How the news of the Mac's next operating system -- Mountain Lion -- got disseminated
Source: Techmeme
The top tech news story Thursday, apparently, has nothing to do with working conditions in China, or who owns the iPad brand, or even the fact that Motorola (MMI) may have to remove "slide to unlock" from its smartphones.
No, the top 135 stories on Techmeme this afternoon are all about the next version of Apple's (AAPL) desktop operating system -- dubbed Mountain Lion -- due out next summer.
And even that doesn't quite capture what has so fascinated the tech press.
"The real shocker," writes the New York Times' David Pogue, "is that for the first time, Apple decided to give tech reviewers an early, early version of Mountain Lion — not just months before its release to the public, but even before its release to its developer (programmer) community."
So who, exactly, got to see it first?
That's a question likely to be worried over within gossipy new media circles for weeks to come. Here, as near as I can tell from an admittedly small sample, is the current pecking order as Apple PR sees it:
I may have missed it, but nowhere in the reports I read was there any hint that the previous incarnation of OS X was greeted with anything less than open arms. In my house, for what it's worth, my wife still hasn't forgiven me for saddling her with Lion's version of the Apple Mail app.
UPDATE: A far more complete list of the previewers, via Quora.
One of the most fascinating panels on the Macworld stage during last week's Macworld | iWorld expo in San Francisco was a conversion about "The State of Apple" among Macworld editor Jason Snell, Daring Fireball's John Gruber and Chicago Sun Times columnist Andy Ihnatko.
We've excerpted the part that interested us most: 5:40 about what happens to Apple (AAPL) without Steve Jobs at the helm.
Our favorite bit: Ihnatko on why more companies don't emulate Apple.
"When you try to MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 30, 2012 3:13 PM ET
The 28-year-old expo has a new brand, a new focus and hundreds of fizzy new products
Macworld|iWorld graphic via IDG World Expo
When Apple (AAPL) announced in 2008 that it was pulling out of Macworld -- no longer exhibiting its products or staging Steve Jobs' closely-watched keynotes -- many wondered whether the venerable expo could survive.
It was touch and go there for a while, but it turns out there is money MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 26, 2012 10:33 AM ET
They are the reason Apple's shares leaped out of the box at the opening bell Tuesday.
Jobs at Macworld 2007
The key words in the press release Apple (AAPL) issued Tuesday morning were not OS X Lion, iOS 5, or iCloud -- the three components of what the company is billing as the "next generation software."
As important as the operating systems and services to be unveiled next week at Apple's annual MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 31, 2011 10:49 AM ET
Talking Apple (AAPL) with The Unofficial Apple Weblog's Mike Rose on the floor of San Francisco's Moscone West. The interview lasts about 15 minutes.
For the rest of TUAW's live coverage of Macworld 2011, click here.
[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 28, 2011 9:18 PM ET
At Macworld, the guys from iFixit take apart a MacBook Air in less than nine minutes
Soules with spudger and pentalobe. Photo: PED
With a spudger, two Torx and a pentalobe screwdriver, Luke Soules stripped down Apple's (AAPL) thinnest computer Friday before an audience of a couple hundred Macworld attendees in 8 minutes and 40 seconds.
It was the world's first live teardown, according to Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, a repair MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 28, 2011 1:16 PM ET
On the floor of Macworld 2011 we counted 61 different skins, stands and cases
The iPad Tech-Pack. Photo: Assero Industries
One thing you can count on at any tech trade show is an army of entrepreneurs hawking accessories for whatever the hot product happens to be that year.
For the past few Macworlds -- the annual gathering for third-party Apple vendors that Apple (AAPL) no longer deigns to attend -- the accessory MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 27, 2011 4:55 PM ET
How hard is it to do what Steve Jobs' company does year after year?
Snell at Macworld. Photo: PED
Jason Snell, the editorial director of Macworld the magazine, asked an interesting question on Day 1 of Macworld the tradeshow, which runs through Saturday in San Francisco.
Why, he asked, aren't there more companies like Apple (AAPL)?
What he meant by that was companies that build products as simple and elegant as, say, the MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 27, 2011 7:50 AM ET
With Tuesday's refresh, Apple's "most affordable Mac" just got less so
Photo: Apple Inc.
When Apple (AAPL) updates an aging computer, it usually keeps the price the same and bumps up the specs -- increasing processor speed, disk capacity, built-in memory, etc.
Not this time. The new Mac mini, which quietly popped up on Apple.com early Tuesday alongside the higher-profile iPhone 4, starts at $699, $100 more than the previous model and MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 15, 2010 7:05 AM ET
One of Apple's most influential pundits zeroes in on what's wrong with the company
Gruber at Macworld 2010. Photo: PED
Daring Fireball's John Gruber -- a Drexel University computer major turned professional blogger -- is perhaps the most forceful and articulate defender on the Web of all things Apple (AAPL). He came to Macworld Expo 2010, however, not to praise the company but to probe its vulnerabilities
He took his task seriously MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Feb 13, 2010 3:16 AM ETEvery morning, discover the companies, deals and trends in tech that are moving markets and making headlines. SUBSCRIBE
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| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 7.95 | -0.16 | -1.97% |
| Microsoft Corp | 31.27 | -0.17 | -0.54% |
| Ford Motor Co | 12.28 | -0.25 | -2.00% |
| General Electric Co | 19.39 | 0.17 | 0.88% |
| Citigroup Inc | 32.36 | -1.00 | -3.00% |
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 12,938.67 | -27.02 | -0.21% |
| Nasdaq | 2,933.17 | -15.40 | -0.52% |
| S&P 500 | 1,357.66 | -4.55 | -0.33% |
| Treasuries | 2.00 | -0.04 | -1.96% |
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