2003: I’m the lone Mac user among my circle of friends. This makes me a bit of a black computer sheep for some reason or other. Occasional digs from my PC friends are lobbed my way – along with the inevitable questions regarding how to get their Wintel boxes to work correctly.
Author Archives: Stephen Van Esch
2003: A recent report from MacUser UK indicates that some analysts believe that Apple may have missed the Tablet PC boat. One can just hear the vultures circling.
2003: As mentioned by Steve Jack at MacDailyNews, there’s likely a bit of head scratching as the Wintel crowd tries to process the claim that the 1.6 GHz Centrino performs just as well as the 2.4 GHz Pentium 4-M.
2003: When Napster became the biggest thing going some years ago, the record companies were clearly peeved – peeved enough to sue the company into extinction. Of course, people loved the service. It provided free, easy access to music. Downloads were free, and pretty much every type of music could be found.
2003: Last week I dropped by my old high school. Unlike most people, I appear to have a certain attachment to the old place, and my former teachers are always happy to sit down and catch up on one of their prodigies (ahem).
2003: New iMacs and eMacs were released yesterday and were greeted with less than effusive praise. “Yawn,” seemed to be the general response, even from the usually zealous Mac press. The real excitement seemed to center around the price drops and improved options instead of the iMac speed bump.
2003: Mac OS X is rapidly gaining ground, and Apple is cracking the whip by more or less eliminating Mac OS 9 booting in their latest machines. Software developers are hopping on the OS X party wagon and releasing software for OS X like there’s no tomorrow. So where’s Quark in this?
2003: If you’ve been paying attention, you already know that Apple released a number of upgrades and applications yesterday. While I’m certain that some people were disappointed, I suspect that Apple hit just the right balance between risk and safety.
2002: Like .mac, Apple seems to be letting the full potential of the Switch campaign go unrealized. The switchers have definitely made an impression on a large number of people. Ellen Feiss has gone on to become a cult celebrity. Apple’s marketing company has undoubtedly gone out of its way to choose people others can […]
2002: It seems poor, clueless Kim Komando is dispensing Macintosh advice again. The poor dear, now an expert on Macintosh computers since her attempt to compare Macs to PCs, has no doubt succeeded in confusing her few Macintosh readers yet again.
2002: I always find spin amusing. Microsoft’s victory last week sends pretty clear messages that are being spun every which way. The following is a list of messages I gleaned from the ruling.
2002: In my previous column, I touched on the idea that as more people switch, Apple will have to become more attentive to customer needs. In the same vein, Apple has to realize that they are gradually gaining a higher profile in the weblog “blogosphere”.
2002: As more people switch over to the Mac, Apple will have to be more diligent and responsive to consumer needs. This is would appear to be self-evident. If there are more consumers, there are more people to get annoyed with your products or what might be perceived as corporate arrogance. Apple is surely familiar […]
2002: The Komando has landed with both feet planted squarely on the iMac. Now, don’t get me wrong: Criticism of the Mac is perfectly acceptable and, in fact, necessary to keep Apple on its toes. And, of course, an opinion is just that: an opinion.
2002: According to Apple, Mac OS 9 will not be a boot option for 2003 Macs. While this is a reason to rejoice, when you move forward, you always leave something behind.
2002: Gateway is not exactly a PC company that anyone envies. Right off the bat, the company seemed to have a really unusual (to put it gently) way of selling computers. After all, how many retail outlets would let you try something on – and then make you wait while it came in the mail? […]
2002: Everyone remembers those old milk churns that were used to transport milk all over the country. Most of these churns have found new life at country fairs and as overpriced flowerpots. If you haven’t seen one before, it’s essentially a cylinder with a hinged lid on the top. There is an old Dutch saying […]
2002: The rift between Microsoft and Apple seems to be growing wider. Barely two weeks after Microsoft spread a little FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) regarding the Mac version of Office and threw a bit of mud at Apple regarding the number of users upgrading to Mac OS X, the announcement came that Apple and Sun would […]
2002: The cat’s out of the bag. Microsoft, the cute and cuddly monopoly that wouldn’t dream of harming a competitor, has let the world know that it’s Not Pleased with Apple and its promotion of Mac OS X. In fact, Apple’s lack of promotion has hurt Microsoft’s bottom line because Office v. X isn’t flying off the […]
2002: Apple’s recent purchase of Emagic adds another niche heavyweight to its growing list of acquired software companies. Now, to be completely honest, I’m not an expert in the field of sequencing software. From what I can gather, though, Emagic is a popular sequencing program with a strong Mac following.
2002: Apple’s latest campaign has been greeted with much relief and fanfare by the majority of the Mac press. “Think Different” has finally been put out to the pasture. Beyond retiring a good, if old, campaign, “Real People” (a.k.a. “Switch”) finally puts Apple on a collision course with the Windows world.
2002: Take a much needed three-week vacation, and Apple goes on a small release binge. Go figure. So what did I miss, and what do I think of what I missed?
2002: It’s a game we play – you, me, and Apple. Every once in a while, we all have to upgrade or replace our computers. Apple products are consistently great and always a good buy, but timing is the issue.
2002: So far, the iMac G4 has received a truckload of positive press and is a resounding success for Apple by any measure. Or is it?
2002: The new iMac G4 is a hands-down winner. No one questions there. From the gushing reviews in the Mac press to the gushing reviews in the PC press and to the gushing reviews in the non-tech press, Apple has pretty much wowed everyone. Even absolute Luddites I know have seen pictures of it and […]
2002: Apple is one of the few companies that can really get the hype machine working overtime. Both hardware and software have received the treatment as Apple has released each new product as the one thing that will bring world peace, alleviate famine, and abolish old age. The problem is that the sizzle-versus-steak ratio can […]
2002: My recent articles have focused on the need for Apple to somehow convince consumers that they are playing in the personal entertainment realm as well as the computer business. There are several problems with Apple’s current strategy. For those who haven’t been tuning in regularly, the main one is that a computer, in the […]
2002: As mentioned in my previous article, Apple has been attracting the attention of the mainstream press with its latest iMac. The gushing is much deserved, and hopefully, more people will see Apple in a different light.
2002: Is it just me, or is Apple making waves with its latest round of products? It seems every time I turn to Wired there’s an Apple story somewhere on the main page.
2002: Why is it that the tired old argument that Macs need more market share rears its ugly head every time Apple releases something great? For the last three years, Apple’s products have consistently drawn good reviews and admiring glances. On the software side, Macs (thanks to FreeBSD) are once again becoming respected in IT […]
