It was Ocober 6th 1997 that CEO Gil Amelio was asked to leave. Many people wanted Steve Jobs to come back, however it was a concern that it wouldn’t be the right move at this time. Michael Dell went on record saying that Apple should shut it’s operation down.

Today, even with the stock issue last week, Apple’s market cap is greater than Dell and even Google. Of course we have some great products out of the turnaround and eventual comeback of Jobs. All from a company that could have dissolved back in 1997

Hear about this and a bunch of cool stuff on Part I of This Week in Tech History.

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Other Posts of Interest:

• History of Apple: Goodbye Steve Jobs, Hello Steve Jobs.
• Death of an Apple Salesman - Bitstrips

Microsoft is making the shift from the Seinfeld - Gates ads to something a little different. Bottom line is Microsoft is creating an Ad campain to let people know that Vista is the way to go. But is it really - would you be better off with a Mac?

The “Real Life PC” will be part of the new ads. Microsoft will ad emails on the screen, including Bill Gates (which I already sent one off). The idea is to have the stellar ad that will change the masses ideals.

Does a computer ad sway you? Will the new Microsoft ads change your thinking? Of course we did a parody last week of the Seinfeld Ads. We poked fun at it.

Ads can change the way someone looks at a product. Unfortunately, most people see the ads and it actually sways their decision. Then again, they just get what is given to them when they buy the PC.

I haven’t seen the PC commercial but I did read the magazine ads. It will be interesting to see if this turns things around.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Episode #6 11-07-07
• Ep. #51 9-17-08 - No Illness will bring the show down.

Sick Weekend - Oct 1st is 1 year Podcast mark - Paythefan at 91%

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I - S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Apple 10.5.5
Android Mid October
YuGoogle EU
WWWF
Comcast Sues FCC
Fastest Wireless in the West
2nd Microsoft Ad
Fired for talking XBox
Tweet Debate
IMDB adds Video
FDCC for Macs
P2P on YouTube

II
Best Buy Napster
HP Slashing Jobs
-HP OS

TCT Podcast - Homestar EXTRA
Diggnation from your Couch

III
Photo: Planet around Star
Apple and Podcasts
Open Source in Government

Edward Jones

IV
Drudge to the Top
Intel 6 core Xeon
Mix Music from the Phone

Apple - get an iMac

Listeners’ Notes:
How Much for Rock Band 2
Crazy Camera
Cool Toasters
Lite-Brite Laptop
Fake Mold

YouTubin
Sequoia Voting Hack

Twitter - Pownce - Plurk - Myspace - Facebook Group - FriendFeed - Digg the Podcast

Other Posts of Interest:

• 2007 - the Retrospect
• Episode 33 - 5-14-08

It’s interesting to see the irony in life. You win, you lose. It’s like rain on your wedding day….

Steve Jobs was seeing a bit of resistance from Apple in 1985. By May, Steve was in an internal struggle for CEO against John Sculley. Ultimately, Apple agreed and Steve stepped down as CEO of the Apple Mac division. 4 months later, Steve decided to leave Apple to start NeXt - a new computer company.

The NeXt OS was released in 1989 and the NeXtstation and NeXtCube in 1990. Jobs built it into a decent powerhouse while Apple continued to struggle. Ultimately in 1997, NeXt was purchased by Apple for $429 million. They got not only the NeXtSTEP Operating System, but they also got Steve Jobs as a consultant.

However, this came to Steve Job’s advantage as in July 1997. CEO Gil Amelio was ousted and Steve Jobs took an interim CEO role. Then, on Sept 16th 1997, Steve Jobs took back his CEO position to which he still resides.

