ANTenna Blog -- Hardware & Software

On Monday, Apple announced that profits for its last fiscal quarter exploded to 67 percent. "They are the New England Patriots of the tech world, appearing to be an unstoppable force," Samir Bhavnani, analyst for Current Analysis West told InformationWeek.

Carrying through that metaphor, I have to conclude that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is the Tom Brady of Silicon Valley. Brady is the quarterback of the New England Patriots (7-0-0).

The two men are phenomenally successful, adored by fans, have been romantically linked to Brazilian supermodels, and have been portrayed in scathing novels... OK, I'm pushing it. As far as I know only Brady has links to a Brazilian supermodel (he is currently dating one), and only Jobs has been skewered in a snarky "novelistic sendup" based on a deliciously twisted blog.

Here's a choice bit from Dan Lyons' pitch-perfect book about Jobs, Options, published Monday:

"Everywhere I go people recognize me, and they get all weird around me, and you know what? I love it. I never get tired of it. If there's one thing I can't stand its retards like Britney Spears who say they wish they weren't famous.

All in all, not a bad week for Jobs, and it's only Tuesday. Brady is having a week to remember as well. Last Sunday against Miami he "achieved a perfect passer rating of 158.3, completing 21-of-25 passes for 354 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions."

While Brady preps for the Redskins Sunday, Jobs is getting set for Apple's Friday release of, Leopard, the latest version of its operating system. Leopard server may spur more small and midsize business to leave Windows in the dust.

Xserve is already a viable option for small and midsize businesses because it has "performance, reliability and stability, and it costs under $3,000 for all that power," Yankee Group research fellow Laura DiDio told MacNewsWorld.

Leopard Server OS may turn more heads at small businesses. "Leopard server OS will fit into mainstream corporate environments through integration with Microsoft’s Active Directory and a calendaring server that supports Microsoft Outlook," says vnunet.

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