The Long Blonde Tail

Video: Gates + Jobs, Together (Onstage) Again

Biggest regret of '07 (and perhaps the last year, in terms of conferences)? Not having attended D. This historical appearance is one of the (highly justifiable) reasons why: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs on stage together again, for the first time in ten years.

Alas, we can at least experience it virtually. Microchunked into seven or so parts, this particular segment highlights Bill and Steve looking back at '97. Mr. Jobs (on his, and Apple's, comeback):

You know, Apple was in very serious trouble. What was really clear was that, if the game was a zero sum game where for Apple to win, Microsoft had to lose -- then Apple was going to lose.

And, it was clear that you didn't have to play that game. Because Apple wasn't going to beat Microsoft. Apple didn't have to beat Microsoft. Apple had to remember who Apple was! Because it had forgotten who Apple was. So, to me it was pretty essential to break that paradigm.

It was also important that Microsoft was the biggest software developer, outside of Apple, developing for the Mac! So, it was just crazy what was happening at that time. And, Apple was very weak. So I called Bill up, and we tried to patch things up.

Apple Has Never Been a Computer Company

Apple is now, and has always been, a fashion company. But, hey. We've known that for quite some time, right?

During the final moments of this year's MacWorld keynote (at 10:58am, to be precise), Steve Jobs informed the world:

"From this day forward we're going to be known as Apple, Inc. We've dropped the computer from our name."

This made the guys over at CrunchGear think (paraphrasing, of course), 'OK, great. Very good. But, hold the iPhone! Where the flock are, um, the Macs? You know, here at MacWorld?'

While over at GigaOm, Mr. Malik ponders more deeply:

That also might be the epitaph of the PC era. And it is sweet irony that the company that sparked off the desktop computing revolution is the one announcing its passing.

On the iPhone:

Apple is making the phone do all things a computer does – surf, email, browse, iChat, music and watch videos. ... While I am not suggesting that this replaces our notebooks or desktops for crucial productivity tasks, the iPhone (if it lives up to its hype) is at least going to decrease our dependence on it.

Key word in that statement: "if" (it lives up to its hype).

Seems the iPhone hangover has begun to set in, just one day after its hyped-to-death announcement. Why then, will even the critics be first in line to buy one, to the tune of $599?

Hint: it's not about the Macs. Or even the phones. It's about fashion.