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I'm not a mac fanboy. I've never even owned a mac but I read an article some time ago comparing prices between a mac pro (workstation) and Dell precision (also a workstation) and the MAC came out the price winner. The article is a bit old but it's still interesting. Oh and it was written by Paul Thurrott, a Windows guy.

It's important, when comparing prices, to pick machines in the same class. Don't just compare CPU/RAM/HDD specs. I have a precision workstation and it's built like a tank compared to the dimension line.

It would be very easy to buy the cheapest ECS motherboard, no-name power supply and generic case then slap in a quad core Xeon, lots of cheap RAM and a high capacity value hard drive and try to pass it off as "similar" to less technical customers.

>Give me an inexpensive beige box with Gnome or KDE any day.

Gnome or KDE wouldn't actually be much use without an operating system on which to run them...

Besides, Apple has made significant improvements in pricing, especially towards the higher end; to the point where, in equivalently specced high end workstations from Apple and Dell, Apple is $90 cheaper (both with displays) and $581 cheaper (without displays) (source).

Paul Thurrot used to be a lot worse, but he still drops the occasional Apple troll. Check out this story from today, for example. He mentions a nice article from the Apple support kbase on letterboxing and such, which clearly in the article is geared towards iMovie users, and then says "Coming next week from the iPod maker: Personal advice about dating."

Yeah Paul, Apple has no products with anything to do with video playback or video content creation, right?

To Paul's credit, he's come around a lot and rarely does stuff like this lately. When he does, though, it makes me scratch my head.

Dvorak isn't buzzword-compliant, because this is the sort of thing that MS is really big on these days.

And yes, task-based interfaces do really suck for users with more than a room-temperature IQ. Adding a preferred wireless network shouldn't take a dancing dog and fifteen mouse clicks on yes/no menus, but it can if you haven't repaired XP so that it doesn't treat you like a mouth-breather.

Microsoft asked Paul to remove a post from his personal blog (denying a scoop), citing trade secrets, not so long after he humiliated them publicly. Paul replaced/removed the post and put instead an image from a MS-PR site proving the scoop.

http://www.internet-nexus.com/2005_05_22_archive.h tm#111706797008800101

He basicly points out that a lot of the things the guy says are not Windows spesific at all, such as RAM, BIOS versions, different hardware etc. It's worth noting that just becuase Apple brands a product identically and doesn't tell you what's in it it doesn't mean it's the same thing (Different mainboards for PowerMac systems etc)

Paul "The Microsoft's Whipping Boy" Thurrott sez:
"Hide The Truth, Here Comes Leander Kahney
Leander Kahney is a reporter for Wired News. I've been doing a little research into him lately, after being hugely disappointed with his book "Cult of Mac," which is a collection of his Mac-oriented Wired articles. The problem? Kahney's not into facts. Instead, he likes to sprinkle his articles with anecdotal evidence and quotes from a single source, which he then sells as facts. No big deal, right? I mean, that's what most bloggers, tech new aggregator sites, and Mac news sites do too. Sure. But the problem is that Kahney writes for Wired. And thus, he is representing a respected source. That is, people believe this crap."

Read more @: http://www.internet-nexus.com/

Honestly, who in the right mind would want to believe Paul Thurrott?

Has Paul Thurrott even realized that he is the Rush Limbaugh of Microsoft?

Paul Thurrott says that the Mini's competition is eMachines and Compaq and that both of them will squash Apple like a bug. Had a good laugh at that this morning.

Well, not just anything. Slashdot passed on Dvorak's most recent bashing of Apple! Elsewhere, there is plenty of heat (but little light) elsewhere.

Apple certainly doesn't seem cowed by Microsoft. There were three big banners at the WWDC dissing MS. One said "Redmond, start your photocopiers," One said "Introducing Longhorn" (above an image of a Tiger CD), and one "Redmond, we have a problem. Curiously, pictures are onPaul Thurrott's decidedly anti-Apple blog.

Usually I like to interject my own thoughts, but I will let the numbers speak for themselves:

4/28/2003 - iTunes Music Store for Mac launches
5/5/2003 - iTMSfM sells 1 millionth song
5/14/2003 - iTMSfM sells 2 millionth song
7/22/2003 - iTMS sells 6.5 millionth song
10/2003 - Napster launches
10/2003 - 300,000 Napster 1st week sales / 1.5MM iTMS sales same week
10/2003 - iTMS for Windows launchs (~13MM songs sold to date)
12/9/2003 - iTMS sells 20 millionth song
12/16/2004 - iTMS sells 25 millionth song (2.5MM/mo.)
2/2004 - Napster sells 5 millionth song (1.25MM/mo.)

On the bottom 1/3 of this page is a chart and analysis of the numbers too.

