Cheaper iPhone could cost as little as $99

Lance Whitney
January 9, 2013
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57563005-37/cheaper-iphone-could-cost-as-little-as-$99-bloomberg-says

That much-rumored "cheap" Apple iPhone could hit the market at a lowball price of $99, according to a story published today by Bloomberg.

Citing an unnamed source familiar with Apple's plans, Bloomberg said the phone would sell at a price range of $99 to $149 and would pop up late this year at the earliest.

Apple has already been chatting with at least one of the top U.S. wireless carriers about selling the phone, according to the source. The company has reportedly been working on a low-cost iPhone since February 2011 in a bid to grab more customers in developing countries, a tidbit also mentioned by a separate Bloomberg source.

This latest scuttlebutt follows a report from yesterday's Wall Street Journal claiming that Apple is prepping a low-cost iPhone for debut later this year. The Journal's story followed a rumor from DigiTimes pointing to a cheaper iPhone on the way this year geared for emerging markets.

The rumor is hardly new. Back in February 2011, the Journal reported that Apple had already started working on a new line of cheaper iPhones. The phones would be smaller than the iPhone 4 and available to carriers at half the full retail price Apple normally charges them.

More recently, Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston chimed in, saying he believes Apple will launch an "iPhone Mini" in the next few years, possibly as soon as next year, to better compete with Samsung. Jeffries analyst Peter Misek also forecasts a low-cost iPhone but thinks it may launch as early as this summer with a price tag of $200 to $250.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster sees a 60 percent to 70 percent chance that Apple will unveil a lower-priced iPhone this year. In an investors' note out today, Munster reiterated that he feels Apple needs a cheaper iPhone to recapture market share lost to Android phone makers.

In contrast with Bloomberg, the analyst thinks a price range of $149 to $199 is more likely, with the cost trending toward the higher end. Such a range could be justified given Apple's history of charging a premium price tag. Munster also believes the main competition at that level would be Android phones selling for $99 to $199.

"We note that the cheapest iPhone, the iPhone 4, currently costs $450 off contract and more in many countries where additional taxes are levied," the analyst said. "We note that an off contract iPhone 4 is ~$490 in China and $750 in Brazil, thus the sub-$199 price would be a significant discount. Historically, we believe lower-priced products have had a measurable positive impact on overall revenue (iPad Mini, iPod Nano, iPad)."

As with most rumors, some of the "facts" and forecasts from the different sources don't quite match up.

The Journal's sources said the cheaper device would be smaller than the current iPhone models, a belief echoed by Strategy Analytics' Mawston. But DigiTimes' sources say the phone would sport a screen larger than the iPhone 5's 4-inch display. That claim seems dubious given that the phone would be cheaper than the current model.

Most of these reports say the phone will debut before the end of the year. But Mawston feels Apple has little incentive to launch a cheaper iPhone this year in light of the strong sales of the iPhone 5. Instead, Apple is more apt to wait until the iPhone's share of the global smartphone market reaches a higher saturation point.

It's a safe bet Apple has grown weary of being trumped by Android in general and Samsung in particular. The iPhone 5 has seen huge demand, but the company has lost significant sales and market share to its Android rivals over the past couple of years.

Of course, many people would argue that Apple already offers a low-cost iPhone, namely the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4. With the standard two-year contract, the 4S can be had for just $99, while the iPhone 4 is available for free. But as Munster pointed out, those models sport higher price tags when purchased off contract, especially in other countries.

Apple could conceivably see a cheaper version of the newest iPhone as a more effective way to grab back some of the global sales and market share lost to the likes of Samsung.

The top 10 tech 'fails' of 2012

Doug Gross
Fri December 28, 2012
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/28/tech/web/tech-fails-2012/index.html

Well, you can't win 'em all.

In 2012, we saw big tech advances. Smartphones got bigger. Tablets got smaller. Social media played a role in everything from a presidential election to disaster relief.

But with advances come clunkers.

When you're in a field that demands near-constant innovation and unprecedented levels of creativity, sometimes even the most successful players are going to shoot and miss.

So, at the risk of playing Scrooge in this season of good will, here we come to wallow in it. Because, let's face it: The Internet loves a good fail.

Behold the top 10 tech "fails" of 2012, with wishes for happier days ahead to all involved.

Apple Maps

Apple's unofficial slogan, "It Just Works," took a beating on this one.

Along with the rollout of the much anticipated iPhone 5 in September, Apple overhauled iOS, the operating system that runs the phone, its iPad and other mobile devices. A much-hyped feature of the change was Apple's first effort at its own mapping app -- after dumping rival Google's map software.

The result was so bad that a few days later Apple's CEO was essentially telling customers to use Google Maps.

Entire cities appeared in the wrong place. Landmarks such as the Washington Monument showed up submerged in bodies of water, and big chunks of the globe appeared as roadless wastelands.

"At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers," CEO Tim Cook wrote in a rare apology. "With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better."

It was a little more than a month later when Scott Forstall, vice president in charge of iOS, was ousted from the company, reportedly, in part, for not wanting to apologize for Maps.

The company has been gradually improving Maps, but as recently as this month Australian police complained that an Apple Maps glitch could endanger motorists by mislocating a city of 30,000 people in the middle of the outback.

Facebook's IPO

Everybody uses Facebook. And everybody likes to make money. So everybody's going to gobble up Facebook stock, right?

So went the conventional thinking -- at least among those of us who spend more time thinking about mobile phones than mutual funds. But on Wall Street? Not so much.

It's hard to remember a stock opening more hyped than Facebook's when it hit the market in May. The stock began the day worth about $38. Then, after what everyone predicted to be a dynamic day of trading for the social media superstar, it closed at ... well ... about $38.

It wouldn't take long for the pinstripe-suit types to decide it wasn't even worth that. Facebook's stock bottomed out in September, falling below $18. Since then, it's been steadily rebounding and currently sells for about $28.

Facebook says it has solid financial plans for the future. And the stock may well keep climbing, eventually turning a profit for folks who bought early.

But that fateful day in May will be a reminder that Wall Street and Silicon Valley don't always play well together.

Airtime

When the man who created Napster and helped launch Facebook talks, the tech industry listens.

And when Sean Parker and partner Shawn Fanning tease something new called Airtime, techies fall all over themselves to see what the next great innovation will be.

But then, at a fancy launch event featuring celebrities such as Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg, Parker announces that it's ... basically, a random Web chat tool.

Cue the collective, "Huh?"

It didn't help that, at that fancy event, Airtime crashed over and over again. Or that folks had a hard time seeing how it would be different than Chatroulette (although Parker promised more users would actually be wearing pants).

In October, Parker admitted that Airtme, launched with more than $33 million in backing, had just 10,000 active users. (That's $3,300 spent per user, if you're scoring along at home.)

"Running a startup is like eating glass," he said at the All Things D conference. "You just start to like the taste of your own blood."

Ouch.

Online coupons

"These aren't your grandma's coupons!" the digital generation so brashly declared.

With their mobile apps and irreverent style, daily-deal offerings such as Groupon and Living Social were all the rage as 2012 dawned.

Now? Um, not so much.

Groupon, perhaps the best-known player in the field, watched its value plummet 79% in 2012. Its stock value dropped about three-quarters since opening in November 2011 as high-profile investors washed their hands of it.

And this is the company Google reportedly tried to buy for $6 billion in 2010.

LivingSocial, meanwhile, announced last month it was laying off 400 people. That's after announcing months of revenue losses.

So what happened? Inbox fatigue made some users stop checking the deals. A glut of offers you don't care about (pottery classes?) can make your eyes glaze over. And some businesses quit making offers, saying they never saw the promised returns on their investment.

Nexus Q

When Google gets something right, they get it really, really right.

Redefining Web search? Yep. World's leading mobile system? Check. A car that drives itself? Vroom!

But some of the Big G's outings in the gadget world have hit with a thud. Enter ... the Nexus Q.

The size and shape of a Magic Eight Ball, the Nexus Q is (or was ... it's hard to say) a media streamer that uses Android to play audio and video. It's also made in the United States, no small thing in a world where virtually all gadgets come from China.

Unfortunately, in the grand tradition of Google Wave, nobody really knew what it was when it was released in June. Its release date was pushed back and, eventually, Google just gave everybody who pre-ordered a free one.

The Q has not officially been canned. But on Google's online store, the never-released gadget is listed as "not available at this time."

Stop Online Piracy Act

The new law was supposed to be about fighting online piracy. Who's going to be against that, right?

Answer: Pretty much the whole Internet.

Members of Congress sponsored the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and related bills to make it easier to shut down websites that illegally share music, movies and other content.

But opponents argued it went too far and could end up shutting down legitimate sites while stifling free expression in the process.

Unfortunately for backers of SOPA, Web heavyweights such as Google, Facebook, Reddit and Wikipedia joined the fight against the bill. Sites went black on January 18 to raise awareness. Members of communities such as Reddit put intense pressure on lawmakers (including soon-to-be GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan) until they dropped their support or went on record opposing the bill.

The unprecedented backlash eventually caused supporters to shelve SOPA, and quite possibly ushered in a new age of Web activism.

