Apple’s greatest move Jason 10 Jan 2006

74 comments Latest by pepa

Apple’s greatest move in the past few years wasn’t the iPod, it was the Apple Store strategy (retail stores had their first $1 billion quarter this past quarter). The stores made Apple’s current success possible. Brilliant vision, bold bet, big reward. Apple proved the critics wrong once again.

In other news… MacBook Pro clearly sets the stage for the MacBook to replace the iBook, since the MacBook Pro replaces the Powerbook.

UPDATE: The real Apple success story, by John C. Dvorak.

74 comments so far (Jump to latest)

Dave Simon 10 Jan 06

And they are going to do it again with Intel iMacs and PowerBooks…

Uh… MacBooks Pro… whatever.

Anders Toxboe 10 Jan 06

Hmm… Without the iPod, the Apple Stores wouldn’t have lurked so many people into the stores to buy other complementary Apple products.

David Woodward 10 Jan 06

Yeah.. say “MacBook Pro” ten times fast. Too many hard consonants… I think its a terrible name. Now the “MagSafe” connector… thats pretty cool.

Dave Jan 10 Jan 06

Apples DRM and lack of care for the consumer has shown me that they are now just another MS. iPod’s break in about 3 days in my world and now with the move to intel they are basically going to be another MS. Only difference is that their product will cost about %30 more. I just ordered a Create Vision M and I could never be happier. Xvid support as well as other open formats. Woohoo!

Mark 10 Jan 06

Hmmm, Dave.. The new iMac’s the same price as the one I just bought and is 2-3 times faster running on Intel.

And my 2 year-old iPod’s still going strong…powering my headphones right now.

Dan Boland 10 Jan 06

Apple succeeded with their own retail store while Gateway and others failed miserably because you can’t buy an Apple computer anywhere else save CompUSA and Micro Center (any others?), whereas PCs are ubiquitous in the marketplace. Why buy from a Gateway store when I can buy this anywhere else? And whoever is in charge of finding locations for Apple stores should be commended too.

I’m not crazy about the MacBook Pro name either… makes me think of Quickbooks Pro. But I guess continuing to call it the PowerBook doesn’t make much sense either.

I’m curious to see how fast the Intel iMac really is… didn’t Jobs swear up and down that the G5 was faster than Intel?

ek 10 Jan 06

Interesting point — Apple’s retail strategy most definitely was an enormously bold and enourmously risky bet that’s paid off for the company in a huge way.

I too was among the doubters when the plan was first announced and am thoroughly surprised by how well it’s worked out. But what I hope isn’t lost in this is the critical importance of execution vs. the much ballyhooed “vision thing” that’s so overhyped in tech rags in particular (what’s left of them) and business publications in general. Witness Gateway’s utter failure in executing essentially the same concept — branded retail establishments: same idea, different execution, entirely different outcome.

What also shouldn’t be ignored is the fact that Apple’s retail push was just one part of an overarching resurrection strategy that involved several inter-related parts, each of which was critical.

If Jobs & Co. hadn’t killed the clones, streamlined the company’s product mix (which required nerves of steel given the amount of revenue Apple generated from ancillary products like their branded printers and scanners) and then added a lower-ticket item that would bring people into the stores (i.e. the iPod), Apple’s stores would have fared about as poorly as Gateway’s.

We tend to like to callout one thing and cite it as the reason for a company’s success or failure, but, more often than not, it’s a lot more complicated. And in this case, I think citing Apple’s stores as the greatest thing the company’s done in the past few years is missing the importance of a myriad of other initiatives, without which the stores would have failed (delving even deeper into the mundane, it’s doubtful that Apple would be around today if Jobs hadn’t picked up on Dell’s mastery of supply chain management).

The stores are but the tip of the iceberg and, as impressive as they may seem, they’d quickly collapse upon themselves if not for the soundness of the immense foundation on which they’re built. In short, it’s often the things you don’t see that are of greatest import.

Dan Boland 10 Jan 06

And my 2 year-old iPod�s still going strong�powering my headphones right now.

Yeah, I have a 10GB 3rd gen iPod. True, I had to send it in to be replaced once, but that was because iTrip killed it. (I’m the only person I know who had anything but a grand fucking time with the iTrip. But I’m not bitter. Not at all.)

JF 10 Jan 06

EK, I totally agree — it’s all about execution, and it’s the execution of a lot of things at once that often makes something great. I do think the stores are the foundation though. They’re the Church of Apple and that’s where the worshipping starts the the gospel spreads.

