reality."

Yes, in other words, the biggest problem with Apple's stock isn't the stock itself --- it's with the analysts and the market itself! Their perceptions don't seem to be based on any reality at all, leaving me for a loss of words (a rarity indeed!). Often, unfortunately, many of these analysts (but, of course, not all) seem to be completely and utterly out of touch with reality and, time and time again, this has been clearly demonstrated by the fact that Apple quarterly reports consistently have been beating the streets estimates now with very few exceptions! In many cases, Apple has virtually crushed the streets estimates and it makes me seriously question the credibility of these so-called analysts. Why anybody would even listen to these guys, and especially after all of their past failures in predicting Apple's sales and earnings, is something that is completely beyond me! Apple has consistently made fools out of these analysts, and yet, for reasons that simply defy logic, people still continue to hang on to their every word and thus, sadly, Apple's stock will, in the end, be invariably effected.

Unfortunately, these analysts will be in full force tonight and after picking apart every word that Tim Cook and Peter Openheimer utters, they will probably get it yet all wrong yet again, and yes, Apple's stock will probably end up suffering, no matter what the facts and logic suggests otherwise! These analysts, sitting in their ivory towers, predictably seem to minimize the positive's and maximize the negative's and this seems especially so in case of Apple!

Of course, I could be just over reacting here to what I perceive is their over reacting, and maybe it is I who am the one who is being paranoid here? Anyway, as far as Apple's quarterly earnings go for this evening, I'm expecting that it will be no different than at other times and because of these experts, and despite all of their utter past failures, these same analyst will probably end up punishing Apple's stock tonight, resulting in a stock carnage that will be seen come tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately, people have given these stock analysts too much credibility, and now their very words (as foolish as they often seem) can now effectively either send a company's stock soaring to the high heavens or to the depth of the toilet bowl!

I'm hoping, really hoping, that I'm completely and utterly wrong on all of this, but my gut feeling is that after tonight's earning call, whether rightfully or wrongfully, these ineffective analysts will effectively send Apple's stock tanking, yet once more, even lower then what is legitimately called for.

In conclusion, the biggest negative factor in Apple's stock woes, at the present, has been with these analysts themselves - not the stock itself! This, to me, is nothing short of a crying shame, and I totally agree with Jason Schwarz, who writing for Seeking Alpha, says in the title of his post:

"It's Time for a New Apple and a New Wall Street!"

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Photo via: Wikipedia

New Super Intel iMac's This Month?

Ever since DigiTimes reported that Intel was about to launch not one, but three new 65W low-powered Quad CPUs, people have been speculating on when Apple might use them in one of it's sleek and uber thin iMac desktop computers. These CPU's were designed specifically for all-in-one computers like the iMac and since they are a natural fit, I can only hope that Apple will indeed include them soon.

One of the great advantages about these new quad CPUs is that their power consumption will drop from 95W to a amazing 65W, a remarkable feat indeed. Not only that, but in addition to the power savings, these CPU's also will come with significant price savings as well! According to the DigiTimes report, these new CPU's will be used by Apple, Acer, HP and Dell for certainy, with Asustek possibly joining them later on. DigiTimes, however, didn't say when or what models Apple would use them for, but as stated, the iMac is the most logical fit for these.

Of course, what really makes these CPUs especially desirable, as far as the iMac goes, is the fact that they will be able to run Apple's next OS upgrade, Snow Leopard, which will have the unique ability to be able to take advantage of these new four cores in a way and to a degree that the other Window based offerings could ever hope or dream of achieving. That's because, among Snow Leopard's most important advances will be two significant killers - Grand Central and Open GL. These two features will allow, unlike Vista, XP or even the upcoming Windows 7 and Linux distros, the ability to tap fully into all of the goodness of these CPU's four cores and, as well, also that of the unused power in today's advanced and powerful GPU's!

In other words: these new lower-powered quads, coupled with Snow Leopard, will be able to blow to smithereens the performance of any Windows based on these CPU's, and, specifically when it comes to sheer and unbridled speed! This increase in speed, power, security and performance will, in actual fact, be far cooler than anything that Windows 7 based computers should be able to claim. In general performance, some are saying that we can expect anywhere up to 200 to 400 percent increase in speed and that's not counting apps specifically written for Grand Central and Open CL! Wow, I don't know about you, but this totally blows my mind, and in a good way!

