We earlier reported some developments in the planned Apple Store in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. In one of those reports, we mentioned that the design of the Boston Apple Store is in need of some tweaking, that the Apple Store's place in the Bay State would depend on the design. One of the major impediments for this is the design opposition of the Back Bay Architectural Commission, an organization which aims to preserve the integrity of the district's intact buildings.

The picture above is actually an artist's rendering of the proposes Boston Apple Store which was shown in one of the many Boston newspapers, the Boston Courant. If you ask me, the design, although very futuristic-looking with those glass walls, meshes well with the other buildings that have been in the area for God knows how long. Whether Apple will stick to this concept or they'll move on to another design, is something that only the future can tell.

I've often thought that "techies" are similar to the priests of the many religions humans have practiced over the centuries - keeper of the sacred knowledge, party to some information we mere laypersons are incapable of understanding.

This has been less true of the Apple, which historically has been the world's most user-friendly computer - and therefore, fixable by most users. Still, there are those technophobes who either don't have the aptitude or the desire to go poking into their Mac's innards. Less frequently, Macs develop problems that should be addressed by trained experts.

In those cases, as a "Mac Genius," your position is tantamount to that of a powerful Mage.

Despite its appeal, this position has its downside.

In a typical Apple Service Center, out of 30 employees, only four of them are actual "Mac Geniuses." They rarely interact with - or even see - the public. They are hidden in the back, seated at their benches, diagnosing, troubleshooting, repairing, replacing - definitely not the job for ADHD individuals, or those who crave social interaction. On the other hand, Mac Genius are occasionally called out of their sanctuaries to calm and reassure an agitated customer - so "people skills" are definitely necessary. And you will be loved. Respected. At least for a time. You also have power. If a customer has a legitimate gripe, and is getting little or no satisfaction - or say, a machine is just barely out of warranty - a Mac Genius can usually get the problem fixed.

Much of this power comes from the fact that true Mac Geniuses are a rare breed. But here's where the hard truth sets in - this is not a career, its a job with little possibility for advancement. The hours are long and often inflexible. At one time, if you were a Mac IT expert, you could expect competitive pay. This has changed, particularly in the past five years as corporations focus less and less on people and quality service and products, and fixate on high profits, bloated CEO salaries and  inflated ROI for shareholders. If the choice is between a seasoned professional who can command a high price and a young novice who can be gotten for a song, they'll go for the novice every time (and sack them just before they're eligible for raises and benefits).

My personal feeling - corporate America, as things stand now, neither appreciates nor deserves genius. If you're really wanting a career in Mac repair, your best bet is to hang out your own shingle - or better yet, offer house-call service in your own local community.

After all, the quest for a better, more just and sustainable world starts in your own neighborhood.

Apple has been facing so many lawsuits nowadays, which could also attest to its growing popularity and power. There are a few who are legit and business related such as their legal showdown with Creative, but most are just so effing absurd and are obviously done for quick bucks or because they have some idle time in their hands. Examples of which is that man who sued Apple over hearing loss danger or that guy threatening to sue Steve Jobs because of his podRage episode.

I could ramble on and on about the lawsuits being thrown at the $14B company and could ask myself where is the world going to...and just when you think it's over, you realize that it's just the tip of the iceberg.

The newest legal battle in the Apple melodrama may just be legit. The company recently announced that they have been informed of derivative lawsuits filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and the Superior Court for Santa Clara County. The lawsuits went against current and former officers and directors with respect to the company's awarding of stock option grants.

Just a few days back, Apple announced that it had discovered irregularities in the issuance of certain stock option grants and is conducting an independent investigation into the matter. For now, the company is evaluating its response to the newly filed lawsuits.

After months of legal bickering that made their lawyers very happy and rich, Apple Computer and Singapore-based Creative Technology indicated their willingness to "remain open to the possibility'' of putting court battles over handheld music players patent infringement. The trade commission already agreed to investigate Apple's complaint that Creative infringes its patents and Creative's complaint against Apple, as well.