This really shows people not to burn a bridge. If it wasn’t for Jobs’ return, Apple might have taken a downward spiral. We might have even seen a “Microsoft Apple” system. iPod and iPhone would have been a NeXt product - Maybe.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Vocalo Ep 6
• 2007 - the Retrospect

Visitor Spike - New Forum - Football Week 1 - Funny Scam Email - Nominate on People Choice Pod - Sept 15th

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I
S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Demo and TechCrunch
Chrome Fix
New NCSA SuperComputer
Frickin Laser Beam
Intel SSD
Dell Drops Ball
NFL Flash
Ubuntu Jaunty

II
Let’s Rock
Jobs Monopoly
How Can This Happen

Cool Tech - Zero Gravity Micro RC
TechTweak - Google Chrome w/out install

III
10 Year Watch - Google
Google Antitrust Suit
NewsGoogle

Edward Jones

IV
DVD Copies
Microsoft Ad
Cars are Hot
That Sucks

Buy an iMac - Apple.geekazine.com

Listeners’ Notes:
Play with Spider
70s Game Consoles
Bottle Opener
Cool Camera
Make Your Own NetBook
51 Google Blurs
Microsoft Arc Mouse

YouTubin
Greenest Museum

Twitter - Pownce - Plurk - Myspace - Facebook Group - FriendFeed - Digg the Podcast

Other Posts of Interest:

• This Week in Tech History 6-23-08
• Episode 33 - 5-14-08

This week in the Live Show, we talk about Google Chrome, Microsoft Zune and a lot more. A question is asked about passwords in Mac and we talked about Social Networks like Ning.com and how Chris Pirillo now is a part of this Group.

Thanks to all for coming out and hanging with us.

Hour 1

Hour 2

Other Posts of Interest:

• 2007 - the Retrospect
• Ep. 49 - 9-03-08 - Take 2 Edition

In the last couple months we’ve seen PC manufacturer Psystar offer Mac OS  X Leopard with their PC. Apple has sued due to the fact they are not installing on Apple-labeled-hardware. So will DiscCloud have any better chance by taking the OS off the machine?

DiscCloud is an appliance that houses the Leopard virtualization software. The appliance runs a Virtual Machine using VMWare Server. You will be able to run Leopard on any x86 system.

The company says their process is 100% Apple license compliant. You don’t even need to buy their appliance - All you need is the client application and a VMWare Server. Once installed the company says you will be able to set up a Mac work group in only 5 minutes.

This is an interesting idea and could bring Apple one step closer to being a competitor in the office. However, it could also mean a drop ain expensive $2500 Power Macs. There have been other ways to make a virtual Mac. PearPC was able to emulate a G3, however that would mean you could only run 10.4 at slow speed. It would be good for simple process only.

DiscCloud.ning.com has step by step installation instructions. It also has Demos you can install and test.

I am not sure how DiscCloud can claim 100% license compliance. The only EULA Apple has for Leopard says you cannot run Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer. It also says you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where is could be used by multiple computers at the same time. The Mac OS X Server has an option to allow virtualization, but once again, Server must be on an Apple labeled computer.

Whether it’s true or not, one thing is for sure - there are companies really trying to get Apple to the masses. On machine or in Cloud: It doesn’t matter. People want the alternative.

It really also regurgitates the question: Should Apple lift their license requirement of “Apple-labeled” machines? Apple doesn’t need to support non-Apple-labeled machines and they can control small companies wanting to install and sell Apple software by adding something in the EULA stating they can control businesses who create software or processes that allow users to install and run OS X on any x86 machine. Basically, businesses would have to be licensed to sell their wares with Apple software on it.

Of course history tells us that Apple has tried to work with other companies and decided to pull any affiliation. They have been stingy with their hardware and software. There are some who agree with the decision - they can support it better if they control it better.

If DiscCloud is compliant like they say, we can definitely see a change in corporate computing. However, I would guess this software might not be compliant simply because you don’t need Apple hardware to install or run. It does tell Apple once again that people are demanding their product in the office and in the home. The best way to do that legally? Go buy an Apple Mac.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Episode #6 11-07-07
• 10-31-07 #5

Open Source seems to be a growing movement. Not everything is part of the “GNU General Public License” though.  Some have even gone as far to make their own Public License standard.