Mark 10 Jan 06

Having the SuperDrive on a 1 week-old computer fail - sucks.

Heading to the Genius Bar and walking out 2 hours later having received great, knowledgeable service and the whole computer replaced from a new box AND your entire account, contents and settings, mirrored onto the new one - priceless.

Geof Harries 10 Jan 06

Finally - it’s out. The Apple online store must be getting bombarded with sales at the moment.

I have to admit “Macbook” is a weak name choice, but it’s only a label. Fact is, it’s got Intel; it’s not several years old like the G4; and the design (including OS X) continues to kick butt.

Jeffrey 10 Jan 06

did anyone else notice that apple was like “yeah intel? we’re just gonna totally ignore your branding and remake your logo in our signature font”.

Michael 10 Jan 06

I can’t wait to get a MacBook to compliment my WinBook! What a crappy name choice.

ek 10 Jan 06

Jeffrey wrote:
did anyone else notice that apple was like �yeah intel? we�re just gonna totally ignore your branding and remake your logo in our signature font�.
Yes, I noticed that as well. Pretty funny considering what a big to do Intel made of their rebranding initiative just last week.

And speaking of Intel’s new look, my goodness, could it be any lamer? Put the ‘e’ inline and wrap a swoosh around the whole thing — that’s the ticket.

Gawd, it makes my stomach clench to think how many millions Intel’s branding, advertising and design shops got for that crap. Though, without knowing the whole story, I guess I shouldn’t put the blame at their feet — the insipidness of the work may well have been dictated by Intel.

Brian 10 Jan 06

So, they released a “new,” somewhat superficial, PowerBook model before Christmas to boost sales, then released a new product to replace it right after the holidays.

That’s fucked up.

Mike Rundle 10 Jan 06

Wasn’t the previous PowerBook screen supposedly like 50% brighter than the one before it? Now the MacBook Pro has a screen 2/3 brighter than THAT one! I mean how bright can this screen possibly be? And how dull was the screen two generations ago? Crazy.

Jeffrey - I totally noticed that too. Kinda odd since the new Intel mark typeface is actually nicely done. Not the swoosh and whatnot, but the actual typeface.

Anonymous Coward 10 Jan 06

So, they released a �new,� somewhat superficial, PowerBook model before Christmas to boost sales, then released a new product to replace it right after the holidays. That�s fucked up.

What’s fucked up is that you aren’t paying attention. The Powerbook line will be sold alongside the MacBook Pro line. At least for the time being. Nothing was discontinued.

Jamie Thingbox 10 Jan 06

Why is the UK low(er)-end MacBook $650 more expensive, ex-tax, than in the US?

Kyle 10 Jan 06

There goes my February paycheck… Woohoo!

Jeff Hartman 10 Jan 06

The MacBook Pro name is horrible. Will that inevitably be followed by MacTower Pro (or, following the same naming convention, be MacMac Pro)?

By taking the word “power” out of the name give the impression that is really is no longer a “powerful” machine - especially for those of us who have used “Power”Books for so long? My first impression, without seeing the machine, was that it was for home or students. I don’t think tacking the word “Pro” on the end helps either. Everybody uses the word “Pro” and it has lost it’s meaning.

MagSafe is a great addition. I’ve broken a few power adapters from others tripping over them (the sparks were fun, but probably not worth the price of a new adapter).

Chad 10 Jan 06

One of the biggest Apple things to shock me today was that their site moved beyond the 800px width threshold.

Brian 10 Jan 06

Anonymous coward, I didn’t say it’s discontinued. I’m not paying attention? What did I miss? The MacBook is the newer, better Apple laptop that will replace the Powerbook — despite the Powerbook still being sold along side it for a little while. And it comes just months after a well timed pre-holiday update of very little on the Powerbook. The announcement comes right after all those holiday sales. Apple is shrewd, but pretty fucked up for consumers who just bought the “new” model. I’m done.

richard 10 Jan 06

Man, Chad… You’re right. They blew out into 1024 territory. I’ve been browsing the site for a good while now and I didn’t pick up on that. Cool.

MacBook is a terrible, terrible name. Powerbook actually sounded strong and like it would totally beat you down in a fight. MacBook sounds like that kid who always got his lunch money taken away. And I agree, adding “Pro” on the end doesn’t help.

brad 10 Jan 06

If they called it the X4537T I’d still buy it.

