In the media war raging between Apple and Microsoft, I think Apple is winning, and not necessarily by being the best of the two. Now, don't get me wrong - Apple may be better than Microsoft in many areas, but I think the Redmond giant is really helping Steve Jobs' company to grab the market, step by step. How's that possible? It's easy - all you need is a monkey boy to run the company, and a useless and expensive marketing campaign!

As you probably noticed, Microsoft's current marketing assault is nothing but a lame try to cover up Windows Vista's monumental failure. Obviously, it is simply impossible for Microsoft to release some OS these days and not recover the money put into building it, since they have deep roots in the industry, but Vista managed to fail when it comes to consumer satisfaction, and that's what really matters. After all, this is not like some online game - you quit, go check a new one, then get back, since most switchers do this only one way - the "Vista no-way!"

Now, from a life without walls, we're moving right to the "Bean Counter" and "V Word." Both movies are available above, as you probably noticed already... Until I get to see your comments, let me tell you a few things about these two new Apple ads, will you?

In "Bean Counter," Long suggests that the PC is putting too much money into marketing Windows, instead of fixing it - exactly what I was saying earlier, and what I always said regarding this issue, in the last year. Obviously, we're talking about a $300 million smokescreen to mask the problems with Vista. I would rather go for free truth, than expensive lies, but I am not in charge at Microsoft, so let's leave it this way...<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->

At last, we have the "V Word." Whatta mystery! Now, what word could it be...Vista, maybe? Yupp, that's the word, and the purpose of the ad is to spank Microsoft for avoiding to even mention that word in the latest ads. Why avoid it? Well, according to Hodgman's character, it "doesn't sit well" with PC users, and that should say it all.

My final words are these - I never enjoy this kind of advertising, when one points out his competitor's weaknesses and problems, but at least Apple seems to say the truth this time. Unfortunately, nothing's perfect, and I think the Cupertino-based company should focus on serving its expanding client base as well as possible, and leave Microsoft alone. After all, Microsoft's Vista helps Apple more than any advertising campaign...

Considering that the lack of FireWire ports could be considered the worst problem the new MacBook Pro and MacBook notebooks have, it's no surprise that Steve Jobs himself decided to answer user concerns. What really surprises me is the speed of his feedback - I hope others(we-know-who) will learn something from this! Now, let's see what Steve Jobs has to say about this matter, shall we?

Obviously, it wasn't a new keynote, but Steve Jobs "spoke" in an email, writing to a Mac user that changes in video camera technology made the need for FireWire to fade away. "Actually, all of the new HD camcorders of the past few years use USB 2" says the email signed simply "Steve," as a reply to the fan's email you can see in the image above.<-125x125 Button - right->

It is very interesting to see Apple kill its own invention, since they released the specification for FireWire back in late 80s, to see it become IEEE 1394 in 1995, supported by DEC, Texas Instruments, and Sony, and now they leave this part of the market for the competitors still offering FireWire with their laptops. If this is a good idea or not, I guess we'll see by the sales figures this Holiday season. Until then, it's only small talk.

Just to close this article properly, I think I'll have to ask you again(you didn't bother much to answer my questions lately, shame on you!) - do you think the new MacBook Pro is less appealing without FireWire? If you think so, please let us know what kind of FireWire devices do you regularly use, just for the record - I am really curious about that. That's all, folks! Steve Jobs has spoken, now it's your turn!

If there would be only one question you could directly ask Apple, as a company, or even if you could ask "his Steveness" for some information, what would you like to know? Speaking for myself, I could easily go for "why remove FireWire," but I won't. The engine that really pushed Apple through the first years of this decade and helped it grow so much is, without any doubt, the iPod. Now, Steve Wozniak says the iPod is getting closer to its final hour, and so my question would be - "iPod problems, Apple?"

Now, let me explain, it doesn't really matter I did it before. My opinion is that Apple's iPod hit the market with its innovations exactly when that was needed, but after a few well chosen moves, it stopped. For example, look at the new iPod Nano. An accelerometer? Was that really needed? Still no microSD slot, still rather short battery life, still lack of support for various audio formats popular within the audio enthusiasts community(APE, FLAC).

One thing is certain, and I have nothing bad to say about it - Apple's marketing division is brilliant! They managed to grab a huge market share <-336x280 Large Rectangle - right->without having the best product available, and even without offering the best price to features ratio, but this seems to lead to very interesting problems. If we look at the iPhone 3G problems, then I don't think there's any lawsuit going on, one that has been started by a competitor claiming that Apple is monopolizing the market, but when we talk about iPod problems...

