I am loving my Mac mini. It is the quietest Mac I've ever had. The Processor gets it done too, playing DVD's hiccup-free in the background as I surf.

And, as my beloved readers, I wanted to let you all in on a great monitor deal. Right now you can get a 17" Dell LCD with built-in 4-port USB 2.0 hub and DVI support for $244. This is the same deal I used to get mine, and I can tell you that the mini deserves a DVI - digital is beautiful. The extra USB ports help too.

With shipping and tax, I got mine for $280. I'm in no way affiliated with Dell or DealMac, I just thought new mini buyers would appreciate the deal. Act quickly (and follow the directions on DealMac) because the offer ends tomorrow morning (2/25).

If you do miss it, use DealMac's subscribe feature to check for the deal’s return. This is already the second time they’ve run the deal.

Despite the end-of-March shipping date listed on my order, my shuffle came Friday. I'm not going to go into review-depth here, but I'll say it meets my needs perfectly.

If you're a Podcast listener (or audiobook from sources other than iTunes or Audible) you can convert the mp3's to bookmarkable AAC files. This is accomplished by changing the file type and altering the extension from m4a to m4b. This can be accomplished with this script or using iPodderX (in Podcasts>Feed Settings>Audio).

When listening to bookmarkable AAC files in your shuffle, you can skip to another track and the shuffle preserves your spot on the original track. This makes it was to listen to audiobooks or podcasts bit-by-bit.

I know its already a little late to comment on the Expo, but I have to admit it's been wearing on my noodle for two days now.

First: If I have to hear another person complain about the shuffle not having a screen, I'm going to die. Apple's move with the shuffle was brilliant. Why? Because it shows they understand feature-tradeoff, customer needs and differentiation. First, Apple swiped the screen so as not to endanger sales of higher-end iPods. That is the worst thing they could have done. Next, I don't know about you, but I never look at the screen on my flash player. I rarely use the FM tuner either, but I use iTunes almost everyday, and it only plays nice with the real thing (iPod).

So I'm not interested in people's "let down" (including Creative's CEO and his broken English). But there's something else that is bothering me.

This Expo Apple has significantly altered their business model. Apple used to rely on high-end design and refined consumer taste. Now Apple is all about creating vertically integrated "ecosystems" that lock in customers. At the Keynote, Jobs invited everyone into two important Apple ecosystems: iTunes+iPod and MacOS+Mac hardware.

The real power behind the shuffle is that it represents the cheapest way to enjoy the best online music store. Likewise, the Mac mini makes the elegance and power of the Mac OS available to everyone. This is a significant departure from Apple's M.O.

And this isn't bad. I think the shuffle will teach flash mp3 makers a sore lesson on the importance of a connected system, and the danger of "feature creep". So, what's worrying me? Well, it is cannibalism. I would eat through the muscle of my arm to get my shuffle a few days sooner, but that's not what I'm talking about.

Consider this: consumer A is looking for a new Mac. He/she is replacing an ailing desktop, and is interested in making DVD's. Pre-Expo this consumer was looking at PowerBooks and iBooks, because at the time adding a SuperDrive to even an eMac would push you to a thousand dollars. And why not get an iBook with SuperDrive for a few hundred more? Now Post-Expo the same customer realized he/she can get the Mac mini, keep his/her old keyboard and mouse and buy a monitor from Wal-Mart and still be burning DVD's for an extra $100.

Where is the problem in all this? Apple gets $600 instead of $1000 or $1500 or even $1800. I know DVD burners aren't the only reason to get a higher-end Mac, but I can't help but think that the mini might be too good a deal. I guess we'll have to hope that Apple is making a healthy margin on mini's and will make it up on volume.

Despite this worry, I am thrilled to see Apple knock down the walls and finally invite in the unwashed masses (mostly PC users). Everyone deserves and Apple, whether it be an iPod or Mac.

I'll be the first to admit I have been intrigued with the fodder coming out of the rumor mill on the upcoming Keynote, but sometimes in our need to know, we don't always think about the costs of spoiling the surprise.

Apple has three obvious reasons for objecting to rumor leaking. Apple loses control over customer's timing of purchase, and may lose sales as people wait for the rumored product. Apple also loses lead time on competitive reactions to groundbreaking products. But, perhaps closest to the heart of the CEO and executives is the potential harm to the company's market valuation.

