Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

January 10

Next Generation online - my fave game site gives Steve Jobs exposure after 2 years of doing the same with Bill Gates. What's the report? Not much - since it was basically a 10% quotable fluff piece after 90% of narration and overbites. Still there was some interresting take-homes from the whole mess. J.C went Mac-happy after his on-stage appearance at MacWorld giving a major mind erasure to his own damn company's mega-loss in money with Quake. Well, that's peechy, perhaps two gongs to the accounting department will seal the bill. In other news, Next-Gen notes the layoffs in the game hooks division a full minute before Steve goes on record to mention the department was re-instated. Now who has done the off-again on-again with this one folks? Is Steve really serious on games - or is he just answering the critics as long as it suits his aim? Wait 4 months and get back to me on this one. At the same time - this is the only pub and site to actually catch Steve saying "people don't buy PC's to play playstation games". Well duh SJ, they buy PSX's to play PSX games. Who-duh-thunkit? Speaking of PSX emulation, seems that Connectix is in enough hot water as it is so you don't have to worry about this product ever hitting the retailer's shelves. It's over before the cellulite woman had a chance to sing off some calories. On the whole, Apple has Quake 3. So does Linux so Apple matches the fringe on this report. As far as the rest of the gaming world - it's just another byline for the headlines that still read, "Mac's have dick for games - just ask Douglas Adams".

January 11
Back in Germany - Mac OS users are raising quite a havok. Seems the first protest letter went south beyond the radar of Apple Computer - and the pro-deutchland people are just about to call it a day. Besides trying to figure out of the tax man in Berlin is calling the shots for the higher prices - most Germans are still trying to fathom why Apple has turned it's back on the German people worse than the day the Apple IIGS got the snot beat out of it by Atari and Commodore during the great American CPU invasion of the late 80's. Seems that German MacOS users have already taken note of the new G3's being wholly unafordable against the mark currancy wise, and iMac is still a flop regardless of color scheme. They don't have much in the way of hope of a future soundbite from Apple after their previously failed first attempt to get some attention. This might change, but I doubt it. In any case rest-assured that the fatherland will undoubtedly be Wintel only by the year 2001.

January 12

In other micro-news, the MacMarines' own ranks are openly wondering if this whole "iMac keyboard and mouse" situation is such a hot idea. Initally - it was just fine and dandy when it was for the newbies and their starter macs, but those with actual desktop G3 and G4 macs, they're not so sure they want to learn how to type and mouse north again. The fact that it's the MacMarines themselves being the harbinger of doubt and not MSNBC or other newsites is interresting, but suffice it to say that Apple's own pundits are now loudly sceaming for a USB complient real-world keyboard and mouse instead of a manditory model that has made the world wonder (yet again) if Apple's design group has taken a great leap off the abyss of ergonomics. I have no comment since my Thinkpad and Microsoft mouse have served me well beyond the nightmare of using Apple's own split ergonomic keyboard which gave new meaning to the word terror. A nitpick observation day overall, but still fun to dwell on.

January 13

Going back too the MacMarines for a moment, probably too many times for my own good, they also reported that the whole Sony/Connectix thing has already gone into the legal zone and that it's history time for Connectix. Marines on the show floor reported mum's the word from Connectix after several Sony reps purchased two copies of the now infamous PSX emulator from the show floor to sequester them for patent violation inspections and other legal sundries. It's obvious now that Sony found something, because this week they've filed lawsuites of devestating nature that (oddly enough) even MacWeek.com hasn't noticed in light of ignpsx.com's news reports. All MacWeek.com's newsbites have referenced are the hobby sites rumor mongering - not the announcement from Sony. Funny that - either I've blown the great geekpress masters away - or they don't know where to look. Perhaps it's too embarrasing not to cover-up or at the very least, convienently overlook. Well skullduggery aside, on the direct question approach, this site is still getting boring form-letter denials from Connectix. This week's forcast? B-Bye Connectix - nice to have known you while your ass is destroyed in court. I still find it very wierd that this is the only site to see the formal lawsuit announcement from Sony on ignpsx.com while the rest of the Mac community is openly wondering when the emulator will come out.

January 14

John Carmack from ID has been getting a hell of a beating on just about every damn Apple sycophant attended website out there - and for what? Speaking his mind on the MacOS predisposition twords crashing like a Kennedy off a bridge? In any case, JC posted a finger clarifier on his email adress which has been mirrored on several sites that cover it. Including Next-Genration.com and webdog.org. It's the longest finger in telnet history by far - try it at "finger johnc@idsoftware.com" for your in your face opinion from the great Doom/Quake master. It's recently a scathing apologist letter for appearing on stage while holding less than 90% of the mac toolset and OS dear to his heart in front of the AppleJihad community. Naturally Mackido.com went apeshit about the whole mess. But mindblowingly, without sounding like idiots, they acutally, grundingly accepted the fact that without major code-tools you can't make a Mac or any Apple box behave squat - and that (omygod) MEMORY PROTECTION actually has a use in the development cycle. Still ID is going ahead with Quake III since ID has money to burn in leau of the Quake debacle. Perhaps after the 7 figure money loss of III they'll learn something about Apple's business model instead of just their oddball hardware and development configurations.

January 15

While Microsoft get's it's cream-pie taste from the DOJ like so many others including Xerox, IBM and AT&T, it might harken Apple to note that they are on thin ice with thier requirements of Apple dealerships and priceing within. Take www.osopinion.com which notes that several midwestern suppliers have been shut out as bad as Australia which is paying DOUBLE the USA cost for iMacs. Sorry don't like it? Tough tits. Given the low-probability outcome of a DOJ/Microsoft hell outcome it's safe to say that this can of worms probably won't be opened for the general public anytime soon. Lord knows, if Microsoft actually LOST the DOJ case, all those cockey posts from the MacJihad would immediately go into the fear-file as all hell breaks loose on one federal misadventure probe after another - from Apple, to AOL, to Sun. If you don't believe it - just check out what happened to everyone after Nintendo after 1989. Nintendo bullies retailers, Nintendo bullies game manufacturing, diddly/squat happens, Sony Sega and everyone else continue the same old same old. For Apple's sake - pray that Microsoft wins. There's a lot of angry grey - market, unlicensed Apple dealers that would like a word with the Feds.

January 16

Easy come easy go according to British press, following an interresting blurb at the MacWorld Expo. Seems the G-Tower cases that allow easy access, provided some interresting five finger discounts in the way of hard-disks and memory chips twords the black market's hands. In spite of increased security after the first day of mayhem, the thefts didn't abate after shell after shell of fasionable bondi-blue towers came up short in memory or HD functionality by the second day of the show. It reminds me of 1991 when I was tempted to do the same thing to the Mac IIfx's that an early employer was using. In spite of the fact that I didn't relish the idea if being pegged for breaking the law, I had to stave off the easy access architecture of those MacII cases that held tasty memory chips just a few inches inside. Imagine! This was when NeXT was charging a grand a meg! And these SIMMS were the same damn speed that I needed! To make it even easier, the darn office hadn't installed system 7.0 so the darn OS couldn't see further than 8 megs anyway! By the time they'd install it I could have been long gone. Well, even though I survived and avoided commiting a felony it's obvious many MacWorld expo goers - didn't. So while the easy tech access of the new towers may be a godsend to the IT deptartment - it's a bigger blessing for others with fewer ethics than me. Good luck adminstrators, you'll need it.