That's all well and good, of course, but when can we be expected able to get our anxious little hands on any of these new iMac based Intel quad goodness? Well, hopefully, if a recent report by AppleInsider is any indication, than maybe, and my fingers are crossed - this month! After all, what could be better than Apple announcing that it will be celebrating the Mac's 25th. anniversary on the 24th of this month by wowing us all with one of these new Intel Quad based iMac's?

As much as I would love to buy one of the present iMac's, I simply can't - the lure of a possible new four-core iMac, for me anyway, is just to great, and this is especially more so with Snow Leopard ready to pounce around the corner! The present dual-core iMac's are great machines, and machines that offer great style, convenience, power and other compelling features, but as great as they are, a four-core iMac has got to be even better - hence the long agonizing wait on my part, and that of others, as well, I'm sure.

I'm hoping that Apple will not only be introducing new quad based iMac's this month, but in all likely hood, also a special anniversary edition, much like that of the previous 20th. Anniversary Mac, but only without it's wallet busting $7,000 price tag! That was and still is, if you ask me, one hell of a sexy machine. As you can see in the YouTube video below, this was a machine that had a lot of compelling and unique features, and features that were well ahead of it's time. These features included a touch pad built into the keyboard, leather padding, among many others.



As long as it's not too expensive, I would love to see such a special, limited, 25th. Anniversary iMac. What, if any, future advancements it would contain I can now only speculative on. Maybe, if I'm lucky, one of my favorite Apple patents will be realized, namely, that of an iMac with a built-in, pop-out laptop! A newer, slimmer and sexier case and one that distinguishes itself from today's iMac's would also be much desired, if not fully expected. Certainly, a 28 or even a 30 inch model would be nice as well! That's something that we'll just have to wait and see  about- but remember, if Apple does introduce newer quad iMac's this month, well, it's already the 20th., so we shouldn't have long to wait now. So, please .... don't disappoint us on this one Apple...... please, pretty please!

One other thing, and something that probably won't happen, but I would love to see it none-to-less, would be for a machine that was more customizable than the present day iMac is. Customizable in the sense that one could easily add or remove critical components such as hard drives, graphic cards and memory, etc. After all, with Snow Leopard getting ready to pounce, one could have up to 16TB's of memory - all of which could easily be accessed and used by Snow Leopard! Present day iMac's are all limited to 4GB's, which is ok for now. In the future, however, that will be just the bare minimum. With RAM being so dirt cheap these days, I'm not only dreaming of such a machine, but down right expecting it. Nothing enhances a computers performance like having lots and lots of memory and with today's low memory prices and advances in hardware, such as those low-powered quads, and, in addition, new software technologies such as OS X"s Grand Central and Open CL, well, the future of personal computers will never be the same!


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Steve Wozniak on Steve Jobs Health: Leave Him Alone!

Currently, in the world of technology, the one story that seems to be getting the lion's share of attention these days is the story concerning Steve Jobs health, or the lack there of. The press seems to be all over themselves with their speculations of just how sick Apple's virtual rock star of a CEO really is, and on how just all of this may or may not impact the juggernaut that has become Apple Inc.

These stories range all the way from Steve's pancreas cancer returning, to one that states that he will soon be under going a liver transplant. Regardless, every one in the tech press seems to have an opinion of one kind or another, and this is something that I find to be quite remarkable considering that no one, other than Jobs', his family or his doctors really know much about, if in fact, they even know themselves.

Stories speculating on Jobs' health can be read from seemingly a zillion different places such as here , or here, or here, or here, or here, or here, or here - well, you get the idea!

Of all the comments regarding Steve's health, however, the most reasonable thus far comes from Jobs' old pal and the co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak. Like the Woz, I agree that we should just calm down and give Steve not only his privacy, but also the benefit of the doubt and simply accept what he says. Everyone it seems likes to concentrate on Steve saying his health issues are more complicated than what he first believe, while on the other hand the media ignores basically every thing else that he said.

