Nosce te ipsum

Although the iPod has little connection to Microsoft's Visual Studio developer tools, there is no question it is hot, hot, hot!

"I actually said to everyone, 'Do we have to give away an iPod?'" said John McIntyre, vice president of marketing for programmer training company InnerWorkings. But in the end, he said, it is tough to beat the Apple icon. Still, he added, at least his company requires people who want to enter to go to the InnerWorkings Web site and write some code in order to win the device.

Apple's iBook and PowerBook portables have the fewest reports of repairs and the best technical support of any laptop PC on the market today, according to the March issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

Using data similar to that released last December in its desktop ratings report, the Consumers Union (CU) said Apple had the fewest repairs of laptops at 16%. Toshiba and Sony were second and third at 17%. Gateway had the worst laptop repair ranking among more than 57,000 CU members at 23%. A similar survey of 69,000 desktop users gave Apple the best repair history at just 13%.

As for technical support for laptops, Apple got a readers score of 84, making it the highest of any PC manufacturer. It received a 'better' ranking in problem solving by phone technical support, the shortest time waiting on the phone, knowledgeable phone staff and Web-based support. In second was IBM with a score of 69.

in December, CU gave Apple a score of 76 for desktop Mac support. Again, Apple received a 'better' rating in all categories. No other PC company received a 'better' rating in any category. Dell was second receiving a score of 57 and no better than an 'average' rating in any category. "Apple provides top-notch reliability and support," the desktop recommendation read. "Its computers are currently less vulnerable to viruses and spywere than Windows-based models. On the downside, however, the Apple has limited internal expandability. If you add an extra hard drive, it must be an external one."

In laptop ratings, Consumer Reports recommended Apple's 14-inch iBook with Combo drive as its top pick for reliability and support, giving it a score of 72 out of 100 -- a 'very good' ranking.

The 15-inch, 1.33GHz PowerBook also received a score of 72, but was not as highly recommended. The iBook model received better scores for expansion and energy saving than the PowerBook, but the more expensive model got higher marks for its warranty and display quality.

Since December, Consumer Reports has updated its desktop PC ratings to reflect newer models. New to the rankings: The G4 1.25GHz eMac with a score of 76. Repeated from the December ratings: The 17-inch, 1.8GHz G5 iMac with an overall score of 80 out of a possible 100.

While good ratings, they were well below cheaper, Pentium 4 systems running at 3.2GHz which all received 'excellent' scores of over 91. The difference: better 'convenience' and 'expansion' ratings than Macs.

German site Mac Essentials has posted a second series of "Lost 1984 Mac Videos," comprised of three short videos from the Macs introduction.

Two weeks ago, the site posted a 4:45 minute clip of the Mac's launch. The new video clips include:

• A 1:00 minute clip of Steve Jobs opening the conference by reciting Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
• A 4:30 minute clip of the original showing of the "1984" commercial
• A 4:30 minute clip of the of Steve addressing two markets for the Mac that includes five TV ads made by ChiatDay, including "Manuals," the ad that almost aired instead of "1984"

PodBrix iPod-themed Lego mini figure available

PodBrix is a custom designed Lego mini figure inspired by Apple's silhouette iPod broadcast and print ad campaign. "The '1K Brix' PodBrix Minifig is a limited numbered edition of 300 units. Hand created by artist Tomi, each figure stands just 1.75-inches tall. Included is a minimalist card backdrop for displaying your figure. The reverse of the backdrop displays the limited edition unit number and is signed by Tomi. Keep in mind that each figure is a unique mini work of art. This is not a toy and can certainly be damaged if not handled with care." The PodBrix is available immediately for $16.99.

...and I thought the lamest iPod related 'accessory[' was iPodMyPhoto! Didn't P.T. Barnum have a saying that was particularly fitting for things like this?

The beta version of Google Maps is now online, offering an alternative to Mapquest with what some might describe as a very much improved user interface, offering a cleaner layout, drop shadows, clickable waypoints and keyboard controls that allow you to move and zoom the map. For IE and Firefox/Mozilla at this point (no Safari or Opera support, as yet).