lmac

Apple's self-admiration society is run amok. They deserve all the ridicule they're getting for producing a book of their past glories and charging $300 for it. I think this is the result of a bet between Tim and Jony that the fanboys will buy anything Apple makes, no matter how useless, no matter the price. Still, it is in line with Apple pricing.

The first iMac actually was a piece of $h!T. It got a lot better in Rev. B and forward, with the addition of Firewire 400 and a memory upgrade port, but Rev A (Bondi Blue) was less capable than the machine it replaced (the Power Mac G3), and it was a total pain to replace the flaky optical drive. Still, they looked great and sold like hotcakes, and they were groundbreaking. Loss of the floppy was not such a big deal (though many people complained) because it was already useless, but there was no large capacity storage media available at the time that worked with USB, so that sucked. I think the new MacBook Pros are priced pro and aimed at consumers. But they will make money, gradually improve, and probably sell well. The actual pro market is too small for Apple to care about.

Apple is not breaking the laws of Ireland, but doing what any business with an army of accountants does; find ways to minimize taxation. If Ireland wants to change its laws, fine, but it cannot collect taxes retroactively. Part of the reason Apple is in Ireland is the favorable tax rates, a well educated population of English speakers, and a relatively low wage structure for the E.U. This is just posturing. It will blow over. If it doesn't, Apple will pick up stakes and go someplace more favorable. India is looking good.

Must not be anything good in the pipeline, or there'd be reason to hold onto it.

Ugh. This is so not interesting.