Stock price is a factor of external perceptions of the future value of a company. What does this have to do with rumors? Apple's stock is riding an iPod high at the moment, and unfortunately analysts are sucking down rumors (which were largely ignored in the past) as indicators. With Apple at a high, any failure to meet expectations, even erroneous ones, will likely punish the stock price.

So Apple and its investors could lose money because Apple didn't do something it never said it would? You bet. I'm not making a statement against free speech or Mac rumor sites. But, it is worth noting that these exciting rumors can come at a cost.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, the iPod mini gets a discount at Amazon. Did I mention my favorite color is silver?

These aren't refurbs or third-party deals, and its the best price I've seen for a new iPod. Enjoy!

Note: if it comes up as $249, look on the right side under "More Buying Choices" and click on the Amazon.com listing with no price listed.

There were a lot of bug fixes in Firefox's 1.0 release. Unfortunately, the profile manager didn't come through unscathed. I bypassed the profile manager's buggy performance via the terminal.

Mozilla documentation tells you to launch the profile manager using this path that dives in the Firefox package: /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox - ProfileManager . While this works (mostly) the optional parameters -p Profilename and -profile don't work at all.

Instead, I found that /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/
firefox-bin -p Profilename worked excellently. The -profile and -p "profile/location" flags work on firefox-bin as well.

To have some real fun, use this code to make a a faceless AppleScript that launches the profile of your choice:

do shell script "/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/ firefox-bin -pProfilename"

end do shell script

If Firefox is already running, it will open another Firefox and the script itself will run until the additional Firefox is quit.

Google Search Bar is coming to the best OS on the planet, which got me thinking about Mac support. As a reviewer these many MacMerc years (3?) I have noticed one thing about companies that support Mac in addition to PC's: they are doing well.

Support of additional operating systems is an indication of R&D investment, and therefore a very visible proxy for company value. If you think about companies like Logitech, Symantec and now Google the data supports the assumption.

There you go, one more great reason to support the Mac. Companies that spend the money on compatibility are usually doing other things right.

Sometimes it only requires a little nudge to make a needed switch. After palm sync miserably failed with Entourage, keychain-related errors was all it took for me to dump my PIM of 3 years. It was time too: my contacts are in vCard and my calendar in iCal (via Mozilla Calendar).

Enter Mozilla Thunderbird. Like Firefox, I turned up my noise at ugly, uninteresting early version of this Mozilla project. But, also like Firefox, the 0.8 version won my allegiance. 0.8 has compelling features (RSS reader, cool extensions), met or beat the features I had in Entourage (Advanced formatting, return receipt settings) and the move was easy. Drag folders from Entourage (making MBOX files) and drop them in my Thunderbird profile (Mail folder). Addresses were almost as easy. Export from Entourage (via File menu) and import as text file. The only pain here was matching up the fields.

The spam filters are pretty darn good too. I didn't have Entourage 2004 on my computer long enough to migrate to it, and it's already gone. Very nice. Things to look for in upcoming Thunderbird releases: vCard import and better blog notifications.

Ah, first loves. Remember Cyberdog, Apple's modular OpenDoc web-swiss army knife? It was great - you could activate modules like chat and mail for more functionality or leave things be and run sleek and fast.

Well, Cyberdog my be long gone, but the idea lives on. Where? Firefox. The Mozilla browser is lean and fast - but also supports add-on functionality through extensions.

Now from within my browser I can monitor my Gmail account, watch for updates from my Bloglines feeds, read and edit my iCal calendars and spell check and save my blog entries. I don't have to leave my browser and I don't have to give up valuable processor time to features I don't want. Brilliant!

It is nice to see innovation return to the browser. It's like a faint bark from the past: music to my ears.

The what? Exactly. After years of genuine service, I'm moving my calendaring and contacts from my Visor Prism to my T610. The last straw had nothing to do with the device - the Visor still works perfectly and I'll continue using it for office docs.

It was the syncing that killed it. First Entourage - which never synced perfectly - stopped syncing. Then iSync nuked the address database on the second sync. With Palm Desktop for the Mac dead, there's just isn't enough patience.

The upside is that I love my T610. Smart phones are the way to go. iSync likes it, and Bluetooth file transfer and Romeo rock. Time to leave the cradle behind.

