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Rashomon II: The Mac Story (8/7/00)
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Wow, we haven't seen such a stark example of the wonders of media spin since... well, since whenever Microsoft's last statement about "Redmond Justice" hit the airwaves. Bill's minions may be the masters, but a quick glace at two headlines about the same story reveals that "objective" reporting is typically anything but. On the one hand we've got "New Macs Hitting The Retail Shelves," ZDNet's feel-good, the-masses-are-happy, plenty-to-go-around story about the availability of Apple's new gear. On the other we've got "New Mac Cravings May Leave Some Buyers Hungry," CNET's dismal, no-one's-got-stock, the-end-is-nigh article about-- the availability of Apple's new gear. If he hadn't passed away a couple of years ago, Kurosawa would have nodded approvingly.
What's really interesting is that many of the facts cited in each story seem to match up fairly well-- it's just the spin that really differs. CNET does a great job of taking what many people would consider a blessing-- high demand-- and making it sound like the lowest of curses. ZDNet instead focuses on the customer excitement and downplays the availability glitches. Some facts are disputed, while others are just plain left out; while CNET claims that the Cube is "almost impossible to find," ZDNet notes that it isn't "due until September." It's a classic glass-half-empty, glass-half-full scenario.
In any event, it sounds like those of you who are itching to get your paws on the stuff that debuted at Expo shouldn't have too much trouble finding most of it floating around in the channel-- provided you're not looking for a $799 iMac (due next month). But anything else is fair game. Except maybe for a dual-processor G4/500 (should show up "within a week"). Er, or a Cube (who knows when?). Actually, how's this: if you want a Snow iMac DV Special Edition, you are so in luck.
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SceneLink (2465)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 8/7/00 episode: August 7, 2000: Apple wrangles a subpoena, and Yahoo! must reveal all it knows about the mysterious "worker bee." Meanwhile, ZDNet and CNET differ in their opinions of the state of Mac availability, and Palm introduces new handhelds-- do we detect Apple's fingerprints on the new colors?...
Other scenes from that episode: 2464: How To Catch (& Swat) A Bee (8/7/00) The drama of "Apple vs. Unknown NDA-Violating Scumwad And His Twenty-Four Lowlife Friends" continues apace; faithful viewer Julie Stephens notes an Associated Press article which reports that soon "John Doe 1" might sprout a real name... 2466: It's All About The Colors (8/7/00) Heads up-- the new Palms are here, but about the only sign of any possible influence by Apple is the presence of-- you guessed it-- new colors. Granted, that rumor that Palm might adopt the ill-fated Newton's handwriting recognition was debunked almost immediately, when the very source at PDA Geek who first voiced the speculation corrected himself by noting that the feature was actually just Palm's new recognitionless "Note Pad" application, which just lets users store freehand drawings and handwriting...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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