...Apple just found themselves under fire once again, this time having to fight a Taiwanese media player manufacturer, namely Luxpro(never heard of it, by the way). They accuse Apple for controlling 80 percent of the music downloads through iTunes, which sells songs only playable on iPods, while forbidding its devices to play music purchased from other online sources.

Previously, Apple attacked Luxpro in 2005, demanding them to stop selling the "Super Shuffle" player, and that lawsuit was finally won by Luxpro, after changing the name of the device into "Super Tangent."

Now, Luxor says Apple leaves customers with "no choice but to purchase music from iTunes." Even more, Apple has "sought to monopolize the worldwide MP3 player market and crush legitimate, smaller competitors," at least according to Luxor. They have the market share numbers from the US to back their words, since 90 percent of the hard drive player market and 70 percent of the general market are being held by Apple.

Just my 5 cents - why in the world would a smart consumer pay for iTunes music and use an iPod, when he/she could get audio CDs for about the same price, even cheaper, turn them into MP3 files, and then easily play these tracks on any possible media player one could think of? There's the freedom of choice, there's Apple's marketing division(hail&kill!), and then there's the customer.

I see no monopoly issue here - as a potential buyer, anyone could check online and see if there's no better choice from Creative, Cowon, or even Luxor, to suit one's needs. Anyway, my past experience says a lot of people first buy, and then think about it, so Luxor should find some really smart people to take care of advertising its products properly...

As I write this, the new Apple laptops are waiting to come out. When I'll be done, probably the official info will also become available, but for now, the Apple news on the latest MacBooks are more "almost news." To be more precise, we're talking about that kind of rumors you hear a few hours before seeing the real news coming up. Anyway, here's a custom built Apple laptop from the past below, to give you some food for your eyes hungry for MacBooks. Do you like it?

...like it or not, here's what we know about today's MacBooks:

- We'll get a new 13-inch MacBook

- The MacBook Air will also get a 13-inch version

- A 24-inch LED Apple display will become available for $899

- The new 15-inch MacBook Pro will have a trackpad similar to the one in the MacBook Air, also featuring support for multitouch gestures<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->

- The existing 2.1 GHz white MacBook will remain the same, but priced at $999

Hmmm...what was I saying earlier? Apple news? New laptops? It seems the even is over, and while I'll leave the details about them fopr tomorrow, let's add a few spicy things "his Steveness" made public - Apple reached 39 percent notebook share in all of US higher education, finally surpassing Dell, while Apple's 250 Retail Stores in 8 countries cater to 400,000 shoppers every day, 50 percent of which are new to the Mac!

At last, you should also keep in mind that Macs are growing at 2 to 3 times the industry average, at least according to Apple's COO Tim Cook, and if you're wondering why is this happening...we'll talk more about it tomorrow, as the first units start being shipped to their future owners!

I don't know why, but it seems more and more people dream about cheap MacBooks. Sometimes, you have to be aware that you get what you pay for, and... you know where this all hunt for cheaper Apple products could lead, but I don't even want to think about that now. In the end, one thing is certain - Apple could lower its prices without compromising quality, I am sure of that. While the quality part remains to be seen, it seems cheap MacBooks are much closer than we could imagine...

The Inquisitr reports that "Some Apple retailers in the United States have been given price lists for a new Apple laptop line, and there’s a big surprise: an $800 laptop," claiming that the source who has provided this info "has been accurate in the past." While $800 for a new Apple laptop sounds great, I fear this new MacBook will compete with the Asus Eee PC and the MSI Wind, and not the MacBook Pro or the MacBook Air. I have no info on that, it's just a thought...<-125x125 Button - right->

...but going beyond some anonymous rumors, here's what Piper Jaffray says: "We expect the new MacBooks to be cheaper. However, it is likely that the new MacBooks will be a more premium product (with new aluminum casing and gesture-based touchpad). In other words, we expect the new MacBooks to be a meaningful upgrade with an average selling price 9 percent to 18 percent lower [than today's models]." According to them, prices will be starting at $899 or $999.

While that sounds great in theory, I am waiting to see what sacrifices will be made, or...who knows? Maybe Apple is planning some Christmas presents for us, shaped as cheap MacBooks with everything we could imagine as features in mid-October!