Radio host’s dramatic reading of Gates rant
Radio personality Dave Ross of KIRO-AM/710 in Seattle noticed yesterday’s post about Bill Gates’ January 2003 Windows rant and channeled the Microsoft chairman’s frustrations for a dramatic reading on air this morning. It adds an entirely new dimension to the e-mail.

Go to the link to hear the audio. It is well worth it.

AppleMatters, Could Apple be as Ruthless Without Steve?

Steve Jobs’ most defining trait is probably his ruthlessness on technology and willingness to can it before its end-of-life. This ruthlessness is a major factor in Apple’s success since his return. Could anyone else in the role of Apple CEO have the necessary ruthlessness and yet still be visionary?

I totally expect Steve Jobs to return in June as expected. I also expect him to come back totally reinvigorated. But his absence gives us a chance to stop and think of Apple without him.

Rejected Blackberry Ad Misses the Mark, Cult of Mac

Check out the Personal Collection of All Things Mac, here is one example:

Check out These 8 Very Useful Mac OSX Shortcuts.

I like these two:

1. Quickly turn off display

Ever had a coworker peeking over your shoulders while you were at work? It can be quite annoying. I can’t offer to change human nature, but here’s a keyboard shortcut that will help. To quickly turn off your display and blank your Mac screen hit the following keyboard combination:
Ctrl + Shift + eject
The moment you hit this key combination your screen will go blank. To switch your display back on just move the mouse on hit some keys on your keyboard.
2. Zoom in and out of your display

To zoom into your Mac’s display hold down the Ctrl key and scroll the mouse up and down. You can do this on the trackpad by using two fingers and sliding them up and down. I find this useful at times when I want to look at something in greater detail, and especially when I want to make an online video appear in full screen.

Scott’s New Mac Pro:

The store was pretty busy, so I had to wait 15 minutes before I could speak to a sales person. We wandered around looking at all the shiny objects and ended up by the Mac Pro on display (which just so happened to be a high-end model, fancy that). As I fiddled with it—out of professional curiosity only—I came to the realization that this was the One True Mac Pro and all other Mac Pros would be insufficient for my needs. Creating blog posts with only dual quad core 2.8 GHz processors? What am I, a barbarian? This computer (well, a new one in a box exactly like it) would soon be mine. But how to convince Marisa (the fiancée) that I should spend a pretty penny more for computing power I didn’t need?

I’m not proud to admit this, but I used the oldest trick in the book. I said to her, “Hey, don’t you want an iPod touch? Because if you do, I’ll get you one.” And just like that, all her prepared objections evaporated into the ether, replaced by the glee only a 16GB iPod Touch can bring. I’m a sad little man.

Apple Breaks the Layout Again With Latest Macbook Pro Web Ads

The last of the Top Ten Steve Jobs Marketing Quotes:

#1. On Creativity

That happens more than you think, because this is not just engineering and science. There is art, too. Sometimes when you’re in the middle of one of these crises, you’re not sure you’re going to make it to the other end. But we’ve always made it, and so we have a certain degree of confidence, although sometimes you wonder.

I think the key thing is that we’re not all terrified at the same time. I mean, we do put our heart and soul into these things.

Continuing with 10 Ways Microsoft’s Retail Stores Will Differ From Apple Stores:

7) Fashioned after Microsoft’s User Account Control (UAC) in Vista, sales personnel will ask you whether you’re positive you want to purchase something at least twice.