Of course, what they are forgetting is Steve that also said that he simply wants to rest in order to better deal with his current condition, a condition that he firmly believes will allow him to return this coming June. Funny, the media, however, likes to conveniently overlook this particular part of Jobs' recent memo! I wonder why that is? Is it because that it's not as sensational as the great man being on his deathbed? Or could it be because people love the idea that Apple can't hopefully continue in the fantastic ride that it has enjoyed since Steve first returned to Apple? Could it also be, that deep down inside of some people, there is this love to see people more successful than themselves fail? After all, human nature isn't all that pretty sometimes, now is it?

Well, no doubt, as far as I'm concerned, a lot of it has to do with the media garnering more hits, more readers and what have you. Could this also be why a lot of media sources have also seemingly overlooked the very important statement, in my opinion, that Steve also said he would not only be returning come June, but also, in the interim, that he would also still be involved in all the important daily aspects of Apple! That would seem to indicate to me that Mr. Wozniak is indeed right about us taking Steve simply on his word, rather than doing what a lot of the media is doing - simply making up a lot of rumors based on nothing more than speculation, and speculations of what may be, or may not be!

Not only do I agree with the Woz in this, but when you really think about it, six months isn't all that long to give Steve the benefit of a doubt. After all, if Steve Jobs is as sick as many people are suggesting that he is, then, well - it will all come out in the wash eventually, so why rush to conclusions? Why all the speculating on things that we simply have no way of possibly knowing until Steve either directly says so, or he is forced to leave?

In the meantime, I, for one, will give Mr. Jobs the benefit of the doubt. What ever Steve's health situation is, I can only hope that he will recover as soon as possible from what ever is plaguing him and that he returns to Apple this coming June as he wrote. I also sincerely hope that the press frenzy revolving around his private health concerns are fully respected, and that the media will do what he is right and what is fair and do what he simply requests: namely - leave him alone! This is his problem, not the media's!


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, January 19, 2009

Apple and the Massacre of the Innocent!

WARNING: Picture below may cause offence to the sensitive - Caution Advised!

It's Friday and this will be a very, very sad post! You see I was up till the wee morning hours and, well, I read something that was not pretty, not pretty at all. What was that, and what could I possibly be doing that would keep me up so late? Well, I have to confess - I have an addiction, a very bad addiction! No, I'm not proud of it, but like millions of other addicts, this is an addiction that, like many, is one that is hard to break.

What pray tell am I addicted to? Drugs? Alcohol? No, never in a million years - I hate those two things with a passion that is almost as great as my passion for all things Apple! No, I'm afraid .... and this is hard to admit, that yes - I'm a internet addicted! There I said it.

But what was I looking at, till the wee morning hours? Porn, maybe? Ha, ha, ha, if that was true, trust me, I wouldn't be telling you! No, unfortunately, it's a lot worse than that, because I'm also a news addict! Yes, put them together and you have a person who can easily find themselves up till the wee early hours till their as bugged-eyed as me. And when it comes to the news, well,lets all admit it, that a lot of it is very grim these days. Why, there's the horror taking place in the world's economy, the horrors of war, what's happening in Iran, terrorists and the not-so-pretty spectacle of what's happening in the world of politics, as anyone in the great state of Illinois will attest to! Surely, for goodness sake, all these things can give anyone nightmares, keeping them, in the process, up till the wee morning hours.

However, I'm afraid, that while surfing the billions and billions of web pages last night, I came across the incredibly disgusting, horrifying , mind chilling picture of extreme abuse - no, not child abuse, elderly abuse, or the never ending abuse of tax payers, but something just as bad, if not more so - the unbridled abuse of the beautiful, the sexy, the powerful - yes, Apple computers!

Ohhhhhhh......... the pain, and the horror of it all! Yes, my dear readers, all two or three of you out there, as you can plainly see from the horrifying picture below, we have a picture of totally innocent Mac computers, all new, all shiny, all so beautiful - and all so young - being abused and massacred into mindless oblivion! Oh, the inhumanity of it all! It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of anyone who loves high-tech, so please excuse.......... while I wipe my tear and blood stained eyes for just a minute!


But how could anyone be so cruel, you ask? How could anyone do such a monstrous thing? Yes, I know, it's totally unimaginable that anyone could even contemplate such barbaric acts, but the really horrid part of it all, and yes, you better sit down for this one - it was being done at the hands of mother - APPLE! Yes, my dear and precious readers, the Apple Australian unit ordered these innocent babes, these precious and expensive Mac's to be destroyed - a whopping $200,000 worth!

