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For Mike Yrabedra, the word ‘fun’ has always been synonymous with ‘Macintosh’. "It started out to be a fun business and it just so happened that the Mac was really the nucleus of the whole idea." And so in 1997, Mr. Yrabedra started MacSurfShop.com to make Mac-related T-shirts. Today, the company is known as MacShirt.com…

BusinessWeek’s Alex Salkever says the jury is out on Apple’s retail store effort. This is partially in response to many in the Mac community gloating over Gateway’s decision to shut down its remaining 188 retail stores. Mr. Salkever says that not only should we not be so quick to judgement, but that Apple’s market share…

We reported earlier today that Gateway will be shuttering its fleet of retail stores on April 9th. The real question for Apple watchers, of course, is how does this reflect on Apple’s own retail stores. After all, when Apple first announced its stores, the immediate comparison from many, especially the doomsayers, was to Gateway’s stores.…

In the future, you may see widespread use of Power-based CPUs, but they won’t all be the same chip. According to IBM, future chips from the company will have the ability to be configured based on the needs of the customer. One processor could be optimized for use in anything from a supercomputer to a…

You may be wondering, after reading the title of this column, why I am answering mail after only having written five columns. That’s easy; I am very lazy, and these things just write themselves. Actually, I did receive quite a bit of feedback, and much to my surprise, most of it was positive. I even…

Matt Loney of ZDNet’s UK offices has penned an interesting editorial on the patent application we reported (in a scoop) last week. Mr. Loney questions whether or not Apple truly has anything original that it can properly patent, and he uses an old tit-for-tat story involving Microsoft, General Motors, and Apple to help illustrate his…

It’s early evening, and you are out for a stroll. You are so caught up in the euphoria from the music streaming from you iPod, and the soothing sight of a magnificent sunset, that you don’t notice that a shadowy figure has fallen in behind you. You turn onto a deserted path. From the corner…

Mac users tend to love their iPod minis, but what about Windows users? Forbes is addressing this question with an article looking at the iPod mini and its interaction with Windows. The article looks at the iTunes software, the iPod mini and its accessories, and more. From Forbes: Apple Computer’s iPod mini looks as if…

Apple has been somewhat circumspect about its re-entry into the enterprise and IT markets. Realizing it is the new kid on the block, and that the competition in these markets are already very well established, Apple made it clear from the beginning that it was feeling its way around, but that it was also very…

SxSW was originally a venue for independent artists and film makers to showcase their talents. Long ago, it became dominated by major labels, big Hollywood stars, and other powerful interests in the entertainment industry keen on using the event to promote their latest ventures. Perhaps the most fitting example of this is the fact that…

DVD-Audio, one of the two formats (the other being Super Audio CD, or SACD) vying to be the next-generation music format, will not be freely rippable like CDs are today. However, some discs will include a “DVD-ROM Zone” that is playable in a regular DVD player or DVD-ROM drive. This zone can be used to…

Watch out Apple, here comes Microsoft. CNN is reporting that Microsoft is preparing an "iPod Killer" to be released later this year. These units will be larger and heavier than the iPod, but will have a larger, color screen and play videos and display photos, in addition to playing back MP3 and WMA files. From…

E-Commerce Times has published an interesting interview with Apple VP Ron Okamoto by Robyn Weisman (note that Ms. Weisman also does freelance writing for TMO). Mr. Okamoto is in charge of developer relations at Apple, and the interview focuses on Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC). According to Mr. Okamoto, Apple is seeing more cross-platform…

For years, CPU maker Intel used a marketing campaign that emphasized the raw clock speed of its processors. It worked; millions of PC buyers bought new boxes in a quest for what they perceived as more power. During that same time Apple, using Motorola processors, battled Intel’s marketing ploy by attempting to inform the public…

Exhibition company IDG World Expo released for the first time Friday more accurate, audited attendance figures for last January’s San Francisco-based Macworld Conference & Expo showing a turnout of 32,409. The audited numbers also reflected that the majority of attendees were from California and were primarily graphic designers and company executives. Auditors numbers compiled by…

A little more than a year ago, I wrote a column explaining why it would not make economic sense for Apple to port OS X to x86. This column took the form of an imaginary conversation with a PC Drone that was loosely based on the many arguments I have personally encountered on this subject.…

When running a race, one strategy is to get out front early and maintain your lead. If you are strong enough to stay ahead of the pack, you don’t have to worry about finding elbow room, or saving that little bit of reserve energy for the final sprint near the end; you just cruise and…