Apple today posted an interesting new HTML 5 and Web Standards section to its web site, a counterpoint of sorts to Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive site (and yet another assault on Adobe Flash). There's just one problem: Unlike the Microsoft effort, Apple's site only works properly in its own Safari web browser, which undercuts the point the company is try to make. Safari, after all, is used by less than 5 percent of web browser users worldwide.

It wasn't long ago that a little software company from Redmond, Washington defined "standards" as "whatever the fuck we decide on doing." That didn't work out for them so well in the long run.

At least WebKit is open source. Is IE? No, it's not... so shut the fuck up.

Hell, Internet Explorer still sucks so hard that Google has literally taken it upon themselves to innovate for Microsoft with Google Chrome Frame. That's how inept Microsoft is at making a decent web browser. Their competitors are now rebuilding their products. 

Apple has become incredibly arrogant with respect to the standards on the web, but at least there is some merit to their claims in the pissing match that is web standards. 

/end rant

Apple has pushed past arch-rival Microsoft to become the world's biggest technology company.

Changes in the share price values of the two in Wednesday's choppy trading left the total value of Apple at $222bn (£154bn).

Microsoft is now valued by investors at $219bn.

I foresee a conversation like this happening in the near future:

Steve Jobs: I've been waiting for you, Bill. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.
Bill Gates: Only a master of evil, Steve.

One step closer to NEVER having to use Microsoft Office again. Hallelujah!

If they could just make the spreadsheet application a little more robust, or integrate it better with the Google Fusion Tables API, I'd never have to use Excel ever again. I'll take either one.

REDMOND, Wash. — March 11, 2010 — According to a recent survey from Microsoft, remote-working programs can benefit employees and employers alike through increased productivity, reduced overhead and happier workers.

Sixty percent of respondents to the Microsoft Telework survey — conducted among 3,600 employees in 36 cities nationwide — say they are actually more productive and efficient when working remotely. With less time spent commuting and fewer cubicle “drive bys” causing distractions, respondents say, more time can be spent on the task in front of them.

Pretty cool to see a large company like Microsoft actually test this. I've often wondered in the past why I have to go to work when most of what I do can be done remotely—and in some cases, done better. So much of the day is wasted on commuting, settling in, waiting for meetings to start, meetings that go nowhere, transcribing things that have been said, etc.. All of these things disappear when you work remotely. I get more work done per hour at a coffee shop than I ever have at an office.

I'm a huge fan of Automattic (the company behind WordPress) and the way they work. The entire company, which is responsible for the infrastructure behind many of the world's largest blogs, is comprised of remote workers. They coordinate almost everything over IRC. You can read more about exactly how they work here. If Automattic can do it, a lot of other digital companies can too.

I'm also reminded of Avery Brooks in this old IBM TV spot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrFgRAcr0jg

I wanted to let you know that on April 15, 2010 Microsoft will discontinue Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360. Our first step in this process will be to turn off auto-renewals for those members who only use Xbox LIVE on a v1 Xbox. While I can’t comment on the specifics, this change will allow us to continue evolving the LIVE service with new features and experiences that fully harness the power of Xbox 360 and the Xbox LIVE community. We did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and review we realize that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features.

Unfortunately, this is how all closed systems are destined to end. It's sad to see this happen so soon, but expected from a company like Microsoft who integrates this kind of forced consumer upgrade path into the business model. When they want you to upgrade they just decide to stop supporting the older version. If the product has DRM, they just turn off the activation servers and you can never use it again.

This is one of the reasons why I've been so hesitant to ever buy anything on iTunes. It's only recently that I've started downloading episodes of my favorite TV shows. One day iTunes will take their activation servers offline. And when it does the billions of pieces of content that have been downloaded will be rendered useless.

Modern games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft will suffer a similar fate. The companies that run them will turn off the servers one day and all your information will be lost and your software becomes useless. What about massive collection of games you bought through Steam? One day those will likely be rendered useless as well. But in 20 years I'll still be able to play Diablo II over a LAN, and it will still be awesome.

Xbox LIVE, iTunes and Steam are great for their convenience but you always have to remember that you don't really "own" anything you buy from an proprietary service. You just pay for a license to use their content until they either decide they are going to force you to upgrade or they go bankrupt.