So, Roxio has opted to sell off its Toast and Easy CD Creator lines to Sonic Solutions to concentrate on online music. What's the matter, don't like money? Well, according to their financial statements, I guess not.

But then again, you can't get into online music without taking a financial hit, right? Unless you're Apple. What's more, Roxio is taking on Apple in a category Apple doesn't even need profits from. Apple gets its meat from iPod sales, so it can affort to go toe-to-toe with Roxio without breaking a sweat. So, shares of Sonic are up...

Smoking would-be competition has become status quo for the iTunes Music Store. But, if Apple keeps with tradition, in five years they'll be number 2 or less. You look at me like that's a bad thing. Truth is that Apple's business model of cutting edge style and innovation is not the formula for market domination.

In fact, I'd attribute Apple's lead to the fact that online music and MP3 players are not yet mass market products. Once they achieve commodity status (think late nineties PC) Apple will be positioned nicely to skim the high end of the market. And why not? Apple is a high-margin company.

In the mean time, Apple can enjoy its lead while competitors (Microsoft) stun the world with technology (Janus) disguised as subscription services. Didn't MusicMatch already try that? I'm bored already.

Linux is the first OS people associate with free, Open Source software. Of course, you know I spend a lot of time promoting free software for the Mac, here's an interesting article on Open Source playing right in Bill's backyard: Freeware for Windws.

Its worth noting that many Open Source's original aim was to make free software independent of platform - so it was available to all. Gotta love 'em for that. In fact, if you are a die-hard Linux fan, you'll want to watch for an upcoming free OS Freeloader I have in the works.

Follow closely on this one: Last night MacUpdated listed a free version of MacGimp 2.0 until the file was pulled from SourceForge. Now the "more info" link points to OpenOSX who'd like to sell you MacGimp for $25+ and has been shamelessly bamboozled by MacGimp.org who wants you to buy it for $80.

See what happens when open source software gets into the hands of greedy, enterprising maniacs? Come on, I'm in business school and I'd sell my sock-drawer on eBay for a quick buck, but I'd never violate the trust of the open source community. Shame on you all. Lets hope Gimp.app reemerges soon.

UPDATE The Gimp is back!

Ahh, blue sky through the skylight, the brushed metal walls and a heap of Macs. A visit to San Francisco wouldn't be complete without a pilgrimage to the Apple Store.

We're going to have a record-breaking high temperature here, and the iPod is still the hottest thing in town. You can't walk three blocks here and not see someone sporting the tell-tale earbuds.

20 years today. Not bad.

My first Mac: SE/30, Yours?

There's no doubt that exciting things are ahead for Apple, but for those who are watching there's a new shift in strategy that is taking Apple away from its roots. Good? Bad? You decide...

What's missing:

The Apple Superbowl Ad: They introduced the Mac with one, but with all the 20th anniversary excitement, music store and mini iPods, the word on the street is that there is no ad.

An Anniversary Mac: After creating the world's coolest and most expensive Mac for Apple's 20th anniversary, there is a strange void in the novelty Mac area. Not even a gold colored G5.

What's new:

Shrinking Margins: Apple's hallmark has been great margins with a small market share. With iPod sales on the rise and growing market share, the margins are falling.

Less-expensive Products: iSight and mini iPods occupy a price point Apple had previously reserved for keyboards and replacement parts.

HP: We've already mentioned this one, but partnering with a PC maker is something new for Steve and company.

A new Apple for the company's third decade? Whither the Macintosh? We'll have to wait and see.

For the Mac faithful, the holiday season isn't complete until Steve Jobs has waltzed on stage in his festive black turtleneck. What have we got to look forward to at the Expo? Let's see...

Gifts

It seems we've been nice enough to get our low cost iPod, though we'll have to keep waiting for the iPod that plays videos, is a phone, PDA and walks your dog.

iApps are due for an update of some kind too. What I'd really like to see is RSS support in Safari or Sherlock. FCX will turn two.

Resolutions

This year will be critical for Apple in Music. I'd trade my shorts to see where the iTunes Music Store will stand in market share at the end of 2004. But we already know that. Hopefully the rumors are true, and the iPod will shake a leg with stripes (just no polka-dots) and colors.

