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About this site

For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Friday, August 15, 2003

And on the Koolaid-colored side of the fence...
"I'm not at all pleased with this settlement," Gene Steinberg writes. "Apple was between a rock and a hard place here, and it made no sense not to cut its losses and move on. Now while I do not pretend to be able to read the minds of the attorneys that filed the action, I doubt that any other outcome could be expected." Poor, poor, Apple. They should be allowed to lie to customers, is that the case? Steinbergs solution: Users that need to watch DVD movies can just spend another $90 on a color TV. Seriously.

[ Posted at 8:52 AM | Permalink ]

Gillmor: Apple's "brazen" OS X lies
Tech writer Dan Gillmor jumped out of Apple's back pocket long enough to report that Apple's recent settlement over false OS X performance claims was long overdue, and he even provides a link to the 1998 Apple press release that proves the company lied. "It's about time," he writes. "Apple brazenly failed to keep its promises regarding OS X." Good stuff.

[ Posted at 8:50 AM | Permalink ]

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Tracking improvements to Firebird
A new blog called The Burning Edge is tracking the progress of improvements in each of Firebird's nightly builds. Interesting.

[ Posted at 4:47 PM | Permalink ]

Jobs still most over-paid CEO
In the years since he regained control of Apple Computer, Steve Jobs has driven the Mac into the ground with lower-than-ever market and usage share. So how do you reward a guy that's more about style than substance, whether its the makeup of his machines or the company he runs? You make him the highest paid CEO on earth, of course. Research which looked at three years of CEOs' earnings at firms with revenues over $5 billion reveals that Apple's Steve Jobs earned $219 million each year, on average. The average pay, in this select group, is $12 million. "Jobs wins my Most-Ludicrous-Pay-Package trophy, which isn't awarded every year," write Graef Crystal, a Bloomberg News columnist, in a report describing this outrage.

[ Posted at 10:52 AM | Permalink ]

Apple forced to refund cost of OS X to G3 users
This one is just so delicious I can actually taste it. You mean Apple lied? Say it ain't so, Stevie boy. Anyway, thanks to California's strict consumer protection laws, Apple will likely be forced to refund certain consumers there the cost of OS X ($129) because the company marketed the product as being "fully optimized" for the G3 processor. There's just one problem: Many OS X features only work on a G4 processor. So owners of "Bondi Blue" and "Fruit"-colored iMacs, several generations of Power Mac G3 machines, older iBooks, and PowerBook G3s up to and including the "Lombard" series of bronze keyboard-equipped models are entitled to the refund. There's a lot more, so read the full report here. It must have just killed Mac-boy Peter Cohen to write this story. Hey Petey, does this change your opinion about the liars in Cupertino yet?

[ Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink ]

New version of Mozilla Firebird, optimized for Pentium III and higher
A new version of Mozilla Firebird 0.6.1 has been released, and this version is optimized for PCs running the Intel Pentium III or higher processor. I haven't tested it yet, but it looks interesting. You can download it here.

[ Posted at 10:29 AM | Permalink ]

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Mac "gamer" switch parody ad
Thanks to Mark Hirst for the link: Red vs. Blue has a classic Apple Switch ad parody available online about the lack of games on the Mac. It's funny mostly because it's all true.

[ Posted at 9:14 AM | Permalink ]

Monday, August 11, 2003

Top 10 Inventions in Money Technology
The DaVinci institute has a fascinating article about the top 10 inventions in money technology. As noted in the article, the most interesting part is the lag time between the products' invention and when they went mainstream. In the case of the ATM machine, for example, it took over 40 years.

[ Posted at 2:25 PM | Permalink ]

SuperSite for Windows overhauled
I did some-much needed graphical work on the SuperSite for Windows over the weekend, updating the visuals and the underlying styles.

[ Posted at 12:41 PM | Permalink ]

Sunday, August 10, 2003

Broadband usage stats
According to this E-Commerce Times article, the adoption rate of high-speed Internet access in the US is "healthy and growing steadily." At the end of 2002, there were more than 16.4 million residential broadband subscribers in the United States; by 2007 there will be 48 million U.S. subscribers. 29 percent of households that now have dial-up Internet access plan to upgrade to broadband in the next two years. As of the end of 2002, US cable companies had slightly more than 10.5 million high-speed Internet subscribers in total, whereas DSL providers had only 5 million; this proportional gap will remain roughly the same in future years. Other broadband distribution methods like satellite, fiber to the user and wireless lag far behind the top two methods and are not expected to catch up soon. All other providers that aren't cable and DSL constitute roughly 300,000 subscribers for 2002, and that's combined. Even out to 2007, these technologies will be on the fringe; combined in 2007, they should be still well under 2 million. Satellite and wireless are still relatively rare and are considered less attractive options for a lot of consumers. Satellite in particular doesn't have much uptake.

[ Posted at 12:07 PM | Permalink ]