But why, why would a mother do that to her own newly born children? Obviously, if you ask me, someone, somewhere is totally out of their mind! I'm not a shrink, but all I know is that one of the Apple employees decided to sneak out a picture of the massacre, and thus exposing mother's dark side! Mother Apple defended herself my saying that they were too expensive to repair, but that's not what employees have said. According to a report in MacBlogz that I read, while surfing last night, and one which gave me nightmares upon nightmares, and thus helping to keep me up till the wee hours, was that one of those employees, by the name of Johnston, claimed:

"“There were up to nine pallets,” Johnston remembers, “two were of MacBooks, both Pro and 13 inch versions, two were of iMacs, two were of Mac Pro towers, one had few Xservers on it and a few Mac Pros and one had Mighty Mice and a copy of Final Cut Studio – we went as far as manually tearing up the manuals.”

Oh, my breaking heart..... the pain, the pain........ oh, the pain - I don't think I can go on, but go on I must!

And going on MacBlogz further reported:

"Upon discovering the equipment, Johnston says him and his team were surprised to discover that most of the Macs started up with no problem. “Several machines in the first batch I was involved in had emails included in the box or taped to the outside.” Allegedly, “Someone who’d been there about nine months said Apple had replaced the units because it was too expensive to send them to China for repair.”

However, Johnston claims that him and his team were instructed to destroy all of it. “The supervisor told someone to get some tools and they came back with two hammers and several screwdrivers. They wanted us to separate the two halves of the MacBooks and smash the screens of the iMacs with hammers.”

Apparently, someone who represents Apple on the site permanently gave Johnston the order to destroy the equipment. When they dumped all of the equipment into a large dumpster outside of the warehouse, people complained that it was sticking above the edge of the bin, and Johnston’s crew had to crush it down with a forklift."

What can I say? THOSE BASTARDS - they should be charged with genocide!

Yes, in a world filled with violence, there is simply no need - no reason, to abuse innocent little Mac's, especially by the hand of their own mother! This is an outrage and the people responsible should be charged, convicted and promptly sent to Gitmo for being the terrorists that they are! Isn't it bad enough that the world is full of child abusers, tax abusers, political abusers and those who abuse the elderly - do we now need to add Mac abusers to the pile? I say not! Before the new president tackles the economic crisis, before he fix's social security, or solves the middle East crisis, I say that Obama must first promptly drop everything and do something to outlaw and stamp out this abuse of innocent Mac computers immediately! Are you listening Mr. President?

Anyway, my dear, dear readers please, for heaven's sake I urge you to: write your congressman, your senator, your local, state and other federal officials, till we all rid the earth of these monsters, these scumbags, and those who would mistreat and abuse innocent little baby Mac Mini's, MacBook's and God forbid..... even genuine Mac Pro's. They were so fast, so powerful - so damn expensive! This is clearly a crime not only against innocent Mac's, but a crime against humanity, style and sheer American ingenuity! After all, these are computers that people could have used for a million different things...... playing games, downloading porn, writing computer viruses' on, cheating on their taxes, used as word processors, surfing the news - the list is endless!

Ah, what a bloody waste, what an utter shame! Why, just let me at those bastards, I'd teach you a lesson you'll never forget, you bad, rotten mummy Apple! Abuse your own children..... the nerve!

Again I ask why? Why did these poor, defenseless and innocent Mac's have to die, and to die before they even had the chance to fill up half of their hard drives? It's meaningless, it's barbaric and utterly shows the depths of depravity that the human race is capable of descending into!

May God have mercy on all of those newly deceased Mac's! May their CPU's, hard disk's, LED screens and what not, rest in peace! And as we look back on the horror of this massacre, this massacre of the innocent - may we, in turn never, ever forget!

Amen!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, January 16, 2009

Apple and Jobs: Could This Be the Last of Steve Jobs?

According to some, Steve Jobs is a 'national treasure', so it's understandable that when he wrote, "...... during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.,"that he would automatically set off a fire storm in the main street press.

You name them, from the BBC, Market Watch, the Washington Post, WorldNet Daily, The Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and just about every other media outlet that you care to name, Steve's announcement made the front pages, and as well, the tv and radio airways.

