When I think back to the history of Apple I look to none other then Oregon Trail. What stood out about Oregon Trail was that we were playing a video game in school. Whenever we would finish our keyboarding exercises we were treated to a rousing diskette based experience that rivaled even kickball for the best thing we got to do at school.

Now as we flash forward a decade Apple has become synonymous for it’s chic design philosophy and pension for quality. With the move to Intel processors, Apple has shed its monopolistic style to business even allowing, and supporting programs that allow for multiple operating systems (including Windows) to be installed. For around two years my current PC has actually been a Macbook Pro, and I couldn’t be happier. I get the best of both worlds, a stable Operating System and the ability to use a PC for its intended purpose…..Games.

With the release of the 3G iPhone and the launch of the application store in July, as well as an uncharacteristic release of the iPhone development tool; Apple may be preparing for its own entry into the handheld, and perhaps console war?

Apple is placed in a very precarious position, they have a very successful product in the iPod, yet they still have yet (more…)

Remember the days of installing a game on your PC only to discover that your system requirements didn’t allow for use of the game? I’m not talking about non-Windows compatible games, I’m talking not enough RAM, a processor that’s too slow, or a graphics card that isn’t powerful enough. I do. I remember buying Triple Play 98 and it being too advanced for the Windows 95 machine I had. I was pissed.

That said, it seems as those days are gone. Yes, there are still folks that don’t have powerful gaming machines but most store bought PCs these day come with enough power to play games at least at their lowest requirements. But, the real issue is the increasing similarities that home consoles are beginning to share with PCs. Let’s be honest, the PS3 is essentially a PC gaming monster. You have to INSTALL games for Christ’s sake. That’s absurd. The mere fact that there is a chance you won’t have enough space on your PS3 hard drive to play a 60 dollar game you just bought is unacceptable.

With PC’s, it was different. You had to know your system inside and out and be sure that whatever you were purchasing would be playable. With a console, it’s expected to be able to just put the damn disk in and play to your hearts content - no lengthy install and no hassle. Yes, we are moving in a powerful new direction with home gaming, but we have to be careful that we are not soon looking for new hardware upgrades to our physical consoles.

-Joey Esposito

Jessica Mintz (Associated Press) is reporting that Microsoft has been ordered to pay $1.5 billion to Alcatel-Lucent for violating two patents related to digital music. Alcatel-Lucent has filed a total of 15 patent claims against Microsoft, Dell, and Gateway. Some of the other patent disputes that remain undecided relate to speech coding, as well as video coding on the Xbox. Let’s hope this doesn’t have an impact on video playback on the 360 when all is said and done.

-MIKE KURZ

Applian Technologies release of Replay Media Catcher makes one click recording of RTMP Flash streams available and simple.

This new software allows its user to capture videos for personal archiving. Formerly impossible, RTMP Flash videos can be saved to ones PC from popular sites such as YouTube, NBC, Pandora, and ABC. A customer simply has to click the “start recording” button and play what they want recorded. The user is then free to find other video or audio streams to record.

Once the media is saved, the user can enjoy it without internet access. The software also includes an FLV player for watching these videos. For $39.95, Replay Media Catcher puts all of our favorite Flash videos within our grasps.

-SARAH TOMESKY

Lots of things come in sevens. 7 deadly sins, 7 seas, 7 continents, 7 days of the week, and now you can add 7 steps to deleting a shortcut in Windows Vista to the list.Read on to see all seven steps in all their glory.

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There’s been a lot of talk lately about AJAX based web apps that allow you to do things like word processing, creating spreadsheets, and managing your calender on line. Well the guys over at YouOS have taken it to a new level. They’ve created an operating system that you access from your web browser. Why is this useful? Well you can store files on it, create rich text documents, upload and listen to MP3’s, and generally do a lot of basic tasks that you’d do on your desktop computer. The truly interesting part is the social aspect. You can share and edit files with other YouOS users. There’s also a chat system set up within the operating system for YouOS users to talk with eachother. Read on for a list of pros and cons

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