Up the Price, Split the Stock!

At the end of February, Apple Computer began trading post-split. That means the trading price of the shares has been halved as the number of shares outstanding has doubled. Finishing February at $44.86 per share, Apple’s share price has maintained its two years of impressive gains.

Déjà vu All Over Again!

We like quoting Yogi Berra. The baseball legend has a way of reshaping the American lexicon as much as he epitomized competitive play on the field. Taking a look back at the Welcome for last March, we mentioned what were then the new iPod mini and a new Pepsi song giveaway campaign.

This March we mention new iPod minis and iPod minis at a lower price. Obviously responding to seemingly endless complaints about product prices, Apple has made a concerted effort to reduce product prices in order to gain a more competitive edge in the marketplace. The Mac mini and iPod shuffle are two other examples of Apple’s more competitive approach to product prices. iPod minis now start at $199 and new 6-GB iPod minis debut at the mini’s original price of $249.

Pepsi has revamped its original iTunes song give-away campaign for 2005. Learning from last year’s mistakes, the 2005 free-song blitz should provide for ample supplies of promotional soda bottles and a better-organized advertising effort.

The Cat Is Back?

Made infamous for providing an easy way for millions of people to pirate music, the Napster music service has been reinvented as a legal way for music fans to rent songs. In an effort to compete with Apple’s market-dominating digital music solution, the folks at Napster released what many consider to be the worst Super Bowl advertisement in recent history. Time will tell whether or not the cat is back or has reached the end of its proverbial nine lives.

The PowerBook G4 Once More

Apple has updated its PowerBook series of portable computers by offering faster processors and a 128 MB video card at the top of the line. While many Mac fans had hoped for a G5 PowerBook by now, the new portables provide an incremental increase in performance while Apple works through the engineering issues involved in placing the G5 chip in Apple’s thin PowerBook form factor.

Time for Tiger?

Apple’s next upgrade to OS X, also known as Tiger, will be released soon. The latest best-in-breed operating system will host a number of new features and performance enhancements. The editors of ATPM are following this Tiger’s path as winter slowly turns to spring.

Our March Issue

The editors of ATPM would like to extend a special welcome to our many new readers. We would also like to thank the many thousands of readers who have been with us throughout the years. Each issue of ATPM is designed to offer useful and informative content that all Mac users will find easy to read and enjoy.

Our March issue includes:

The Candy Apple: When Your Life Is In Jeopardy…

Ellyn discusses life strategies than can be used any time, anywhere, when you may find yourself in—or on—Jeopardy!

Bloggable: Let Them Speak With Their Pocketbooks

Napster’s doozy of a commercial during the Super Bowl is just a sign of how they’re calling out Apple and the iTunes Music Store, and it has the Web abuzz. Wes Meltzer’s all over it in this month’s Bloggable, along with the return of the Mac community’s prodigal son and more on the iPod shuffle and Mac mini.

Pod People

Lee Bennett steps up to the plate with the second installment of our new Pod People column.

Segments: Switched Over and Turned On

What makes somebody wake up on a day, different from no other, and switch operating system allegiances? It is all about timing, life-changing events, and that final straw.

About This Particular Outliner: Outlining Task Managers, Part 3

This month, Ted Goranson’s ATPO finishes a look at outlining task managers.

How To: Faster Computing: Mac OS X Hints and Tips

Impress your friends and coworkers with these hints and tips to keep you speeding through Mac OS X!

Cartoon: Cortland

Cortland’s Mudrix experience comes to a close, and we embark upon a new journey to learn the truth behind forums.

Desktop Pictures: Clouds

Lee Bennett offers photos of an amazing-looking thunderhead looming in the skies.

Frisky Freeware

Frisky the Freeware Guinea Pig checks out Conversation.

Review: Apeiron X 1.0.1

Apeiron X doesn’t have the sophisticated 3D graphics and online competition many modern gamers demand, but it offers simple and satisfying gameplay that can rapidly become addictive.

Review: Cobra.XM Laptop Case

Booq knows the market very well, and their Cobra.XM may indeed be “the ultimate professional laptop case.”

Review: PolyRingtone Converter 1.0.1

A good idea ruined by a horrible interface and poor features.

Review: LaunchBar 4.0.1

Michael Tsai reviews the new version of LaunchBar, a productivity utility that makes it easy to launch applications, access files, and find information on your Mac and on the Internet.

Review: WireTap Pro 1.0.1

Eric Blair takes WireTap Pro for a spin to find out if getting sound into a Mac can ever be as easy as getting sound out of a Mac.