And for good reason, and one of which is simply that Steve barely finished writing that he was just suffering from a fixable 'hormone imbalance.' This naturally gave the impression that all was well, or was about to be so. Well, as many have feared, it's a lot more serious than that. But just how serious? Unfortunately, that's another question entirely, as neither he nor Apple will elaborate on exactly what it is that's ailing it's iconic CEO.

Is it a return to the Pancreatic cancer that he originally suffered from some five years ago? Again, we just don't know, and until we do, and unless someone comes forward with the truth and the whole truth, we are left to continue guessing. This is exactly something that Apple doesn't need, because, as it is, Apple's stock has already plummeted by well over 10% because of the uncertainly and is something that, no doubt, will continue to do so until all the facts are in and out in the open.

Tim Cook, once again, has been asked to resume Jobs' role as CEO, as he previously did after filling in for Steve when he first took sick with Pancreatic cancer some five years ago. For this reason, and because of Apple's highly praised current executive team, Apple investors are not too worried, at least for the short term, but the long term, well, that could be the tricky part. Many believe, as I do, that Apple will do just fine with or with out Steve, but others, however, on the other hand, are not quite so certain, and it's that uncertainly that will certainly hit Apple's stock particularly hard until Steve returns as he promised he would in June, if he ever does?

Like most, I'm certainly hoping and praying that all will go well for Jobs', his family and, of course, any impact on Apple that his absence brings. No other one could possibly replace Jobs, because, as people have duly noted: he represents the very heart and soul of all that is Apple. Steve has become a virtual physical representation of all that Apple stands for, and it's clear, as Apple's main poster boy, that image is indeed irreplaceable. However, as Jobs' himself previously pointed out - he wasn't Apple and Apple could, and would continue do extremely well without him.

What happens next? Only God knows, but as the one individual, more than any other, including Bill Gates, that was personally responsible for giving birth to the personal computer industry, a lot of people will be watching what happens with baited breath. This is why Brian Caulfield, writing for Forbes, wrote a recent article titled, "Why Steve Jobs Is Bigger Than Bill Gates." In his post, in fact, he brings out Steve's incredible resemblance to another great American pioneer, Thomas Edison, and I highly recommend reading his post.

Once again, the biggest problem, as noted by many media folk, is the fact that neither Apple or Steve has seen fit to come out and lay all of the cards out on the table regarding Steve's personal health, or what that could all mean to Apple's future. Already some are predicting that Apple has opened itself up to many potential share holder lawsuits. Unfortunately, Apple is not only a sue-happy type of company, but Apple itself seems to act like lighting rod for such suits (at least it's huge $25-billion piggy bank does!) Time will tell how this mess will all turn out, but surely it isn't how Apple anticipated or hoped to start off the new year.

We'll just have to sit back and allow all of these developments to play themselves out over the next six months or so, but in the end, however, I think that it will work out for just fine for Apple, and, hopefully, for Steve himself as well?

At least in the next six months, Apple will finally have the chance to be to prove, once and for all, that it can not only survive without Jobs at the helm, but, in fact, actually prosper and grow! If you ask me, I firmly believe that Apple has deliberately held back on announcing certain major new products at this month's MacWorld precisely to demonstrate and point out that very fact!

Sooner or later, we all must pass on, and that goes equally for Steve's position at the company that he helped to create. However, the end of Jobs, it must be stated, doesn't necessarily mean the end of Apple as some would have you believe - son don't don't believe them for a minute, because the fact is: Steve is Steve and Apple is Apple. Apple will survive even if Steve doesn't, which, hopefully, once again, he will!

In conclusion, could this be the end of Steve Jobs helm at Apple? Hopefully, not! However, once again, it's my sincerest hope and prayer that Steve will pull through all of this, and that Apple will get on, without being unduly distracted, in doing what it does best - innovating the best and coolest gadgets and gizmo's in the world, bar none - because even if Steve is not physically present, his spirit and vision will always continue to live on, guiding Apple through what ever the future might bring!

Get well Steve and may God bless.


And thats my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, January 15, 2009

UPDATE: According to a report in the New York Times, Jobs DOES NOT HAVE A RECURRENCE OF CANCER, but rather a disorder that prevents the absorption of food. Hopefully, this will be a correctable condition and the fact that Mr. Jobs' cancer has NOT returned is good news indeed and, hopefully, this means that he'll be back at Apple's helm come this June, if not sooner!