James J. 10 Jan 06

Brian,

Apple switching to Intel was huge news. Everyone knew Intel PowerBooks (MacBooks) would be coming out sometime this year. Anyone that bought a G4 PowerBook in December can’t blame Apple, they just weren’t paying attention.

Just Mike 10 Jan 06

Apple did not change Intel’s trademark. Intel did. http://intel.com/

Mark Gallagher 10 Jan 06

Jason, Agree the stores are great.

But are you really saying the retail stores were more important to the Apple turnaround than the iPod ??

Think about Apple today with no iPod.

The stores helped move the product. But the iPod was Apple’s savior.

The simple design of the early iPods - that’s the greatest event in Apple’s recent history.

Thanks. Good discussion.

dmr 10 Jan 06

Am I the only one that finds the MacBook image on the Apple home page absolutely terrible? I thought it was a PC notebook at first. What’s up with that angle? The site looks quite unApple at the moment, including the footer clutter and the MacBook page body text is so low contrast!!!

Yuck.

Carl 10 Jan 06

Apple Stores weren’t Apple’s savior, the iPod was.

I live in a pretty populated area (Virginia Beach in Southeast Virginia which forms a metro area that includes Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Portsmouth and Newport News) and there isn’t an Apple store within a 1-2 hour drive from here.

Did that prevent people from buying an iPod? No.

I can pretty much guarantee you that sales of iPods AT actual Apple stores accounts for just a tiny fraction of the overall iPod sales.

That isn’t to say the Apple Stores aren’t successful, they are. But they aren’t the reason Apple has turned things around. The iPod is.

Dan Boland 10 Jan 06

Carl: You can escape! There’s still time! (Virginia Beach is my hometown as well.)

Darrel 10 Jan 06

“Apple Stores weren�t Apple�s savior, the iPod was.”

I agree. The stores were the bandages, the iPod, the cure.

And what everyone else said: MacBook Pro. Blech. They took half the name from the consumer level machine, removed the importand adjective (power) and added a trite ‘pro’ to the end of it. What were they thinking?

Carl 10 Jan 06

Dan: I would but the wife isn’t too keen on moving. This is our hometown, but we have moved around a bit and lived in bigger areas (St. Louis becoming our 2nd home)… but always end up back here. Even if it doesn’t have an Apple Store. LOL

Don Wilson 10 Jan 06

The Apple Stores have definately helped Apple, even when most people call it the iPod store.

brad 10 Jan 06

I thought it was a PC notebook at first. What�s up with that angle?

Ah, but if you look closely you will see there are no “Intel Inside” stickers and then you know it’s an Apple ;-)

Jeff Hartman 10 Jan 06

Don:
Most people I know call it the “Mac Store” (altough iPod store is worse). I reply that I’m going over to the MDX dealership and after that I plan on stopping by the “Awesome Blossom” (with extra awesome) restaurant for dinner.

I’m still going to call it a PowerBook. :)

topfunky 10 Jan 06

I’m also calling it a PowerBook! Keep the name alive!

Gary R Boodhoo 10 Jan 06

EK & Jeffrey,

I’m with you on the lameness of the intel rebranding. How much money did it cost to bore me to tears this time? The very same thing could be said about the recent AT&T/SBC branding effort - now there’s a logo rivaled only by Verizon’s as the epitome of lowest common denominator design

Results like these make me question the validity of “user centered design”. Seriously. When catering (pandering) to users as though they knew what they wanted, how can the end result be anything but boring at best, pointless at worst?

Mark Garrigan 10 Jan 06

Dave Jan:

So are you saying that Apple is getting out of the Hardware business and will only sell useless high priced software? Microsoft only has to get one thing right and can’t even come close. Apple does it all and does a pretty damn good job.

Genius 10 Jan 06

Yup, Apple retail is a huge cash cow that enables other huge cash cows. Could they have possibly sold as many iPods without drawing people in to one of the greatest retail experiences in the world? Apple stores are loyal-customer factories.

Greg Macoy 10 Jan 06

I think the name change is probably something to do with it not running on PowerPC chips, though to call it an IntelBook would be rubbish, and you couldn’t abbreviate it to an iBook as they already have that. I reckon we call it a CyberBeastHyperSuperBook!

ek 10 Jan 06

Jeff Hartman wrote:
The MacBook Pro name is horrible. Will that inevitably be followed by MacTower Pro (or, following the same naming convention, be MacMac Pro)? … By taking the word �power� out of the name give the impression that is really is no longer a �powerful� machine - especially for those of us who have used �Power�Books for so long?