Microsoft does have some Open Source to them, but what would happen if they took their Operating System to that standard? Would people accept the Microsoft OS, or would they finally make the switch to Linux?

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According to opensource.org, Open Source software follows these directives:

1.       Free Redistribution with no royalties from resale.

2.       Inclusion of Source Code

3.       All Modifications and derived works must be allowed to be distributed

4.       The integrity of the source code is intact.

5.       There must be no discrimination or restriction for who can use it.

6.       Must not be specific to a Product

7.       Cannot restrict other software

8.       Must be Technology Neutral.

There are other levels of Open software that are NOT open Source. Adobe’s Open Screen does not exactly fall under the Open Source guidelines. Because of this, Adobe can control their technology. While you can develop an SWF or FLV, you will still be restricted in using the Flash Player itself.

A couple days ago I reported on an article over at ITWire: Are Vista users are being driven to Linux because of the questionable performance from the program.  While people are not happy with the Microsoft OS, we still have only small amounts make the move. It might eventually make an impact, but right now, we live in a Microsoft world.

Back in 2003, Linux.com asked the question “What if Microsoft decided to go Open Source?” In the article, Donald Rosenberg speculated that the retail price would drop to pretty much nothing. However Microsoft would then be used on a wider basis giving it more penetration to the market. The new focus of Microsoft would be the “Service Organization”.

Still, the real question would be “Would people adopt the Microsoft Open Source standard?”

I think the answer would be Yes. With a Windows Open Source OS, they can make legal all those machines that was once not. They can run the programs they are familiar with and continue on with their daily routines.

Now, would Linux then gain popularity if Microsoft took the OS to OS? I would like to believe so, but the reality would be “no”. File structure is a good reason why. People know what a C drive is, but what is the file structure on Linux? People know what an exe file is, but do they know what it is in Linux?

Big business controls the market and ultimately consumer use on this one. You go to work, you live in a Microsoft world. You then go home, you want to use something familiar to you.

Apple is not Open Source. They claim to be in certain areas, but as we see in the Psystar lawsuit: you cannot put Apples’ OS on non- Apple hardware.  But what about “Must not be specific to a Product”? Must not pertain in this case.

There would be too many hurdles if Microsoft wanted to go 100% Open Source. They might adopt a different standard close to it, but still need to control certain aspects. Call it “Open Microsoft”.

Microsoft does have some Open Source to them. While it’s not to the Operating System or Programs like Exchange, Office or IE, it is for developers wanting to use items like Silverlight.

So will Microsoft ever try to go fully Open Source? Probably not. Are they greedy for doing that? I don’t think so. Sometimes you need a structured system to give people what they want. I wouldn’t mind a Microsoft OS that I could install without a License. A choice between a “Free” and a “Paid” version in a Open Microsoft standard would be great for those who want to continue to use the Microsoft products.

Other Posts of Interest:

• This Week in Tech History 6-23-08
• This Week in Tech History - 6-09-08

Psystar has been bucking the system by selling a PC that will run Windows, Linux and (gasp!) Apple software. Apple of course sued Psystar for doing this. Now Psystar has come back with a counter suit claiming Monopoly. Do they have a leg to stand on?

Apple had it’s share of clones throughout the years. From Apple II to the machines that would emulate a Power PC to Leopard, which runs on an Intel chip. Back then it was acceptable to clone the machine. You needed a special ROM to do it and the only way to get that ROM was to go through Apple anyway.

Steve Jobs ended that practice in 1995. Since then, people have still tried to find ways to put Apple software on other machines. So when Psystar entered the market with this concept, it gave all those who didn’t have $2400 a chance to run Apple software.

Apple sent a lawsuit to Psystar last month. Now, Psystar has come back with their own suit claiming that Apple is making their software “Anticompetitive”. If Psystar wins, it opens up a new door where the PC could see a legal Apple OS.

The End User License Agreement (EULA) in Apple Leopard states:

Single Use. This License allows you to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time, and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time.

