At 12:45, AAPL was at 39 1/8, up 11/16 on moderate trading.
MacKiDo on "reentrancy" [14:41 EST, 2/23]

No small number of readers have asked the same question: why hasn't Apple just added preemptive multitasking, protected memory, and other advanced features to Mac OS 8.x and be done with it?

There is no simple answer, but a large part of the puzzle is the nature of multiprocessing itself, and "reentrant" process behavior. David Every of MacKiDo explains this in depth in his recent article, "Reentrant: What is it, and why does it matter?"

P1 to feature wind-up power? [potential confirmation] [13:46 EST, 2/23]

A recent article posted at CNN.com confirms recent speculation that the Consumer Portable (codename P1) may include a "wind-up" power source.

Essentially, this power source would be a concealable arm on the side of the Portable's case, which could be spun by hand to generate power for the Portable's Lithium Ion battery. The idea is that this Portable must be able to run the Mac OS, but must also be able to sustain operation for an entire school day (it is expected to be Apple's biggest hit in schools -- ever). To provide both of these abilities without needing to be plugged in, Apple is reportedly licensing the remarkably efficient wind-up technology from a British company that invented it.

Several anonymous sources claiming to be privy to Apple's plans for the webMate, the education-specific version of the P1 (apparently webMate and macMate are the same machine; one is the education-tailored version, the other designed more for the general public; the differences are not entirely clear at present) suggested similar things earlier this week.

Update: Excerpted from the article [credit: CNN]:

The Freeplay radio has been awarded the BBC Design Award for Best Product and Best Design. It's no wonder: A windup generator that could connect to and power any battery operated device, anywhere, could significantly change the lives of many people who don't have ready access to even simple technology. It also has far-reaching implications for technological development. There are plans to include windup technology in landmine detectors, talking books and even the upcoming Apple consumer PowerBook, code named WebMate. "The technology is there and can be adapted to any product," says Philip Goodwin, an industrial designer at BayGen.

Two related CNN links: http://cnn.com/TECH/9701/08/t_t/windup.gadgets/index.html#2 and http://cnn.com/TECH/9708/06/safrica.computer/index.html. These both detail the technology itself -- and the latter suggests that Apple has had this technology on the back burner for some time......

Lombard update [12:10 EST, 2/23]

New information has steadily trickled in from a number of avenues regarding Lombard (aka "101"), Apple's next-generation professional Powerbook. In summary:

• G3 processors @ 300, 333, 366, 400MHz, with 433 available by June
• 64MB RAM standard on 300-366 models, 128 std. on 400-433
• New World ROM-in-RAM architecture
• 4,6,8, and 12GB Ultra DMA 33MB/s hard drives available
• USB and 400Mbps Firewire ports
• While unconfirmed, highly placed sources suggest Lombard will ship with RAGE Pro (64) graphics, rather than the RAGE 128 originally expected; however, since R64 and R128 chips are pin-compatible, this could be changed at virtually any time prior to release.
• Internal 56k v.90 modem standard, but of course can be purchased without.
• One PCMCIA Type I/II slot definite; rumors that there will be no second I/II slot or Type III compatibility are unconfirmed.
• Vs. Wallstreet, weight has been reduced by approximately 1.5 pounds for the standard configuration with 14.1" display.
• In the center of the case, Lombard is approximately 1.3" thick. This is compared to the current Wallstreet, which is approx. 1.8" thick.
• Apparently, the form factor change means that forward-compatibility problems can be expected with Media Bay devices from Wallstreet. Adaptor devices are expected to follow shortly after the machine's release however, allowing Lombard devices to be placed inside a Wallstreet's Bays, and Wallstreet devices to be connected to an external adaptor for Lombard.
• Power technology appears to be similar across Wallstreet and Lombard, although numerous small power reductions have been made, and overall battery life should be around 10% better on Lombard.

Motorola Semiconductor update [11:41 EST, 2/23]

According to reliable sources (and backed up by several Motorola employees), the latest on the reported possible spin-off of Motorola's Semiconductor division will most likely not include the PowerPC processor line. Apparently, the company's current organization does not include the PowerPC line in the areas of the company that are expected to be spun off into a separate corporation.

However, this could still -- potentially -- mean good things for the PowerPC; with a tighter focus, Motorola might be able to better respond to the needs of the Mac OS, LinuxPPC, and Be platforms' needs....in fact, rumor has it that at least one of the above (hint: it's not Apple) is looking for a board manufacturer to partner with to produce Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) PowerPC motherboards in order to supply one or more small non-Mac PowerPC computers....a business that would have tremendous support among alternative computing users across countless platforms. More on that in the not-so-distant future.....