Ah, shame. So sad to see poor Apple and Google in antitrust litigation. My real question is, why is Apple Janet and Chrissy is Google? I would have defintiely put it the other way around. And Jack is the DOJ? Is Engadget trying to say that the DOJ is a fumbling idiot? Hm, ok, there is some correlation there.

Quoted: ...the relationship between the two companies is so tight they actually share board members: Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson take meetings in both Cupertino and Mountain View. That's apparently raised some hackles at the Federal Trade Commission, which has reportedly informed both companies they're being investigated for violating a rarely-enforced section of the Clayton Antitrust Act prohibiting "interlocking directorates" when it reduces competition.

Interesting comments and perspective from Brad Brooks. I like the "i" way vs. the "you" way juxtaposition. Windows "without walls" is an effective campaign against the walled garden Apple offers. Still, it's hard to compete in certain scenarios with the elegant, reliable and deterministic Apple experience.

Quoted: Ahead of what many expect to be the introduction of cheaper Macs, a top Windows exec says Apple users pay hidden costs.

Quoted: There really is a tax around there for people that are evaluating their choices going into this holiday season and going forward. There's a choice tax that we talked about, which is, hey, you want to buy a machine that's other than black, white, or silver, and if you want to get it in multiple different configurations or price points, you're going to be paying a tax if you go the Apple way.

This guy is an idtiot. Apparently he missed the whole idea that "PC" means "personal connection". So yeah Dvorak, these people don't really think they are pieces of plastic with chips and circuitry.

Quoted: These dingbat Microsoft ads kind of miss the point. The people don't symbolize anything. They say who they are and that they are a PC, which makes no sense whatsoever because they are not PCs. They are people. They use a PC, but they are NOT a PC, unless they are mentally deranged.

Ok, I'll admit... I laughed a couple times during this one. Unlike the first where my mouth was just agape. And according to this popular blogger, if it made me laugh just once, then the ad was successful. You know, he may be right.

Quoted: Microsoft aired the second in its series of new ads featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and unlike the first ad, we finally discover that the pair are trying to find out what life is like for the average person.

Quoted: Since Gates "lives in a moon house over Seattle" and Seinfeld "has so many cars he gets stuck in his own traffic," the pair are living with a stereotypically average family in order to "connect with real people." Thus the theme of the campaign: "perpetually connecting." PC. Get it?

Quoted: The ads are not intended to sell Windows: They're ads to sell The Windows Brand. Think of it as The Soul of Windows. If, by the end of this campaign, we only think of Microsoft as the company with the weird ads, then Microsoft will have saved Windows' soul.

This is a glimmer of light for Microsoft marketing... finally something that should resonate with people and help public perception.

Quoted: People have been talking about Microsoft’s “Mojave Experiment” all day. What did they do? They demoed a “future operating system” to end users, got their feedback, usually positive, and then told them it was actually Windows Vista.

Quoted: This is the first marketing in some time that made me think Microsoft’s marketing department had a clue about how to deal with its perception problem. Amazing to me that it took so long.

good Scobleizer article...

Quoted:
Apple continues to amaze. I’ve never seen a company have a technical meltdown in front of the eyes of the world the way Apple did today. Yet when my son got out of the store after three hours of hell inside the store (we were snuck to the front of the line by someone who gave us cuts so that we could be among the first to get one, so that we could document what it was like for him to walk into the store and be #1 — he waited for two days) he said he still loved Apple and still loved his 3G iPhone.
After playing with it today I’ve got to agree. This is the company that can give you a crappy camera. No video. Charge you more than other devices. Make you wait hours in line. Take hours to get your credit card approved, your iPhones activated. And, at the end of it all, make you feel good.
I’ve been comparing the iPhone 3G to my Nokia N82 and N95 and my Microsoft Mobile-powered Samsung Blackjack II cell phones and, again, the iPhone kicks ass.
The App Store is simply brilliant. The new things available for the iPhone are just years ahead of other phones. The experience of using an iPhone is just way ahead of even the best Nokia and Microsoft phones (although I met with both companies recently and don’t expect them to let Apple have all the fun for long).
It’s worth the hell. Apple and AT&T will do just fine after fixing all the bugs that caused today’s debacle.
That said, no other company in the world has so much brand love in reserve that it can get this reaction. Any other company in the world would have seen riots after it took more than an hour to process even a portion of the first group of 20 people to enter the store

Quoted: In the world of technology, success is linked to perceptions. Microsoft demonstrated its multi-touch technology in a Windows 7 demo at the D: All Things Digital conference this week, and the software giant may have hoped to overcome the perception that Apple owns touchscreen interfaces. Instead, some observers are wondering if Microsoft is making the same mistakes that now plague Windows Vista.

Love this Scobleizer post...

Quoted: ...people started talking about my Apple problems. Everyone at the table is a Macintosh user. What was fun is that at one point people started telling me about the problems they have had with their Macs. Many with far more serious problems than I have had.

Quoted: ...they all blamed themselves for the problems of their Macs and I think they also bought into the “Apple cult” which says that if you use a Mac you must be cool.

Quoted: We believe Apple’s marketing so deeply that we aren’t willing to question it.... it’s MY FAULT that my Apple machine is having trouble.

Quoted: See, on my Windows machine I’m willing to accept this. After all, I know that Microsoft can’t really test every combination of hardware out there. My Windows machines can take dozens, if not hundreds, of different video cards, sound cards, hard drives, memory configurations, etc. The thing is on my Mac I didn’t load any third-party RAM — Apple’s brand promise is that you never will need to open your box to customize it. Heck, the iPhone goes further. You CAN’T customize it and if you try you have to “break” into it.

Favorable reviews overall...

Quoted: We'll just come out and say it: The 80GB Zune trumps the iPod Classic...For the same $250 price as the 80GB iPod classic, the new Zune 80GB offers a much larger screen, FM radio, wireless player-to-player sharing, Wi-Fi syncing with your PC, and a rear panel that can be customized with some cool artwork--for free. Simply put, Apple is no longer the leader in the realm of hard drive-based players. - PC Mag