Fox Business News may not yet be available on basic cable in Berkeley, but thanks to the all-seeing Internet, we are all free to mock the happy-news newcomer as we please, without ever needing to even turn on the TV.
Felix Salmon recommends visiting Valleywag, which first broke the news that on Friday, Fox Business anchor Alexis Glick misread "the tape" and told her viewers that Apple was buying an 8 percent stake in the chipmaker AMD. Some not-so-learned analysis followed this exciting announcement, although the assembled anchors -- all four of them -- failed to note the most interesting aspect of the news: Apple currently uses Intel chips in all its computers, so buying a stake in AMD would be quite the switcheroo.
Of course, as an undoubtedly panicked producer informed the anchors over their earpieces a few minutes later, Apple did not buy a stake in AMD. It was another entity entirely.
"Let me just correct ourselves," said Glick. "It's not Apple. It's not Apple. Abu Dubai? Abu Dubai!"
"Oh," chimed in fellow anchor Peter Barnes "The Arabs. OK."
Lots of embarrassed chuckling ensues.
OK, so it was Abu Dhabi, and not Dubai. But you know, if you can confuse a computer company with an Arab-run investment fund, how are you going to tell a couple of emirates apart?
For your entertainment:
The world in the iPod
The microchip that runs Apple's popular music player is made in India, Taiwan, China and Silicon Valley. Is this an example of how globalization works to everyone's benefit -- or a sign that the world economy is about to roll over America?
By Andrew Leonard, Salon
iLove it or iHate it
Is Apple's new blue bombshell a hit or a dud?
By Janelle Brown and Scott Rosenberg, Salon
An end to the Apple turnover
Steve Jobs accepts the inevitable -- and embraces the CEO title.
By Lydia Lee, Salon
Steve Jobs' iTunes dance
Now the Apple CEO says he would gladly sell songs without digital restrictions, if the record companies let him. That's hardly a brave defiance, and besides, I don't believe him.
By Cory Doctorow, Salon
Apple's iTunes sells 5 billion songs, but you don't own them
Why DRM means your music isn't really yours.
By Farhad Manjoo, Salon
Steve Jobs’ 2009 letter to the community about his health.
Terse and obfuscatory, this thing is Jobs all over.
Apple's obsession with secrecy grows stronger
Apple’s decision to limit communication with the media, shareholders and the public is at odds with the approach of other companies, which are embracing online outlets like blogs and Twitter.
By Brad Stone and Ashlee Vance, The New York Times
The Untold Story: How the iPhone blew Up the wireless industry
This 4.8-ounce sliver of glass and aluminum is an explosive device that has forever changed the mobile-phone business.
By Fred Vogelstein, Wired
A list of Steve Jobs' best quotes
An example: "The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament."
By Owen Linzmayer, Wired
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs
Fake Steve Jobs tells all in this hilarious and often informative act of fraudulent auto-blography.
Apple Announces New iPhone OS 3.1 at Keynote
Good Vibrations Sold Everywhere