Amüsant und fachlich auf den Punkt wie immer, die News Site Ars Technica mit einem Rückblick auf das erfolgreichste Apple Jahr seit Dekaden.

Hier nur die Fazits, The good, the bad, the ugly:

Pro Desktops

• The good: G5 towers. Finally.
• The bad: Starting the year out with a lame speed bump to the G4, power supply and noise issues with the G5
• The ugly: WHAT? YOU’LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP! I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE ROAR OF MY MDD G4!

Consumer Desktops

• The good: 20” iMac introduction, eMac price drops
• The bad: Subpar graphics options on the iMacs and eMac (until the GeForce FX)
• The ugly: Sluggish iMac sales

Pro Laptops

• The good: Solid laptop sales, new 17” and 12” PowerBooks, 15” Aluminum PowerBooks, price drops
• The bad: Shipping delays with the 17” PowerBooks, hot 12” PowerBooks
• The ugly: Motorola’s inability to ramp up the clock speed of the 7455

Consumer Laptops

• The good: Bye-bye G3! G4 iBooks and strong sales
• The bad: Battery life problems with Panther
• The ugly: Logic board failures abound

Software

• The good: Panther. Panther Server. iChat AV
• The bad: iLife for US$49.95
• The ugly: iPhoto performance with large photo libraries

Gadgets and other stuff

• The good: iTunes Music Store, iPod
• The bad: iPod battery problems
• The ugly: No ugly here