Well, the Super Bowl is over, and we've got a few friends back in the Midwest who probably aren't too happy with the results (cheer up Barry, there's always next year!). And while AtAT was remaining Swissly neutral in the famed confrontation-- like we'd really miss the X-Files for a sporting event, even if it is a rerun-- we are shocked to hear that Apple didn't broadcast any commercials during the game.

Why are we so surprised? Because rumors had been flying that Apple had purchased a couple of spots hush-hush-style, and was planning to use them to show the Muhammad Ali spots they previewed during the November 10th media circus. (Other rumors implied that Apple might have a top-secret Khmer Rouge commercial up its sleeve, but a little digging revealed that Apple was likely not involved.)

In fact, the only indication we had that Apple would be passing on the big game was the little matter of an official Apple spokesperson telling us so, citing the ridiculous costs involved, and saying that Apple would be launching a new series of "Think Different" ads later this month instead. Now, come on; with hints that subtle, how can anyone possibly expect us to keep up? Honestly...

Spooky. Faithful viewer Avi Rappoport was kind enough to point us towards an incredibly outdated Apple web page called Platforms and Technologies, which serves as a virtual museum of Apple technologies that haven't survived the company's "shrinkage" over the last couple of years. (She's notified the Apple webmaster, so the page may be gone by the time you read this.)

Among the Walking Dead we note the following:

• Apple AIX Servers, which were those big, cool cabinet deals that ran IBM's version of UNIX
• QuickDraw GX, the next-generation display technology that never caught on enough to really take off
• PowerTalk, the confusing collaboration technology that made a short-lived appearance in System 7.5 after debuting in System 7 Pro (we think)
• OpenDoc, the component software technology that allows the embedding of multiple "parts" in any document
• Cyberdog, the still-cool OpenDoc-based internet suite which was supposed to spawn a whole slew of third-party replacement parts (and didn't)
• CHRP, the open-standards hardware platform that was going to revolutionize the Mac cloning business
• PiPPIN, the home set-top console that served as a game system with net-surfing capabilities and was priced too highly to compete

We don't consider Game Sprockets dead, though it's certainly been "de-emphasized." And the Newton project isn't exactly what we'd call "happy," now, either.

That's certainly a pretty impressive list of projects that didn't survive the cuts (although PowerTalk should have had a stake driven its ill-executed heart before it ever made it out of the evil labs). Perhaps Apple will leave this page up as a reminder of better days-- and harder times.

After yesterday's bit on the new "high-end" Powermac G3 and its measly three PCI slots troubling some digital video types who just gotta have their six, we thought we should mention that not everybody in that business is too broken up about losing their slots. In fact, more and more digital video solutions may become usable on Apple's three-slot machines. MacWEEK has the details.

For starters, there's Media 100 Inc., who just last week certified the G3 systems as the very first three-slot machines fast enough to use its video products, which all use only one or two slots. And while many professional systems require four cards (video-in, video-out, audio, and accelerated storage I/O for RAID), apparently most manufacturers are working on consolidating all of those functions on one or two cards.

But what about those folks who have already invested a ton of cash into PCI cards that they can't cram into a new G3 system? They have a few options. First, there's the possibility of getting a six-slot 9600 or a UMAX clone and a third-party G3 upgrade. Otherwise, they can putter along on whatever system they're using now and sit tight until Apple releases its new six-slot machines based on the G4 processor later this year. And lastly, they can offer us obscene amounts of cash to buy our six-slot PowerTower Pro, which we would miss dearly-- until about about three seconds after out G3 system arrived. Any takers?