[MyAppleMenu] Sep 15, 2000

[applesurf at myapplemenu.comapplesurf]

MyAppleMenu Newsletter

== AppleSurf (Top Stories) ==============

OS X: Our New War (osOpinion)
<http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/JackShedd/JackShedd13.html>
With Aqua, Apple has removed 15 years of progress and started afresh. They've put us 10 years behind, and now, we have to climb that mountain all over again.

Plastic Classic? (Forbes)
<http://www.forbes.com/forbes/00/1002/6609186a.htm>
A tissue holder can maintain an elegant aloofness. The Cube has to accommodate ugly cables unseen in Apple's ads.

Ad Agency Threatens Mac Media (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2628268,00.html>
Apple Computer Inc.'s advertising agency is offering Mac publications a choice: Get out of the rumors business or lose Apple's business.

== AppleSurf (News) ==============

NC School System Abandoning The Mac? (MacCentral)
<http://www.maccentral.com/news/0009/14.school.shtml>
According to a former employee, Guilford County School system in Greensboro, NC, will no longer be purchasing Macs, though the school is very Mac-centric.

Apple Expo Maintains Momentum (Pfeiffer Report)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2628157,00.html>
Apple Computer Inc. may have launched most of its Apple Expo 2000 pyrotechnics during CEO Steve Jobs' keynote speech Wednesday, but interest in the Mac show hasn't flagged yet. Big crowds continued to fill the Porte de Versailles convention center here as the show entered its second day Thursday, with long lines outside the show in the morning, crowded aisles and a continuing lack of air conditioning.

Ad Agency Threatens Mac Media (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2628268,00.html>
Apple Computer Inc.'s advertising agency is offering Mac publications a choice: Get out of the rumors business or lose Apple's business.

Office 2001 For The Mac Wins A Ship Date (TechWeb)
<http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000914S0025>
The day after Apple Computer Inc. rolled out the first public beta of the long-awaited Mac OS X, Microsoft Corp. disclosed shipping, pricing, and system requirements for Microsoft Office 2001 Macintosh Edition.

An Inside Look At Mac's OS X (CNN)
<http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/09/14/osx.lefevre/index.html>
The real magic, as Steve Jobs demonstrated for us, is that the computer can have nearly all of these programs open at the same time without fear of crashing.

== AppleSurf (Opinions) ==============

Apple's Strong-Arm Gambit: It's All About Control (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2628382,00.html>
Just when the American presidential race threatens to bore the body politic to death, Apple Computer Inc. has rescued the day by inserting itself into the lead of yet another juicy soap opera.

OS X: Our New War (osOpinion)
<http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/JackShedd/JackShedd13.html>
With Aqua, Apple has removed 15 years of progress and started afresh. They've put us 10 years behind, and now, we have to climb that mountain all over again.

OS X: Our New War  (osOpinion)
<http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/JackShedd/JackShedd13.html>
"This is the Mac users new war. Not against Windows, or Linux, or god help it Be, no, it's against our own machines. We have to fight to get it back to our standards, and, in truth, we're going to have a lot of causalities. The Mac's disadvantages are too noticeable to be ignored. It lacks in the areas that make up our greatest concerns. Software, pricing, and support by third-party vendors." 

== AppleSurf (Reviews) ==============

iBooks (themestream)
<http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_article.gsp?c_id=175012&id_list=&cookied=T>
The problem with this "revision" is that it hasn't solved the most fundamental design / feature problems of the iBook. This "revision" did fix many minor complaints. But, very much like the Apple hockey puck mouse and the Apple USB keyboard, I believe that the iBook has a fundamental design inconvenience that can only be addressed with a drastic product remodeling.

Microsoft Office 2001 Macintosh Edition (CNET)
<http://www.cnet.com/software/0-3670-7-2768501.html?tag=st.cn.1.tlpg.3670-7-2768501>
It's not perfect--2001 hogs memory and disk space--but all in all, when it hits the market on October 11, Office 2001 will be a must-buy upgrade for anyone already using Office and the perfect substitute for those fed up with the weaker AppleWorks.

New iBook Vs PowerBook: The Real Deal (The Macjunkie)
<http://www.themacjunkie.com/archives/9.14.00.books.html>
Certainly the PowerBook is at a slight advantage in some areas, but I'm ready to defend the iBook SE's overall price/product superiority.

