Has anyone else noticed a distinct shift in the buzz about projected buyouts of Apple over the past few years? Back in the "Hurtin' '97" era, rumors of imminent Apple takeovers by less-beleaguered tech and/or media giants (such as Oracle, IBM, Sony, of course Disney, and even an unholy Marvel Team-up of Motorola and UMAX) were more frequent than ambulance pickups at Iron-Gut Jimmy's Raw Meat Bistro. More recently, though, such stuff has shifted from "X is buying Apple" to "Y should buy Apple"-- witness recent articles on how Apple would make a nice bargain for AOL or Sun. Which is good, we suppose, since it reflects an improvement in Apple's financial state; at least people aren't constantly predicting hostile raids on Cupertino these days-- they're just advocating them.

Well, as faithful viewer Billy Nichols points out, today the punditry continues apace, this time with Wired contributing editor Josh McHugh opining that Apple would be a perfect little morsel for Sony to munch on. And if you think about it, yes, if Apple had to get bought by somebody, Sony might make a nice match; Steve himself has voiced his goal to make Apple into the "Sony of the computer world," but with the iPod replacing the Walkman, he's starting to turn it into the Sony of the Sony world, as well. Among the big-name Wintel manufacturers, Sony is the only company whose products even come close to Apple's in terms of style and industrial design; remember when the titanium PowerBook G4 debuted and Steve spent all that time talking about trying to catch up with the VAIO's sex appeal?

Of course, the thing that stuck out in our memories, though, was that time a couple of years ago when rumors surfaced about a possible Sony takeover of Apple-- and Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei practically killed himself leaping for the nearest microphone to "flatly deny" the rumors in record time. At the time we just chalked it up to good ol' Japanese efficiency, but now it seems there may have been a certain degree of the "Good God No" factor mixed in there, too: according to Wired, Jobs and Idei "sat down several times last year... to discuss joint ventures," but the talks went nowhere fast. While Idei liked Steve's ideas, he didn't like Steve himself-- particularly Mercurial Boy's infamous lack of humility-- so Idei "scrapped the negotiations" and that was that. Granted, that all took place after Idei's breathless denial of the buyout rumors, but the man's apparent gasping horror at the prospect of an Apple-Sony merger may indicate a, um, "dislike" for Steve that's been in place for years.

But any concern on Idei's part about having to work with Jobs after a Sony takeover of Apple is, of course, totally unfounded. If past history is any guide, if Sony were to buy Apple, within six months Steve would persuade the board of directors to toss Idei out on his hinder, paving the way for Steve himself to assume the CEO role-- first in an "interim" capacity, and eventually as a permanent gig. Under Jobs's reign, Sony would soon rebound from its recent billion-dollar-a-quarter losses, Jobs would be given a jet or three, and Idei would pen a tell-all book about how everything Steve did to return Sony to greatness was actually Idei's idea. In fact, Mr. Idei, buying Apple is practically the best way to guarantee that you'll never have to work with Steve Jobs again! Got your checkbook handy?