Apple & Microsoft duke it out for top tech spot; will Steve Ballmer get TKOed?
Apple has been looking pretty shiny since Wednesday, having just crossed a golden threshold: slipping past Microsoft in "market capitalization"— the valuation of a company based on its current stock price multiplied by number of shares available; as well as "enterprise value" which is market cap, plus debt and minus cash holdings. Speculation had been rampant for months whether it would ever happen; and then, on Wednesday— surely to be memorialized in computer lore— after a wild ride on the market, AAPL ended the day worth a few billion more than its frenemy MSFT.
Apple was now not only the top technology company in the world, it was the second highest valued company in America (behind Exxon-Mobile.) Thursday, MSFT and AAPL traded neck-and-neck in valuation, but by the market close, Apple held the crown for a second day.
Dictionary update: blogs no longer unhealthy
Two years ago, when Mac OS 10.4 "Tiger" came out, I noted the amusing example of usage given to the term "blog" by the built-in Dictionary application, one which seemed to impugn bloggers as having an "unhealthy interest in computers." Since then, there have been 10 sub-version updates to Tiger-- the most recent just ten days ago.
Somewhere along the line, the Dictionary also got a new definition for "blog" which no longer makes the same implication.
Just when this change was made is unclear. Apple apparently receives their definitions from the New Oxford American Dictionary, so it would have originated from the Oxford University Press.
Did some blogger complain about being colored (or coloured) as "unhealthy?"
blog |bläg|
noun
a Web site on which an individual or group of users produces an ongoing narrative : Most of his work colleagues were unaware of his blog until recently.
verb ( blogged, blogging) [ intrans. ]
add new material to or regularly update a blog.DERIVATIVES
blog•ger nounORIGIN a shortening of WEBLOG .
In April, a more politically charged flurry was covered by Macenstein.com dealing with another oddity, this time for "democracy". The thesaurus listing offered the following example of usage:
democracy
noun
a democracy in Iraq is quite unlikely for now or any time soon
Apple wins computer wars. News at 11.
Today Apple announced a small but massively important beta application called "Boot Camp" -- a masterstroke which may just explode the userbase for Apple's computers. The software lets new Intel-based Macs (AKA "MacIntel") install Windows. Let me repeat that: Mac now does Windows... natively. Last week, a couple of hackers won fame (and $12,000) for coming up with their own solution, which involved owning an actual PC, burning a custom Windows install disk, using three rolls of duct tape, two cases of "Orange Shasta" plus a sacrifice of a small marsupial to the angry "B'lgateus" demon.
Running Windows on Macs something that has been tried before in various ways, but never satisfactorily. A decade ago, Apple released a kludgy option of having a "DOS compatibility card" installed inside first generation PowerMacs. It was basically an 486-era computer-on-a-card, stuck inside a Mac; it had its own processor, memory and video output, but its price was comparable to buying an entirely new PC. Suffice it to say, it wasn't the most popular of add-ons. It was eventually replaced with a "PC Compatibility Card" using a PCI interface, with a 100Mhz Pentium which could be installed in nearly all pre-OS X PowerMacs. And there have been number "emulators" which ran Windows in a software environment-- the most famous being VirtualPC, which was bought out by Microsoft a couple of years ago, who brought out updates through the G5 processor line. Since Apple switched to Intel chips, the Microsofties have been silent as to the future of the product, but it's unlikely now that VirtualPC for Intel Macs will ever happen.
Followup coverage: different views on the same process
* "You need to download the Boot Camp software and step through an installation process that will be daunting to non-expert users. At one point, if you accidentally make the wrong selection, you can erase the Mac operating system from your computer." (Macs running Windows won't shift balance, Mike Landberg, Mercury News.)
* "Aside from the C: drive caution, it's almost impossible to make a mistake if you pay attention to Boot Camp's onscreen instructions. As I write this brief report, the iMac functions flawlessly in either Mac OS X or Windows mode." (I Install Windows XP on a MacIntel, Gene Steinberg, MacNightOwl.com.)
Hilarious Take on New iTunes 5
John Gruber of the Daring Fireball blog writes some funny shit. And I don't use the term lightly. Check it:
When Mac Users Attack
Last month, I sent a note to a friend in DC that the Henrico County, Virginia school district was planning to sell off 1000-odd four-year-old iBooks for $50 each to the general public. Noting their age and potential problems, I added, "It's about a 2 hour drive from DC, so I dunno if it's worth it..."
Soon after, however, it became apparent that the sale would draw a huge crowd, as word spread across the Internet, and people from around the US started making plans to show up. Under fire from local taxpayers (who had kinda paid for these laptops already), the County Board of Supervisors amended the County Code to allow only Henrico residents to buy the used iBooks.
Even still, moved to the bigger venue at the Richmond International Raceway complex, a mob scene ensued, as thousands of people rushed the entrance as soon as the gate opened this morning at 7am. In all, police estimate nearly 5,500 people showed up. Some were trampled, and others were taken away due to heat stroke. One woman, apparently so intent on getting her iBook refused to leave the line to relieve herself, and pulled a Fergie-Black-Eyed-Pee-Pee. One genius tried to ram his way through the crowd, using his car.
Sad part of the whole thing? According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, "Students and teachers will be getting new Dell computers this school year."
An NBC newsreport (RealMedia) from the scene captured the chaos.
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