I agree with those who aren’t bowled over by the name, but I somehow doubt that it’s going to have any impact on sales. I mean, how descriptive a name is iPod, and yet that doesn’t seem to have hampered sales.

Also, my guess is that the Intel-ized iBook will be branded something along the lines of MacBook Home, which would actually create a clearer distinction between Apple’s pro and consumer portables.

Gary R Boodhoo wrote:
I�m with you on the lameness of the intel rebranding. How much money did it cost to bore me to tears this time? The very same thing could be said about the recent AT&T/SBC branding effort — now there�s a logo rivaled only by Verizon�s as the epitome of lowest common denominator design.

Man, couldn’t agree with you more on both counts (meaning the “new” AT&T logo and the awful Verizon “V”).

Gary continued…
Results like these make me question the validity of �user centered design�. Seriously. When catering (pandering) to users as though they knew what they wanted, how can the end result be anything but boring at best, pointless at worst?

I’m with you on this as well. What’s also always amusing is when companies tout the direct involvement of customers, athletes or celebrities in the design of their products. It seems like 99% of the time said products suck — I mean, would you want a rapper to design your house? Then why would you want him to design your MP3 player, or your car or your clothes?

Customer input is critical, but, to paraphrase the legendary David Ogilvy, there seems to be a tendency among product marketers to use customer input as a drunkard uses a lamp post: for support rather than illumination.

tim Windsor 10 Jan 06

What I don’t get is the assumption that the PowerBook name has anything to do with the PowerPC chip.

My first PowerBook, a PB 170, ran on a Motorola 68030.

I would have kept the name myself. It’s distinctively Mac.

michael 10 Jan 06

but i wanted a new ipod!!!11!

one every two months isn’t enough.

John 10 Jan 06

“…there seems to be a tendency among product marketers to use customer input as a drunkard uses a lamp post: for support rather than illumination.”

Great quote! I’m a big fan of David O.

Jeff Hartman 10 Jan 06

ek:
I agree with those who aren�t bowled over by the name, but I somehow doubt that it�s going to have any impact on sales. I mean, how descriptive a name is iPod, and yet that doesn�t seem to have hampered sales.

I don’t think it will hamper sales*, but the iPod wasn’t named something else for over a dozen years. It’s always been the iPod.

*It may cut into the bottom line slightly (maybe imperceptably). Any time you rebrand something there are costs involved. Probably impossible to gauge because it’s a very different product on the inside, new Powerbooks were just released a month ago, etc.

I’d like to see someone come up with a list of failed rebranding efforts of major products. There has to be some out there. Rebranding iTools to .Mac was successful, although far less significant. Hold on… MacBook Pro, MacBook Home, .Mac? This is getting extremely Microsoft-ish.

Regardless, I’m still calling it a PowerBook. :)

Nick 10 Jan 06

Here is why I believe the Apple retail strategy was brilliant execution and a resounding success, and a critical part to their turnaround:

- Apple applied their core product design/innovation process to building out the stores and retail strategy;
- That is, they recognized the numerous weaknesses in most existing retail experiences:
- Many stores are cluttered, poorly designed and feel cheap
- Most stores didn’t offer and showcase the Apple product in a compelling way
- Many big boxes offer the same boring experience and offer no real compelling reasons to have customers come back - except a sale
- Most have unknowledgeable and insufficient staff that could care less about the consumer
- In sum, retail experiences suck from all perspectives

Apple produced a product that offering the market something unique:
- bright, clean, modern designed stores in compelling locations
- product that is within reach for the customers and nicely showcased
- staff are numerous, motivated and knowledgeable
- the stores offer a variety of activities to bring customers back in- from educational classes, product demos, to new product launch parties

So were the stores more important the ipod? I am not sure, but i do think their retail stores are a great product unto themselves. And like any product that offers something unique, cool or different, people will talk about it, and drive success further.

Just my 2 cents.

Lance 10 Jan 06

Apple’s turn around over the past couple of years has been extremely impressive by most accounts. I’m a PC user who used to be a huge supporter of the Commodore Amiga and decided it was sort of futile to swim upstream…

Anyway, the smartest move that Apple could make right now is to make OS X installable on ANY PC. With the reputation that Windows has right now, they could make a HUGE dent into MS’s market share. Not to mention the incredible profit margin by selling it downloadable via iTunes instead of packaging it.