'Social discovery' apps

If the first wave of social networking was about hooking up with friends, the next wave would be about meeting strangers -- or so the thinking went.

Tech-world pundits predicted a new wave of "social discovery" apps that would change the way we meet people. The basic idea was that, by using phones' GPS, users could see who else was nearby and then meet up with other users with shared friends or similar interests.

"If we get this right, I cannot think of a bigger thing to be working on right now," Paul Davison, CEO of the app Highlight, told CNN in June. "We can take billions and billions of dollars."

Significantly, he also chose not to tell a reporter how many users the app had at the time.

Banjo and Glancee were apps that did something similar. Others, such as Skout and Grindr, were even more specific -- they let you hunt down willing partners for a quick hookup.

But here's the thing -- some users, particularly women, found the apps a little creepy.

OK, so you know that somebody sitting in the same bar as you likes the Pixies, "Firefly," the fantasy stylings of George R.R. Martin and the Atlanta Braves. Are you really just going to start waving around your smartphone to get their attention?

Sure, they've got good taste. But they still might be jerks.

Color

It was supposed to be a tech-world slam-dunk. Instead, it became a cautionary tale about what some feel could become a tech "bubble."

Color, a photo-sharing mobile app, stoked excitement in the startup community that was virtually unrivaled. Before it had a single user, Color had raised $41 million from investors. So certain were its Silicon Valley creators that, reportedly, they turned down a $200 million buyout offer from Google.

With much fanfare, Color launched in March 2011. But users soon complained that the app, designed to share photos with the people around you, often didn't find anyone for them to share with. Its creators were forced to announce they were working on a major overhaul on the same day it was released.

Color tallied about 1 million users at its peak and, more recently, was reportedly down to about 100,000. Compare that to the roughly 100 million users of photo app Instagram (it had about 27 million when Facebook bought it last year), and you see the problem.

Color will be shutting down on New Year's Eve.

Zynga

It reads like an old VH1 "Behind the Music" episode.

"Zynga was riding high. Love them or hate them, its games like "Mafia Wars" and "FarmVille" were everywhere, clogging up Facebook pages and spurring millions of bored casual gamers to pay real cash for virtual cows. Then, it all came crumbling down."

OK, maybe "crumbling down" is an overstatement. But things in The 'Ville definitely didn't go Zynga's way in 2012.

In October, Zynga announced it was laying off 5% of its employees, shutting down its studio in Boston and proposing the closure of others in Japan and England.

(It would be entirely cynical to suggest Zynga hoped to bury that news by making the announcement during Apple's much-hyped iPad Mini event. So we won't suggest that here.)

Facebook, which gets a cut when people spend money on games such as "FarmVille," said that income from Zynga was down 20% over last year.

And, like unskilled mafia warriors, Zynga shot itself in the foot again in March when it bought the company that makes mobile game "Draw Something" for an eye-popping $180 million. But fascination with "Draw Something" dropped off fast. When's the last time you played?

Twitter twits

OK, so you can post something stupid anywhere. But there's something about Twitter's rapid-fire, 140-character bursts that brings out the stupid in people.

From companies embarrassing themselves to celebrities behaving badly, it's hard to name just one Twitter doofus. But here are a few nominees:

• Chris Brown, the hip-hop star, consistently used Twitter to make himself look like a foul-mouthed rage monster. Instead of thanking fans after winning a Grammy, he launched a profanity-laced bromide at his "haters." Then there were the misogynistic, scatological insults he hurled at comedian-critic Jenny Johnson before "quitting" Twitter. (He's back.)

• McDonald's thought it would get a little of that social media love it had been hearing about in January when it created the #McDstories hashtag -- asking customers to share their favorite McDonald's memories. Then it found out what happens when you give the Internet open access to your advertising effort. McDonald's yanked the campaign after just two hours and countless food-horror stories about fingernails, insects and bouts of food poisoning.

• Spike Lee was, like many Twitter users, angered by the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Tweeting the home address of shooter George Zimmerman would have been questionable enough. But Lee mistakenly tweeted out the address of a couple who have a son by that name. They had to leave their home after being besieged by reporters and threats. Lee would later apologize and "reach an agreement" with the aggrieved family.

• Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou was on her way to the Olympics when she tried a little ill-advised Twitter humor. With so many African Olympians in London, "the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!" she wrote. Her tweet was quickly criticized as racially insensitive, and Greece's Olympic Committee barred her from participating in the Games.

• Oprah Winfrey had been gushing for weeks about how much she loved the new Microsoft Surface tablet, culminating in this tweet: "Gotta say love that SURFACE! Have bought 12 already for Christmas gifts." Unfortunately for her, those words were followed by ... "via Twitter for iPad."

The top 12 tech stories of 2012

Heather Kelly
Fri December 28, 2012
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/27/tech/web/top-tech-stories-2012/

Facebook struggled with its new life as a publicly traded company, and Instagram, the photo-sharing network it acquired in April, was dragged along for the ride.

There were inspiring stories, such as the Internet coming together to protest anti-piracy legislation. And there was darker news, like the Israeli military live-tweeting its strikes against Gaza.

And as always, the world's dominant and most closely watched tech company was all over the news. Apple did a little bit of everything in 2012, from hit new products (the iPad Mini) to high-profile failures (Apple Maps) to some old-fashioned courtroom drama in its patent war with Samsung.

Here are our picks for the top 12 tech stories of 2012. What did we leave out? Let us know in the comment section below.

Microsoft's big push

This was the year Microsoft took a big, bold and surprisingly fun step with a new version of Windows, an updated mobile operating system and its very own iPad rival.

The company, best known for its efficient but stodgy desktop software, needed to do something fresh to get customers' attention in 2012 and started with its flagship product. Windows 8 is a complete overhaul of the Windows operating system. Microsoft nixed the Start button and mixed a playful touchscreen interface with a more traditional desktop experience that runs on tablets, traditional computers, and hybrid machines.

The company also made a leap into the hardware market, releasing its first tablet, the Microsoft Surface, which ran a truncated version of the new Windows 8 operating system. And finally, there was Windows Phone 8, a major revamp of its smartphone operating system, which Microsoft hopes can compete with Apple's iOS and Google's Android.

It's still too soon to judge any of the new releases as successes or failures, but give Microsoft credit for taking chances.

SOPA backlash

In January, a pair of anti-piracy bills united the Internet in outrage. The proposed legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, would have restricted access to sites associated with pirated content, including the search engines and ad networks that do business with them.

The Internet cried censorship, and on January 18 some of the most popular sites blacked out their pages in protest. Reddit, Craigslist, Boing Boing, The Oatmeal, the English-language version of Wikipedia and thousands of other sites went dark. Even Google put a black censorship box over its logo. There were also petitions and organized boycotts of companies that supported the bills.

The protests worked, as both SOPA and PIPA were shelved. It was an impressive demonstration of the power of an organized Internet community.

Live-tweeting war

Violence and war have long been documented on Twitter and other social networks -- typically by journalists and by regular people on the ground (notably the Pakistani witness to the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden).

But in November, the Israeli military took this concept to a new level. During its conflict with Palestinian forces in Gaza, the Israel Defense Force tweeted updates, including the news it had "eliminated" Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari. The military arm of Hamas responded on Twitter with its own provocations.

The back-and-forth between the warring sides signaled a jarring evolution in how war is broadcast in real time.

iPhone 5 and Apple Maps stumble

Every Apple hardware release is a big news story, starting with rumors months in advance and peaking with a well-oiled Apple press event, followed by usually glowing reviews and huge sales numbers. But in 2012, Apple made a major misstep when it released the iPhone 5 and its new operating system, iOS 6.

The company dropped the Google-powered maps that had come pre-installed on every iPhone since 2007. In its place, Apple introduced its own mapping app. Apple Maps looked stunning, with 3-D graphics and neat features like Flyover and turn-by-turn directions. All it was missing was transit directions and accuracy -- the maps were riddled with mistaken locations and outdated information.

The resulting criticism inspired an apology from CEO Tim Cook and led to an executive shakeup at Apple. Customers turned to third-party map apps until Google finally released an iOS version of its popular maps in December.

Apple vs. Samsung

It was the biggest tech trial of the year. Two of the top phone and tablet manufacturers went to war when Apple accused Samsung of infringing on its iPad and iPhone patents for a variety of tablets and smartphones. The drama culminated in a federal jury trial over the summer that offered a rare peek into how notoriously secretive Apple operates.

The story became huge because of the large amount of money at stake and the implications that its verdict would have on Samsung's business and the Android platform.

The jury decided in Apple's favor, awarding the company just over $1 billion in damages. But the case is far from over. Lawyers for both sides will continue bickering over potential appeals for months and possibly years to come.

Facebook's botched IPO

It was the most anticipated IPO of the year, and one of the largest ever for a tech company. Social-media darling Facebook looked primed for a big public opening: The company was valued at $104 billion, snapped up popular photo-sharing app Instagram and was still growing.

But then an array of problems and misjudgments led to a botched IPO in May, and the company's stock plummeted. The initial offer price of $38 was too high, too many shares were issued, its opening day was marred by Nasdaq's technical glitches, and underwriter Morgan Stanley was fined for improperly influencing share sales.

