News

Back To School In the middle of May, I spent the better part of three days at a local public middle school.  The term "public" school in the US refers to the educational system supported by taxpayers that is available to all children.  We call schools "private" if parents pay a fee to send their…

Apple has reportedly settled a lawsuit with TIBCO over the use of the name “Rendezvous” for Apple’s implementation of the ZeroConf networking protocol. The lawsuit was filed in August of 2003, with TIBCO accusing Apple of knowing that the name was already in use for a networking-related product. In a statement from TIBCO at the…

In an editorial at BusinessWeek, Cliff Edwards looks at capacity claims, and the sound quality issues relating to that, between Apple’s iPod and Sony’s Walkman NW-HD1. At issue is the methodology used by Sony to claim that its 20 GB Walkman can hold more music than Apple’s 20 GB iPod, something only possible by using…

As the final part of our three-part series on the reaction to Macworld Boston 2004, we interviewed TMO staff members to gauge their opinions. The recurring theme: “Who needs Apple?” With everyone’s expectations set so low, the buzz on the show floor was a surprise to us all. For more reaction to Macworld, check out…

This week (July 10-11) in 1981, Apple saw the departure of its first president, Michael "Scotty" Scott. Mr. Scott had been brought in from outside Apple in 19977 to help bring some corporate credibility and direction for the fast growing company. In 1981, however, investors were not happy with Mr. Scott because of some setbacks…

NEW YORK, NY — It’s the ultimate gift for anyone shooting with a video camera. It’s the gift you’d buy yourself if you could afford it. It’s the gift that gets noticed. It’s the gift that’s only US$6,500. It’s the Steadicam Flyer from The Tiffen Company and if you’ve ever been to a sporting event…

Apple announced this morning that it has begun shipping AirPort Express, the company’s portable 802.11g base station. The device was announced in June, and features wireless networking and printing, as well as wireless streaming of music to a stereo or speakers through AirTunes, software that works through iTunes. In the announcement today, Apple claimed 80,000…

NEW YORK, NY — Noticeably absent from Mac Expo this week in Boston, Apple Computer joined a strong contingent of video companies including Adobe, Canon, Panasonic and Sony on Wednesday at the exhibition opening of the third annual Digital Video Expo East at the Jacob K. Javits convention center in New York City. More than…

Office Depot, Inc. will not stock and sell Apple products over the counter at its 800-plus retail stores in the US as part of its new authorized reseller agreement, but that policy could change in the future, a company spokesman told The Mac Observer, Tuesday. “The extent of our relationship with Apple will be determined…

The popularity of the iPod is putting pressure on the copy-protection business. CNet News reported yesterday that the most successful copy-protected CD to date, Contraband by Velvet Revolver, was the subject of many complaints from consumers who couldn’t play music from the CD on their iPod. According to the article, those complaints, and the continuing…

BOSTON, MASS. — An unknown group is urging Bostonians and hotel guests to boycott Macworld. The group is driving a large billboard trailer around the streets of downtown Boston around the convention center area asking people to “Say no to Macworld,” and to “save our jobs.” The billboard also urges people to call the Massachusetts…

[Authors Note: Owen and I are still behind in this series, but are working hard to catch up – Bryan] Jef Raskin is one of the most controversial figures in the Mac’s early days. Indeed, the Mac was originally his project, though the product envisioned by Mr. Raskin bore little resemblance to the computer that…

Being a market leader is tough – being a market leader in the music business is even tougher. Such is the position in which Apple finds itself with the iPod and the iTunes Music Store. Apple’s iPod claims 25% of the market for all digital music players, and a whopping 70% of all legal music…

Companies should consider banning portable storage devices such as Apple’s iPod from corporate personal computers because they can spread viruses or steal critical corporate data, according to the research company Gartner, Inc. The report, obtained by The Mac Observer and issued this week, does not recommend outright the banning of such devices from office environments,…

In a Federal Computer Weekly article about the new Army Xserve supercomputer cluster, an exec with Colsa, the company building the cluster, says that Apple’s Xserve is a superior computer. In the same article, an analyst with Illuminata, Inc. is quoted as saying that "Apple has decided to get fairly serious with servers." Those are…