In this post-Apple-Expo world, we're all still learning to deal with the tragedy of another iPod generation without fullscreen video or a phone. Many have bonded together with a spirit of hope for the future. But the powers that be have decided to numb the public mind to the true threat by perpetuating a high-tension alert system:
• Apparently Apple made some sort of announcement yesterday. [Gizmodo]
• Is the White House spying on journalists? That's the kind of thing that can get you fired! [CBS]
• Hewlett-Packard Chairman forced out for investigation that spied on journalists. [USAToday]
• Of course, sometimes journalists act like spies. [NYO]
• NYT sells off its TV stations to focus on print newspapers, digital media, and launching new glossy magazines about sections that already exist every other month. [NYT]
Celebrity memorabilia collectors are no doubt filled with joy at the latest gem to hit eBay: what would appear to be an iPod once belonging to actor Alec Baldwin. Or an iPod belonging to someone else named Alec Baldwin, or perhaps the iPod of a weirdly misguided fan of Alec Baldwin. No explanation on how the seller came to aquire the item, but some info on Baldwin's tastes:
Oh man, when's China gonna stop being such a human-rights hard charger and loosen up its labor laws? Foxconn, Apple's iPod manufacturer, finally fesses up to what it denied earlier: forcing minimum-wage employees to work an extra 80 hours a month. Guess that's too much for China's strict labor watchdogs. Curse that hippie land of worker freedom and prosperity!
Oh, c'mon, we could have gone with, "But Does It Come In Black?"
At Delancey and Essex streets, yesterday.
An Apple insider reports a cruel game of musical chairs at the iPod group. From now on, everyone gets just one rolling chair. The decision's retroactive — that's right, people are losing their office chairs to save Apple a buck (or satisfy some administrator's lust for power).
¬ The bubble stretches backward in time when Wil Wheaton quotes MySpace's sale value as $850 million (the real price was $580 mil). Can we keep the falsely inflated figures to future valuations? [Suicide Girls]
¬ Someone writes about a desolate post-Apocalyptic Silicon Valley — and it's not a disgruntled ex-SketchUp employee. [PR Web]
¬ Fake Steve Jobs: same as Real Steve Jobs? [SF Gate]
¬ Oh, New Media, you're so lovable. Where could the mysterious iPod phone mockup floating around the blogosphere come from? How about Business 2.0's April 2005 cover? [Mac OS Rumors]
¬ Hey wait, that stock photo on Microsoft's piracy page...isn't that an iBook? [Microsoft.com]
Vanity Fair, issue dated April 2006:
The mysterious Flickr user "Privateye" grabbed some AP photos from us and "repurposed" them for another snappy comic.
In case you didn't catch it earlier (we didn't), Lot 49 built a thorough Google Evil Scale. Includes the wise corporate maxim, "Don't be an accessory to evil." [Google Corporate Information: Making Money]
A petition tells AOL to drop its new certified mail system (where users pay to get whitelisted and free e-mails end up getting spam-filtered away). Signers include the Democratic National Committee, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, the AFL-CIO, and others. Better plan: let AOL carry on, thus ensuring that the last poor fools using AOL mail will finally leave. [Dear AOL]
Blogger Michael Arrington, running from the hordes of TechCrunch party guests, may flee to London so his sixth party can actually fit inside the venue. [CrunchNotes]
A little groaning about Apple's less-than-fun Tuesday announcement. Bloggers can't decide whether to hate Apple for not changing the world again this month, or to hate each other for posting fake photos of an iPod Video. [Good Morning Silicon Valley]
Michael Arrington can't be as positive as he always sounds on TechCrunch, can he? Today's "Mike's true feelings" meter: How much distance is between him and the entrepreneurs he's always photographed with? For instance, Mike's keeping some distance from the Israeli businessmen pictured above (that's him on the far right). But that one overlapped arm is just enough to say "I won't run away. These guys have a chance." [TechCrunch]
Well, this (after the annoying MS ad) is simply a video of Steve Jobs introducing the iPod Hi-Fi. He's relaxed as hell and proud of the product.
Six Apart's Anil Dash:
Nick Douglas reports from Apple's campus in Cupertino:
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In three hours, Apple will announce its secret new product. As always, the company's stayed coyly silent, and the Apple rumor kiddies have shouted every possible prediction, and have long since moved to the impossible ones.
Another shot in the "What will Apple announce" dark:
Here's some love for the gadget freaks fidgeting over tomorrow's Apple announcement. The loveable un-blogger (and would-be Microsoft employee) Chris Coulter sends in specs for the Microsoft iPod.
