New and Noteworthy: Comparison between Apple and Dell pricing; iTunes kiosk solution in development; more

Comparison between Apple and Dell pricing CRN has an interesting brief article about how Apple's pricing has changed in the past 2 years while Dell's has remained relatively static. "Here's how the company's pricing on the iMac has broken down:

• July 2004: iMac with a 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 processor and 17-inch monitor, $2,448.
• July 2006: iMac with a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor and 17-inch monitor, $1,299.

"Now, let's take the same stroll down memory lane via Archive.org and look at how Dell has priced similar systems in its Dimension desktop line:

• July 2004: Dimension 4600c with a 2.8GHz Intel Pentium 4 and 17-inch monitor, $909 (with Web special).
• July 2006: Dimension 5150c with a 2.8GHz Intel Core Duo and 17-inch monitor, $889.

"[...] this begins to provide a glimpse at how Apple has begun to disrupt the desktop space. It also begins to explain how, after years of tepid growth, Apple is now seeing its U.S. desktop business grow by more than 15 percent, while Dell's desktop business in the U.S. is growing by a little more than 6 percent." More.

iTunes kiosk solution in development Macworld UK reports that Australian software and hardware developer, 22Moo, has confirmed it is developing an iTunes kiosk for public places. "The company calls the solution its 'PodBuffet.' The current prototype is based on an Intel-based Mac mini that drives a 15in touch-sensitive screen (with a virtual keyboard)." More.

How Does Open Source Software Stack Up on the Mac? MacDevCenter addresses that question in a lengthy article. "Recently on the O'Reilly Radar, it was noted that several well-known Mac folks are switching to Ubuntu Linux. One of them, Mark Pilgrim, directly juxtaposed several of Apple's stock apps to open source software (OSS) alternatives on his blog, and this got me pondering how well Apple's stock apps really stand up to some of the alternatives out there--especially from the OSS community. For that matter, how many high quality OSS alternatives are there for Mac users?" More.

Previously on MacFixIt

• Outdated drive firmware can cause data corruption
• MacBook (13"): Some repaired units exhibiting wake-from-sleep issues
• Apple debuts wireless version of Mighty Mouse
• Repaired Macs often lose software serial numbers

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