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20 Episodes of "Alice" (10/17/99)
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Okay, now that we've got cool new iMacs on the shelves, iBooks trickling into the channel (albeit at the rate of a tranquilized sloth), and the brand-new Power Mac G4 ("Now even slower for your safety!"), it's time for Apple to focus on updating the fourth quadrant of its Amazing Grid O' Products. We speak, of course, of the professional portable line, also known as the PowerBook. The PowerBook G3 last got a refresh back in May, when the "bronze" models introduced a lighter, slimmer design, a longer battery life, and most importantly, an Apple logo that glows brightly when the unit is on. But that was five whole months ago, and compared to the other three products in Apple's line-up, the PowerBook is starting to look positively outdated.
And it shows, too-- in the sales numbers, which, according to Apple Insider, have been less than stellar recently. And that isn't all that surprising, either, considering that people who need a portable Mac now have the iBook as an option as well. Clearly, the PowerBook is going to need a serious dose of mojo in order to keep up with the rest of the Mac party. Reportedly, that's just what's going to happen when Apple unveils the next PowerBook at the Macworld Expo this January. We're talking G3s running at up to 500MHz, dual USB ports, on-board FireWire (finally!), and an Airport slot and built-in antennae. (Does anyone else find it strange that Apple's professional laptop is its last product to gain seamless wireless networking capability?)
The real killer, though, is what Apple Insider is saying about the new PowerBook's battery life. Because the new "Pismo" logic board is based on the energy-efficient Single Common Unified Architecture (SCUA? Who comes up with this stuff?), Apple may be able to squeeze a whopping 8-10 hours of life out of each battery. Can you just see the ad campaign? "Enough juice to watch Austin Powers. Six times." Or, better yet, "Enough juice to watch Andy Warhol's Empire. Once. With a little luck. Assuming you really want to watch the Empire State Building for eight straight hours as lights get turned on and off." Hmmm, maybe we'll leave the advertising to Chiat-Day...
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SceneLink (1849)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 10/17/99 episode: October 17, 1999: Steve puts on his Humble Hat and apologizes publicly to the masses. Meanwhile, Apple's lab gnomes continue to tinker with the next PowerBook, whose battery life may soon be longer than the average Road Rules marathon, and Microsoft sends in the political muscle to reduce the Justice Department's antitrust funding...
Other scenes from that episode: 1848: Straight And Sorry (10/17/99) Well, it's official: Apple has in fact reinstated all those pre-October 13th G4 orders that it had originally cancelled. In fact, it's not just official, it's officially official-- instead of simply contacting the affected customers, Apple's issued an honest-to-goodness public press release announcing the decision's reversal, admitting the screw-up, and apologizing for what some might call a "regrettable error in judgment" and others might call "one seriously boneheaded move."... 1850: Shame Is For The Poor (10/17/99) Rule 6 in the Bill Gates Guide To World Domination: If you can't beat 'em, cut their funding. The latest gigglefest in the ongoing "Redmond Justice" struggle first came to our attention on Friday, when faithful viewer Todd Wheeler pointed out a Washington Post article about Microsoft's latest strategy to free themselves from their sticky Department of Justice woes...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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