So I’m doing some work on Defaulter at the moment.  And I’ve decided to stop the feature creep.  So, at this point Defaulter will have it’s basic functionality and one fancy feature on it’s first release.  I may then do a free upgrade to version 1.5 that will add a few more funky features.  So if all goes well Defaulter will be at version 0.9b (RC1) in a day or two .

Bob

Might Apple introduce a headless iMac next month?  MacRumors.com has a report on the front page, talking about the possibility of a release of one.  I’ll let you go there to get the details, but let’s just say I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea.

Apple has always said that they believed strongly that consumer Macs should be all-in-ones.  If they were to release such an iMac, they’d be contradicting themselves.  Yes, they’ve done it before, but never as blatantly as this would be.

If Apple releases a $500 G5 iMac, and still has Powerbook G4s, wouldn’t that be ridiculous?  I mean… A faster computer for $500 than for $2500 is just ridiculous.  If Apple were to make such a machine, I think it might hurt the sales of their G4 models, if they still exist.

The good side is that it would convince more PC users to switch, and would make an affordable G5 for those who want one.  I mean, in some ways, there are as many negatives as positives, but I just don’t like the idea of an iMac being more powerful than a Powerbook, and costing less than a fourth of the price.

With the news that there may be a budget Mac on the horizon what is actually left for Apple’s current budget machine, the eMac?

Well, the eMac has been Apple’s “budget” machine for a while now though starting at $799 isn’t exactly budget machine price. The next leap up is the iMac G5 which starts at $1299. While this is cheaper than the previous iMac it is still out of the reach of many customers. But the iMac G5 has only just arrived and it is not likely to leave us. The eMac however hasn’t been updated in a long, long time.

So will Apple dump it if they do bring out this new budget Mac, or will this new Mac be the new eMac effectively changing the meaning of the ‘e’ from education to economy? Or maybe the eMac will go back to being an education only computer. The main reason it was finally released to the general public was because people wanted a budget Mac.

Maybe one thing we’re forgetting and one that may be the eMac’s saving grace is price difference. Apple would be releasing this budget Mac at $499 to try and get people onto the…
(Continue)

PC Magazine
John C. Dvorak puts his foot in his mouth again. He starts with a flawed premise:

The Mac platform is essentially stagnant. That becomes obvious when you look at the declining market share numbersónot from research firms, but from the W3C, which monitors online activity. As of December 2004, the Mac share as measured by online activity is 2.7 percent (Linux is 3.1), with all the rest going to various flavors of Windows. I’m now convinced that this stems mostly from Apple’s inability to make the Mac a commodity computer by pricing it to compete with PCs made inexpensively in China and selling with razor-thin margins. Here are the reasons Apple can’t sustain its position.

He then tries…
(Continue)

Oopsie.

The complaint alleges that “an unidentified individual, acting alone or in concert with others, has recently misappropriated and disseminated through Web sites confidential information about an unreleased Apple product.”

Apple said in the seven-page civil complaint, filed on Dec. 13, that it did not know the “true names or capacities, whether individual, associate, corporate or otherwise,” of the defendants. Once they have been discovered, the Cupertino, California-based company said it would amend the complaint.

MacRumors reports that it is presumably over either iPod Flash details, an Apple-Sirus deal, or an iPhone device.

The moral of the story? Don’t leak product details!

Reuters Article | MacRumors Article

[B]UPDATE![/B] The Mac Observer reports that three rumor sites have been subpoenaed: AppleInsider, PowerPage, and Think Secret. Stay with Deep Thought for the latest on the Rumorgate scandal (well, it’s not really a scandal, but using the word “scandal” boosts interest ).

Link to Article