Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

The Practical Mac

Apple Should Buy Universal - or Not

- 2003.04.23 - Tip Jar

All the buzz recently has been about Apple's possibly purchasing Universal Music from troubled French conglomerate Vivendi-Universal. This would be a wise and prudent investment for Apple.

Or maybe not.

This issue has divided the Mac community as well as the investment world - and with good reason. Without the benefit of a crystal ball, or at least a Magic 8-Ball, no one has a clue how the deal might turn out.

On the positive side, Apple would acquire the largest music company in the world. There is no dispute this would be a big boost to the digital hub. By controlling a company like Universal, Apple would have a lot to say about the future of the music industry, including the future of music delivery, a subject in which the company most definitely has a vested interest.

Most music companies have been cool to the idea of electronic delivery. Apple could change that with the stroke of a pen (that stroke being the signing of Fred Anderson's name to a very large check).

Apple may also find a willing partner in industry giant Bertelsman (BMG), who already indicated their willingness to explore opportunities in this area by their association with the now-defunct Napster. And Apple could most likely do this by using cash on hand, without incurring any significant debt.

On the other hand, the music industry has been in a freefall for the past three years, and Apple could wind up owning a pig in a poke. Instead of leading the way into the digital future, Apple could be stuck with a non-performing company that sucks away the profits of the computer side of the business.

The purchase would exhaust Apple's cash reserves, making it less able to withstand any downturn in its core computer business.

Music industry executives blame their flagging fortunes on music piracy. I personally think it has more to do with Britney Spears, but at any rate something is wrong, and no one has a good plan to fix it.

But Steve Jobs might.

Instead of embracing technology as a new avenue for delivering their product, the music industry has attempted to stifle it. This is a battle the music industry can never win.

Steve Jobs, who has a lot more vision than your typical suit-and-tie CEO, most likely knows this. Steve has an unique way of forming unusual alliances for the benefit of Apple. Six years ago, he convinced Bill Gates to have Microsoft invest millions of dollars in Apple, thus rescuing the company from an uncertain financial future and possible bankruptcy.

Microsoft recently divested itself of all its shares of Apple stock. Microsoft tried to spin this to their advantage, but the truth is that when Microsoft sold its shares of Apple, that effectively meant that six years ago, Apple got $200 million of free money from its arch rival. Eat your heart out, Jack Welch. That's real business savvy.

I suspect that Jobs has something up his sleeve. While there are inarguably Internet pirates who will continue to steal music regardless of what happens, there are also a lot of people who really do use LimeWire, Gnutella, and a myriad of other peer-to-peer services because they truly are easy to use.

Most of these people would gladly pay something for the convenience of downloading music legally. The problem is, no one has ever given them a chance. Apple might be willing to do that.

I dare not hazard a guess as to what Apple will do. Buying Universal would be a gamble. If they do the deal and it flops, Apple could be worse off than it has ever been. However, if it works, Apple could easily find itself riding a tidal wave that swamps the competition.

I support whatever decision Apple makes. And, for the first time in my life, I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make that decision.

As a follow-up to my recent review of the iRock, I wanted to bring to your attention a similar device by the same manufacturer available through Small Dog Electronics for about half the price.

I have been out of town for the last couple of weeks and will be for at least another week. During this time, I have very limited access to email. As a result, I have not been able to answer most of my email.

Keep those letters coming, though. Be assured that I am not ignoring you; I promise to catch up when I get home.

Steve Watkins is the Vice President for Information Technology for a mid-sized bank and also an attorney. He has been a Mac user for about ten years. He has owned some PCs along the way - but always came back to the Mac. If you find Steve's's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Practical Mac Articles

5 things Apple is doing right in 2008 - and 5 it could do better, 03.24. Apple has made great strides in the past five years, but there are still a few areas that need to be addressed.
MacBook Air a compelling option for the true road warrior, 02.22. Although it's not intended as a desktop replacement and has a few shortcomings, the lightweight MacBook Air with its 13" display could be the perfect field computer.
Mailsmith a simple, powerful, spam fighting alternative to Apple Mail, 04.23. Mailsmith is bundled with SpamSieve, integrates with Address Book, and has very flexible scripting tools combined with elegant simplicity.
Can your spam with SpamSieve, 02.02. "Right out of the box, SpamSieve exceeded the accuracy of the Apple Mail filter I've been training for over a year."
More in the Practical Mac index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac mini Core Solo, Feb. 2006 - The only Mac to use a Core Solo CPU, this model ran at 1.5 GHz, has integrated graphics, and includes a Combo drive
Group of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
November 24 in LEM history: 98: Microsoft's heavy hand - 00: Looking at the iMac - 04: The best Mac for the holidays - Picking the right replacement for a dead mouse - Better battery for 15" AlBook
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Practical Mac articles copyright ©2001-08 by Steve Watkins. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.