Reality, Undistorted: It had to happen. Just a few weeks after Steve Jobs and Bill Gates announced the Apple/Microsoft détente, Jobs was already having trouble remaining diplomatic about the arrangement. Delivering the keynote address at the annual Seybold publishing conference in San Francisco in October, the interim Apple CEO stopped short when it came to explaining Apple's decision to favor Microsoft's browser over Netscape's. "We looked at Internet Explorer," Jobs said, "and thought it was the bett- ... thought it was a great browser." Guess Steve still can't quite bring himself to shower unqualified praise on the company he once said had "no taste."
Think "Same": During the same speech, Jobs showed - not once, but twice - the first commercial in Apple's new "Think Different" ad campaign, cooked up by TBWA Chiat/Day and featuring images of such innovators as Einstein, Picasso, and Martha Graham. Chiat/Day is the agency responsible for the historic "1984" ad that introduced the Macintosh to the world. Turns out, however, there's nothing different about "Think Different." It's based on a similar campaign, complete with the faces of historic personalities, that another agency cooked up two years ago for - of all companies - IBM, the Big Brother of the "1984" spot. Visit www.well.com/~mucas/thinkers.html to see the similarities.
Static Charge: If you thought rotating, spinning, dynamic graphics were sweeping the Web, you're wrong. The August 1997 Online Advertising Report from Focalink shows that static GIFs still rule the online world. In fact, rich media like Java (found at 17 percent of the sites surveyed), Shockwave (14 percent), and HTML-embedded banners (2 percent) lag far behind unmoving, unblinking image formats like GIF (100 percent) and JPEG (48 percent).
Larry's Follies: Steve Jobs's good friend Larry Ellison, the billionaire CEO of Oracle, has long been hot to replace the PC with the NC, not least because it allows him to poke a sharp stick in the eye - and the ego - of bigger billionaire Bill Gates. Of course, it would help his cause if the NC actually worked. At this fall's Oracle OpenWorld '97 trade show, the all-thumbs Ellison tried to demonstrate before a live audience the wonders of an NC and server. However, the two were anything but operable, according to online news service Newsbytes. "Look at those engineers, running out the door," Ellison shouted at one point. "Stop that guy!"
More Pathetic Irony: When a caller tried to obtain the text of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee amendments to the Security and Freedom through Encryption bill last fall, a committee staffer offered to fax a press release. How about email? the caller asked. "Uh, I can't do that, because of Intelligence Committee concerns about electronic security," the staffer replied. Isn't that ironic, given today's vote on encryption legislation? asked the caller. "Yes," came the reply, "I suppose it is."
Lost World Living Room: The ultimate geek company's ultimate geek couldn't land the ultimate geek trophy. When an exceedingly rare Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named Sue was auctioned off at Sotheby's in October, onetime prospective buyer Nathan Myrhvold was a no-show. Apparently Microsoft's big brain sat out the auction after failing in an earlier attempt to grab Sue. Word is that the prize T-rex was to have taken a prominent spot in Myrhvold's own home. Perhaps a velociraptor in the foyer will suffice?
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