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This rumor seems WAY out there but it might just be possible. Currently this one sits in the decidedly speculative section, but if it’s real it could be the the big M (no, not McDonalds) is taking a decidedly different view of their place in the market. Until now Microsoft’s stance has been that if you used Boot Camp to install a version of Windows on your Mac (the horror!) then you were essentially on an island alone. They simply wouldn’t give you any support. Now, internal memos might suggest that they’ll allow the Mac faithful who simply have to have a copy of Windows installed on the machine a small amount of assistance. The support will not include any help with installation, configuration, or anything related to the EFI on Macs, but all retail copies of Windows will receive the two free warranty calls any other Windows masochist user would get. It seems nuts to me that they wouldn’t have done this already, but I guess late is better than never.

Read [Neowin]

• Apple wins summary judgments against Psystar
• It’s no surprise Apple considered purchasing AdMob
• Apple’s Black Friday to be surprisingly bright?

Back at Macworld ‘07 iPod marketing director Greg Jozwiak was asked why Apple had given exclusive carrier rights to AT&T. He explained that Apple couldn’t have been able to provide crucial features without an exclusive partner like AT&T. There is no doubt that’s true while the iPhone was under development, but now that the majority of the bugs have been worked out, but with iPhone stretching to a worldwide audience can Apple continue this tactic?

It made sense that the iPhone would end up with AT&T as they are the current top dog in the US cell industry. There is only one other carrier (Verizon) who could give them the infrastructure and deep pockets that Apple would need to create a nationwide phenomenon. As the iPhone went international, Apple Kept the trend alive by siding with the largest and most entrenched carriers in each country the struck deals in. The European cell market is far more competitive than the US market and it seems like this tactic may have contributed the slow pace of sales in Europe as well as the seemingly huge demand for unlocked iPhones. Even some Macheads in the US may not be willing to jump T-mobile or Verizon even for the iPhone’s siren-like call.

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This shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone but iTunes has surpassed the god-awful Real Player for unique users in 2007. Of the four major music players (Real, Quicktime, iTunes and Windows Media player) iTunes was the only one to post a positive growth average. In the last four years iTunes has grown from the paltry 669 uniques to over 35,000. Real Players has remained generaly stable over the same period never dipping below 27,000 or over 35,000 uniques. The real shame of it all is that Windows Media player is still the top dog by a wide margin. Since 2003, Windows Media Player has never had less than 45,000 and this year has over 75,000. It’s unique number over the last year has completely stagnated and even slipped a little.

Read [Website Optimization]

• Apple wins summary judgments against Psystar
• It’s no surprise Apple considered purchasing AdMob
• Apple’s Black Friday to be surprisingly bright?

Here is a great Youtube video by a person called “DoctorMacenstein” chronicling the life and times of the Apple website. Sadly, the views aren’t comprehensive (you’ll have to hit the “Wayback Machine” for that) but it is a nice walk down the Mac’s memory lane. It’s paved with wild colored CRT-based iMac’s and toilet seat shaped clamshell iBooks. The video is pretty well done, I make no promises on the Skid Row song.

• Apple wins summary judgments against Psystar
• It’s no surprise Apple considered purchasing AdMob
• Apple’s Black Friday to be surprisingly bright?