Of course, putting Apple software on PC’s has been documented well before Psystar came to play. OSX86 is a project that helps you make your own hackintosh. However, Psystar was the first to make a PC combo with OSX.

So are we talking Monopolization? That’s where the lines are fuzzy. Apple is not a monopoly to begin with - you can choose between Apple, Windows or Linux.  The only difference with the three is that Apple software can only be on Apple hardware.

Should Apple be suing Psystar? I can see both sides of this, but the big issue is that the software has to be “fixed” to run on a PC. I am not a laywer, nor do I play one on television. Apple does have the right to say people cannot mux up the code.

So Psystar should discontinue selling the OSX machines? That will be for the courts to decide. It is sad that Apple has to continually say that the ball is theirs and you can’t take it out of their playground. It’s also understandable.

With Windows, you can put it on most hardware - even an Apple product. Because of that, Windows has to account for the unknown variable. Since Apple makes the hardware, it doesn’t have to worry about incompatibility from an unknown 3rd party just getting into the market.

Even if Psystar closes shop, it doesn’t mean the end of OSX on a PC. The reality is people will do it for personal satisfaction if not for a functional Leopard system at a part of the price.

If Apple really wants to curb the problem, they should simply drop the price of the computers. At least make one that is scalable and under $800. People might then buy an Apple instead of looking for an alternative.

Apple does have a right to what they create. However it might be more important that Apple is still a big minority in todays computer market. The more people you can convert to Mac, the better. Unfortuneately, they haven’t done a great job with it.

As for the lawsuit, we’ll have to wait to see what a judge decides. If Apple wins, you might not see Psystar and maybe not even the OSX86 project anymore. However, if Psystar wins….

Other Posts of Interest:

• Virtualize your Mac? DiscCloud Wants to Put Apple Leopard in the Cloud.
• Episode 31 - 4/30/08

This week we poke fun at Bloomberg who apparently made a small mistake earlier. A report was “accidentally” released that Steve Jobs had passed. Steve Jobs health has been in the spotlight recently, so this article could have hit people hard. The report was retracted.

It really begs the question: Do news wires pre-make stories for when things like this happen? It kinda reminds me of an older SNL skit where Dana Carvey played Tom Brokaw making possible news stories of Gerald Ford’s death.

Anyway, lets hear from the (very much alive) CEO, Steve Jobs in this week’s Bitstrips:

Other Posts of Interest:

• This Week In Tech History p1 10-06-08 - The Apple Falls
• History of Apple: Goodbye Steve Jobs, Hello Steve Jobs.

Apple said it was an update. They applied the update and it didn’t fix the problem. Apple is still saying its about the update.

Now a woman in Alabama sues Apple for false Advertisement. Jessica Alena Smith filed the lawsuit stating that the advertising said the iPhone 3G was suppose to double the speed of the original iPhone. There is no report of how much she’s suing for.

This raises the question - What should Apple do now? Are they continuing to blame Infineon or should they just bite the bullet and get these problems fixed?

Last week the question was “Should Apple recall the iPhone”. Apple came back by saying it was a software issue and the latest update would fix it. Of course 2.0.2 came out and the problem still was present. Talk about Egg on the face….

Apple needs to bite the bullet and get this problem taken care of very quick. I can accept it’s a software issue, but if the software fix isn’t fixing, then this Infineon chip has to go - Recall the phones.

Are you having an iPhone issue? I would like to talk with you. Of course, if you want to donate an iPhone to Geekazine, we will pretty much disect this item and show you what the problems are.

In the meantime, I am going to stick with my HTC. I still like the slider keyboard.

Other Posts of Interest:

• A Look at Android SDK 1.0
• LIVE Show - 9-22 - Heroes and Android

The Podcast didn’t go as smoothly. There was a small glitch in recording apperatus. Some content was nixed because of that (2 minor events). Nonetheless the show is pretty much intact. We talk about Moons of Mars, new Apple and AMD machines, Windows 1.01, MMORPG, GIF format patents expire and the problem at LAX that left people stranded for 10 hours.

