Is there some brain disease that affects technology pundits where they can't form sentences in the potential form? "It only be a matter of time..." Ian Paul does not peer into the future, seeing what others cannot. Frankly, the Macalope is starting to think that if it were all that likely, it would have happened already. (Don't take that to the bank, though, Apple!) These days he's more concerned about the iPhone than the Mac.

Let's face it: Apple makes great-looking, easy-to-use stuff, but, at its heart, it really is just another software company with products vulnerable to incompatibility issues and security issues. Just like the other guys.

. Are its products vulnerable to incompatibility and security issues? Sure. But it's not "just another software company." The "Apple products just work" catchphrase is not about compatibility or security. It's about design. It's about the fact that you don't need to remember that the calculator is buried under 12 layers of menus on your phone. It's right where you'd expect it to be.

Apple is clearly not infallible. But they're still cut from a different cloth than "the other guys."