The Pipeline: Flogging a dead horse edition

Welcome to The Pipeline, where we see what the mainstream media is up to. Not surprisingly, the Mac-Intel deal is still helping to kill trees, as journalists continue to debate whether it tastes great or is less filling. With nothing new out of Apple, most of the commentary was on the reaction (guess next week, we'll see the reaction to the comments on the reaction).

David Pogue of The New York Times

put together a collection of common reactions, followed by his commentary. Wearing his Mac-booster hat, Pogue followed most reactions with comments about why this is good news for Apple. Even the dreaded "Osborne effect" was nothing to worry about, according to Pogue: "People will certainly wait to buy new Macs until the new models are out. But even so, these aren't *canceled* purchases, they're just *delayed* purchases. Apple has the cash on hand to tide it through a dead spot; when the new models come out, they'll make it up in a tidal wave of pent-up demand."

David Pogue: Considering the 'Macintel' Alliance

Meanwhile, PC Mag?s John ?I told you so? Dvorak followed up on speculation that the Intel version of Mac OSX will be (or already is) available to any PC user via pirated copies. Dvorak sees this as leading, inevitably, to an official version that can be installed on any modern PC, at which point the Macintel boxes find themselves crippled by viruses and spyware.

John Dvorak: Mac-Intel Aftermath

Next week, we expect things to settle back down, as the pundits get back to looking at other topics. Then again, this could become the Michael Jackson trial of the tech beat, with endless replays of gossip, rumors and speculation. Oh, wait, Apple already is that. Oh, well. Guess we?re going to be hearing a lot about this for at least a while.

Also:

Fortune: Dell Says He?d Sell Apple?s Mac OS
Cringely: The Osborne Effect
Washington Post: Switch to Intel Will Give Macs Power of Flexibility