It's a web-based virtual catfight! Reality and Apple Recon are taking semi-oblique swipes at each other over a subject that most of the world consider dead: the Apple Media Player. You remember all the hubbub surrounding the "top secret project" that Apple was allegedly working on several months ago? The AMP, also referred to as "Columbus," was a revolutionary new product that would change the way people thought about computing. Trouble was, no one seemed to know what the thing actually was; reports ranged from portable eMate-style DVD players to WebTV-like set-top boxes to anti-gravity technology (and that last one came from Steve Jobs himself).

Apple Recon took the stance that the AMP was a set-top box that would play DVD's, enhanced CD's and give the average consumer access to the Internet. They then revealed a photo of the alleged device, and announced that the project had been killed by Steve Jobs. (They've been protesting the decision for months now.) Reality, on the other hand, recently noticed that the word "Columbus" is stamped on the iMac's motherboard, and claims that Columbus has been the iMac all along; the reports of the AMP were part of a deliberate misinformation campaign intended to keep the press off the track of the top-secret iMac. That led to Recon's response, which is that Columbus is the name of the motherboard and not the computer; the iMac's motherboard was also going to be used in the AMP, and the AMP was very real and very Steved. And, most recently, in the response to the response, Reality offers yet more evidence that the whole AMP thing was just a big smokescreen.

If you think we're getting in the middle of this one. you're mistaken; we're perfectly happy to watch the fur fly from the sidelines. (Besides, we doubt either site knows who we are anyway.) But just in case any of you are interested in our opinion on the subject, here's our guess: Columbus is indeed the board and not the box. The iMac was being developed at the same time as Apple was playing around with the idea of creating a set-top box using the same motherboard. The set-top never got beyond the investigation stage; plans were drawn up, a couple of mockups and/or prototypes were built, but the project was shelved due to factors like perceived lack of interest, poor display quality on television sets, and lack of resources. The iMac was the project that had the greater potential to revive the Mac market. We wouldn't be surprised to see an Apple AMP down the road, but it doesn't seem very feasible right now. (Still, that doesn't mean it isn't a great subject for a virtual tussle...)