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New & Noteworthy: Apple rebates; Apple's iPod strategy; Walt Mossberg looks back over 10 years; MSN lockout; more

New & Noteworthy: Apple rebates; Apple's iPod strategy; Walt Mossberg looks back over 10 years; MSN lockout; more

CNET staff
4 min read
Apple dangles rebates to spur iMac sales From CNET: "With the mail-in rebate, the price of the 600 MHz iMac drops from $1,299 to $1,149, while the 700 MHz machine dips from $1,499 to $1,349. The free digital camera is Hewlett-Packard's Photosmart 318xi, which offers a resolution of 2.3 megapixels and can hold up to 80 photos on its 8MB flash-memory card. The camera sells for $200 on HP's Web site." More. See also these Apple pages: Snap it up and Crystal clear savings.

What's Inside Apple's iPod Strategy? From InteractiveWeek: "The second edge of Apple Computer's finely honed marketing sword nearly lopped off a couple of the company's fingers this week, when CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off Apple's first non-Mac hardware product in nearly three years." More.

Apple Has Big Hopes for iPod From InteractiveWeek: "Although the iPod is priced significantly higher than its nearest hard-drive based competitor - the $249.99, 6-gigabyle Nomad Jukebox from Creative Labs - IDC analyst Bryan Ma said that Apple's player exceeds the capabilities of the Jukebox 'by leaps and bounds. Creative's product is not instant on. This one is. The battery life is three times as long; the size is one-third and it weighs significantly less. The interface is multiple times better,' Ma said. 'Out of personal experience, I used to carry around a Nomad Jukebox, and now I'm carrying the iPod around and I don't even own a Mac. And I'm thinking of buying one just so I can add to my music library on this device.'" More.

Consumer Technologies Make Startling Advances in Decade By Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal: "Nearly all of the sex appeal, nearly all of the design innovation, in PCs is back at Apple, which has reawakened since the return of founder Steve Jobs four years ago, when the company was near bankruptcy. While it has only a sliver of the overall market, Apple has resumed its role as industry trendsetter. In recent years, it was the first to push easy wireless networking, video editing and DVD recording. This week, it introduced a cool, portable digital-music player, the first in what I expect will be a whole line of hand-held digital devices." More.

MSN lockout fuels antitrust cry From ZDNet: "As some third-party browsers remain unable to access Microsoft's popular MSN.com Web site for a second day, the lockout has stirred up further anti-competitive concerns about the giant software maker. Microsoft has said it has reopened the redesigned MSN site to rival browser makers, but as of Friday morning, the most recent browsers from Mozilla.org and Opera Software still could not access MSN. Netscape users also continued to report access problems." More. Also see our previous coverage of the browser lockout debacle.

Tim Berners-Lee on Microsoft's Latest Browser Tricks From the San Jose Mercury News: "When I see any Web site claim to be only readable using particular hardware or software, I cringe - they are pining for the bad old days when each piece of information need a different program to access it." More.

Leaked MS email reveals WinXP, Xbox launch spin plans From The Register: "With exquisite timing a very naughty mole leaks us an email from top Microsoft spinmeister Mark Murray. Not any old email, either - it details events for the week leading up to Der Tag, today, the XP launch in NYC." More.

Mac, Linux, Even DOS Fans Diss XP From Wired: "Microsoft touts its new operating system as the OS to end all OSes, but that doesn't wash with some critics, who contend that Redmond is simply the consummate ripoff artist." More.

Upgrade laden with ads, troubles From the Chicago Tribune: "...this latest version of AOL's underlying software arrives as a far less significant change than prior upgrades. AOL 7.0 mainly adds advertising to the screen in the form of pitches for everything from signing up for AOL's own broadband connection deals to arranging things so you can use one-click shopping at AOL stores." More.

Egghead.com Fried; Operations Cooked From InternetNews: "Egghead.com Inc., the troubled Menlo Park, Calif.-based e-tailer that in August filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has suspended all operations and stopped taking new orders." More.

Net-porn law applies deadline pressure From CNET: "Schools and libraries have until Sunday [yesterday] to show they're taking adequate steps to block access to online pornography on public computers. If they don't, they lose thousands of dollars each in federal funds." More.