The stock price dropped significantly, hitting a low of $17.55 on September 4. Facebook is still struggling to recover some of its early-2012 luster.

The Instagram boom

Instagram started out scrappy two years ago as a fun little app for sharing sepia-shaded photos with friends. But when its user base skyrocketed, Facebook bought it for $1 billion in cash and shares of Facebook stock. That amount later dropped to $735 million as the value of Facebook shares plummeted.

By September, Instagram had more than 100 million users. The app capped off its big year with a rite of passage for social networks: a bungled update to its terms of service that sparked user outrage and led to a hasty backtrack by founder Kevin Systrom.

Instagram's challenge for 2013 is to figure out how to grow its free service into a business that makes money so that Facebook can begin to get its money's worth.

Megaupload and Kim Dotcom

The Megaupload case would have been mildly interesting on its own. A popular file-sharing company and its various sites were shut down by the F.B.I for piracy. But when Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was arrested in January at his lavish New Zealand estate, he went from unknown entrepreneur to a flamboyantly rich cult hero.

Dotcom (he legally changed his last name from Schmitz in 2005) did what any self-respecting boy video-game nerd would do with millions of dollars. He bought a yacht, helicopter, luxury cars and motorcycles. He lived with his model wife in a $24 million rented mansion in New Zealand where he spent hours playing "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," earning a spot as the top-ranked player in the world.

But after Dotcom was jailed and his assets were seized, he slowly emerged as a leader for Internet freedom activists who thought he was unfairly targeted. He's still fighting the charges and using his newfound fame to launch new projects. His current plans include a new file-sharing site that encrypts all its files, and a streaming music service called Megabox.

Mid-sized tablets take off

It was the rare case of Apple following a trend instead of setting it. Apple introduced its 7.9-inch iPad Mini in October to take on its new rivals in the tablet market: cheaper 7-inch devices from Google and Amazon. While the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 were only selling modestly compared to the iPad, Apple quickly recognized the growing demand for a smaller, more portable device.

The iPad Mini proved especially notable because Apple's late CEO, Steve Jobs, famously stated a 7-inch tablet would never make it in the market because it was "too big to compete with a smartphone; too small to compete with an iPad." This may have been one of those rare cases in which Jobs was wrong.

Nintendo launches Wii U

In November, Nintendo released a new version of its popular Wii game console, which while groundbreaking when launched in 2006 was badly in need of a refresh.

The Wii U's most novel feature is a touchscreen tablet controller called a GamePad, which communicates with the main console. Inside the tablet are motion control sensors, speakers, a camera, buttons and other bells and whistles -- all of which the gamer uses to interact with what's happening on the larger screen.

It's a bold move for the company and brings a new perspective to console gaming, although the Wii U has received mixed reviews so far.

Yahoo hires Marissa Mayer

Aging Internet giant Yahoo was facing slumping revenues and internal strife in July when it hired Google exec Marissa Mayer as its new chief executive. The hire made headlines for many reasons: Mayer was a bold choice that showed Yahoo was serious about shaking things up. She was also young, a Silicon Valley power player, and a woman who was expecting her first child.

There was much media hand-wringing over her pregnancy, with some pundits wondering aloud whether Mayer could juggle a newborn baby and a demanding new job. Many saw her as a role model for working mothers.

But when the news settled, the real question returned: Could Mayer save the floundering Yahoo? So far she has shaken up Yahoo's executive team, given employee morale a much-needed boost and begun to improve the company's mobile offerings, including a stunning new Flickr app.

It will take a while to properly gauge her impact, but investors seem optimistic. Yahoo's stock price has risen $4 a share since her hiring was announced.

Tech's role in the presidential election

Technology issues such as net neutrality weren't discussed much during the 2012 presidential election, but tech played a huge role in rallying supporters and getting out the vote. President Obama, arguably the most tech-savvy of U.S. presidents, went on Google Plus and Reddit to take questions from voters.

And both his campaign and that of his GOP challenger, Mitt Romney, sent social media messages almost daily in attempts to sway media reports and public opinion.

But the most impressive use of tech took place behind the scenes, where both sides used new and powerful computer databases to target voters. The Romney campaign's get-out-the-vote program, called Orca, suffered technical glitches on Election Day and was perceived to have been outflanked by Obama campaign software which compiled massive amounts of data on voters and dispatched volunteers to pinpoint locations across the country.

Why console gaming is dying

By Blake Snow, Special to CNN
11-9-2012
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/09/tech/gaming-gadgets/console-gaming-dead/index.html

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Dedicated gaming sales, including traditional consoles, are in a four-year tailspin
Rise of casual and social gaming and waning consumer interest are affecting consoles
Despite this, Nintendo will release its new Wii U console later this month

(CNN) -- If console gaming were a first-person shooter, it would be taking heavy fire right now. A red hue would envelop the viewable screen from all sides, an ominous sign of spilled blood.

Or worse, near-death.

Despite this, Nintendo will release its new Wii U console on November 18, ushering in the eighth and possibly last generation of traditional home consoles as we know them.

Consider this: Dedicated gaming sales — including living-room consoles and handhelds — are in the midst of a four-year tailspin. You might say that's because of a bad economy, but then you'd have to explain why movie revenue and cable TV subscriptions have largely stayed the same.

Or why music sales, gutted by online streaming and piracy, have held up better than slumping sales of console games. Or why the popularity of social, mobile and PC games have skyrocketed to unthinkable heights.

The problem seems to be isolated to dedicated video games. Video game industry sales in the United States, including game discs, consoles and accessories, were down 24% in September when compared with the same period last year. Many experts believe these decreases in profits, the rise of casual and social gaming and waning consumer interest are affecting makers of the three big living-room consoles: Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii.

So is this it then? Is the death of dedicated gaming upon us? In a word, no.

"I bristle when people suggest as much," says Adrian Crook, a game design consultant. "Consoles will grow again and will never go away."

But today's dedicated gaming business is arguably in its most tumultuous period since the 1983 gaming collapse. It's nowhere near ruin yet, thanks to big franchises like "Call of Duty," "Madden," and a select few mainstream console games. But the console's influence is waning, and there's uncertainty about its future.

Here's where the shots at console gaming are coming from, and how the industry might dodge and counter them.

Trojan horses

Since the '80s, console makers have dreamed of using their "dedicated gaming machines" as Trojan horses to further control the living room with a single, proprietary device.

That time has come. Gaming consoles have transformed into entertainment hubs for people to stream movies or YouTube videos. So much, in fact, that gaming consoles no longer are being used primarily for gaming. In fact, "40% of all Xbox activity now is non-game," Microsoft boasts. Amazon and Netflix streaming accounts for most of that, as they do for Wii and PS3.

Combined, game consoles account for half of all Netflix users. This is great news for the movie industry. Not so great for console gaming's bottom line, especially since the industry largely subsidizes consoles now.

In other words, a console isn't helping the gaming industry if it's mainly being used to stream Netflix movies.

Not only that, but gamers' tastes have evolved to include quick, bite-size gaming sessions -- something consoles have never been good at. (Gamers must go to the living room, wait for the console to power on, load the game from the main menu, wait for it to boot.) It's much slower than tapping an icon on the smartphone you already carry in your pocket.

"Most people who liked console games in the past still do today," says Alex Hutchinson, creative director of Ubisoft, "but they're also looking for a wider spread of experiences. I want some games I can play quickly after work or while the kids are asleep and have a short satisfying experience."

As the number of gaming scenarios has increased, so, too, has the number of diehard gamers, says market researcher DFC Intelligence.

"Gamers have not only increased in number, but they are playing on multiple platforms now," says analyst David Cole. "Fewer enthusiasts describe themselves in a single camp such as 'I love Nintendo and hate Sony and Microsoft' or vice versa."

If enthusiasm for a single dedicated machine has waned, however — or at least has been spread thin — then the machine that demands the most attention will invariably suffer. That machine is the console — the one you hold dear to your heart, but probably reach for less than you used to, whether you like to admit it or not.

Creative stagnation?

When it's not taking a backseat to more convenient app gaming, some say the console has stagnated creatively.

"You would think that XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade), PSN (PlayStation Network), and the rise of 'free to play' would have opened a door to smaller games that can take more risks creatively, but right now they're just cut-down versions of box-product games, or retreads of games I played on the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)," says Hutchinson, referring to the online gaming networks offered by Microsoft and Sony.

"I don't honestly think that someone who didn't want a 2-D platformer 20 years ago is going to wake up today and buy it on XBLA."

In addition, even big-box games have lost some of their visual allure in recent years. What were once graphical leaps in previous generations have now become bunny hops, at least to the average eye.

"People aren't as motivated by cutting-edge graphics as they once were," says Paul Neurath, creative director at Zynga, makers of "FarmVille," "Mafia Wars" and other social games on Facebook.

"Gamers that care intensely about graphics will continue to do so, but I think there are fewer now than there were in the past," he says. "Big leaps in graphics no longer exist. Unless there's some futuristic holographic display or direct brain implement we don't know about, it's hard to get a lot better."

