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...And A Copy of Cosmo (11/1/99)
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Speaking of acquisitions, it sounds like Apple may be getting out the checkbook soon. According to a CNET article, Steve and company are "in the final stages" of buying "all or part" of a company called Raycer Graphics. Raycer is working on new 3D chipsets originally targeted at the high-end workstation market, with the eventual goal of bringing the technology to personal computers as well. Sure, it's not as exciting as an attempt to buy Palm, but hey, it's what we've got.
Nobody's entirely sure just what Apple wants from Raycer; sure, every Mac ships with a 3D accelerator as standard equipment, ranging from the ATI Rage LT Pro in the PowerBook to the Rage Mobility in the iBook to the Rage 128 in the Power Mac G4 and the new iMac. But ATI is an established company with a decent track record (we'll overlook the debacle with the Rage Orion delays and the Rage 128 drivers being buggier than an anthill), while Raycer has yet to ship a single product. So we fail to see just what Apple wants to do with Raycer's work; some people suggest that Apple's looking to integrate 3D capabilities into chips that perform other tasks, in order to save money, while others speculate that Steve's just looking to bring the Raycer personnel and patents into Apple. Who knows?
And, to a certain extent, who cares? Remember that $12.5 million investment Apple made in Akamai? Well, after Akamai's recent IPO, that $12.5 million turned into $500 million overnight. So Apple's got plenty of cash to throw around, and $20 million for a 3D chip company isn't going to break the bank. We figure everybody's entitled to go shopping every once in a while. Normal folks like you and us, we impulse-buy some Tic-Tacs and a copy of the Weekly World News. Maybe Steve impulse-buys 3D graphics companies instead. Hey, he's mercurial-- get used to it.
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 11/1/99 episode: November 1, 1999: Dell tops in education? Nuh-uh, says Steve, and he's got the numbers to prove it. Meanwhile, if you thought no one knew you liked Barry Manilow, think again-- RealNetworks knows. And Apple's shopping for a 3D chip company called Raycer, but no one seems to know why...
Other scenes from that episode: 1881: Dunce Cap For Dell (11/1/99) Okay, the gloves are off! The pressure's been building for years, now; early on, it seemed that perhaps Steve Jobs and Mike Dell might turn out to be friends, since it was Steve's NeXT crew that built the Dell online store which eventually made Mike so filthy rich... 1882: Big Brother's Listening (11/1/99) Apparently we missed something, here-- when did Microsoft buy RealNetworks? It must have been during that week we spent with our eyes glued to the "Before They Were Rock Stars" marathon or something, because we have no recollection of this happening whatsoever...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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