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The Mighty Have Fallen (12/22/00)
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Further signs of a slowing economy: while Apple's recent financial woes didn't lead to any actual layoffs (at least, none of which we're aware), there was a hiring freeze instituted, and now we've got more evidence that certain Apple employees may have taken pay cuts. As far as we can tell, all human Apple staff survived Steve's infamous "speed bump" with salaries intact, but some of the more abstract entities on the payroll may not have been quite so lucky. Case in point: the Mac OS Smiley Face.
Regular viewers will recall that a couple of months ago, in the process of investigating Clarus the Dogcow's apparent "early retirement," we also discovered that, in addition to holding down his new role as the leftmost icon in the Mac OS X Dock, the Mac OS Smiley Face was moonlighting as the new logo for USSEARCH.com. Well, evidently even a second job wasn't enough to make ends meet, because as someone over in the MacNN Forums discovered, Smiley has also retained a position as the "Tell A Friend!" logo at PlusNet. Oh, sure, he's all dolled up in a PlusNet purple and yellow uniform, but that's unmistakably him.
Tsk, tsk-- so Apple's lean times (not to mention the slowing economy as a whole) have forced ol' Smiley to hold down three jobs just to keep food on the table for Mrs. Smiley and the rest of the Smiley clan. Isn't it shameful that such a respected and prestigious logo has now been reduced to such extreme measures? Perhaps Apple's lawyers will take notice and intervene; we're sure that a healthy settlement for trademark violation should be more than enough to let Smiley off of PlusNet's hook without putting his family out on the street.
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SceneLink (2761)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 12/22/00 episode: December 22, 2000: While chatting with some developers in Germany, Apple decides to come clean about Mac OS X's release. Meanwhile, at least one observer thinks that Apple's woes can be traced back to Steve's jet, and the Mac OS Smiley Face has been spotted holding down not one, but two extra jobs these days...
Other scenes from that episode: 2759: You Can't Handle The Truth (12/22/00) The conflicting Mac OS X release rumors are flying fast and furious now, and the shouting has reached a fever pitch. By now we've heard 'em all: Mac OS X 1.0 to be launched on Steve Jobs's birthday, February 24th, with no more betas; Mac OS X Public Beta 2 to be released at the Expo, with the 1.0 release following a few months later; Mac OS X "Power User Release" to materialize at the Stevenote; Apple to rename the operating system "Mac OS XI," now due in mid-2002; etc... 2760: It's All About The Wings (12/22/00) Okay, Monday-morning quarterbacks-- where did Apple go wrong? Why, after hitting a split-adjusted price of $75 earlier this year, is the company's stock currently gasping for breath at under $15 a share?...
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