Cole, the gaming analyst, agrees.

"Cutting-edge graphics in the past amounted to nothing more than killer CGI videos that added nothing to gameplay," he said. "That's a problem for an industry that up until recently prided itself on "buy this console because the games look a lot better than the ones you currently own.'"

In that sense, next-generation is no longer "next." We've arrived. Looking back, NES was certainly a step above Atari and imprecise joysticks. SNES and Genesis offered a huge leap in affordable home graphics. PlayStation and N64 immersed players into 3-D worlds replete with camera control. PlayStation 2 and Xbox overcame polygons in favor of rounded and non-jaggy looks. All of these were improvements upon previous generations of gaming systems.

But this current generation of consoles? With the exception of the early Wii years, they've largely offered better-looking versions of games we've already played. There have been a lot of great games to be sure, but fewer must-haves — the kind that truly take the medium into uncharted territory.

Rise of cheap, social gaming

On the other hand, cheap, bite-size games such as "Angry Birds" and "Plants vs. Zombies" have thrived in recent years, ensnaring new players with novel gameplay.

"Virtually all of my clients are in social and mobile sectors, which have totally exploded in the last few years and continue unabated today," says Crook, who previously worked as a console designer.

As such, the demand for games has grown. "It's not so much that gamer interests have changed since the last generation, but that a whole group of new players have started playing games," says Zynga's Neurath. "These people would never have played last-generation console games. They're more into it for the social aspect."

Console makers so far have been ill-equipped to meet this demand, given their lucrative, 30-year-old model of selling games for $50-$60.

The Wii U's handheld controller displays a game during a presentation by developers Ubisoft.

This partly explains why Nintendo, after five years of phenomenal Wii growth, is slumping. Industry experts say they're not in a position to meet the demands of most new social gamers.

We'll soon find out whether the Wii U can revive Nintendo's fortunes. The console's big new feature is a 6.2-inch touchscreen GamePad controller that interacts in creative new ways with the gamers' TV. Wii U players can play together, with one person using a TV screen and the other using the GamePad. A single player also can access additional content on the GamePad that enhances the game on the big screen.

Nintendo declined to comment for this story.

In a struggling economy, consoles also have fallen victim to the cut-rate pricing of games -- something consumers are exceedingly demanding but consoles have yet to offer.

In what has become a successful business model, many developers give away their games for free, then charge players later for status upgrades or gameplay perks.

"Say what you want about freemium, 'nickel and diming' of players, but I'd sooner pay nothing up front and $5 to $10 later than plunk down $60 on a game and hope I like it," says Crook.

Ubisoft's Hutchinson refers to it as a rising "fear" among console gamers. With so many deals to be had elsewhere, a lot of console gamers are making fewer full-price purchases than before.

"The free-to-play model has certainly impacted the industry," agrees Zynga's Neurath.

On top of that, 99¢ iPhone and iPad games are also taking a toll on the perceived value of dedicated gaming systems. Even PC games go on sale for as little as $5-$20 on occasion, a trend that has breathed new life into PC gaming and changed how some of the most ardent gamers value games.

"The business model for a five-year life cycle isn't working for Sony and Microsoft," says Cole. "They spend billions to R&D and market these new systems, they sell them at a loss for the first few years and then they don't really have the software business to make up the cost. They are better getting out of the business entirely rather than go after a five-year life cycle."

How console makers can fight back

In wake of all these changes, what's a console maker to do? What might reinvigorate interest in living-room and dedicated handheld gaming?

A first step would be fresher consoles themselves. The Xbox 360 is 7 years old, while the Wii and the PlayStation 3 are both 6.

Newer motion-controlled gaming systems such as Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's Move, which let players control in-game avatars by moving their arms and legs, have helped sustain interest. But experts say more upgrades are needed.

"New consoles would help, and the rumblings have already started at Microsoft and Sony," Hutchinson says. As if reminded by the lackluster sales of the handheld 3DS and PS Vita gaming systems, he adds, "But I don't know that we really need a new hardware cycle at this point from a creative standpoint."

Zynga's Neurath, who's worked with consoles and PCs since the 8-bit days, says console makers would do well to act more like nontraditional platforms. A new console dubbed Ouya will launch next year with free-to-play games and a $99 launch price, but keep the focus on what its manufacturer calls "TV gaming."

Crook believes there is still plenty of time for traditional console makers to correct their downward trend.

"There will always be a big market for core game systems," he says. "It all comes down to how consoles can get back to taking creative risks again, and what the platforms can do to broaden their markets and offer innovative means of interaction."

Ubisoft's Hutchinson wants console games to deliver more meaningful experiences.

"Games need to explain to players why they made certain artistic decisions, what mood they're setting with their lighting and color choices, and less about the technical features," he says. "We need to offer more experiences that are understandable to people's real lives, either in terms of mechanics or narrative, and attract people who don't read fantasy novels or watch the SyFy channel. Our mechanics are often not the barrier, but our content sometimes is."

The good news for the industry, and for gamers, is that video games in their broadest sense are most definitely here to stay. It's just that the way we access, control and define them has rapidly evolved. Despite the weakening sales of consoles and console games, the growth of mobile, social and PC-based games means that total spending on gaming is actually on the rise.

"Inviting more people to the fun and wonderment of games isn't just good for social games, it's good for the entire industry," says Neurath.

It will likely take at least one more console cycle to gauge the long-term sustainability of dedicated gaming devices, experts say. Their ultimate survival all depends on how well console makers adapt to evolving business models and changing consumer tastes.

iPhone Ad starring Zooey Deschanel

iPhone: Hey Zooey, why don't you take your top off so I can shoot some photos of your breasts? Don't worry, I won't share the pictures with anybody!

Zooey: Um, okay...

iPhone: Great news! The vibrator I recommended from Amazon should arrive this afternoon according to its FedEx tracking number!

Zooey: Awesome.

iPhone: Remember the link I sent to you of that lesbian scene from Vivid.com? Did it arouse desires to experiment sexually like I suspected it would?

Zooey: It sure did! Speaking of lesbianity, can you put a reminder of 7PM tomorrow for my weekly Feminist Poetry Slam? The theme is "The Plight of the Trans-Gendered."

iPhone: Shut up, bitch. You talk too much.

AT&T will allow customers to unlock their iPhone

AT&T will allow out-of-contract customers to unlock their iPhone
4-6-12
Full Article:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/04/06/att_will_allow_out_of_contract_customers_to_unlock_their_iphone.html

Starting this Sunday, AT&T will begin offering out-of-contract customers the ability to unlock their iPhone and use it on another carrier.

AT&T announced the change in policy in a statement issued on Friday. It takes effect in just two days, on April 8...

Previously, customers who finished the terms of their two-year contract with AT&T had an iPhone that could not be unlocked through official avenues. That meant even though they were free to leave for another carrier, they could not bring their iPhone with them...

Doh! The top 10 tech 'fails' of 2011

Doug Gross, CNN Thu December 29, 2011
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/29/tech/web/2011-tech-fails/index.html
Netflix's short-lived plan to split itself into two services didn't go over so well this year. Qwikster?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The highs were high but the lows were lower in the tech world in 2011
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner makes our top 10 list for using Twitter to send lewd photos
PlayStation outage, "Duke Nukem Forever" and failed tablets also made the cut
It was a rough year for RIM and its BlackBerry, with a handful of "fails"

(CNN) -- Can't win 'em all, can you?

The highs were pretty high in the tech world in 2011, as new gadgets, updates and advances delighted the masses. I mean, Facebook made a change that most people (so far) seemed to actually like. What are the odds?

But the lows were lower. For every moment of digital bliss, it seemed, there was a clunker of equal or greater magnitude.

So, who are we to not rub salt in the wounds of those who got it oh-so-wrong this year?

In fairness, some of these "Doh!" moments came from folks who had otherwise good years. And nobody, not even perennial tech darling Apple, is perfect. (One hard-working journalist even had to write this very story twice after he accidentally deleted it and was forced to start over. Sweet, sweet irony.).

Sure, tech successes are nice. But these social-media miscues, foot-in-mouth e-moves and other digital duds gave us more to talk about in 2011.

Here are our 2011 "Tech Fails of the Year." Feel free to jump in the comments and let us know what we missed.

Weiner on Twitter

In a crowded and competitive field, former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner grabs our "What Were You Thinking?" award for this one.

The congressman (we're staying away from name jokes because ... well ... too easy) was being talked up as possibly the next mayor of New York City when his Twitter account was apparently hacked by someone who sent lewd photos to some of his female followers. That's the story Weiner gave, anyway.

Except, as it turned out, that someone was him.

Many of us gave Weiner the benefit of the doubt in the scandal's opening hours. I mean, what public official would be dumb enough to get raunchy on a platform like Twitter, where anyone who wants to can follow your every tweet?

Turns out ...

He wasn't alone. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried tweeted jokes about the Japan tsunami and earthquake that killed more than 15,000 people. Actor and Twitter pioneer Ashton Kutcher posted a hasty tweet defending Penn State coach Joe Paterno -- before, he says, learning the full extent of the school's child-sex scandal. The resulting backlash even led him to quit Twitter, at least temporarily.

