In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, when the pigs take over the farm, and set up their workers’ paradise, the mantra of the revolution, repeated ad infinitum by a Greek chorus of bleating sheep, is “Two Legs Bad, Four Legs Good”. Which pretty much sums up the level of debate we’ve had in the camps of the Motorola/Macintosh and Intel/Microsoft alliances for the last two decades. It’s also a war that’s been fought on two fronts – from the mud-bogged trenches of the Mac/Windows jihadists to the free-flowing desert warfare of the Intel/Motorola skirmishes. And, as any general will tell you, a war fought on two fronts is bloody hard work, with the principal sufferers along the way being the confused and shell-shocked civilian population.
But one part of that war is heading for a conclusion: Apple is switching to Intel. Let me say that again: Apple. Is. Switching. To. Intel. It’s like watching Martin Luther walk up to the church door in Wittenberg and nail a piece of paper to the door only to find that, rather than the 95 Theses of Contention, it’s an advert for a lap-dancing club. So it’s probably time for a little reflection, not to mention eating of crow. I’ll have ketchup with mine…