Well, we've just seen CNN NewsStand's little "Stock of the Week" segment on Apple, and for the most part, it was relatively positive and accurate. They pointed out that Apple's stock has gone from under $13 to over $38 since last December, and they credited Steve Jobs with infusing the company with the energy it's used to climb back "from the dead." And though there wasn't a whole lot of substance to the piece overall (and in fact there was almost zero information on Apple's product line or what differentiates it from those of other computer companies), we felt that it was particularly gracious of them to mention that "the videotape on 'NewsStand' is edited on digital machines that use Macintosh at their core."

There were a couple of what we consider to be serious inaccuracies, though. First of all, one of the analysts they talked to claimed that, at $1299, the iMac "is not breaking any new barriers or new ground in the way of price performance compared to traditional Wintel based systems." Er, excuse me? If anyone feels like pointing us towards a 400 MHz Pentium II system, complete with a 75 Hz-refresh rate 1024x768 15-inch monitor, for $1299 or less, please do-- we'd love to see it. That doesn't even take into account any additional useability edge the Mac OS gets over Windows; remember, the guy said "price performance," not just "price." (Someone hasn't done his homework.) And secondly, CNN claims that the iMac "is still incompatible with those" Wintel PC's, failing to note that the G3 is so freaking fast it can run PC software at respectable speeds purely in software emulation, if it needs to. Granted, if someone plans to run Windows 100% of the time, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to buy a Mac instead of a PC, but for people who only need to run PC-only software on a casual basis, emulators like VirtualPC are a very pleasant option. Or, at least as pleasant as Windows allows any experience to be...

...On the other hand, the same show included a nice, healthy dose of Lara Croft-- both digital and analog versions-- from the Tomb Raider games, coming to the Mac this holiday season. Footage of Lara automatically redeems any show a certain amount, in our opinion. :)