In case you're keeping score, here are the lawsuits filed by the two companies against each other:

• Apple Computer Inc. v. Creative Labs Inc., 06cv263, U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin (Madison). The trade complaint against Creative is In the Matter of Portable Digital Media Players, 337-TA-576, U.S. International Trade Commission.
• Apple Computer Inc. v Creative Technology Ltd., 06cv114, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Lufkin Division).
• Creative Technology Ltd. v. Apple Computer Inc., 06cv3218, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco); and In the matter of Portable Digital Media Players, 337-TA-573, U.S. International Trade Commission.

Apple has sold more than 50.8 million iPods in 2001, while Creative has less than a 10 percent share of the U.S. market for digital music players.

In a recent lawsuit filed by Apple in an E.U. court, the French government had been accused of "state-sponsored piracy." At the heart of the matter is an European Copyright law governing digital music downloads.

Despite Apple's cry of "foul!," the intention of this law would require that any music downloaded from any online music merchant needs to be playable on any digital music device. This could potentially rob Apple of a monopoly. On the other hand, it would be helpful to those downloading music if and when they chose to switch to a different portable music player, or transfer their downloads to a PDA or cell phones. The law is an attempt to create a standard music format that is playable on any device or platform.

Otherwise, users would be required to re-purchase the same tunes each time they wished to change devices.

The issue is far from simple; like laws in any democratic society, it must balance the needs and desires of both sides. From Apple's perspective, it is being forced to make its proprietary music format compatible with devices manufactured by rival companies. The French law does contain some loopholes; French artists whose performances are sold exclusively though iTunes may require that their works be made available solely in the iPod format. Additionally, the law must take patent protections into consideration. However, if Apple fails in its lawsuit, it may pull out of the French market.

Every new piece of technology that is developed is a two-edged sword. At one time, the ability to play music live was considered a valuable and useful skill. David was retained by King Saul to play the harp for him. In ancient Celtic society, bards were at the right hand of the King and could pass judgement on him. More recently (18th and 19th centuries), musicians were retained by wealthy patrons as household servants and nearly every town had its community band or orchestra.

Thomas Edison changed all of that. Now, anyone could have music any time - without the expense of live musicians.

The format in which recorded music has been kept has changed dramatically in little over a hundred years. Since 1900, we've come from bulky, spring-driven, wind-up machines the size of packing crates to slim, pocket-sized devices - and the sound quality has improved immeasurable.

Still, up until the compact disk, the format was uniform. A wax disk playable on an Edison gramophone was playable on an RCA Victrola. Audio reel-to-reels worked with players manufactured by Teac or Sony. CD's could be played on your JVC home stereo or your Sony Discman.

None of these companies seemed to suffer much from an interchangeable format. Quite the contrary, most of them prospered, and consumers wound up getting better and less expensive machines.

Considering that the "Law of the Marketplace" seems to drive everything and is fervently embraced by everyone nowadays, perhaps Apple should simply stop fighting the issue and let the marketplace decide what's best.

When we go to a store, especially when we're on a budget, the first thing that we look at is the item's price. But according to Robert Renck, owner of the private research firm R.L. Renck & Company, Apple does otherwise. He says he rarely gives a sell recommendation on Apple stock, because the company's financial disclosure is a "have faith, trust me" one.

The company has always practiced geographic disclosure that Renck deems not anymore suitable for the Apple of today. He stressed that the company is dealing with two distinct business models, which are computer manufacturing plus software creation and the consumer electronics industry.

But when Apple's chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, was asked about the iPod's gross margin he quickly responded, "Our competitors would just love to know what our specific gross margins are. And we just don't want to help them."

So if you're considering putting your money on Apple, make sure to look first before you leap.

We earlier featured an article about Maine's Laptop Program with Apple, wherein an iBook could be bought for as low as $48 bucks. The state of Maine sure do love their Apple laptops because the state  has signed a $41 million contract with Apple Computer Inc. to provide new laptop computers to more than 30,000 seventh- and eighth-graders and their teachers, extending the laptop program for another four years.