Support of course would increase but it seems like a good choice overall. Buy your stock now…

Lance

Fred 10 Jan 06

DMR: So the fact that the MacBook Pro has an all but identical shell to the PowerBook led you to believe it was a PC Notebook… from the angle of the photo? Yeha.

Also, the new pages look great. The new apple.com pages have gradually been outgrowing the old site for ages. I wished they redesign the main nav to fit their newer page styles. It looks horrible having such old Nav design sullying otherwise modern pages. The two simply don’t fit together.

dmr 10 Jan 06

That angle is a very typical notebook shot, ugly. Compare that single photo to about 300+ photos I’ve seen apple use over the last few years; it’s garbage. It’s completely against any other product shot I’ve ever seen them use, not to mention it’s very unlike the rest of the shots used on the MacBook page. At the very least the lighting is shit.

Yes, the iLife pages are super sweet, but the MacBook’s page is lame; the contrast at the foot of the page renders the text almost totally unreadable!

Super minor I guess, but coming from Apple it marginalizes the beautiful form of the computer! And god dammit that fucking pisses me off.

Seth 10 Jan 06

MacBook Pro? …weakest.name.ever.

Wonder how long it’ll take them to get “Universal” binaries for the apps that matter to me…

Also wonder how long it’ll take before someone smarter than I am figures out how to dual-boot XP or Vista…Come on geeks speed it up, I wanna trade in my Dell and my PB 12” for a new monster.

Don Wilson 11 Jan 06

Seeing as how the new MacBook Pro and iMacs have the EFI bootup manager in place, which can emulate the BIOS for Windows, I wouldn’t imagine it being too hard or too long for someone to throw up WinXP on it.

b 11 Jan 06

my guess is that the ibook will still be called the ‘iBook’

…just like the iMac is still called iMac -even with an intel processor inside it

James J. 11 Jan 06

b,

Since they are calling the replacement to the PowerBook the MacBook Pro I think it’s a safe bet that they will call the iBook replacement just “MacBook”. There would be no reason to add the “Pro” if this wasn’t their plan.

Paul A 11 Jan 06

I think they’ll keep the ibook as the entry level laptop, and introduce a mid range MacBook, which will be a slower MacBook Pro.

-Paul

ek 11 Jan 06

my guess is that the ibook will still be called the �iBook� � just like the iMac is still called iMac -even with an intel processor inside it

Ah, that’s a good point.

Since they are calling the replacement to the PowerBook the MacBook Pro I think it�s a safe bet that they will call the iBook replacement just �MacBook�. There would be no reason to add the �Pro� if this wasn�t their plan.

Wait a minute, that makes sense too!

I think they�ll keep the ibook as the entry level laptop, and introduce a mid range MacBook, which will be a slower MacBook Pro.

Hold up, now that makes sense too, especially given Jobs’ purported interest in MIT’s $100 laptop initiative.

Oh well, I’m sure it’ll all be clear by the end of this year.

Jeff Hartman wrote:
I�d like to see someone come up with a list of failed rebranding efforts of major products. There has to be some out there.

That would definitely be interesting to see — I would think that at the top of any such list would have to be Coca Cola’s “New Coke” initiative, which was devastatingly unsuccessful.

Jeff continued:
Regardless, I�m still calling it a PowerBook. :)

My guess is that you’re going to have plenty of company — I already feel for Apple’s tech support folks: “MacBook … yes, I have a MacBook … G4 … with the Intel … running Microsoft.” ;-)

Spike 11 Jan 06

MacBook Pro is a bad name.

Probook would keep a bit of both.

Jeff S. 11 Jan 06

Dan & Carl,

I live in Hampton Roads too. Are you guys working with RoR? We should get together, maybe start a users group.

Email me at jocknerd1 at yahoo dot com

Dan Boland 11 Jan 06

Jeff S: I live in Chicago, Va Beach is my hometown. And no, I haven’t jumped on the RoR bandwagon yet.

brad 11 Jan 06

I would think that at the top of any such list would have to be Coca Cola�s �New Coke� initiative, which was devastatingly unsuccessful.

Only because it tasted yucky compared with the old Coke and nobody liked it.

Here you’re talking about a machine that’s four times faster as its predecessor and has lots of other improvements. Nobody is going to want to go back to the old PowerBooks, and to be honest I don’t think most people will care what it’s called. I’ve always referred to mine as my Mac laptop except when talking with other Mac owners.

