MacDollars

Apple is doing well. No, not the New York State Crispin apple on my desk (although it looks quite healthy). Everyone has an iPod. Everyone wants a Mac Mini. Their stock went up. Their stock split.

The downside to all this is that Apple's competitors are jealous of the "cool" status that Apple has earned. Now we are doomed to a three-year period where every company wants to be a hip, fashionable status symbol. This will annoy me, perhaps more than the U2 iPod commercial. I'm hoping that, in the midst of all the posturing, some companies really will launch some creative and useful products that walk the line between form and function. While I do see this trend as a positive one, I hope that people remember that image isn't everything. Sorry Intel, you'll never be cool.

To Apple's competitors: Don't try to be another Apple. Don't try to be the next Apple. Do your own thing, do it well, and you will be rewarded.