Maine was a pioneer in equipping their students with laptops and they intend to sustain this kind of program for a long, long time. The deal is pretty similar with the first Laptop Program that was launched in 2002. It works out to an annual cost of $289 per laptop.

Aside from providing the laptops to approximately 32,000 students and 4,000 teachers, the four-year contract also includes warranties and perks like professional development for each of Maine's 241 public middle schools. The program is aimed at eliminating the so-called "digital divide" between rich and poor student and it has been deemed a success by administrators.

The new laptops are of course improved with greater memory, faster processors and built-in DVD combo drives. On one hand, the older laptops are being kept instead of discarded. Those computers are being upgraded with fundraising support from former Gov. Angus King, who initiated the laptop program, and school districts are redeploying them in other grades or for other purposes.

Maine's Department of Education announced in March that Apple had been chosen over CDW Corp.'s unit that provides technological services to government, education and health care. CDW's proposal called for Lenovo ThinkPads in partnership with other vendors.

Due to a speculation authored by Shaw Wu about the major delay of the next-gen iPod, shares of Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday (June 28), fell to an 8-month low. The stock fell 2.5 percent to $56.02, after hitting a session low of $55.41. It was among the biggest drags on the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq market amid heavy trading.

Definitely the guys over at Cuppertino ain't having a field day about this. The stock price decline comes amidsts various warnings from analysts that the iPod Nano has been performing sluggishly in the sales department and that it would most likely not hit the Apple iPod sales' forecast.

As we have mentioned in the earlier report, Apple has remain mum about the major delay speculation. But analyst Shaw Wu is just getting warmed up. He also added that "the stock has pulled back as the overall tech market has been weak, but there is also a lack of new product momentum...The Nano was introduced last October, it was very strong but it hasn't done that well, and it is in need of a refresh."

It is not news that Apple Computer - which promotes the image as a "young, hip" progressive company - does a great deal of manufacturing through partners in Asia. What is making news is that its Chinese partner, Foxconn, has been running a sweat-shop operation that breaks even Beijing's lax labor laws. Workers in the i-Pod factory have been forced to work an average of 80 extra hours every month.

Workers in China can be forced to work up to 36 extra hours a month without having to worry about penalties, but according to Chinese authorities, 80 hours was a bit much.

Foxconn spokesperson Li Zong assured authorities that workers had been paid the minimum salary as dictated by local ordinance in Shenzen.

What is turning into Steve Job's (well-deserved, if I dare say so myself) PR nightmare - is that a team from the corporate offices in Cupertino visited the iPod factory, investigated its operations, and publicly declared that all was well.

Well, its not for us who bring you the news to make judgements about such things...but I think the photo of "I-Pod City" below speaks volumes.

In the meantime, you might consider foregoing that new I-Pod purchase. Get a slightly used one on E-Bay, instead.

Free Trade Agreements have been, in most ways, a disaster - at least to the workers of the world. (CEOs of transnational corporations are laughing all the way to the World Bank aboard their private jets with gold-plated bathroom fixtures - but that's a whole other rant).

However, Apple Computer (admittedly an offender as they offshore their manufacturing away from the U.S.) encountered an awkward situation earlier today - which a carefully and well-thought out Free Trade Agreement might have helped them avoid.

When their corporate website went down earlier today for a few hours people speculated that some upgrades were being done. Actually, it was a case of "downgrading" the site.

A number of features and products, including iSight Camera and the AirPort Extreme base Station had to be removed from Apple's European website. The reason: these products were not in compliance with E.U. regulations.

One can only guess at the nature of those regulations, and perhaps some of our European readers can shed some light on this matter. It is a fact, however, that unlike the U.S., most countries in the E.U. protect their industries. It was something that the U.S. did prior to 1980, and resulted in the nation becoming the leading industrial power on the planet. A quarter century of "neo-conservative" economic policy has changed this dramatically. The recent fall of the U.S. dollar against the euro, as well as an Iranian plan to start trading oil in euros rather than dollars are only two consequences of these policies.