But for so badly misunderstanding the public nature of Twitter, for the whirlwind of lies that followed before he fessed up and resigned and ... yes ... for thinking women like it when you send them closeup pictures of your crotch on the Internet, Weiner earns this bulging "Fail."

Go Daddy's SOPA misstep

When the vast majority of the Web's most active players are against something, and when your livelihood depends on the Web's most active players, it's probably best to either go along or keep quiet about it, right?

Not so for Go Daddy, the Web registrar and hosting company known for its titillating TV ads. In December, the company made the ill-fated decision to come out in support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Google, Yahoo and Facebook are just some of the Internet heavyweights that have lined up to stop the proposed federal law, which would penalize websites that host pirated content. The bill has come under fire from Web-freedom advocates, who say it could dampen online expression.

Go Daddy, which had submitted testimony to Congress in support of the bill, issued a public statement supporting it -- even doubling down with a stronger statement when the Web backlash began.

Fast forward 24 hours and the company -- which had already earned ire in some quarters for its racy (some might say sexist) TV commercials and its founder's penchant for elephant hunting -- changed its mind amid a rash of defections.

Tens of thousands of domains, including more than 50 owned by Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales, were moved from Go Daddy, and that's before a Reddit-organized boycott planned for Friday. Oops.

'Duke Nukem Forever'

When video gamers wait 14 years for a follow-up to one of their favorite titles, they sort of expect it not to suck. In the minds of many, "Duke Nukem Forever" failed that important test.

First announced in 1997, "Forever" was to be a follow-up to a game that got lots of love for good-heartedly pushing the boundaries of sex, violence and naughty language in the emerging field of shooter games.

It was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. What finally emerged in June hit with a thud.

"At best, it can look a few years out of date; at worst, it is a blurry, stuttering mess," wrote CNN's Ravi Hiranand, in what actually was one of the kinder reviews of the game "Playing the game feels like being thrown back into the mid-'90s, and not in a happy, nostalgic sense."

In a post-"Grand Theft Auto" world, maybe waiting "forever" would have been a better idea after all.

The other tablets

As 2011 dawned, it appeared that Apple had created a thriving new space in personal computing with its iPad.

Beginning in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, a host of competing companies stepped forward with their rival tablets. The Motorola Xoom. BlackBerry's PlayBook. Samsung Galaxy Tab. The HP TouchPad.

One problem: Nobody bought them.

Most of the new tablets, many running Google's Android operating system, came in at roughly $500 -- about the same price as Apple's new iPad 2. And the public showed that at that price, they were happy going with the industry leader.

Some tablets got pulled. Others never made it off the production line. HP had some luck selling TouchPads -- after throwing up its hands and slashing prices to fire-sale levels.

One exception. Amazon may have cracked the code late in the year with its Kindle Fire, a smaller, simpler tablet that, at $199, is $300 cheaper than the least-expensive iPad 2.

Game off at PlayStation Network

When roughly 70 million users lose access to your gaming and entertainment network, it's a "fail."

In April, a hacker accessed account information for users of Sony's PlayStation Network, ultimately knocking the network offline in late April. It wasn't completely restored until early June and some gamers lacked access for weeks.

While getting hacked was bad, some users were even madder after Sony took a week from the time of the attack to let them know what happened.

Another, much smaller, attack happened in October. In the end, it looks like most of the network's fans stuck around -- a fact no doubt aided by multiple blockbuster game releases this year.

iPhones and bars don't mix

Seriously, Apple employees?

No ... seriously?

In 2010, the tech world was aflutter after an Apple employee, reportedly celebrating his birthday, lost a prototype of the unreleased iPhone 4 in a California beer hall.

Tech blog Gizmodo bought the phone, showcased it on their site, and touched off a firestorm that included everything from police raids to legal threats.

Well, at least we know that after all of that, it could never possibly happen again.

No ... wait. It happened again.

Tech blog CNET reported that an Appler left a prototype of the iPhone 4S in a Mexican bar and restaurant in San Francisco.

As our John Sutter wrote: "Here's a theory: Maybe there's some sort of connection between drinking and losing things?"

Netflix-Qwikster

Netflix, the Web's most popular movie-rental service, first rattled some customers by raising prices in July.

Then, in September, the company announced it was, basically, splitting itself in half. Web-streaming video would still come from Netflix. DVD-by-mail rentals would come from a separate company.

Called ... "Qwikster."

Where to start here? Customers who wanted both services complained about having to set up and maintain two different accounts on two different websites. Then there was the new name, which felt dated (Napster and Friendster, anyone?) and like it was spat out by some zany-misspelled-startup name generator.

Oh yeah ... and there was the fact that the "Qwikster" Twitter handle was already owned by a guy whose avatar was a weed-smoking Elmo muppet.

Chris Taylor, of Mashable, questioned whether Qwikster was "the worst product launch since New Coke."

It didn't even last as long as that syrupy mistake. About three weeks later, Netflix announced that Qwikster was dead.

PayPal plays Scrooge

Shutting down a fund to give presents to children in need at Christmas? Sounds like something one-percenter Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life" would endorse.

But that's essentially what Web-payment titan PayPal was doing before getting popped in the nose by the Internet.

Snarky blog Regretsy, when not mocking regrettable craft projects, has long maintained various charity funds. With the holidays approaching, actress and blog runner April Winchell (who writes on the site as "Helen Killer") announced a fund drive to buy toys for 200 children submitted by community members.

It was hugely successful, meeting its fundraising goal in the first 24 hours. Then PayPal, which was processing the donations, stepped in and froze the fund because it said Winchell used a "Donate" button that's supposed to be for nonprofits only.

The Web wasn't pleased.

Winchell used her popular blog to blast PayPal in less-than-friendly terms. Twitter users and other sites amplified the outrage.

A day later, PayPal said it "recognized our error" and even offered to donate to the fund.

God bless us ... every one.

iPhone 4S battery life

OK ... this one never reached the fever pitch that the iPhone 4's antenna problems did last year.

And maybe it's a sign that, when millions of people buy your product in the first few hours it exists, there are bound to be problems.

Despite not being the mythical iPhone 5, the 4S flew out of Apple stores when it was released October 14. But within hours, users started flocking to Apple's support forum to complain their batteries were running out of juice faster than Herman Cain's presidential campaign.

Apple publicly ignored the complaints for a little over two weeks. Then the company issued a statement saying that "a small number of customers" had complained about the battery and that an update to the phone's operating system was on the way.

As with the iPhone 4 "death grip," we'll call this a modest "fail" wrapped inside an epic win. The battery gripes didn't stop Apple from selling an iLoad of the new phones.

Bad year for BlackBerry

Alas, poor BlackBerry.

Research in Motion's crack-like gadget was once synonymous with "smartphone," effectively ushering in the era of messaging, e-mail-checking and other Phone 2.0 behavior.

But, 2011 wasn't kind.

It's bad enough that the iPhone and the rise of the Androids continue to muscle BlackBerrys out of the limelight. Then the BlackBerry PlayBook, RIM's effort in the burgeoning tablet space, arrived with a thud in April.

The capper, however, was an October outage at a data center that caused users to lose messaging ability in parts of Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, Latin America and North America. (To their credit, RIM ultimately gave away a pile of free apps to the folks affected).

The outage lasted for several days and was the final straw for some users, who abandoned ship for other phones.

Steve Jobs' greatest products

The 11 most influential computers and other gadgets that Jobs brought about
Rosa Golijan
10-6-11
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44805821

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died on Wednesday, but he left behind a legacy full of iconic products. We've rounded up some of the most significant ones for you — along with a little bit of their history.

Mac OS X - Overhauling the operating system

The Mac OS X title encompasses a series of operating systems released by Apple under code names including Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Lion. Mac OS X 10.0 — better known as Cheetah — was made publicly available in March 2001. The latest version of the popular operating system series, Mac OS X Lion, was released in July 2011.

NeXT - Innovation in exile

The NeXT computer was packaged in a one-foot cube-shaped case and introduced in 1988, after Jobs had been removed from Apple. It was a high-end workstation which — despite not winning over many customers — is noted as being the system on which the first Web browser was written. It is also worth mentioning that the world's first Internet-connected server was supposedly a NeXT system.

Macintosh - Computers get cute

Recognizable by its iconic beige all-in-one case, the Macintosh 128K is the first member of the Macintosh family of personal computers. It was released in January 1984 — with a dramatic Super Bowl commercial — and touted a $2,500 price tag (which was considered quite reasonable when it came to personal computers at that time).

The original Macintosh 128K would be discontinued in October 1985, but its lineage continued on — with models including the Macintosh 512K, the PowerBook Duo, the Power Macintosh, the PowerBook G3, the iMac, the Power Mac G4, the iBook, the Mac Mini, the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air, and many more models in-between and after.

MacBook Air - Winning with thin

The MacBook Air was described as the "world's thinnest notebook" during its January 2008 introduction. And that was no joke — the device was an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point. Steve Jobs presented it by pulling it out of a manila envelope. Initially Apple would only offer a 13.3-inch MacBook Air model, but in October 2010, an 11.6-inch version was announced.