Plastic Classic? (Forbes)
<http://www.forbes.com/forbes/00/1002/6609186a.htm>
A tissue holder can maintain an elegant aloofness. The Cube has to accommodate ugly cables unseen in Apple's ads.

== The Wintel Empire (Top Stories) ==============

Faster Notebooks Target Bigger Spenders (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2628250,00.html>
Intel chases high-end users with its new mobile Penitum IIIs, the fastest chips ever for notebook PCs. And the retail 'sweet spot' is on the rise.

== The Wintel Empire (News) ==============

Faster Notebooks Target Bigger Spenders (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2628250,00.html>
Intel chases high-end users with its new mobile Penitum IIIs, the fastest chips ever for notebook PCs. And the retail 'sweet spot' is on the rise.

Microsoft Offers Free WebTV Service To MSN Subscribers (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-2779305.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni>
Microsoft has quietly begun offering free WebTV to new MSN subscribers, hoping to lure more customers for the interactive TV service, the company confirmed.

MS Windows Licenses Shrink To Barcodes - Unique IDs Here We Come? (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/13259.html>

Drivers For (Windows) Me? (PCWorld)
<http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,18469,00.html>
Microsoft's newly released Windows Millennium doesn't seem to share Windows 2000's compatibility challenge.

Office 2001 For The Mac Wins A Ship Date (TechWeb)
<http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000914S0025>
The day after Apple Computer Inc. rolled out the first public beta of the long-awaited Mac OS X, Microsoft Corp. disclosed shipping, pricing, and system requirements for Microsoft Office 2001 Macintosh Edition.

== Breaking Barriers (Top Stories) ==============

The Cost Of COPPA: Kids' Site Stops Talking (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2627742,00.html>
With a possible shrinking child-safe space on the Web, the end result may be the direct opposite of what COPPA was designed to do.

== Breaking Barriers (News) ==============

Microsoft Offers Free WebTV Service To MSN Subscribers (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-2779305.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni>
Microsoft has quietly begun offering free WebTV to new MSN subscribers, hoping to lure more customers for the interactive TV service, the company confirmed.

The Cost Of COPPA: Kids' Site Stops Talking (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2627742,00.html>
With a possible shrinking child-safe space on the Web, the end result may be the direct opposite of what COPPA was designed to do.

Courtney Love Demands Some MP3.com Cash (Upside)
<http://www.upside.com/News/39c0353b0.html>

Disney Redesigns Go.com In Push To Attract Surfers (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/15/technology/15WEB.html>
For users, it is a much leaner model, focused almost entirely on searching, rather than the complex, all-purpose vehicle of Go's previous design. As a business, think Nascar, not Formula One, as the site is covered with more and bigger ads than any of its rivals.

== SingaporeSurf (Top Stories) ==============

Singaporeans Know A Thing Or Two About Porn (Time)
<http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/asiabuzz/2000/09/14/>
Hypocrisy is a wonderful thing to behold. And there seems to be a fair bit in Singapore when it comes to the vexed questions of pornography and access to the Internet. For a place that purports not to have any, I've never heard or seen as many references to porn as I have in the 18 months I've been based here. Singaporeans seem to know a thing or two about it.

For Love Of Country (Time)
<http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0918/singapore.viewpoint.html>
Straitlaced Singapore has good reason to push for more babies.

== SingaporeSurf (News) ==============

It's Not Hyde Park, But Speakers' Corner Gives Singapore's People Greater Voice (Asiaweek)
<http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/magazine/2000/0915/nat.singapore.html>
Welcome to free speech Singapore-style.

For Love Of Country (Time)
<http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0918/singapore.viewpoint.html>
Straitlaced Singapore has good reason to push for more babies.

Speakers' Corner 'A Worthwhile Step', Says SM Lee (Project Eyeball)
<http://eyeball.asia1.com.sg/Eyeball/Story/1,1381,3244,00.html?>
SM Lee pointed out that more Singaporeans now travelled and studied abroad. So, they were "better educated", "more exposed to the world than ever before" and were returning with "new ideas".

== SingaporeSurf (Technology) ==============

Singaporeans Know A Thing Or Two About Porn (Time)
<http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/asiabuzz/2000/09/14/>
Hypocrisy is a wonderful thing to behold. And there seems to be a fair bit in Singapore when it comes to the vexed questions of pornography and access to the Internet. For a place that purports not to have any, I've never heard or seen as many references to porn as I have in the 18 months I've been based here. Singaporeans seem to know a thing or two about it.