Steve's photo via: Wikipedia

Four New iPhone Browsers! Will Opera and Firefox be Next?

One of the biggest strengths and draws of the iPhone is the seemingly billions of apps that are now available through it's industry changing App Store. Unfortunately, Apple had placed a lot of restrictions on who, or what could get access to the App Store. There has been a controversy, as some developers complained that all of their hard work and effort was being stymied by Apple's SDK restrictions, restrictions that were seen as being silly, unfair and completely unnecessary.

Well, that was then and this is now. Now it seems that Apple is listening to both it's developers and it's App Store users and is now, believe it or not, even allowing third party browsers to be featured in the App Store! This was something that a lot of folks thought they would never see happen, but, like myself, are certainly glad to see, and this certainly indicates a major change in Apple's thinking and bodes well for the iPhone and it's users.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's about time and it's a very big plus for everyone involved, including for Apple, it's iPhone and App Store users, and, as well as it's developers. As great as Safari is, its always nice to have alternatives and the more choices available, well, the better it is. I'm a browser addict, so the more browser choices I have, well, then all the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

As you may already know, Opera has a great mobile browser out there - one that Apple reportedly had shot down, even though Opera officially never even applied to Apple to have listed in the App Store. However, I like others are hoping that someday soon, it too will be included and thus giving mobile customers just one more reason to choose, own and use an iPhone rather than that of a BlackBerry, Android, or the new Palm Pre.

So far, the first four browsers that have made the cut include:

- Shaking Web

- Incognito

- WebMate: Tabbed Browser

The first two browsers sell for $1.99, while WebMate, goes for $0.99 and the fourth, Edge Browser is a free app..

Hopefully, again, for me, the important thing is that this should open the possibility of Opera's fantastic browser running on the iPhone soon, and, as well, others browsers, such as future versions of Chrome and Firefox. Let's hope so anyway, because this seemingly new position on Apple's part in removing a lot of it's former restrictions and allowing other browsers that compete with it's own is a very big deal.

The reasons are many, of course. One of these, is that it will first go a long way in reducing a lot of the ill will that many developers have experienced after they saw their app's either stymied or completely rejected due to Apple's previous and stringent SDK restriction policies. These not only have been frustrating for some developers, but they have downright offended many of them who saw all their blood, sweat and effort that they put into their apps, go down the drain because of these same restrictions. Some have even vowed to never write future app's for Apple ever again. This is certainly what Apple doesn't want or need and it's great to see Apple allowing more and more apps, of all kinds, into the App Store.

Apple's previous restrictions were seen as being unfair not only by developers, but also to iPhone users themselves, who have expressed that they wanted many of these very same app's. If there is anybody that Apple can't afford to offend, it's their community of developers, or the wish's of it's customers, because clearly it is these developers who hold the key to the iPhone's future growth. It's also whats really sets the iPhone apart and way above virtually all of it's competitor's! This openness on Apple's part is refreshing and should be encouraged, as it will do more for the iPhone and the Touch's future success than just about anything else.

Speaking of the iPhone, there is now more evidence that Apple may indeed be working on a new 4 GB iPhone, one that is being billed as the iPhone Nano. Such a phone, if true, would greatly help to spur on sales of the iPhone and give people who either can't afford or want the $199 version, a very valid reason to buy into the iPhone. With a greater choice of iPhone browsers and other apps, this should, in combination with it's much lower pricing, help give Apple a big leg up and edge over RIM and help soften any impact from the new and highly praised Palm Pre. Especially in today's fear driven economy, such a lower priced iPhone, coupled with more app choices, including browsers, should be just the ticket that Apple needs to keep the iPhone market growing.

It's already been proven that the iPhone and it's App Store can be a real money maker for developers, and the less restrictions placed on those developers means, in the process, a lot more app's for the iPhone and it's huge base of users. It's important that Apple doesn't turn away developers with too many unnecessary restrictions and that it allows them the opportunity to develop as many new app's, including browsers, for the iPhone as possible.

So hurry up, Apple and get Opera Mobile into the hands of iPhone and iPod Touch users as soon as possible, because the more app's, and the more browser choices we iPhone users have, then the better it will be for iPhone users, it's developers and Apple itself.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Finally: The iPhone Nano Coming this June?

As far as rumors concerning a cheaper, less thrills, iPhone Nano, well, we all knew it was coming, but the question is when?