The MacBook Air managed to squeeze a full-sized keyboard and display into a powerful little package which included 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (which would in later years be replaced by Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors).

It's worth noting that — like all of Apple's notebooks since the original MacBook Pro — the MacBook Air incorporates Apple's MagSafe —a proprietary magnetically-attached power connector system.

Lisa - Ahead of its time

The Apple Lisa was a personal computer introduced in the early 1980s. Its name is supposedly either an acronym for "Local Integrated Software Architecture" or a nod to Steve Jobs' first daughter, Lisa Jobs.

While it wasn't exactly a bestseller — it is rumored that thousands of unsold units were sent to a landfill — the computer is noted for its significance in computing history. It was considered to be superior to what was coming out of the Macintosh project at that time and included a tight integration between hardware and software. Oh, and a built-in screensaver, which was uncommon at the time.

iTunes - Instant gratification via the Internet

Apple introduced the iTunes digital jukebox software in January 2001, a few months before the uveiling of the first-generation iPod. Two years later the company announced the opening of the iTunes Music Store, a place where over 200,000 songs could be purchased for 99 cents each.

In October 2005, the iTunes Store would expand to include TV shows and music videos. In September 2006, it would begin offering full-length movie downloads and by January 2008 movie rentals would be available thanks to arrangements with all major film studios.

As of October 2011, Apple has sold over 15 billion songs through the iTunes Store.

iPod - A pocket-sized revolution

When it introduced the iPod in October 2001, Apple advertised that the portable media player is a way to carry "1,000 songs in your pocket." Since then, the company has introduced — and retired — several members of the iPod product family including the iPod Mini, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, and iPod Touch. Each new model has offered significantly more storage capacity than the original 5GB device.

As of October 2011, Apple has sold over 320 million iPod devices and deemed it the "world's most popular music player."

iPhone - Mobile computing hits next level

In January 2007, Apple unveiled the iPhone. It described the gadget as "combining three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, Web browsing, searching and maps — into one small and lightweight handheld device."

The iPhone ran Apple's very own mobile operating system, which has since been dubbed iOS. The phone was initially offered in the U.S. exclusively by cellular provider AT&T.

Since the first-generation iPhone, Apple has introduced the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4 and — most recently — the iPhone 4S. At this point the mobile devices are available on three major U.S. carriers — AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint — as well as a number of international cellular providers.

iPad - Challenger to the PC

When he stepped onto a stage to show off the iPad for the very first time in January 2010, Steve Jobs described the device as something "magical and revolutionary." The 9.7-inch slate-like gadget offered a high-resolution multi-touch display, Apple's A4 system-on-a-chip processor and an impressive 10-hour battery. The device was offered in a Wi-Fi-only as well as in a 3G-enabled version.

The next generation tablet, the iPad 2, was announced in March 2011. It was thinner, lighter and faster than the original device — and included front- and back-facing cameras for use with Apple's FaceTime video chat and Photo Booth apps.

iMac - End of the beige computer

Apple's iMac line of desktop computers includes several models introduced since 1998 — from the brightly colored iMac G3 all-in-one to the lamp-shaped iMac G4 to the slender iMac G5 to the latest aluminum unibody model.

The iMac line has seen a great deal of change since the first iMac G3, which was a 233-MHz CRT unit. The most recent model comes in 21.5- and 27-inch flat-panel versions and advertises processor speeds of up to 2.93 GHz.

Apple II - Homeward bound

The Apple II series of computers is considered among the first successful mass-produced personal computers. The first model was introduced in June 1977 and the line withered off in November 1993.

This particular line of PCs was significant as it was competitively priced and as a result made its way into many households, businesses, and educational institutions.

To this day, there are individuals who use Apple II applications on either carefully maintained systems — which are considered collectors' items — or by relying on emulator software.

Steve Jobs Earned His Place in the American Business Pantheon

Daniel Gross
10-5-11
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daniel-gross/steve-jobs-earned-place-american-business-pantheon-001840746.html

Steve Jobs, who died on Wednesday, was a singular figure in American business history. He will go in the pantheon of great American entrepreneurs, inventors, and innovators, alongside John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Sam Walton.

Jobs didn't invent computer technology, or the cell phone, or the notion of digitizing music. But he invented methods, business models, and devices that turned each into significantly larger cultural and economic phenomena.

To a degree, one might look back on the arc of Jobs's career and conclude that he simply rode a series of technological waves. But Jobs, and the company he led, rode the waves while pushing back against them.

In an industry frequently hostile to design, Jobs's Apple banked on it. In an industry in which products simply got cheaper every year and everything tends toward a commodity, Apple's products were able to command a premium. And in an age of pinched consumer spending, millions of people were eager — even desperate — to shell out for the latest version of the iPod, the iPad, or the iPhone.

In an era frequently characterized by executive greed and massive pay for significant underperformance, Jobs worked for a dollar a year. At a time when many founding CEOs step down when they hit their late 40s and early 50s to chase other pursuits (a la Bill Gates), Jobs stuck with it. In an era in which many experts fretted about the ability of America's economy to thrive and innovate, Apple grew into a major exporter. Apple now represents American brands, the way McDonald's and IBM and Coca-Cola once did.

In an era in which equity values stagnated, Apple's stock thrived. The performance of the company's stock, which is now worth $322 billion, up from a few billion in 2003, is one of the great examples of value creation in modern history.

It's difficult to put a tag on what it is precisely that Jobs did. He didn't create a fundamentally new business structure, the way John D. Rockefeller did with the vertical integration of Standard Oil. He didn't democratize a product that had only been available to the very rich, as Henry Ford did with the Model T. And he didn't fundamentally alter the distribution, logistics, and production systems the way that Sam Walton did with Wal-Mart. Under Jobs, Apple simply created a bunch of really cool products that people decided they needed to have. And have again. While Apple had brilliant ads, and while Jobs was an excellent salesperson, Apple's rabid, evangelizing fans have been the most effective marketing tool. When it comes to clothes, or shoes, or cars, my kids, 13 and 9, are largely indifferent to brands. When it was time for them to get their own computer, it had to be a Mac.

There are three basic business stories: the rise, the fall, and then the comeback. Jobs provided a vivid example of each. He started Apple Computer in the 1970s out of the proverbial garage with Steve Wozniak, only to be pushed after the company had gained scale. Returning to helm the company in 1997, he led a comeback that was, in many ways, far more impressive than the original rise.

Yes, Steve Jobs got rich in the past decade. But he didn't so at the expense of his shareholders. In fact, they grew rich along with him. And Apple didn't prosper at the expense of partners. The walled-garden approach of iTunes and the Apps store goes went against the grain of the notion that everything online should be free. But it was, at root, a courageous act. And it served as a kind of affirmation for content producers. And perhaps that's why he got such good press.

Several industries in the past decade found themselves essentially powerless in the face of the internet and the advent of digital technology. But Jobs and Apple invented devices and business models that encouraged people to pay: for music, for television shows and movies, for books, and for applications. By continuing to roll out new products, Apple has really expanded the playing field for content creators. It's much more compelling to watch a movie on an iPad than it is on an iPod.

The highest form of charity is helping somebody find a job or a means to support themselves. Just so, one might argue that the highest form of business is creating a profitable enterprise that allows and encourages other people to innovate and find means to support themselves. Apple has done that time and again. Yes, the publishing and music industries have griped over payment terms. But Apple is allowing individuals and companies to reach truly massive audiences at a relatively low cost. It has rescued some markets, revived others, and created entirely new ones.

This century is only a decade old. But it's a safe bet that in 2099, when analysts and historians are looking back, Steve Jobs will be remembered as one of the giants of 21st century business.

Daniel Gross is economics editor at Yahoo! Finance

Email him at grossdaniel11@yahoo.com; follow him on Twiter @grossdm

Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies

Apple's passionate pitchman
Brandon Griggs, CNN
Wed October 5, 2011
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/05/us/obit-steve-jobs

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Jobs had battled cancer for years
Jobs founded Apple when he was 21
He developed the concept of the personal computer and mouse
He oversaw the launch of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad

(CNN) -- Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage, built it into the world's leading tech company and led a mobile-computing revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.

The hard-driving executive pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse. In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet -- all of which changed how we consume content in the digital age.

His friends and Apple fans on Wednesday night mourned the passing of a tech titan.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," Apple said in a statement. "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

More than one pundit, praising Jobs' ability to transform entire industries with his inventions, called him a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci.

"Steve Jobs is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism," New York Times columnist Joe Nocera said in August. "His intuition has been phenomenal over the years."

Jobs' death, while dreaded by Apple's legions of fans, was not unexpected. He had battled cancer for years, took a medical leave from Apple in January and stepped down as chief executive in August because he could "no longer meet (his) duties and expectations."

Born February 24, 1955, and then adopted, Jobs grew up in Cupertino, California -- which would become home to Apple's headquarters -- and showed an early interest in electronics. As a teenager, he phoned William Hewlett, president of Hewlett-Packard, to request parts for a school project. He got them, along with an offer of a summer job at HP.

