Wow, now we know we're off our game-- must be this wacky Leap Year thing. See, generally we don't get surprised by a new Apple TV commercial popping up during our favorite shows, because being the with-it, plugged-in people we are, we usually know well in advance when Apple's planning to hawk its wares with a shiny new thirty-second ad. For one thing, those commercials are typically test-driven first during a Stevenote address, with the audience applause-o-meter determining which get the heaviest airplay and which get left on the cutting-room floor. All those iMovie/desktop video ads, for example? Steve showed them in January at the Expo. Yeah, the "iMovie directed by Dad" one was quite a bit different when it finally hit the airwaves (that overplayed Green Day ballad had been replaced by Dylan's "Forever Young," for better or for worse), but that was the biggest surprise, really.

So there we were, kicking back in the AtAT Green Room (it's not green, but it is a room-- one out of two ain't bad) and watching Angel as per our Tuesday night ritual, when this commercial comes on. There's a slow horizontal pan across various formalwear elements laid out on a table as some mellow jazz plays in the background. Suddenly the unmistakable voice of Jeff Goldblum intones, "The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of power and elegance..." At that point, we realize we're watching what can only be an Apple commercial. Of course, the iBook Special Edition! Now how'd that one sneak by us? Even if this commercial was "pre-flight tested" at the Tokyo Expo where the iBook SE made its debut, without a webcast available, we'd only know if someone told us. And the odds are pretty good that if Apple had this commercial ready at that time, they may not have played it for a Japanese audience anyway.

Still, though, that's no excuse for having been caught totally off-guard. After all, the iMac DV Special Edition had its own commercial, so at the very least this "Formal Wear" ad should have been on our radar. Nope, we just got sloppy. How sloppy? Well, AppleLinks claims that this ad's been available in QuickTime format at Apple's web site since Monday. You mean this thing was public for a full day before we saw it? 'Fraid so. Hmmm, we've really got to watch less TV. Or more. Depends on your perspective, we guess.

Ah, yes, the "School Thing." There was a time not all that long ago when "Apple" and "Education" were virtually synonymous when it came to computing. It's funny how quickly and yet how gradually stuff like that can change, isn't it? Not that Apple's left education behind or anything, but just a couple of years ago the big "E" was listed as one of the company's two "core markets" (the other being media creation), while today Apple's perceived largely as a consumer computer company. What a difference an iMac makes... even though the iMac is a perfect system for many educational environments, it's always been marketed as a "home" computer, and the reputation sticks. As a matter of fact, we haven't thought much about Apple and the educational market for quite a while now.

That's not to say that Apple's turned its back on that market, by any means; after all, it represents one of the few circles in which the company's installed base is competitive with the Wintel juggernaut. So while it took us a moment to recall that today's Apple-- the "Sony" of the computer world-- also has that whole education thing going for it, once we backpedaled into that mode, Apple's latest press release seemed perfectly natural. See, we're smack in the middle of the annual Florida Educational Technology Conference, so it's as good a time as any for Apple to roll out its new Apple Learning Solutions, consisting of three complementary components.

First there's the Apple Learning Interchange, the members-only web site that provides educators with all kinds of specialized content, including QuickTime TV video; Apple bills it as "the place to go for electronic field trips, technology demonstrations and special presentations by education experts." Backing that up in April will be the Apple Learning Series, a pack of nine software titles targeted at the K-12 market, integrating "leading software applications" with "online student projects and staff development, all correlated to state and national education standards." And finally there's Apple Learning Professional Development, a series of "online and leader-led courses" intended to train educators in how to use technology to teach more effectively. That's a triple dose of gooey education goodness. Web sites and software and training, oh my! Sounds like Apple's not quite ready to abdicate the Education throne just yet.

Those owners of older iMacs who have been holding their breath awaiting news of Newer Technology's fate can now heave a sigh of relief. Word of Newer's money woes had put many people on edge, especially those interested in the company's latest innovation in a long line of creative solutions: the iMAXPowr Processor Upgrade. Yep, this funky new product lets you upgrade a 233-333 MHz iMac to a blistering 466 MHz. Yet shortly after the iMAXpowr was announced, it looked like few, if any, customers would actually be able to buy one; last month Newer sent a letter to its creditors requesting extensions on its outstanding debts, revealing dangerous financial difficulties and alluding to the possibility of having to file for bankruptcy protection.

But like we said, relief is in sight. Newer's home page now shows a smiling "iPresident" John Nelson, grinning because of an equity business partnership between his company and Tri-M. In his open letter, Nelson describes how Tri-M, the Singapore manufacturing company who has built Newer's products for the past several months, has invested in Newer Technology and will provide both much-needed financial support and "management talent." As a condition of the deal, the managing director of Tri-M, Gerald Minjoot, is now Newer's CEO and chairman of the board. You can dig up more details of the new arrangements in Newer's press release.

Personally, though, we'd rather just leave the business to the businesspeople. The big picture from our perspective is this: the iMAXpowr is now available, orders are being taken at the recently-launched Newer Store, and now regular folks like you and us don't have to worry so much about the company who makes it going bust overnight. Happiness and joy all around! Now let's see... can we justify spending $499 to double the speed of our Bondi Blue buddy?...