Don't look now, but here comes Crazy Steve's Discount WebObjects! Yes, aside from new details on Mac OS X, to us the big news from the keynote was Apple's massive price reduction on WebObjects, its super-cool web application development architecture. We'd always heard that WebObjects was by far and away the best application server environment available, but we've never taken the time to learn more about it. Why bother? After all, the thing had a sticker price of $50,000 for an unlimited use license and the developer tools-- that's the cost of a decent house in some areas of the country. So we stayed well away from WebObjects, lest we become attached to the feature set of a piece of software that would give sticker shock to anyone who doesn't wear a top hat and monocle and light cigars with hundred dollar bills.

But under Apple's new pricing plan, WebObjects has been slashed to a mere $699-- now that's a price even we can afford! Just think, folks; for less than half the price of an iMac DV Special Edition, you can get on board with the software that Apple uses for its own iCards site. And if you're concerned about it not being standards-compliant, fear not: a 100% pure Java-based version will ship later this year. Plus, have we mentioned that it's only $699? It probably costs you more to fill your gas tank these days.

To be honest, though, we aren't really in the market for web application software right now. What we're really hoping is that Apple carries Crazy Steve's wacky 98.6% discount across to other product lines. For instance, wouldn't you love to see iMac DVs going for $18 and change? Forget that "three pizzas a month" malarkey, we're talking the cost of two pizzas-- once. Buy one in every flavor-- heck, buy one in every flavor for every room. Or how about a high-end 500 MHz Power Mac G4 complete with an Apple Cinema Display for $104.82? Oh great, now we're drooling again...