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Is Apple in danger of becoming Microsoft?

Approximately 10 years ago, Microsoft was easily one of the most hated companies in the world. With monopoly-oriented questions swirling around, and Bill Gates acting as the benchmark for just how bad big business can be, public perception of the company couldn't have been worse.

Of course, the most vexing issue surrounding that time was the fact that Microsoft was extremely successful at sitting atop the tech mountain, and much of its competition faded due to poor business practices and not necessarily as the result of product pricing.

If we fast-forward 10 years, the technology industry landscape looks much different. And while Microsoft is still hated by hard-core tech gurus, it has become an aging empire that may be on the verge of a huge collapse. To make matters worse, its figurehead--Bill Gates--is poised for his departure at the Consumer Electronics Show, and the future of his legacy is in doubt.

And with possible turmoil facing Redmond, a new company has emerged that could be in danger of taking the top spot as the world's most hated tech company. Only this time, the company was once an underdog that people hoped could turn things around. Well, it did. And with the help of its deitylike leader, some believe that Apple is on the verge of becoming this generation's so-called evil empire.

Of course, whether it really is an evil company doesn't matter. In this business, the court of public opinion will determine Apple's fate, and if it continues to do what it's doing, it may become one of the most hated tech companies in the world within the next 10 years.… Read more

Cook up your own iPhone ringtones

iPhone's aren't cheap and music isn't either. In this Insider Secrets video, CNET Associate Producer Randall Bennett shows you shortcuts for producing your own iPhone ringtones. He gets a little help from iTunes for Windows or Mac, GarageBand for Mac, and Audacity for Windows and Mac, our favorite freeware audio-editing rock star.

Why Apple should launch iTunes movie rentals now

Ever since Apple enabled users to download movies on iTunes, the world waited with bated breath to see if the company would launch a movie rental service. Unfortunately, those people are still waiting.

But with a renewed sense of importance toward getting movies through iTunes into your hands, Apple may finally pull the trigger and create a full-fledged movie rental business.

Even better, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster believes that launch could happen at Macworld. As Munster points out, his team expects Apple to announce new partnerships with at least one more movie studio, and this may be followed by the immediate availability of a movie rental service.

If that's not enough to whet the appetite of Apple fanatics all over the world, Munster also believes the Apple TV will play a key role in the launch.

"If Apple begins renting movie downloads on iTunes, we expect a related software update to the Apple TV enabling movie rentals direct to the Apple TV. In fact, the Apple TV software currently includes 'iTunes Store settings' in its settings menu, but the option is essentially inactive," he wrote. "We expect this setting to be activated soon; users will likely be able to log into their iTunes accounts directly from the Apple TV and browse movie rentals, then download them directly to their Apple TV."

Of course, the story doesn't end there. Simply put, should Apple even consider movie rentals, and if so, what good will it be for the company? Suffice it to say, if Apple decides to give movie rentals the green light, it'll be one of the company's most intelligent moves in years.… Read more

Episode 624: I can has monopoly?

Another extended outage at Rhapsody locks out some users

An extended outage at RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service has locked out an unknown number of users for the second time since March.

While the earlier problem prevented some customers from accessing the site for up to two weeks, this time executives don't know when the problem will be corrected. A handful of Rhapsody users complained on the company's message boards this week that they haven't been able to log on since Friday.

"It's a known issue," said Justine Navaja, a company spokesperson. "We don't know yet when it will be fixed, but … Read more

But how stupid is this one? Really stupid. Because now Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is blaming Steve Jobs for the DCMA DMCA [Note: the Macalope always gets that damn acronym wrong. It's possible, however, that Kingsley-Hughes also believes Jobs is to blame for the Defense Contract Management Agency.].

It seems that Steve Jobs is looking for a new way to make money from consumers (Steve Jobs looking for a way to make money, that's not news I … Read more