Wow, is it just us, or does it seem like Apple has been on a real spending spree lately? Not even two full months ago, word got out that Apple had written a check for Nothing Real, the makers of the high-end compositing software "Shake" that has all of Hollywood a-quiverin'. In the year prior to that, Apple had picked up both Spruce Technologies and PowerSchool. And now, as faithful viewer Jonas points out, an official Apple press release indicates that Steve has ordered Fred Anderson to bust out the checkbook so Apple can add a horse named Zayante to its ever-increasing stable. That's four acquisitions in just over a year-- not a bad track record in an economy that's had other companies closing plants and giving out so many pink slips you'd think they were AOL CD-ROMs.

So what is Zayante, and what's so cool about it that Shopper Steve just had to have it? Well, according to Apple, Zayante is "a leader in IEEE 1394 (FireWire®) technology." Now, you might find it a little strange that Apple would feel a sudden urge to buy a company that specializes in FireWire when Apple itself invented the stuff. But since Zayante makes the "silicon and software" that manufacturers actually stick in their FireWire devices, well, it all makes a certain kind of sense given Apple's enhanced focus on "making the whole widget" in the Second Jobs Dynasty. Plus, you know, "Zayante" just sounds cool. If it were the name of an evil space emperor in a movie or something, you just know he'd be a total badass.

Of course, if you dig a little deeper, you'll also find that Zayante's Chief Technology Officer and co-founder is one Michael Johas Teener, who just happens to have been "the chief architect of Apple Computer's FireWire technology" and the "originator of the P1394b gigabit effort." And Senior Systems Engineer Jay Hamlin is also an Apple alum who "made original contributions" to the FireWire project. (He also worked on PiPPiN, but of course we won't hold that against him.) In other words, yeah, Apple invented FireWire-- but some of the key people at Apple who did the actual inventing apparently sought greener pastures in the Dark Days of 1996. By purchasing Zayante, Apple gets a couple of them back.

This all starts to look even more interesting amid rumors that Apple is way less than thrilled with the fact that USB 2.0 is now shipping, while FireWire 2 (1394b) is still missing in action. Or inaction. Whatever. We get the distinct sense that Apple is looking to juice the goose and get the faster FireWire implementations out the door and onto the shelves ASAP so the anti-FireWire sects have to stop tossing around that "480 Mbps is faster than 400!" stuff. (1394b, if it ever actually surfaces, will start at 800 Mbps, ya know.)

Lastly, we can think of only one more reason why Apple might have purchased Zayante: if you start messing with anagrams, you'll find that the names of Apple's four most recent acquisitions can be rearranged to spell "phosphorescent owl gun, reactionary zeal." And really, what more reason would any right-thinking company need?