News from the Web 1-15-2013.rtf

Bloomberg.com broke a story about Dell Computer seeking to become a private company through a leveraged buyout.

Dell’s problems are not unique. Many players in the Wintel computer market have struggled with sliding demand for desktop computers vs tablets and plummeting profit margins.

Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell, famously remarked in 1997 that Apple should liquidate the corporation and give the money back to the shareholders. This remark came at a time when Apple struggled. So Steve Jobs took pleasure some years later when Apple’s stock valuation exceeded that of Dell’s.

Michael Dell has also said that he would like to license OS X from Apple. He knew it wouldn’t happen, but he does admire OS X.

While some schadenfreude may be appropriate, Tim Cook and the rest of Apple’s executives will take this as a lesson that being on top of the market doesn’t guarantee you’ll be there in a few year’s time.

(h/t to Maclife.com)

CBS shoots itself in the foot over the DISH Hopper DVR

CBS has put itself in line for Chump of the Year by forcing its CNET division to take back the CES award for Best in Show given to DiSH Network’s commercial-skipping Hopper DVR. Ongoing litigation between CBS and Dish over the Hopper supposedly led to this decision. Read the whole story here. (h/t to The verge.com)

What is the Deal with Thunderbolt?

A recent AppleInsider.com story details the problems with the Thunderbolt super-duper high-speed interface. Apparently, Intel has become the stumbling block to increasing the number of Thunderbolt accessories. They are picky about whom they license Thunderbolt to.