It had been a good week. I had just finished painting my walls a glorious shade of Garnet, courtesy of Ralph Lauren Paint, and the bathroom was a light Seafoam. I had been thinking of picking up a new Pottery Barn couch, but I couldn't decide whether I should get Ochre or Sand. My head was spinning, tempted by a palette of colors with names you'll never find in any boring old rainbow.
And then Apple made everything worse -- debuting five new iMac colors at Macworld, all in my favorite catalog shades: Indigo! Ruby! Sage! Graphite! And, of course, Snow. Now the puzzling would begin again. Might the Ruby iMac clash with the Garnet walls? Was the Sage iMac the same shade of Sage as my hand towels? I wondered: Would Apple ever consider launching a line of desk furniture in the same stunning shade of Indigo, perhaps with contrasting accents in a lovely Sky or Ocean?
Who could have predicted computer hues named after my favorite kitchen spices!
But all those thoughts faded away when I spied the new G4 Cube on the Apple Store Web site. There it was, an enticing eight-inch cube, hanging effortlessly in a crystal-clear enclosure. Apple had outdone itself again, reinventing the notion of what a desktop computer should be: Not a heavy lunk of metal and plastic, but tiny and lighter than air, an object worthy of your mantle. Practically floating. A miracle.
I was astonished, and aghast. Damn those designers: I'd have to remodel now, and install some crystal-clear walls to go with my new computer. I envisioned a house made of glass, perfectly square, with my Cube at the center. Or maybe I'd buy ten of them, and use them as a coffee table...
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