For the rest of the web, it's time to get blogging. I'm not just talking about end users (though, if you don't have one yet, you better get one). This will be a big year for companies to catch on to blogging - as a PR/marketing tool and customer support device.

Tradition

This year the Mac turns 20. If you didn't already have a reason to dawn that crusty old Apple shirt, that should do it. Start the countdown and watch for jolly Uncle Steve to come to a QuickTime stream on your desktop.

MacMerc will be covering the Keynote as usual, with news and chat, so stop by. Have a happy iDay, and Think Different!

One more 10 cent critic has weighted in on Apple's position in the marketplace. This time Fast Company did give due props to Apple for its innovations, though missed the point in strategy.

The faulty presumption starts with market share. Volume alone is never an good indicator of a firm's success, let alone brand strength. To get the margin it needs to stay the innovator of the industry, Apple positions its products at a premium. Apples sell in boutiques, not discount stores.

Apple has never pretended to be a discount provider. Apple has also never been the cheap place to get a PC. One benefit of high-end product positioning is market stability. Take a look at Apple's profits over the last three years compared to the rest of the personal computer industry. Apple's consistency comes from its product positioning strategy.

This same strategy also explains Apple's non-licensed OS. Yes, had Apple handed out cloning licenses at the right time they might have more market share, but doing so would contradict the strategy that has put Apple where it is. The truth is, Apple never wanted to be a Microsoft.

It's not that Steve and company don't like money. What they do want is to remain the creative leader of the industry, and they will. But not without criticism for those that would have Apple fight Dell to be the Wal-Mart of personal computers. Nope, while the innovation-starved Microsoft takes another year to come up with an update people will buy, Apple will continue to take the risky but rewarding experiment of revolutionizing personal computing - oh, and music too.

In studying a Harvard case study on Apple, I have noticed a few things about how Steve operates. The most interesting pattern I found was in his development of major innovations. Watch this:

1976: Steve Jobs is soldering Apple I's in his garage with the Woz, the result is Apple.

1984: Steve, now the head of Apples' board is also the manager of the fledgling Macintosh group, developing the future of Apple.

1997-ish: Steve is at Next, building the core of what will become OS X, the most important OS update Apple has ever seen.

Notice the pattern? Earth-shattering events in Apple's (and Job's) history happen when Steve is operating in smaller groups, separate from the mainstream.

What does this mean for the future of Apple? No one knows but Steve, though we can be relatively certain that if Steve is ditching his office at the top to roll up his sleeves with a small team, something big is brewing. Then again, with the board in his back pocket, Steve may do things a little differently these days (i.e. actually delegating).

We've heard that upgrading to Panther "For a small amount of money, it's like having a new Mac all over again.''

The only thing better than upgrading to Panther is actually getting a new Mac with Panther, right? Not necessarily.

This time around there has been a change in Apple's upgrade policy regarding Macs already in the retail channel when an update occurs. In times of yore (Jaguar) Apple sent out update disk to retailers, so they could sell their Macs already in inventory with the newest OS.

Word on the street is that Apple has decided not to send out these disks. Instead, Apple wants buyers of Macs with out-of-date OS's to get their update through the "Up-To-Date" program which can take up to a week to arrive.

So, check the box, check the Mac. Make sure that new Mac has Panther or you'll be waiting by the mailbox.

With Apple already firmly rooted in the music industry (just watch MTV's cribs and tell me what rapper doesn't have a new Mac), the cross-platform iTunes Music Store and iTunes Producer on its way, Apple has the most complete online music strategy out there.

Adding a simple, quality sensitive method of sending in music to Apple, along with the tools to promote it is more than any of Apple's music rivals has done.
With the AAC codec delivering superior quality, Apple stays true the attention to detail that made the Mac the best personal computer.

Of course, quality versus compatibility is a fight Apple has fought before. Aside from the fact that Windows Media is Redmond's sad minimal effort at a media player, MP3 and AAC are the open standards. And make no mistake: Apple is not it this to take the whole market. Apple's style, sophistication and price tags are geared at the top end of the market. There will always be cheaper alternatives, but if Apple keeps doing their homework there won't be any better.

So, here's to an Apple innovation that will earn some money...

Wow, my PC just got a little taste of heaven. iTunes for Windows has to be the best cross platform port of an application I've ever seen. Together with the Pepsi promo, this will be big.