and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

Oh, and while I'm here.. Microsoft is about ready to enter the foray into online music stores.. like wal-mart they want to come in at a lower price point than itune's 99 cents a song. This all from slashdot, of course.

And in other news, Apple came out with a new iMac with 20" screen and a new PowerMac with a dual 1.8gig offering. Course the price points are $2,199 and $2,499, respectively. I'm not quite sure how they can offer quality laptops - some of the best on the market - with decent performance and decent prices yet they can't get their mainstay offering (the iMac) under $1300, even in it's most modest of forms (15" 1GHzG4 w/ 256MB). What some people forget is that a run-of-the-mill dell P4 at 2.6gig with the same specs (15" w/ 256MB) will run you $1,000. So okay, Apple zealotism aside, what's it all worth? Is a pretty flower-shaped computer worth another $300? Is iTunes worth another $300? Oh - wait - iTunes is now free on windows, too. It even works with Apple's Music Store. So what's Apple trying to do here? Shoot itself in the foot? No - it's priming itself for a major push into the mainstream. Intel fans can say all they want but there has never been a time in the history of Apple when they had more mindshare then they have right now. Sure, most of it is due to a higher technology awareness from your average person on the street but a lot of it has been gained from marketing and branding and the exploitation of new technologies (i.e. mp3s - iPods). Apple has set a standard with the iPod and that makes it the Ford of personal audio. Sure, it's not that simple but Apple is the new Gap. And if you think they have plans to stay where they are in terms of computer market share, you're wrong.

Mac OS X is the first clue. A new operating system - a seemingly modern operating system argueably as pretty as XP - based on Unix.. which for the uneducated masses is synonmous with Linux which is synonmous with free speach, liberation, and the end of racism everywhere. Okay.. so maybe I am exagerating but that's just it - so is Apple. They are playing off of the public's perception and they're going places.

Safari is another perfect example - their first stand alone browser. Built specifically for Mac OS X it frees Apple from one of it's many Microsoft shackles. We should not be surprised if we see a robust office package fully compatible with Microsoft formats coming soon... and we shouldn't be surprised when Microsoft takes them to court.

And yet a third example is the muscling of the meek, the inevitable clue that someone wants to be a player - like Apple's recent bullying of one of it's employee's for a little bit of code. For shame, Apple, for shame.

The honeymoon is over and the lines are being drawn. Microsoft has dumped Apple, jealous of it's better looks. Microsoft is no longer as dependant on QuickTime as it used to be and Apple has put the period on the end of the sentence by freeing itself from Internet Explorer. The big players are coming to the field and everyone's suited up to play.. I'm just not sure who is going to win.