|
Look Who's Talking Now (6/26/00)
|
 
|
| | |
You know, rumormongers catch an awful lot of flak in this industry. Sure, some people don't take the "entertainment" factor of rumors seriously enough, and actually plan product purchases based on a third-party piece of anonymous, alleged "inside information" they read on some web site somewhere, but we hardly think that's a good reason for the responsibility of slow sales of a particular Apple product line to be placed squarely on the shoulders of people who like to whisper about new Macs around the water cooler. Besides, when every analyst on Wall Street is dishing dirt about Apple's upcoming product line, why isn't anyone blaming them for Apple's troubles?
They are? Oh. Well, never mind that-- take a look at all the juicy stuff The Register threw together about what might be in store for us Mac geeks. Apparently the analysts are nattering about Apple like it's an episode of Dawson's Creek or something. Charles Wolf of UBS Warburg says to expect "great things" when Steve hits the Macworld Expo stage in three weeks. Steve Fortune of Merrill Lynch hints at both new products and new "retail partnerships." The Register uses these two deliciously vague snippets as a springboard to mention just about every Expo rumor you've ever heard, including: a 17-inch iMac; a G4-based iMac; a speed-bumped Power Mac G4; news about the release of the Mac OS X public beta; and the possibility of Apple's own retail stores, á là Gateway Country. Oh, and let's not forget the revival of a classic: the fabled Apple "set-top box," which once had Apple Recon foaming at the mouth for months. And here we thought that rumor was dead and buried.
With the exception of the set-top box rising from its grave, it's all pretty pedestrian stuff, though it's nice to see it all stacked neatly in a pile like that. Personally, though, while we'd welcome just about any of these predictions noted by The Register, we'd hardly classify any of them as "great things." We're hoping that Charles Wolf trips on his NDA and accidentally spills something good before the show-- provided it really is "great." Then again, there's something to be said for surprises, and given how early we're going to have to get up to get keynote seats, it had better be something worth staying awake for.
| |
| |
 |
SceneLink (2380)
|  |
 |
|
And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
| | | |
|
| |
|
 | | The above scene was taken from the 6/26/00 episode: June 26, 2000: It's not just rumor sites dishing dirt about possible Macworld Expo announcements these day; Wall Street analysts are getting in on the action, too. Meanwhile, Apple Legal gets AdCritic to pull its QuickTime-format Apple commercials, and CNET proclaims the innovator in integrating wireless networking with portable computers to be: DELL?!
Other scenes from that episode: 2381: Yet Another Smackdown (6/26/00) You know, Apple's made some pretty serious strides in the realm of public relations over the past few years, what with the transformation of its standard press description from "beleaguered" to "once-beleaguered" to "resurgent" and beyond... 2382: Woefully Misinformed (6/26/00) Okay, now this just makes us mad. It's one thing for Dell to mimic Apple's every move-- colored WebPCs like iMacs, colored laptops like iBooks, ad infinitum-- but it's another thing when the press treats Dell's copycat moves as innovation...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
|
|