Oh yeah - we can’t forget about King Kong vs. Godzilla….

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Other Posts of Interest:

• This Week in Tech History 8-04-08 - Microsoft Saves Apple
• This week in Tech History - 5-26-08

The main computer went down this weekend and I am still in flux trying to fix. We still got out the 5 minute show although the quality of sound might not be what it usually is. I aplogogize for that.

We did find some great tech history: It was 11 years ago this week Microsoft bought stock in Apple to get them out of a small slump, Dmitry Sklyarov is released in 2001 and the World Wide Web project was leaked to the public.

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Other Posts of Interest:

• Microsoft Ads - Poll
• Ep. #51 9-17-08 - No Illness will bring the show down.

Standing in line waiting for a new iPhone? Well maybe you’ll get a chuckle out of this:

Other Posts of Interest:

• History of Apple: Goodbye Steve Jobs, Hello Steve Jobs.
• Apple iPhone 3G Update Still Doesn’t Fix - Woman Sues

It was a Commodore Vic 20. We were up North at our Grandma’s house for Christmas in 1981. Our cousins had a Vic20 and we played some cool games. When we got home at the end of the week, we opened our presents and low and behold, we had a Vic 20. I swear I got up early every day of Winter break to play on this new machine. I did have to fight for use with the rest of my family, but I think I got some good time on it.

The Vic20 was released in January 1980. It sold for $299. It had a 1 mHz, MOS 6502 chip and 5 K of RAM. You connected this machine up to a standard TV using a RF modulator. Gorf, Snackman, Raid on Fort Knox and any game that came from COMPUTE! Magazine that we spent the time to type into the machine and save on the Tape drive. Those were the days….

My next computer was a Commodore 128 in 1986. It was backwards compatible with the Commodore 64 and had 128KB RAM with a 4 mHz processor. I got into Sprite editing. I made a Balloon fly across the screen. It was pretty cool.

While in school, I worked on the gamut: Apple II, IBM PC jr (the chicklet key one), Atari 800XL where I created my first musical composition: The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’.  We were also avid players of Ultima II, III and IV.

Then Apple showed up in full force. Apple Macintosh was the greatest new machines and Apple refitted our computer lab. 24 machines were connected via Appletalk. We connected a Video camera up to it and took digital snapshots of the students, worked on music and even built small robots and a pinball machine.

In the background, there was one 286 machine. It ran Windows 2.0 and had some great programs like a music composition program and a graphic design program.

I ditched the 128 for an IBM 286 PS/2 machine in College. I used that at home while using Macintosh in the lab for Music Composition using FINALE! In 1994, I started working in IT as a Tester for Biomedical equipment. I was given an old 386 board to work on in my spare time, but quickly ditched it for a 486DX2. I bought 8 SIMM chips for $40 a chip.

That machine lasted me 1 1/2 years. I updated the processor, then finally broke down and bought my first Pentium. It was a P90, but something was wrong with it, so I took it back and got a P166 at 66 mHz. I also bought a RealTek 14.4 modem / soundcard. It had software that could turn a computer into a multi-level voicemail system.

From there, it was a P200, PII 266, PIII 500, PIV 1.6 gHz and then a Dual Core 1.5gHz system, which I use to this day. I also have a Dell 2.8 gHz for the audio rig, a Athlon 3000 2.1 gHz for ustream and 2 laptops, 550 mHz Gateway Solo and 1.8 gHz Celeron Lenovo.

I did get another Mac a while back. It is a 800 mHz Power PC machine. Someday I will upgrade it, but it does what I need it to for now.

So why am I telling you this? Part to let you know my Computer background - Part for nostalgic reasons. It’s interesting how we went from Vic20’s to Multi Core PC’s. And all in a 30 year span.

It would be cool to actually get a Vic20 or a Classic Macintosh to play on. See if I can remember how to work it. Maybe build a simple game again. Connect a bread board and program an LED or something.