Apparently, according to several reports such as this one from Electronista.com, they, like many others, are stating that Taiwan's Economic Daily News, claims that Apple is lining up several potential chip suppliers, including well known Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation to start producing chips for the iPhone Nano for a possible launch sometimes around June of this year!

Sweet if it happens, and I personally have every reason to believe that it will, if not even sooner!

This smaller and cheaper iPhone would help bridge the gap between the more expensive smartphone market and that of regular phones, and this should help enable Apple to grab a much more significant share of the overall mobile market in the process. This would, of course, help cushion Apple also from any impact that other iPhone copy cat phones, such as Google's Android or Palm's amazing and highly praised Palm Pre, might have on the iPhone's current and more expensive model.

As far as the competition goes, Android's first G1 was was pretty spiffy, but now reports of a second generation Android is making the rounds. This next Android, from the scant information we have, appears to be even more iPhone like, even to the point of having only a virtual touch keyboard like the iPhone. Also, despite all the praise for the new Pre, it's still not known to what degree it will help either Palm or threaten the iPhone. As the website iPhonic points out:

"The Palm Pre looks like a pretty nifty phone with some nice features. Whether it will turn around the fortunes of the ailing company remains to be seen. It certainly has potential, but it's up against not only the iPhone but a huge number of multimedia handsets.

It's going to be interesting to see how Web OS performs compared to OS X, and we won't really know that until we get hands-on.

Too many unknowns at present, unfortunately."

In other words: it's still far to early to say. However, my hopes is that both Android and the Pre, as well as other iPhone copy cat phones will help, in turn, spur Apple on to even more heights of innovation, and that it will also force them to take much more seriously the demands of it's customers, demands such as including physical keyboards, cut-n-paste, instant messaging, etc. a lot more.

As far as the iPhone Nano rumors go, well, if you ask me, I am totally convinced that they are a lot more than just plain rumors or simple pure speculation. Steve Jobs said himself, at the introduction of the original iPhone, that it was only the first of many and that Apple had a lot more planned, and since we have only seen two models thus far, I believe we should start to see a string of new models soon, and not only that for a Nano's either. In fact, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we see a iPhone Nano even sooner than June. Well, at least that is what I'm hoping for anyway.

With a worldwide economy that seems virtually on the verge of a total collapse, the Nano's much lower pricing of around $99 or less, might just mean all the difference to Apple's bottom line. The upcoming Nano, or what ever it ends up being called, should help position Apple to ride out the present economic crisis until the economic situation improves, whenever that will be.

With several case manufacturer's accidently releasing iPhone Nano case information, and reports like those of Electronista and others, I would say that betting on Apple releasing a new iPhone Nano sometime soon would be a very safe bet indeed. Whether it's released slightly before or slightly after June, or in sometime in June itself, the iPhone Nano is definitely coming and soon. I'm just dieing to know what the final specs and pricing will be.

And thats my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, January 14, 2009

Interesting Apple News 4 the Day

One thing about the news is that it never stops; the news, be it good, or be it bad, just keeps on coming in, day after day, rain or shine whether we like it or not. That goes to for Apple related news as well and there are several pieces of interesting news today concerning Apple.

One of these is concerning the future availability of Google's Chrome browser for the Mac. Considering that Google's Chrome is, after all, is built on Apple's open sourced WebKit, it is rather strange that there is still no Mac version. That is about to change, however, according to a report that states that Google is about to soon release versions for both OS X and Linux around the middle of the year. Good news indeed, especially if your a self-confessed browser junkie like myself. Also, Google has indicated that future versions of Chrome will include the much requested feature of being able to add extensions, which is something that has helped to make Firefox so successful.

Also, one of the big Apple news of the day is the announcement by LG, the world's second largest manufacturer of LED's, that they have landed a huge, five year contract to supply Apple with LED panels for it's computers, monitors, etc. Apple will be making an advance payment of a whopping $500,000,000.00! Wow.... now that's what I call a lot of money, no matter which way you slice it. LG and Apple aren't saying much, but if a half billion dollars is just an advance, then you can just imagine how big of a deal this is eventually going to be.

Still another interesting piece of Apple related news is that Troll Touch will now be offering, if you got lots of money laying around the house, a new 24 inch LED touch screen for the Mac! MacWorld reported the news and even though I think this is cool, I don't think that it is very practical, and especially from a economical point of view in light of this tight economic climate.

