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It's Payback Time! (12/21/99)
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Looks like the spirit of the season is making its mark on AirPort reviews. Just a couple of days ago we awarded AirPort the coveted "Most Maligned Apple Product of 1999" award, based on product reviews likening the Base Station setup process to trying to pry out one's own larynx with a shrimp fork. MacFixit originally recommended readers not to buy AirPort equipment, due to the trouble they had getting the gear to work. Suddenly, though, the tables seemed to have turned. The Wintel-oriented ZDNet AnchorDesk just posted their own take on Apple's long-awaited wireless networking equipment, and the review is a distinct thumbs-up.
Oh, sure, you have to get past the overt anti-Apple sentiment embedded in the article's very title: "Surprise: Apple Makes Wireless Networking Great." (Some of us aren't exactly surprised, buddy.) But once you do, you'll find that editorial director Jim Louderback has all kinds of wonderful things to say about AirPort. If Apple's looking for excerpts to slap on the AirPort's box, here are a few of the more glowing phrases: "well worth the wait"; "installation was simple"; "the performance and connectivity was great"; and "it's fantastic." Okay, so the phrases aren't exactly colorful; we mentioned these are Wintel folks, right?
Here's where the delicious irony kicks in: the "only beef" Louderback had with the AirPort was that "Apple only sells Mac-enabled versions." Yup, you heard us right-- these are Wintel folks complaining about a Mac-only product. Oooo, payback is sweet, isn't it? Not that the author doesn't have a valid point; Apple probably could crank out an external USB AirPort module for non-AirPort-ready Macs and PCs with a free USB port. But considering the trouble some people have had getting AirPort working properly for their Macs, we hope Apple holds off on making additional equipment until the current stuff's working a little more smoothly.
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SceneLink (1987)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 12/21/99 episode: December 21, 1999: AirPort starts reeling in some more charitable reviews-- from the Wintel camp. Meanwhile, astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery find that even in a vacuum, Windows still sucks, and MacWarehouse may be in jeopardy following a buyout by an investor group led by ex-IBM exec Jerry York...
Other scenes from that episode: 1988: Cosmic Suckiness (12/21/99) Houston, we have a problem. Let's say you're an astronaut risking your life in outer space. You're brave enough to trust that your craft won't burst into flames and that your ground control crew can get you through any potential tight squeezes... 1989: Lady In Danger (12/21/99) All is not well in MacWarehouse-ville... Looks like its parent company, Micro Warehouse Inc., has just sold out to an investor group for $725 million. Worrisome fact #1: that investor group is being led by a "former IBM executive."...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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