I’ve been pondering Joe Wilcox’s blogpost about his visit to the Borgstore. (Nice graphic, Brinke, I never would have guessed Flanders as a Borg supporter). The one thing that sticks out is that all the personnel look like the customers –

regular people – whereas, when you enter

an Apple Store and you’re not only struck by all the oh wow gee magical wunnerful everything,

you’re also taken by the employees. I think that’s the main difference -

except also that there’s no iPods, Macbooks, MacMinis, MacPros, iPhones, iTouches, etc., on display. And since the Borg’s appeal is the great unwashed, that market segment

probably will gravitate towards Microsoft Stores in great numbers, but only to  Circuit City’s and other electronic retail establishment’s detriment, but not Apple’s, as Apple has a mystique and ineffable sense gee whiz wonderment and coolness about it that you can’t kill. It’ll be the Porsche show room next to the Ford car lot, essentially.

And don’t be surprised if in the future Redmond does buy a major PC or electronics hardware supplier or two to make Microsoft machines to sell in its outlets – which is fine – they’ll be gauche, clumsy, garish, cheap and uncool -  but people will buy it all the same, because they don’t know any better.

Yet, Microsoft still doesn’t get it. Its competition isn’t Apple and hasn’t been for years (who knows, maybe they know that, they just want some of that recent Apple success to rub off). While Redmond thinks it’s having one last hurrah right now, Google will ultimately be the game changer for a lot of people in this industry. Windows 7 and Office will be probably the last time OEMs accept resignedly what Redmond has to offer. Businesses will rethink  about what they want in their back end and on the desktop. Oracle might be the one company who can stand up to what’s about to happen – or not. Larry ain’t no spring chicken; Benioff won’t be dazzling bullshitting anybody with his regurgitated half-assed take on CRM and cloud services for long, either.

These Borg Boutiques will pop up like KrispyKremes and Subways outlets for five years and then WHAM, the bottom will fall out, they’ll have to close three quarters of ‘em and consolidate.

Unless you’ve been under a rock the last few days, the big stories are Black Friday, Tiger Woods, and that pair of reality tards who snuck into the White House.  Even though the White House is embarrassed at this screw-up, they’ve helpfully posted the photos on their official Flickr page.  Money quote from the woman’s Facebook page: “I hope you will join me at the next featured event I support or endorse in the Washington DC region.”  Like she’ll be able to do that from the slammer.  And check these photos.  Aren’t those the Marines who are supposed to be, um, safeguarding the President from tards like this?  And Joe, wipe that sloppy used car salesman grin off your face.  Meanwhile, check Katie Couric here.  She’s thinking, “Who is this pale, thin person?” (Memo to the Dynamic Duo- I’d call home if I were you, as the Secret Service would very much like a moment.)

Intrepid blogger Joe Wilcox set off to find the answer to that very question.

The iPhone has landed in South Korea, and a lot of people are quite happy about that.  Here’s a fellow checking out his new purchase.  (That headline originally came from CNN.  Too good not to steal borrow.)

Last week TechCrunch ran a story about how Gmail creator Paul Buchheit hadn’t tried Google Wave yet.  This week, Buchheit takes the plunge.

Got a Tweet about this clip.  “Steve Wozniak: How I invented the personal computer.”  Dear Leader may have something to add to this.

That is indeed the word from MacRumors.com. The new unit in question is “iPhone 3,1.”  Usage records point to an app called “iBart” (Link opens iTunes) being used.

We’ve come a long way, baby.

You betcha.  The location is 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and it’s just a short-term thing.  In fact, it closes after tomorrow.  They’re offering super-pricey shoes and handbags, as well as the iPhone and Pre.  Why?  To let the (affluent) masses know you can get these kinds of items online at eBay.  (Not just cute rodents.)

This is a great article on “Product design vs. technical debt.”  Nice job by Andrew Chen.  Basically, here’s why some web sites turn into a big mess.