I've written about Troll Touch before and even though I think touch screens are cool enough, on large screens, however, I find them limited. This is because when I used HP's excellent Touch Smart computers, for instance, I found that I began to experience wrist pain the longer I held up my arms to use it. I thought it was maybe just me, being an old geezer and what not, but no, my young friend said that he experienced the same as well! On small devices, like the iPhone or Apple's new multi-track glass track pad, I find that they are fantastic - no need to hold up your arm - just move your finger an inch or so and presto - instant gratification! For the cost of a 24 inch Troll iMac screen, over $2,000 dollars, I just don't see the need, unless, as I have said, you have money to burn, just laying around the house.

Yet another interesting piece of daily news revolves around one of the many millions of new switchers to the Mac, and comes to us from MacDailyNews, who pointed out that we can now add Mike Huckabbe to the legends of new Mac users. Mike suffered for 22 years, as MacDailyNews pointed out, as a frustrated PC user, but he is now a happy Mac camper singing it's praises! As you can see from the YouTube video below, Mike highly praises the Mac and the people at the Apple store in New York that sold it to him. All I can say is, 'welcome aboard Mike.'

Last but not least, one other interesting piece of Apple related news is a piece that could impact Apple's iPhone. This is the news coming out of this year's CES in Las Vegas concerning Palm's new Pre smart phone, one, that like so many of today's phones, is modeled after the iPhone itself. Of all the iPhone wannabe's out there, however, the Palm Pre is probably the best of the bunch with it's new WebOS, physical keyboard and it's heavy borrowing from not only from the iPhone itself, but also from the desktop and particularly OS X, with it's adaption of the Dock and Expose, etc. This is not unusual considering that that John Rubenstein, one of the executives at Palm, and one of the main people behind the Pre, was also once one of Apple's chief executives.

Personally, this is a phone that Apple will have to address and soon, for the simple reason that the press is treating the Pre like a school girl gushing and giggling over some cute quarter back or pop star. The press is something that helped make the iPhone what it is today, and Apple, sooner or later, will have to match, or better yet, supersede the Pre in the areas where it shines. This means that whether Apple likes it or not, they are going to have to give in and give people at least the options of having a physical keyboard, better camera, removable battery, cut-n-paste and what have you. The Pre, like all iPhone wannabe's, have had the advantage of simply copying the iPhone and adding unique aspects to help differentiate their versions. With phones like the Pre, Apple can't afford to wait too long to respond or the multi- touch format that they helped to create, in the first place, could easily slip from it's hands much like the Mac did with Windows. This also, of course, would also equally apply to Windows 7 adoption of multi-touch as well.

But does Apple really have reason to fear the Pre? That depends on several things, of course, because as great as the hardware and WebOS is, it's not the most important thing, it is rather the software as some are pointing out, that is the real key that makes the iPhone what it is. Apple, with it's App Store, is presently light years ahead of the competition, but that can change fast and Apple, if you ask me, has to meet the Pre and all other contenders head on and without delay. I know they can do it, and I think that they will, but I've been wrong before and Apple is famous for letting others take advantage of it's own creations before. Hopefully, however, not this time?

Of course, these are just a few of the many Apple related news stories for today. Tomorrow will be another news day, and who knows what else that might bring? Hopefully, we will hear some more good news concerning Apple. It would be nice to hear, once and for all, for instance, that Steve Jobs is in good health and we can finally put all of those negative rumors to rest. Also, I would also hope that there will be news soon of that recently rumored upgraded Mac Mine will be released, including that 28 inch four-core i7 iMac, which hopefully will be released as  part of the Mac's upcoming 25th. Anniversary at the end of the month?

Then again, come tomorrow, I would love to find out that I recently won the lottery so I can go out and purchase one of those reported new and upcoming MacPro's. This is a machine that MacOSRumors editors said they personally got to see demonstrated recently. They were, according to them, everything that people hyped them up to be - namely, that they were unbelievably fast and extremely powerful - in other words - my kind of machine! Now that is the kind of Apple news that I would l love to hear any old day, even if I can't afford to take advantage of it.


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, January 13, 2009

Apple logo via: http://www.socialmediatoday.com