Over the last couple of years, there have been a lot of changes in the Apple world, to be sure. For one thing, what was once a raging torrent of red ink the likes of which were not previously witnessed since those elevator doors opened in Stanley Kubrick's cinematic interpretation of Stephen King's The Shining has since transformed almost magically into a steady stream of black ink. Then there's the fact that Apple was nary a blip on the consumer retail landscape, whereas these days the iMac continues to sell well, particularly to households who have never owned a computer before. And the advertising scene has changed pretty drastically, too-- these days, you actually see Apple ads in places other than Mac-specific magazines. See? There are all kinds of big differences.

Of course, some things never change. Take, for example, the way the PC world comes out with a new "innovation" and grabs all the credit-- about three years after Apple had already "been there, done that," but Apple gets nary a footnote in the mainstream press. The particular instance that's got us thinking about this phenomenon is detailed in a CNET article about Gateway's new "all-in-one" computer design. In Japan, Gateway is selling a PC that integrates the computer's motherboard, hard drive, and other components into a single enclosure that also houses the display. Sound familiar? Sure, it's reminiscent of the iMac, and even of the original 1984 "toaster-style" Macintosh, but the Gateway unit differs from those all-in-one designs in that it uses an active-matrix flat-panel display like those used in laptop computers. The result is a very flat, space-efficient design that's expected to go over big in Japan. It's new and exciting!

So, uh, can anyone say Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh? As in, released by Apple in 1997? The TAM, also known by its code name of "Spartacus," beat Gateway to the punch by integrating a vertically-oriented motherboard and an LCD flat-panel display into a single unit. It's also about a gazillion times more beautiful than Gateway's rather uninteresting and pedestrian interpretation. In addition, other innovations in the Spartacus included a breakthrough Bose sound system (which apparently integrated a subwoofer with the unit's power supply), a special way to allow a single PCI card to be installed even in the system's superthin design via the use of a separate "backpack" rear cover, and-- perhaps most distinctively-- a ridiculously high price tag. The Spartacus debuted at a jaw-dropping $9000. Somehow we doubt that PC manufacturers will be ripping off that particular Apple innovation anytime soon...

Want proof that Apple still has a ways to go before they're out of the woods? We admit, it can be hard to believe, given how much better things are now than they were a few years ago, but there's definitely still room for improvement. For one thing, even though lots of developers who left the Mac platform behind are now starting to come back because of the iMac's popularity, occasionally we still see companies leaving the party, just when things are getting good. Case in point: Hewlett-Packard. According to a MacWEEK article, HP has officially confirmed that it has "ended development in the Mac scanner market."

What this means is that HP's current generation of ScanJet scanners-- which are incompatible with the latest Power Macs-- will stay that way. Furthermore, don't expect any more Mac-compatible scanners from now on, unless they reverse their official decision; their web site states quite clearly that their "solution" (!) to the issue of Mac support is that their scanner division "has moved out of the Macintosh environment," a decision that was "based solely on market needs and revenue" because "the current Macintosh market is relatively small" compared to the Wintel juggernaut. Mmm, some solution. Thanks for nothing.

What's particularly interesting about this "solution" is that, with the iMac's terrific sales performance and Apple's year-over-year unit growth outpacing the industry as a whole, the Mac's installed base must be growing faster now that at any other time in the last several years. So why would HP pick now, of all times, to bail out? Then again, it's not like we particularly need HP, given the other scanner options available to Mac users; in fact, we're hard-pressed to think of any Mac users we know who have bought an HP scanner within the last five years. Most people seem to opt for offerings from Umax, Epson, and Agfa, so maybe it's no big loss. (By the way, for those of you who are fans of HP printers, fear not-- the Mac printer division isn't jumping ship. Yet.)

Still getting psyched up for the return of "Redmond Justice"? 'Cause we sure are. If it were only going to be shown in theaters, we'd probably already be camped out for tickets by now. After all, Star Wars: Episode I may have been the culmination of sixteen long years of waiting by millions of fans, but "Redmond Justice" has been on hiatus for three months now! That's three whole months of painfully awaiting the continuation of the defining drama of a whole generation. It's been nearly unbearable.

But while the best news is that the case will officially be back in session in only nine more days, there are other reasons to cheer. For example, there's all that preparation for going back into the courtroom-- such as the out-of-court depositions of the six rebuttal witnesses slotted to take the stand. Guess what? Those depositions are public, and that's as good as "scenes from next's week's all-new Redmond Justice." Take Steve Case of America Online; he's being brought in by Microsoft as a "hostile witness," and on Friday he threw the Redmond legal team a bit of a curve. An Inter@ctive Week article has the juicy details.

Apparently Case conceded that AOL had in fact managed to bribe, cajole, threaten, or otherwise influence PC manufacturers to feature AOL's online service right on the desktops of most machines sold; Microsoft has long maintained that that fact proves that Microsoft doesn't have nearly as much monopoly control over the PC makers as people say they do. Point for Microsoft, right? Except that Case went on to explain that his company "still needed Microsoft to include AOL with every copy of Windows" so that they didn't "fall behind." It seems that once Microsoft and AOL hammered out a deal, AOL no longer needed to wheel and deal with PC makers, because those manufacturers were already required by Microsoft's iron fist to include Windows on every system-- and Windows included AOL. Sounds like a monopoly to us. See? Good things come to those who wait. And in nine days we're hoping for some real fireworks...