Friday, January 17, 2003
Top Stories
Mouth Wide Shut
"Every word I say, by definition, is a promise."
Mix Master iPod Opens Up A World Of Sound
Having so much music at your fingertips, with the ability to organize and quickly regroup tunes to follow one stylistic path or mix several, actually changes the listening experience.
News
Apple Silences iTunes P2P Software
Apple's move comes amid increasing hostility between the entertainment industry and music-swapping applications such as Kazaa and the now-defunct Napster.
Apple Posts 'iLife Up-To-Date' Details
Apple on Friday offered details about its iLife Up-To-Date program, an incentive to get new Mac users to upgrade to the iLife package when it begins shipping later this month.
Apple Picks Up Wired Rave Award
The Apple's Mac OS X team picked up an award for excellence in software design.
Students To Click With New Laptops
The Livonia school board agreed to buy a mobile computer lab for classroom use at Johnson Elementary School.
Opinion
Is QuarkXPress Hurting Power Mac Sales?
It may seem like an extreme headline, and perhaps a serious charge. But Apple's statements in recent weeks make it clear that Quark Inc.'s lateness to the Mac OS X party is having its effect.
Never Forget Your Customers
We may have to follow the example of Steve Jobs, who learned that it's with "hands-on" contact and real listening that a true understanding of the customer's problems can then be translated into a product that provides a solution and creates value.
Apple Needs More Of The Old Magic
What Apple needs is something to drive sales in 2003 and 2004, and it's not clear that a new large laptop and a new small laptop will do it, or upgraded versions of the iMac and iBook.
How About An Apple-Sun Merger?
Given both companies' poor financial positioning in the equity market, an Apple-Sun merger or, at least, partnership would make sense for the following reasons.
David Pogue On Missing Manuals As Performance Art
Pogue dishes on what makes a poorly written guidebook, how it could be that Apple doesn't know what its own "letters" feature is, and why it's so important to him to get a book to press in a dizzying two weeks.
On iCommune
The file-sharing capability might fall beyond the accepted definition of "console".
What Does That $8 Million Loss Mean?
The good news is that Apple is continuing to pump money into new products even in the midst of an unoffical recession.
Review
Heroes Of Might & Magic IV
Heroes of Might and Magic IV is the best yet in the series. If youíre a fan of the legendary series or just looking for a new strategy title, then Heroes of Might and Magic IV will not disappoint.
iListen 1.5: New Speech-Recognition Software For OS X Lacks Polish But Offers Transcription Support
At this point, IBM's ViaVoice—although it also has its flaws—is a better choice for most. The primary benefit of iListen today is the ability to transcribe documents dictated into a tape recorder.
Never Say Die
What to do when it costs more to fix your laptop than it's worth?
Links Championship Edition
It is enjoyable in its current state if you have a relatively new Macintosh, but if your machine is more than two years old, forget about it.
PrinTrio
A good value. A good printer. You will not be unhappy with the PrinTrio.
PHP 4.3 And Mac OS X
After reading this article, you'll know how to download, configure, and install your very own PHP on Mac OS X.
JBL Creature
Keep in mind that sound fidelity can be very subjective, so if you are interested in the Creature speakers it would be a good idea to listen to them and decide for yourself. But after using the system for a few weeks, I found that the JBL Creature speakers deliver richly textured sound for both gaming and multimedia applications.
Sidetrack
OF RSS AND BANDWIDTH : "Just wanted to note that with sites like myapplemenu providing a full RSS feed I've stopped reading MacMinute's RSS feed and MacCentral's RSS feed. They just aren't useful to me." — john, in inluminent/weblog.
One concern many people have is the higher bandwidth imposed by RSS readers, causing the shrinkage of RSS content provided. Maybe there is a need for a P2P network (a la Usenet) for RSS feeds. Maybe RSS readers should default to a 24-hour updating frequency.
THANKS FOR THE KIND WORDS : "MyAppleMenu has a lot of news that I look for on many places." — NUKLEOS weblog.
Thanks. I don't intend MyAppleMenu to be the one-stop newsstand for everybody. But if your interests coincide with mine nicely, welcome abroad.
Have you checked out the other sections in MyAppleMenu, such as Tomorrow and Reader?
AN APPLE A DAY : From Glenn Fleishman and Adam Engst, it's the Apple AirPort Weblog.
Another day, another poll. How much of an investment in Apple products does your organisation have?
THE PROBLEM WITH SINGAPORE'S WEATHER, is that it is almost never nice to venture outdoors. :-)
(Have a good two hours, Doc.)
Wintel
Microsoft Says Xbox Sales On Track
A Microsoft executive said Friday that the company is on track to meet Xbox sales targets for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft: Security Fix Due For Phone OS
Microsoft plans to update its Smartphone 2002 operating system to fix security flaws that make it possible to send rogue software programs to a specific model of phone that uses the OS, a representative said Friday.
Windows Media 9 Gets Sundance Showing
Microsoft plans to screen four independent movies at the Sundance Film Festival with its Windows Media 9 Series software, as part of the company's ongoing efforts to warm Hollywood to its technology.
Microsoft Thrills, Chills Investors
Microsoft's stock split and first-ever dividend weren't enough to overcome Wall Street's apprehension about the software giant's reduced projections for 2003.
One Year On, Is Microsoft "Trustworthy"?
A year after Bill Gates called for Microsoft to make its products more "trustworthy," executives are touting myriad initiatives as proof of the software giant's new resolve.
Microsoft Sets Dividend, Splits Stock
Microsoft set its first-ever annual stock dividend Thursday and said it will split its stock as quarterly earnings surpassed expectations.
AMD Misses On Fourth-Quarter Earnings
Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday reported a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss, despite revenue from processor shipments rising by 60 percent from the preceding period.
Why 'Shared Source' Is A Lie
Having "access" to the source only means that it can be studied. Producing new software, or even fixing Microsoft's bugs, is strictly verboten.