But then again, I like what I got now.

Other Posts of Interest:

• This Week in Tech History - 06-02-08
• This Week in Tech History 6-23-08

Hello. I’m a mac. And I’m a PC. We’ve all seen the ad. John Hodgeman and Justin Long Bantor back and forth on why the Apple Mac is better as the PC gets annoyed. But does the ad help or hurt the company?

Apple ads have been the most prolific in the computer industry since 1984 when they shaped the way the Super bowl ran ads. In this ad we see a group of “drones” sit and watch a giant screen of a older gentleman discussing how they are celebrating the first year of information purification. In the distance, a woman runs into the room with a sledgehammer being followed by guards in riot gear. She stops, swings the hammer around and throws it toward the screen as the voice goes “We shall prevail”.

The ad was the highest ranked commercial and still is in the top ten all-time favorite Super bowl ads. Since then, Apple has been using unique advertising campaigns to not only promote the Mac, but to also dig into PC’s and Windows. From the “one click” productivity ads, to the man on the podium trying to get his presentation to work on the newly loaded Windows 95 laptop.

No matter how innovative these ads get, the same results came to fruition. Apple had failed to gain substantial market share of the computer consumer.

In 2006, Apple began running ads using the actor Justin Long and Humorist author John Hodgeman. In the UK, Mac and PC were played by a comedy duo of David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The ads talk about how Mac and PC are unique in their own way, but a Mac is better for those who want to share pictures, make videos and make families lives productive and fun. In the end, PC feel s Mac has stolen the spotlight and is bitter about it.

The ads have brought many spoofs on YouTube and other video sites. Whether it’s “Mac vs PC vs Linux”, “Marvell vs DC”, “Wii vs PS3″ - a spoof by G4 television - and even “Mac vs PC - South Park style”. Some parody as close as possible, even using the ad theme music and all white background.

The ads have run on TV and the web. Some web ads coincide multiple ad spaces on a webpage giving the ads more to play with. Something happening at the top of a page, and Mac and PC on the right side referring to the above ad. Each web ad gets a little more innovative and sometimes more fun to watch.

But are these ads helping Apple get more market share? Better yet, are these ads accurately portraying what a Mac can do and what a PC cannot (or vice versa).   One ad has PC with a bodyguard behind him. PC has Vista loaded on it, so the bodyguard asks PC if he gives permission to continue, as Vista comes with that feature. The reality is that Mac has been doing that a lot longer than PC.

Another ad says that Mac is free of virus and spyware. While this is mostly true about virus, Macs can still get spyware just like any other machine. Some of the ads can be pointed out the claims are not totally true, however others could even be construed as “Misleading Advertising”.  Of course that is something for the courts to decide.

The question is whether they help or hurt Apple in gaining market share. To say it’s not helping in some way shape or form would not be true. However, it is speculated that the reason why  Apple is at 10% market share worldwide (20% in the US) may be attributed more toward the popularity of iPods, iTunes and iPhones.

There have been some other successful ad campaigns on PC’s side. “Dude, you’re getting a Dell”, HP’s ads using familiar names and how they make their computers “Personal again” and a few of Intels’ ads. Dancing characters in different color radiation suits, the Blue Man Group and even the popular “Intel Inside” theme music all are good examples.

Apple has some other ads that have been innovative and spoofed. Dancing silhouettes of people listening to their iPod is one popular campaign. The Macbook air ad is the most recent. Pulling a laptop out of a standard manila envelope and begin working asks the question “Who needs a computer case anymore?”

The Apple vs Mac ads are probably not going anywhere anytime soon. Apple will continue to develop innovative ads using the white screen technique they have run with since 1984. It will try to help in convincing people to switch to Apple for their next computer, even if it only convinces a small amount of consumers. In the meantime, John Hodgeman will try to show up Justin Long. Justin will say how Mac does whatever and a bag of chips. John will then pout and the commercial will be over.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Episode 33 - 5-14-08
• If you want to be a Badger, Go after Intel