...oh, right, so somehow neighbors, by virtue of living next to someone, are now, somehow, authorities on their business model? Interesting logic, there, New Yorker. If I were subscribed, I'd have cancelled by now.

try Adblock plug-in (and updater) for Firefox, no more orange ads.

Way to stick it to those factinistas.

Hey add me to the list....Google, Sony, Dell, MS, IBM, Sun, GE, Atari.....

For a minute there, I was looking around going "What the h*** is this guy talking about?" Then I realized its the ads I don't see.

If you're using safari, use pithhelmet (not even close to good as adblock for firefox, but it works).

Not seeing any problems with scroll resetting - what browser/OS are you using?

clevelandadv has it about right, Apple as a target for takeover is a staple of tech news sights - who hasn't been partnered up in such a scenario?

This would be the stupidest merger since AOL TimeWarner.

Apple would go to s***.

I don't see these ads people are talking about.

As for ad-blockers, would you rather pay for MacNN? No, then don't block the ads. MacNN gets paid from them, not us.

Seriously. I read the article and thought I had gone back in time. NY Mag makes it sound like Apple is in dire straights and they quote a neighbor of Job's as their source? Are they serious?

Obviously we excuse all the grammatical mistakes that MacNN articles contain (afterall it's not as if MacNN should be held to the same standard as professional journalism).

However, it is disappointing when the disregard for accuracy goes as far as misnaming well-honored publications such as The New Yorker and New York Magazine.

Is it too taxing on our attempt at dialogue to request to ask that corrections be posted? I can hear my high school English teacher "tsk-tsk"-ing.

Consider correcting the attribution here, if possible. New York magazine is a wildly different magazine than The New Yorker, in contentand credibility (w.r.t non-fiction).

Mis-attributing these two is like citing "People" for The Economist.

What makes the neighbor think Steve wants to "leave the stage" ? Steve is a control freak. Apple is his baby. He founded it. He wouldn't give it up for all the money in the world.

As for New York magazine, hey, I like it. Yes, it's different from the New Yorker, but I've never been able to get into the latter's highfalutin style. New York gives me a much better feel for what's happening in New York, although I don't like their obsession with celebrities.

I read the entire article this morning after seeing a link to it on MacSurfer. It's just musings by an author with too much time on his hands. It's basically a hatchet job on Apple and Steve Jobs claiming he has reached his peak and it's all down hill from now on. The iPod is doomed (where have we heard that before), the iPhone will flop. In other words, just in case something bad happens, the author can pound his chest and say "I said it first!"

Apparently the author tried to get an interview with Jobs and was rebuffed years ago so it's speculation time, the author's imagination let loose on the reader, all EIGHT pages of it.

This is what high-priced ANALysts waste your time and money on -- wet-dream scenarios that are highly unlikely.

Neither Apple NOR Google would gain ANYTHING from such a deal that they don't already have in their partnership. This is a total non-story about a non-event.

Oh and whelkboy -- don't know what ads you're talking about. Get a flash blocker already!

According to my neighbour he bought it back in 1998.

Apple is the 121st largest company in the US. Google is the 241st. Apple is market capped at over $100 Billion. Exactly what is Google going to use to buy Apple? Smiles and good wishes? Dumb article gets dumber as you look at it. Shades of yesteryear....

thinks that Google is going to buy New York Magazine as it begins its move from on-line information domination into the field of "pie in the sky" journalism.

just another worthless speculation

post here are macnn

I have to admit it's more interesting to read the rants

then this c***

How many CIA and NSA operatives have to resign from their respective divisions telling us that Google is own and operated by the government before we pay attention? Google first VC round was a known CIA side company. Google is building a huge data center in Seattle right next to the NSA headquarters. Men have been giving up their entire careers to tell us these facts, and yet the entire world is more than willing to upload their entire lives into Google's servers. From mail, to spreadsheet data, etc. If Apple sells to Google, Steve will have violated every fiber of his hippy self just to make a buck.

If this did ever happen i would be forced to abandon Apple after 20 years. I distrust everything Google. But I am not going to worry as this story is ridiculous and so far fetched. Perhaps they thought this up as they are running out of ideas to make Gates even more stressed

Why if Google would buy Apple and let Steve Jobs retire? Big of me to say, but Steve Jobs IS Apple. Without him, there is nothing but another maker of consumer products. Look what happened during the time he was out of Apple to when he took over again and compare.

After all, isn't Apple also partnering with Yahoo! for email on the iPhone? Just because you can run Google Maps on Safari on iPhone that doesn't mean a merger is in the works. Besides, both companies have market caps of about $160b. That would make a merger of equals unlikely. It would also invite antitrust scrutiny eventually. If anything, I think with all the rumors of a Yahoo! buyout circulating, it would make more sense for Apple to buy Yahoo! Then convert all Yahoo! properties and users to .Mac, and use it as encouragement to get those people on Macs.

This dude was mad because someone sold him the brooklyn bridge for 2 dollars. Went home sad and frustrated, so to lift his spirits, wrote a fantasy short story about 2 infotech companies. If anything i agree with apple buying Yahoo. It would give them a very large IM/email/news user base, and if they didn't fiddle with it too much allow them to gain mindshare, and eventually market-share with those folks. Also, MS will then be forced to compete with google and apple for news, searching, and e-mail. We all know mac, ipod, and osx is better than anything msft, so i have a feeling msft would focus on competing with google. Not gonna happen, but it would work.

They're very different businesses, with very different problems. Google sells ad space, and some application software. Apple sells hardware, and OS level software. Apple's got people in plants exposed to god knows what chemicals with this or that labor problem and supply problems and distribution issues... Google has no worries in comparison. They're both exciting to watch, but they are very, very different. I don't see it happening, any more than the GAP would buy Apple. In fact, the GAP would make more sense.

There is not a chance of this happening ( at least anytime soon). As another person said, the companies market caps are close to one another. That would make Apple a very expensive purchase.

Moreover, what would the advantage to Google or Apple be? Google doesn't want to be tied to a platform. Google and Apple merely make good partners because they both have the same enemy and their products complement one another.

This is something that people think about, but i have never really seen it layed out this nicely before. It is doubtful, but anything is possible.

http://ThunkDifferent.com

[If anything i agree with apple buying Yahoo. It would give them a very large IM/email/news user base, and if they didn't fiddle with it too much allow them to gain mindshare]

Yes, but Yahoo has absolutely no TASTE. lol

Apple OTOH could easily buy Google.

I always thought in the dark ages, XEROX should buy Apple, and close the circle.

speculation by some loser whose crowning lifetime achievement is a $35k/year job in the New York Times constitute analysis?