WARNING: My two cents -
Interesting that while Apple's numbers are much higher than Napsters', and Apple had to overcome the initial proof of concept that it would even work, so many REMAIN critical of the service.

Interesting still is that those same critics won't even spend a few dollars to give iTMS a *TRY* before they ink their mal-informed pens.

I find it somewhat amusing that he harps on and on and on about the slightest little problem with any other platform -- particularly the mac -- but has almost completely ignored the latest couple of mail worms pestering his platform-of-choice.

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004 [internet-nexus.com]:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
Nobody believes you anymore!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004 [internet-nexus.com]:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
Nobody believes you anymore!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004 [internet-nexus.com]:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
Nobody believes you anymore!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004 [internet-nexus.com]:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
Nobody believes you anymore!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004 [internet-nexus.com]:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
Nobody believes you anymore!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004 [internet-nexus.com]:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
Nobody believes you anymore!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003 [internet-nexus.com]:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004 [internet-nexus.com]:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
Nobody believes you anymore!

For a journalist who writes almost exclusively about Windows and Microsoft, I'd always found that Paul Thurrott was remarkably a lot less biased than you would think. His news articles seemed to be generally fair and his reviews and previews, while generally pro-MS, were some of the most in-depth and technically accurate you could find.

Anti-Apple and anti-Linux postings have always made up a sizable proportion of posts on his weblog but they also reveal that he owns several Macs, has used Linux since 1994 and has Mozilla as his default browser. Most striking of all, he believed that Microsoft was guilty of antitrust violations and thought, like the rest of us, that the final settlement was hopelessly ineffective.

Recently, however, his personal views have started appearing more and more in his news and features. There's mentions of Linux "zealots", jabs at Apple's supposed lack of innovation (he now believes Microsoft leads) and the words 'Windows Media Audio' are never present without being prefixed with the adjective 'superior'. His weblog became tiresome months ago and now his news is going the same way. Even some of his normally excellent in-depth previews are suffering: his look at task-based inductive user-interfaces in Longhorn is an almost farcical anti-Apple rant.

If you're interested in the comings and goings of Microsoft, Paul Thurrott is a good source of reliable and accurate information (I really can 't recommend his previews enough). However, his tiresome rants and raves are starting to make it his articles less and less enjoyable.

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
I'll be watching you, asshole!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
I'll be watching you, asshole!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
I'll be watching you, asshole!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
I'll be watching you, asshole!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
I'll be watching you, asshole!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
I'll be watching you, asshole!

Here are just a few iTunes/iTMS/iPod-related picks from Paul Thurrott's blog over past half year:

July 22, 2003:
"So BuyMusic.com is live. Like the excellent iTunes Music Store, it offers digital singles and album for download. The layout of the site is, perhaps, overly similar to iTunes. The similarities end there. BMC offers more songs (300K vs. 200K), better sound (WMA 9 vs. AAC), better prices (singles start at 79 cents vs. 99 cents), much better PC compatibility (it reaches the 97 percent of the world using Windows, not the ~1 percent using OS X), and better device compatibility (slew of devices vs. just a few on iTMS). The much ballyhooed problem with BMC--various DRM-related "limitations"--are not a problem: Most songs have unlimited sharing capabilities, or very reasonable limits (i.e. a limit of 10 CD burns. Oooohhhh.). In other words, iTMS, excellent though it is, is now officially toast. Apple should have supported Windows from Day One. Now, it's too late."

July 23, 2003:
"one of the best features of iTunes (and I've now downloaded 157 songs from the service) is that Apple lets you copy songs to up to three Macs"

July 24, 2003:
"I have a 5 GB iPod [...] the reason is that Apple refuses to add (the free) support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 format, probably because it's afraid users would notice the quality difference if they had AAC, MP3, and WMA all running on the same player."

July 28, 2003:
"it's clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple."

August 03, 2003:
"Anyone want to take bets on when Buymusic.com surpasses iTunes' sales? I'm guessing it happens before Apple releases the Windows version of iTunes."

December 09, 2003:
"iTunes sales dropping significantly as holidays near [...] a cursory examination of Apple's publicly-revealed sales figures and the dates of those announcements reveals that iTunes sales are actually falling through the floor."

January 03, 2004:
As the owner of both a 1st generation (5 GB) iPod and a 2nd generation (30 GB, dock-based) iPod...I purchased over 200 songs from the iTunes Music Store. Bravo."

---

So keep on spreading the FUD, Paul.
I'll be watching you, asshole!

Paul in particular is an interesting case. He runs his Windows site, which includes an occasional dig at the Mac -- but he also runs his blog, which comes very close to being 24/7 Mac gloom and doom. And he appears to actually have a 500MHz iBook and a 1GHz iMac...