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Credit Where Credit's Due (5/24/99)
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Sometimes the tritest of expressions fits perfectly (there's a reason they're trite, after all), so we have no particular problem with saying, "when it rains, it pours." Just yesterday we pointed out a CNET article which discusses Gateway's "innovative" new all-in-one computer system, which integrates an active-matrix LCD display into the same case as its other Wintel guts. Of course, what the article doesn't mention is that Apple released the breathtaking Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh two years ago, which, in addition to being an all-in-one LCD-based desktop system, also contained plenty of other nifty features that make it significantly more innovative than Gateway's new offering; the primary distinguishing characteristic of the Gateway all-in-one seems to be that it's butt-ugly, but even that's no innovation in the Wintel world.
Anyway, the electromagnetic waves of that broadcast had barely left our solar system when we noticed, with the help of O'Grady's PowerPage, that now Sony is claiming an innovation that Apple cranked out years ago. In particular, they're touting the "MAX Battery" feature of their new VAIO laptops, which allows the systems to use two batteries simultaneously to increase battery life to "up to eight hours" of juice. PowerBook fans will raise a cry of protest when they see the statement that "this dual-battery feature is only brought to you by Sony."
Hmm, what's the word we're looking for... it's right on the tip of our collective tongue, it's a short word, generally denotes an unambiguous negative... oh, that's right, it's "NO." The latest "bronze" PowerBook G3s (when they actually ship) support dual batteries for up to ten hours of off-the-grid use. The just-retired "original" Wall Street PowerBook G3 Series also offered dual-battery support. Heck, if you want to trace the real source of this innovation, you have to dig back through five years of Apple history to 1994's PowerBook 500 Series. Not that Sony's VAIO laptops don't include some excellent features that we wouldn't mind seeing in Apple PowerBooks, mind you, like some truly thin-and-light designs and portables with built-in digital cameras, but for them to claim that their systems are the only ones with dual battery-support is just plain wrong. What's next, Dell claiming that their laptops are the first to ship with trackpads?
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SceneLink (1558)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 5/24/99 episode: May 24, 1999: AppleShare IP customers may think the feature set of the latest version is the cat's pyjamas, but the price tag ain't no blue light special. Meanwhile, TNT's "Pirates of Silicon Valley" makes a surprise debut in the middle of the night, a month ahead of schedule, and Sony claims that their new VAIO portables are the only laptops with dual-battery support...
Other scenes from that episode: 1556: The OTHER Server Tax (5/24/99) Guess what? AppleShare IP 6.2 is out. For the uninitiated, AppleShare IP is a nifty product that serves files to any computer, whether it's a Mac, a PC, or a Unix system. It boasts a slick users-and-groups management interface, excellent performance, and (perhaps best of all) to Windows users, it just looks like another Windows fileserver, which means you can run it in Mac-hostile environments for a few months before casually mentioning to the head of finance that all those spreadsheets he's been storing and retrieving are being served from a Mac... 1557: Them Pirates Are Sneaky (5/24/99) See?! See what happens when you go to bed early instead of staying up late channel-surfing? Here we are, anxiously counting down the days until the June 20th premiere of TNT's special made-for-cable original movie "The Pirates of Silicon Valley," which tells the story of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs in their respective rises to fortune in a decidedly soap-operatic light-- when faithful viewer Matthew Younce writes in to tell us that he saw it on TNT late last night: "I wasn't sleeping, and was flipping channels about 2:45 when I saw Noah Wyle sitting barefoot with his feet on the table...
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