Things are getting interesting with the recent announcement from Apple about the MacBook Pro and iMac with Intel processors. According to Michael Kanellos over on Apple Notebook Not For Bargain Hunters, Part II the price difference between the MacBook Pro and a comparably equipped Gateway notebook is somewhere between $355-$380, all things considered. Michael also states 'Historically, Apple has generally maintained a $300 price premium.' As always, there is a lot of discussion on both sides of the fence on the 'these are comparable' debate.

It's been hard to compare Windows to MacOS because the hardware delta has added to the number of variables for consumers to evaluate. I've actually thought having dissimilar hardware was a smart approach for Apple because it allowed them to dismiss hardware as a much less important factor in recent years (they long ago gave up performance comparisons). Until their move to Intel hardware it was difficult at best for customers to compare the hardware apples and oranges.

In other words, the Apple pitch (and I've heard it stated this way first hand at their stores) has been 'they've got hardware, we've got hardware and hardware is hardware -- let me show you why our software is better.' It seems they aim to keep this approach since the Apple home page reads 'What's an Intel chip doing in a Mac? A whole lot more than it's ever done in a PC.' It will be interesting to see if this pitch still holds water now that the MacOS runs on (theoretically) identical hardware to Windows. It becomes much more easy for consumers to compare the real costs / benefits of the operating systems and available software.

Chris Pirillo is predicting "Apple's OS Comes Bundled with Windows on All Dell Machines!" in a mock headline.

I think he is smoking something or is perhaps too young to remember Apples foray into licensing it's operating system to third party hardware builders.

Anywho...

Apple makes it's profit largely on the hardware (iPod anyone?) while Dell has quite a reputation for squeezing every last drop out of a bill of material for the hardware, and dropping the price lower than anyone else. For example...

• Apple's cheapest computer is the Mac Mini starting at $499 -- with no keyboard, mouse or monitor.
• Dell's cheapest computer is the Dimension B110 starting at $349 -- including keyboard, mouse and monitor. After rebate, that drops to $299.

If there were polar opposites in the technology industry, it's Dell and Apple. Neither one of them have anything to gain from this type of partnership and everything to lose: Dell's computers become more expensive than the competition and Apples profit margin on hardware would be in serious jeopardy.

Chris, let's make a pact to check back in on the state of things in two years.

Watch it happen -- not.

Via an email from Robert Scoble I learn Ross Rader has asked us in An Open Letter to Microsoft to ship a standalone upgrade SKU of Windows Vista containing Media Center...

"I would very much like it if you made it easy (not free, just easy) for me to upgrade this older, but still quite functional, personal computer from Windows XP to Windows Media Center. Think of it – potentially millions of people adopting a Microsoft product in a way that will be really important for you. If you make it available, I promise that my current desktop will move from my home office to my living room about 30 seconds after I install my shiny new Media Center software.

So whaddya think?"

I think it's a great idea, Ross. If it were up to me alone it would have been done a long time ago (and I have ardently supported the MSDN Subscription install-it-yourself approach for the enthusiast community for a while now, even if it isn't available to Joe Consumer in retail).

But lowly little ol' me doesn't make these decisions. We need a bunch of people making a bunch of noise to make this happen.

So...

If you think it's a great idea too, leave a comment here to vote your support of this offering. I promise to make sure your voice is heard by those who decide our SKU strategy. The more comments, the better our chances.

Let's all make Ross' 30 second dream a reality!

Yes, I know what you are thinking: Yet another geek who is enamored with all things Star Trek -- what else is new?

Yeah, it's true. I'm still pretty much flat on my (injured) back for hours each day which has allowed me to watch several (many) episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation which is now available on both G4 Videogame TV (2 Episodes Per Day) and Spike TV (3 Episodes Per Day).

Stunning plot lines aside (this comment could go either way depending on your perspective) the Star Trek franchise continues to hold a very tight industrial and user experience design aesthetic in my opinion. Gene Roddenberry and his collaborators were absolute visionaries whose inspirations are seen even today with Tablet PCs, Pocket PCs and smart phones (among many other devices).

Star Trek: The Next Generation continues to be my favorite series. The Library Computer Access and Retrieval System (LCARS) user interface introduced with ST:TNG designed by Michael Okuda continues to capture my attention whenever it appears.  His designs for Star Trek (commonly referred to as 'okudagrams') have quite a following. The LCARS user interface has continued to be used in subsequent Star Trek franchises and movies since it's inception.

There is even a volunteer LCARS Standards Development Board which...

"...was formed with the specific purpose of developing a standard LCARS system. On the internet, there are literally hundreds of websites using LCARS as the navigational system, however no one has ever taken the time to develop a method of using LCARS as it was meant to be used."

I think it would be an interesting project to create a Media Center application in the Windows Vista timeframe with our new Windows Media Center Presentation Layer which uses the LCARS look and feel.

What would be fun to implement in LCARS...?

I'll be presenting various Media Center technologies, design and development at Mix06. Joe Belfiore has been announced as one of the keynote speakers. The Mix team has an RSS feed, just posted a session outline as well as agenda.

What's Mix you might ask? You might think of it as a more targeted version of the Professional Developers Conference specifically for the web with specific tracks tailored for designers, developers and business folks.

'Media Center' Puts Microsoft Ahead of Rivals

By ROBERT A. GUTH
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 5, 2006; Page A13

Microsoft, the technology industry's perennial late-to-the-game player, finally finds itself with a lead in home-entertainment software. It's up to a high-energy engineer named Joe Belfiore to keep it that way.

http://blog.mediacentersandbox.com/PermaLink,guid,817c2b05-2a9e-47ac-80c9-1c4db5b26c18.aspx

Unfortunately I injured my back over the holidays and am not able to stand or walk for any reasonable length of time (which is bad at CES because that's pretty much what you do for many hours on end).

However, I'm holding the home fort down up here in Redmond while all my colleagues are taking in the sights and sounds at CES. Matt and Aaron are there and know *almost* as much about Media Center as myself (I'll probably pay for that comment later) and they have posted their schedules so you can track them down to talk.

Anywho, I posted a Media Center News Summary from CES 2006 over at Media Center Sandbox. I'm also working on a post outlining the three developer opportunities (yes, that's THREE, not two) which will be available in Windows Vista.

Stay tuned...

I'll be at the Consumer Electronics Show January 5-8, 2006. If you will be there and want to meet send me an email.

There are lot's of you I would like to meet.

Check out the new Windows Media Center Platform Team Blog at http://blog.mediacentersandbox.com/.

There is a good thread over at Joystiq.com in Digital lifestyle from a dumb terminal? Not likely. (Xbox 360 annoyance #007). I took a moment to post a comment over there to hopefully clear the air about why things are the way they are -- it's all about consumer choice and market forces (of which a P&L statement is a part, but certainly not the whole). Microsoft is (an many ways) a conglomeration of smaller companies, which is sometimes why we don't approach the market with a singular product (we have Notepad, Word Pad and Word, all of which would allow me to type and print a letter to grandma). My comments start at number 37.