Uh-oh, it sounds like Uncle Steve's master plan to eradicate the cathode ray tube from the face of this troubled planet could run into a teensy little snag next year. For those of you who aren't quite up to speed, it still should come as no surprise that Steve isn't the CRT's biggest fan; as a display technology, it's bulky, it's hot, and it sucks down power like Kool-Aid on a summer day. And we don't know if all CRTs do this, but certainly our own 17-incher from NEC emits a loud scary buzz every time we turn it on. Oh, yeah-- that's real classy.

So Steve, ever mindful of ways in which he can rid the world of offensively inelegant technology, announced earlier this week that Apple was moving to an all-LCD display line-up. Clearly he would have mandated this move years ago, if not for the exorbitant prices of flat-panel LCDs; it seems he may have learned a thing or two when his NeXT Cube met with critical acclaim, but mysteriously failed in the marketplace-- possibly, just possibly due to its $10,000 price tag. (Sadly, he didn't learn that lesson quite well enough to ship Apple's Cube at its current $1299 price point right off the bat.)

Now, it's worth noting that Steve's all-LCD initiative is a bit of a risk, seeing as Apple's cheapest display is now a fairly hefty $599, whereas larger CRT-based monitors are available for a third that price. But considering what you get for that $599 (a crystal-clear 1024x768 15-inch display that's less than seven inches deep and doesn't pump your skull full of radiation for eight to twelve hours each day), we think LCDs have finally slipped into a price zone where Apple might actually be able to pull this off. Unless, of course, instead of continuing to fall, LCD prices start to rise again. Gee, what would happen in that situation?

Well, according to The Register, we may soon get to find out. According to market research firm DisplaySearch, the component prices of LCDs will allegedly "cease falling" by the end of this year and actually start rising sometime early in 2002. The realities of the market being what they are, Apple couldn't exactly raise its display prices to follow suit without suffering (at best) a mass customer defection or (at worst) rampaging lynch mobs running amuck and sticking the severed heads of Mac Geniuses on pikes outside the fiery ruins of Apple Stores across the nation. Instead, Apple would have to eat the difference by watching its gross margin tumble earthward, which wouldn't be good for that all-important bottom line.

Still, isn't a profit reduction and the ensuing stock price hit worth it to strike a blow against mediocre and outdated technology? (Don't answer that.)