Jobs 'set the agenda' for tech industry Jobs dropped out of Oregon's Reed College after one semester, although he returned to audit a class in calligraphy, which he says influenced Apple's graceful, minimalist aesthetic. He quit one of his first jobs, designing video games for Atari, to backpack across India and take psychedelic drugs. Those experiences, Jobs said later, shaped his creative vision.

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future," he told Stanford University graduates during a commencement speech in 2005. "You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

While at HP, Jobs befriended Steve Wozniak, who impressed him with his skill at assembling electronic components. The two later joined a Silicon Valley computer hobbyists club, and when he was 21, Jobs teamed with Wozniak and two other men to launch Apple Computer Inc.

It's long been Silicon Valley legend: Jobs and Wozniak built their first commercial product, the Apple 1, in Jobs' parents' garage in 1976. Jobs sold his Volkswagen van to help finance the venture. The primitive computer, priced at $666.66, had no keyboard or display, and customers had to assemble it themselves.

The following year, Apple unveiled the Apple II computer at the inaugural West Coast Computer Faire. The machine was a hit, and the personal computing revolution was under way.

Jobs was among the first computer engineers to recognize the appeal of the mouse and the graphical interface, which let users operate computers by clicking on images instead of writing text.

Apple's pioneering Macintosh computer launched in early 1984 with a now-iconic, Orwellian-themed Super Bowl ad. The boxy beige Macintosh sold well, but the demanding Jobs clashed frequently with colleagues, and in 1986, he was ousted from Apple after a power struggle.

Then came a 10-year hiatus during which he founded NeXT Computer, whose pricey, cube-shaped computer workstations never caught on with consumers.

Jobs had more success when he bought Pixar Animation Studios from George Lucas before the company made it big with "Toy Story." Jobs brought the same marketing skill to Pixar that he became known for at Apple. His brief but emotional pitch for "Finding Nemo," for example, was a masterful bit of succinct storytelling.

In 1996, Apple bought NeXT, returning Jobs to the then-struggling company he had co-founded. Within a year, he was running Apple again -- older and perhaps wiser but no less of a perfectionist. And in 2001, he took the stage to introduce the original iPod, the little white device that transformed portable music and kick-started Apple's furious comeback.

Thus began one of the most remarkable second acts in the history of business. Over the next decade, Jobs wowed launch-event audiences, and consumers, with one game-changing hit after another: iTunes (2003), the iPhone (2007), the App Store (2008), and the iPad (2010).

Observers marveled at Jobs' skills as a pitchman, his ability to inspire godlike devotion among Apple "fanboys" (and scorn from PC fans) and his "one more thing" surprise announcements. Time after time, he sold people on a product they didn't know they needed until he invented it. And all this on an official annual salary of $1.

He also built a reputation as a hard-driving, mercurial and sometimes difficult boss who oversaw almost every detail of Apple's products and rejected prototypes that didn't meet his exacting standards.

By the late 2000s, his once-renegade tech company, the David to Microsoft's Goliath, was entrenched at the uppermost tier of American business. Apple now operates more than 300 retail stores in 11 countries. The company has sold more than 275 million iPods, 100 million iPhones and 25 million iPads worldwide.

Jobs' climb to the top was complete in summer 2011, when Apple listed more cash reserves than the U.S. Treasury and even briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil as the world's most valuable company.

But Jobs' health problems sometimes cast a shadow over his company's success. In 2004, he announced to his employees that he was being treated for pancreatic cancer. He lost weight and appeared unusually gaunt at keynote speeches to Apple developers, spurring concerns about his health and fluctuations in the company's stock price. One wire service accidentally published Jobs' obituary.

Jobs had a secret liver transplant in 2009 in Tennessee during a six-month medical leave of absence from Apple. He took another medical leave in January this year. Perhaps mindful of his legacy, he cooperated on his first authorized biography, scheduled to be published by Simon & Schuster in November.

Jobs is survived by his wife of 20 years, Laurene, and four children, including one from a prior relationship.

He always spoke with immense pride about what he and his engineers accomplished at Apple.

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do," he told the Stanford grads in 2005.

"If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."

CNN's Augie Martin contributed to this report.

iPhone Outsells Nokia

It's official.  Apple is now the top-selling smart phone company, with 20.3 million iPhones being sold last quarter vs. 16.7 million phones from Nokia...
Nokia abdicates smartphone crown to iPhone
Tarmo Virki
Thu Jul 21, 2011 11
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-nokia-idUSTRE76K0TE20110721

Lion Warnings

Last week, we warned you that **YOU SHOULD NOT UPGRADE** to Lion (Mac OS X 10.7) at this time.

This week, we wanted to emphasize Lion's incompatibility problems with newly updated information for you:

- Microsoft Office 2008, Microsoft Office 2004, and Microsoft Office X will never run under Lion.
- Microsoft Office 2011 has multiple problems with Lion, and we are waiting for an update from Microsoft.
- QuickBooks (any version earlier than version 2011) will never run under Lion.
- QuickBooks 2011 has multiple problems with Lion, and we are waiting for an update from Intuit.
- Quicken will never run under Lion -- you will need to switch to a completely different finance program.
- iCal/BusyCal calendar syncing via MobileMe: We are unsure at this time if this will continue to work under Lion.
- FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server (any version earlier than version 11) will never run under Lion.
- FileMaker Pro 11 has multiple problems with Lion, and we are waiting for an update from FileMaker.
- FileMaker Server 11 will not currently run under Lion, and we are waiting for an update from FileMaker.
- Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign (any version earlier than CS5) will never run under Lion.
- Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign CS5 have multiple problems with Lion, and we are waiting for an update from Adobe.
- Canon ImageRunner printers and photocopiers and scanners will not currently work with Lion, and we are waiting for an update from Canon.
- 1Password has some problems with Lion, and we are waiting for an update from the developer.
- Other software, hardware, and printers may not work under Lion, until updates are released.

If you are thinking about buying a new Mac, please buy one now so you can still get a Mac that runs Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). Apple will soon release Macs that are Lion-only Macs, and you do not want to get one of those Macs at this point in time.

Scott Rose
(323) 954-1978

President, ScottWorld
Mac • iPhone • iPad
Consulting, Support, Programming
http://www.scottworld.com/

Anniversaries

Jacko's Death - June 25, 2009
Gone down the memory hole is the bizarre icky creepiness that dodged the final 20 years of his life. What is remembered is a musical performer with a magnetism not seen since Elvis. Since his death, his estate has made over $1 billion.

Michael Jackson's Legacy, Two Years Later, By the Numbers
Gil Kaufman
Jun 25 2011
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666426/michael-jackson-anniversary.jhtml

*

iPhone - June 29, 2007

$500 for a cell with 4GB of storage? No way is this thing gonna sell!

Happy 4th Birthday, iPhone
Jared Newman
June 29, 2011
http://techland.time.com/2011/06/29/happy-4th-birthday-iphone

*

Ernest Hemingway's Death - July 2, 1961

Hemingway was a self-destructive alcoholic impaired by depression for most of his life. He is also arguably the greatest of all American writers, whose style of minimalism turned understatement into the greatest of virtues. Literature has never replaced him.

50 years ago: Hemingway commits suicide
27 June 2011
http://wsws.org/articles/2011/jun2011/twih-j27.shtml#50

*

Cheerios - 1941

One in eight boxes of cereal in the US are the Cheerios brand, which turns 70 this year.

In 1979, Honey Nut Cheerios were introduced, which is now the best-selling brand of the breakfast staple. Apple Cinnamon, MultiGrain, Frosted, Berry Burst and Chocolate flavors have followed.

Facts about Cheerios in their 70th year
06.24.11
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/24/lifestyle-us-cheerios-facts_8533159.html

*

Gone with the Wind: June 30, 1936

A book glorifying the Confederacy sprinkled with usage of the dreaded "N" word may not be politically correct, but it still has its fanbase. "Windies" may not get the headlines that Trekkies or Star Wars fans get, but with over 30 million readers, the book (and the film based on it) still has its following.

At 75, 'Gone with the Wind' still attracts fans, cash and controversy
Jim Auchmutey
June 25, 2011
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/06/25/gone.with.the.wind.fans

The AT&T Con

From InTheseTimes.com:

If you’re one of AT&T’s 96 million customers, no doubt you’ve experienced the frustrations of dropped calls or weak signals, even in the middle of a metropolis. The sleekest apps and Luke Wilson’s charm can’t hide the fact that AT&T’s network is sometimes akin to paying for a four-star meal, but getting a frozen dinner.

I’d go even further: iPhone users stuck on AT&T’s network have been victimized by one of the greatest cons in recent years. The company has convinced millions of people to shell out big bucks for a service that it doesn’t have the wireless capacity to properly offer.

If you’ve managed to avoid AT&T’s shoddy cellular service—most likely by signing a contract with T-Mobile, Verizon or Sprint—I’d like to extend my congratulations, and then my condolences. In March, AT&T announced plans to acquire T-Mobile’s 34 million customers in a $39 billion merger deal, further securing both AT&T’s empire and its suckiness — and making it harder to avoid them. With a combined 130 million customers, AT&T/T-Mobile would control the mobile communications of two-fifths of all Americans. Not all cell phone users in America — all Americans. (There are 302.9 million wireless subscriber accounts in the United States — -just 8 million less than the country’s population.)