Rik Abel 11 Jan 06

Agreed that it is a weak name. Why not ‘ultrabook’ or ‘uberbook’? Having said that, I’d still buy one if it was called the ‘ImABigStupidIdiotBook’.

JF 11 Jan 06

Jobs said in the keynote they want “Mac” in all their computer names. Powerbook and iBook don’t have “Mac” so those names are dead moving forward.

Dan Boland 11 Jan 06

Only because it tasted yucky compared with the old Coke and nobody liked it.

Actually, that’s not true at all. Coca-Cola conducted extensive taste testing before the launch of New Coke and found that people consistently favored New Coke over Classic Coke. They would have never released it had those results gone the other way.

And the most fascinating aspect of the New Coke debacle was that it actually led to Coca-Cola regaining its spot as the top cola in the US. The people didn’t hate New Coke’s taste, they just wanted their old Coke back.

(By the way, did you know that Diet Coke is the diet version of New Coke, and Coca Cola Zero is the diet version of Classic Coke?)

brad 11 Jan 06

But why did people want the old Coke back if they didn’t think the old Coke tasted better than the new?

ek 11 Jan 06

brad wrote:
But why did people want the old Coke back if they didn�t think the old Coke tasted better than the new?

Because we’re just one small step removed from cattle.

This is why I think focus groups are mostly useless — what people do out “in the wild” is much more important than what they say in a conference room while sitting in front of a big mirror alongside 11 people they’ve never met.

Darrel 11 Jan 06

Anyway, the smartest move that Apple could make right now is to make OS X installable on ANY PC.

No, that would be insanely dumb. That’d wipe out their hardware sales. Remember, Apple is a COMPUTER company first and foremost.

they could make a HUGE dent into MS�s market share.

Apple and MS aren’t direct competitors. They compete in some areas, partner in others, and both work in yet more completely unrelated areas.

The smartest thing they can do, IMHO, is work on an ‘invisible’ emulation most to allow one to install windows on OSX without actually having to use Windows to run Windows software. ;o)

DaleV 11 Jan 06

“MacBook” is fine with me … I think it was a good branding decision.

I remember these EXACT discussions when the iPod came out … in retrospect, it’s the perfect name for this device that continues to evolve far beyond the “iJam” and “iBeat” that people thought it should have been named at the time.

Rimantas 11 Jan 06

Anyway, the smartest move that Apple could make right now is to make OS X installable on ANY PC.

I’ll second Darrel on this one. There are many things to be said,
but it would like like princess driving to the ball in the old rusty truck, not limousine.

Another point is, coupling OS and hardware can provide much more stable combination.

And once again, OS X running in some ugly box… shudder…

Will 12 Jan 06

As Darrel said, the DUMBEST move apple could make would be to allow OS X installation on non-apple hardware.

Apple hasn’t made the profits they’ve seen in recent years from the iTunes music store. They’ve made those profits from selling iPods. Just like they haven’t made their non-iPod profits from selling software, they’ve made them from selling hardware.

Apple would have to be suicidal to offer their hardware as an optional feature of OS X.

Bonz Xylophone 13 Jan 06

I don’t think it’s dumb. Their market isn’t goint to immediately disappear because people will begin to emulate OSX on PC laptops. People buy apple for their quality of software and Hardware.

As a musician I am so fed up with the undependability of the Windows operating system, and the inferior hardware most PC manuafacturers use in their laptops. Mac’s do it right with high quality low latency built in audio out of the box, which is a $150 savings right there for me.

It is great to see that apple isn’t going to let being dragged around by the slow performance of their chip manuafacturers anymore. Their products are worth the money, seriously not a bad deal when I don’t have to worry about viruses, my windows UI locking up, or a laptop that overheats during a live performance of a slew of VST effects because of poor ventilation design.

My next computer will be a Mac.

Jess McMullin 18 Jan 06

My friend Scott Hirsch says, and after some debate I agree - Apple’s biggest recent move was creating iTunes for Windows. iPod market share would be in the single digits if it wasn’t for that…and it took some guts to go ahead and build something they said they wouldn’t (remember the Hell Froze Over keynote?)

pepa 28 Jan 06

I have tried to register three times, while trying to fill in the minimum of fields - still gettin the same message - “all fields are required” aaargh. I am drunk at the time and I want to read that, not to deal with any forms…