So here we are, in 1999, looking at an Apple that's the healthiest its been in a decade: we've got these killer consumer-level iMacs that have captured the hearts and minds of the press and the wallets of the public; we've got new translucent professional systems that truly raise the bar for both performance and ease of use; Mac OS X Server is due to ship any day now, as a viable enterprise-quality server platform; QuickTime 4 is nearing completion and is poised to revolutionize the way media is served via the Internet with its new streaming capabilities and open-source approach to server development; and FireWire is heating up and positioning Apple as quite possibly one of the industry leaders as the whole computer landscape morphs and blurs the line between computers and more "pedestrian" consumer electronics. These are exciting times indeed-- so does anyone else think that it's a little strange that the biggest controversy in the Mac community appears to be whether or not the forthcoming consumer portable will include a wind-up power source?

Not that we're complaining, mind you; we at AtAT are always happiest when things border on the mildly surrealistic. That's why we're just a little sad to see that this particular controversy may in fact soon be put to rest, though not with the resolution we would have expected. See, after some rumors sites started talking about the possible release of a crankable P1, and others declared such a rumor utterly laughable, and just about everyone got into the act with an opinion, it appears that a Wired article now brings a solid fact to the table. They quote Rory Freer, a joint chairman of Freeplay Power Group, which is the South African company who is currently making those crankable radios; according to Rory, yes, Apple has been talking to them about "using the technology in future Macintosh products," though he's careful to note that no official deal has yet been hammered out.

So how weird is that? The possibility of a future Apple laptop with a crankable external power supply certainly seems just a little more likely now. Of course, Stear points out that his company doesn't expect to have a product that will work with laptops until next year, so that pretty much rules out any such technology for the first P1, given that it's currently expected to ship sometime between late April and early August. Overall, we have to say, it's kind of nice to receive confirmation that Apple is still willing to think about features that other computer companies might immediately dismiss as simply too goofy to consider; take Sony, for instance, who, when questioned about the possibility of incorporating the wind-up generator into their Vaio laptop product line, flatly stated that they didn't want to turn their computer into "a wind-up toy." Heck, we'd be thrilled to see Apple release a wind-up toy-- we like toys. More toys, we say-- bring 'em on.

Well, whaddaya know-- given the sheer volume of Mac news outlets reporting the fact, we just have to believe the fact that Mac OS X Server has indeed finally reached "golden master" status. That means it's done and ready for duplication, so we figure it'll actually be available for sale within a couple of weeks on the outside. We're anxiously awaiting what happens when it becomes available to people who can use it.

Meanwhile, MacCentral reports that Mac OS X Server has started to appear in mail order catalogs-- at least, one catalog. CDW reportedly includes X Server in their latest catalog; we don't have the catalog ourselves, so we can't confirm that, though we're rather intrigued by MacCentral's description of the ad. Specifically, the fact that the ad "features a box significantly differing from the one currently displayed on Apple's web site" makes us a little suspicious. According to MacCentral, the box "says 'MacX' instead of 'Mac OS X Server'" and "features a large 3D 'X' and a pull-down menu in the background." We think that MacCentral must be unaware that "MacX" is Apple's Macintosh X server software, which allows the running of remote X-based Unix applications on a Mac; Apple announced version 2.0 back in 1997, and the product is still on the current finished goods price list for educational purchasers. (The Mac X graphic pretty much matches the description of the box featured in CDW's ad.) Either someone screwed up at CDW and used the wrong graphic, or the ad is actually for Mac X and not Mac OS X Server.

There's no indication of how much CDW is charging for Mac OS X Server in its catalog, but do ya wanna hear something else interesting? This is definitely just a rumor right now, but an anonymous Apple employee contacted us with some info about Mac OS X Server's pricing. Since the product isn't out yet, Apple hasn't officially announced its price, but it's been widely reported that a copy of X Server would cost just a hair under $1000, bundled with WebObjects and a QuickTime 4 Streaming server. But this anonymous Apple source claims that when the price is officially made public, we'll be pleasantly surprised-- at least one configuration of the OS will cost well under $500, which, we suppose, puts it more in the same price range as Windows NT. And just like with NT, X Server's support won't be free; in fact, it wouldn't surprise us at all if Apple expects to make more money off of X Server technical support than from the sale of the OS itself. Hmmm...

We don't know how many of you are aware of this, but it's an established fact that 83% of the world's Internet-enabled population doesn't get its recommended daily allowance of irony. We consider this to be a shocking situation, given how simple it is to get the vital irony one needs to remain a well-balanced and critical member of the online community. Therefore, as a public service to our faithful viewers, we thought we'd point out a New York Times story which provides an average adult with a full day's supply of the critical mind-nutrient.

It seems that, even as they are fighting this big ol' antitrust lawsuit tooth and nail, Microsoft is simultaneously trying to enlist the help of the very same Department of Justice that's trying to bust them for anticompetitive business practices. Apparently Microsoft has been trying to break into the e-commerce travel scene with their "MSN Expedia" site, and together with a bunch of other online travel agents, they feel that the nation's airlines are illegally squelching competition in the area of online ticket sales. Sure, it's a completely different set of issues than those that figure in the "Redmond Justice" trial, but we still find the whole thing ironic... Especially since Microsoft is specifically trying to enlist the help of Joel Klein, the head of the DoJ's antitrust division-- and the very guy who "masterminded the lawsuit against Microsoft."

Irony deficiency in adolescents and adults has been linked to such various and diverse symptoms as a tendency to believe anything one reads, the inability to recognize obvious sarcasm without relying on the crutch of "smileys," and the eventual attitude that "AOL is actually pretty cool after all." So while you're busy cursing Microsoft for secretly implanting trackable ID numbers in your Office documents and releasing software as clunky as that Windows operating system you have to use at work, make sure you're simultaneously thanking them for being such a rich source of the dietary irony you need each day to stay net-healthy. Heck, that's some irony right there. See how easy it is to get your daily dose, if you try?