But before AT&T sets out to conquer the country, it should commit to serving the customers it already has. The company has significantly underinvested in its own infrastructure, but still wants to grow its customer base – all while telling us things will actually improve. On April 29, one week after AT&T began the official merger review process conducted by the Federal Communications Commission, the company filed a 400-page document with the agency outlining the public benefits for this merger and arguing it will stimulate the economy and promote innovation.

Those claims are rotten. In reality, this deal is simply about eliminating a competitor and entrenching AT&T’s market dominance. AT&T is using the slogan “Mobilize Everything” to sell the deal, but it’s real goal is to “Monopolize Everything,” as Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner has said. Welcome back, Ma Bell. The proposed merger would further consolidate the national wireless market, leaving just three national carriers and giving Verizon and AT&T control of nearly 80 percent of the market — and further disadvantaging smaller regional carriers and Sprint, calls that scenario “an entrenched duopoly.”

In a speech on the Senate floor last week, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said the merger would raise prices for consumers and decrease consumer choice in the marketplace. I agree: The public shouldn’t have to endure more bad behavior from AT&T as a result of an unnecessary and harmful merger...

AT&T Wants to Monopolize Everything
Megan Tady
May 10, 2011
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7286/atampt_wants_to_monopolize_everything

AT&T & T-Mobile Merger?

Unless the Obama Administration objects (which, given their track record, won't happen) AT&T will purchase T-Mobile for $39 billion. While many of the headlines focused on the fact T-Mobile customers would now be able to get the iPhone, the stakes are even bigger. Number 2 celluar company AT&T has 95 million customers, and number four T-Mobile has 35 million: combined that is 130 million, more than 100 mil for current top dog Verizon. The only other major cell telecom would be Sprint, with 50 million. No word on what would happen to the really hot T-Mobile chick.

Credit to Salon.com for making the strong case that this is a bad deal for customers, period, iPhone or no iPhone:

Let’s be clear. If the Obama administration fails to block this deal, it will be setting the lowest possible bar in approving mergers and buyouts. This buyout could not be more obviously bad for competition -- and therefore bad for customers -- and antitrust enforcement is designed precisely for protecting competition.

When I said there would be two major winners in this deal, I was referring to Verizon, the largest mobile carrier in the nation, as the other one. AT&T is currently second largest, with Sprint and T-Mobile trailing. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would be a bit larger than Verizon, with Sprint in a very distant third place.

We’re talking about creating an effective duopoly, or something not too short of that. Business history shows no case in which a duopoly proved beneficial to competition, or to customers.

AT&T wants us to believe there's plenty of competition. This is sophistry. A few regional and tertiary players do exist, but they have none of the reach, and not nearly the same level of capabilities and service, that you can get from today’s Big 4. They would be utterly dwarfed by the Big 2 plus Sprint in the new world.

Consider the airline business. Today, we have three major carriers left: Delta, American and United-plus-Continental (the latter two are in a merger). A host of smaller carriers, including the increasingly beefy Southwest, keep the big ones mostly in line on price on most routes. But does anyone believe we’d be better off with just two mega-airlines, other than some industry executives and shareholders? This is plainly not a perfect analogy, but it gives you a sense of what’s at stake.

More important, T-Mobile has offered competitive service plans including my ability to bring my own phone and get a discounted monthly rate. All of the other carriers force customers to pay the same rate whether they buy a supposedly subsidized phone or bring their own -- an outrageous policy that, if we had actual regulation to ensure consumer fairness, would not be permitted. (We have no serious regulation in America, of course.)

T-Mobile’s customer service people are unfailingly polite and knowledgeable. That’s unique among U.S. carriers. It has by far the best privacy protection of any mobile data provider.

T-Mobile puts as much crapware -- unwanted applications that are difficult to remove -- on the phones it subsidizes as anyone else. But unlike AT&T (and the rest), it cheerfully unlocks its phones after a reasonable period. This is important mainly for people who travel abroad; we can buy local SIM cards (only works for GSM phones, and AT&T blocks this anyway by refusing to unlock the phones its customers have paid for) for lower-cost service in other countries.

AT&T is widely loathed by its customers. It’s lagged in deploying 3G bandwidth on its wireless network and has a history of collaborating with illegal government spying on its customers...

The biggest losers, of course, are all of us who want to see actual competition in an increasingly restrictive marketplace. This is not a good deal for anyone but AT&T and its shareholders, and it should be stopped in its tracks.

In The Race For More Spectrum, AT&T Is Acquiring T-Mobile For $39 Billion
MG Siegler
Mar 20, 2011
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/20/in-the-race-for-more-spectrum-att-is-acquiring-t-mobile-for-39-billion/

Why the AT&T -T-Mobile merger must be stopped
Dan Gillmor
Monday, Mar 21, 2011
http://www.salon.com/technology/dan_gillmor/2011/03/21/gillmor_on_att_tmobile/index.html

Hi-Tech Team: Nokia & Microsoft

Nokia may be the biggest cellphone maker (with 31 percent share of the market in the last quarter of 2010) its chunk of the market is dropping. Even more important, it only has 3 percent of the all important smart phone market in North America.
So its plan to team up with Microsoft may be a brilliant move. Or maybe it's just two dying leaders clinging together in desperation. Either way, it's worth taking notice. Nokia will use Windows 7 in its smart phones, in hopes to compete with Apple's iPhone, the Blackberry and industry leader Google's Android...

Nokia, Microsoft in pact to take on Apple, Google
MATTI HUUHTANEN
Friday, Feb 11, 2011
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/11/nokia_microsoft_iphone_android_google/index.html

The iPhone: Up in Smoke

No doubt the iPhone for Verizon is big news for fans of Apple's telecom device. But a new app, Roll Your Own, is pretty cool in its own right. It educates its users on how to roll the skadankiest joints possible. The best app since BaconFarts.com...

Weed Rolling App Attracts 25K Users Overnight
Ray Basile
http://www.iphonesavior.com/2011/01/weed-rolling-app-attracts-25k-users-overnight.html

Apple Bans Lame WikiLeaks App

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/wikileaks-app/

Apple Bans Lame WikiLeaks App
Kevin Poulsen
December 21, 2010
Categories: Censorship, WikiLeaks

Apple on Monday banned an iPhone and iPad app designed to facilitate access to WikiLeaks’ unfolding cache of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, putting the company on the growing list of U.S. corporations aligned against the secret-spilling site.

“We removed the WikiLeaks app from the App Store because it violated our developer guidelines,” a spokeswoman told Threat Level, reading from a statement. “Apps must comply with all local laws and may not put an individual or targeted group in harm’s way.”

Apple declined to elaborate. The App Store is the only means of distributing an app that will run on an unmodified iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. The unofficial WikiLeaks app was approved for sale just three days ago.

The ban follow a string of other corporate attacks on WikiLeaks in the wake of outrage from official Washington over the cable leak. Amazon cut off WikiLeaks hosting, and PayPal, Visa, MasterCard and Bank of America have all blocked donations to the organization.

Had Apple banned the WikiLeaks app for general suckage, it might be defensible. The $1.99 app does nothing more than display WikiLeaks’ Twitter feed and hashtag-search in one tab, and its website in a second. By clicking around the website one can access the State Department cables, the “Collateral Murder” Apache helicopter leak site, and the hundreds of thousands of reports from the Afghan and Iraq wars.

You can do the same thing in Safari by visiting WikiLeaks.ch.

That makes Apple’s move purely symbolic — but scarcely less ominous.

In April, Apple generated controversy when it briefly yanked an app serving cartoons by a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist, on the grounds that it contained “content that ridicules public figures” in violation of Apple’s developer guidelines.

You don’t have to agree with WikiLeaks’ methods or publishing standards to recognize that what it does is a form of journalism — most clearly with its current leak. WikiLeaks has so-far published 1,824 of its 251,287 leaked diplomatic cables. Unlike the organizations’ earlier mass leaks, each published cable has been hand-reviewed, and occasionally hand-redacted of some names. WikiLeaks says the review has been conducted by journalists at the newspapers that were provided embargoed access to the leak — a list that includes the Guardian, Der Spiegel and other internationally reputable news organizations.

WikiLeaks and its people haven’t been charged with a crime for publishing U.S. leaks, and they’d have a strong First Amendment defense if they were. And despite concerns voiced from top officials, there has yet to be a documented instance of anyone coming to harm as a result of WikiLeaks’ releases. With news and media organizations (including Wired magazine) betting heavily on iPad apps as a way to get users to pay to read magazines and newspapers, it’s chilling to see Apple double down on its right to censor controversial, but lawfully published, content of indisputable news value.

Kevin Poulsen is a senior editor at Wired.com and editor of the award-winning Threat Level blog. His new book on cybercrime, KINGPIN, comes out February 22, 2011 from Crown.

Follow @kpoulsen on Twitter.