So yeah, the iTunes Music Store at least gets a Stevular media conference call on its first birthday, but for its twentieth the Macintosh rated nothing more a passing mention during a Stevenote held weeks earlier. And if we hold that up as still further proof that Apple is philosophically divesting itself of its identity as the Macmaker (not to be confused with the Freshmaker-- that's Mentos, the mint that lets you get away with cheeky and mildly socially unacceptable behavior in public), we're just helping the folks amassing evidence that'll eventually get us committed as raving paranoiacs who are a danger to ourselves and others. We've already run that whole "music is the No. 1 priority of the company" thing into the ground; either you're wigged out by Apple selling more iPods than Macs last quarter or you're not. We don't need to keep harping on it.

Well, maybe just one last time. For old time's sake.

See, faithful viewer agila dished us a New York Times article which underscores yet again Apple's transformation from "computer company that makes Macs" into "consumer electronics company that makes iPods (and Macs)." The article, titled "Oh, Yeah, He Also Sells Computers" is mostly about the inimitable Mr. Steve and his Svengali-like ability to pull his company and his industry in directions that apparently get injected directly into his brain juice by a future version of himself armed with a time machine and a hypodermic. There's also a nice explanation for why Rob Glaser of RealNetworks is so desperate to get Steve to open up the iPod to other services: apparently the guy who led the engineering effort behind the iPod's six-month development process came to Apple from RealNetworks, for whom he might have created an "iPod-like hit product" had Glaser not chased him off with a negative attitude. Oooh, the sting of missed opportunity.

The starkly relevant bit, though, comes right at the beginning: "Stroll the corridors and the atriums on Apple Computer's corporate campus these days and you will notice that something is missing. Gone are the posters and graphics accenting the company's sleek personal computers. In their place, in the main lobby, is a striking, three-story-high billboard celebrating Steven P. Jobs's brand-new billion-dollar consumer electronics business-- the iPod digital MP3 music player."

That's just good strategy, of course, since the iPod is a far more recognizable icon these days than any Mac Apple sells, and it's also much more of a visible success-- just the sort of thing you want visitors to your corporate headquarters to see when they first walk in the door. Still, we can't help getting a bit jittery every time there's another little hint that Steve may find the Mac boring these days. He can't ignore it yet, of course, while Macs still pull in the bulk of Apple's revenue, but as non-Mac products make up a bigger and bigger chunk of Apple's income, is it totally inconceivable that Mac development might start to suffer just a smidge? The iPod's one thing, but if Apple ships a couple more breakthrough digital lifestyle devices that enjoy similar levels of success, we wonder at what point the money will dictate that continuing development of the Macintosh would be a liability. (Yes, we also worry about the sky falling, the sun burning out, the polar ice caps melting, and whether Charisma Carpenter will ever get another series. So you really shouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to us.)

We should probably clarify once again that we aren't actually opposed to Apple turning into a cooler version of Sony, especially since Sony makes VAIOs, which, we hear, suck about as little as possible for computers running Windows. It's not an "either-or" situation; iPods (and whatever other consumer electronics wizardry Steve has in mind) can coexist peacefully at Apple with the Macintosh. We just wonder every once in a while whether Steve wants them to. But don't worry, we usually only get this way when we forget to take our medication.