Sydney's new Apple Store

Sydney's new Apple store is impressive. A year back I wondered how the existing Apple resellers will survive when it opens.

My view now is they won't. The level of service is several steps above what they offer and it's difficult to see how they can compete.

Interestingly, I also thought Bondi's Academy Mac reseller would probably survive the Apple store onslaught. Sadly, it didn't make it to the opening.

The real challenge now is to the other brands. This flagship store really makes raises the bar for the other vendors. It's going to be interesting to watch how this develops.

OECD finds spyware

It's great to see the OECD is on the ball.

Ten years after spyware started appearing and eight years after it started reaching epidemic proportions, the OECD calls for greater co-operation across the various international communities addressing malware.

To call this shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted is an understatement.

The OECD are suggesting it might be good idea to check the stable door after the horse has vanished over the horizon.

It's unfair to pick on the OECD though, government inaction has been notable throughout the whole spyware debacle. You can only wonder how much of the whole sordid business would have been stopped had governments spent a fraction of the effort they've spent criminalising copyright infringements.

What really surprises me is the claim 25% of US computers are infected with malware. This strikes me as high and I suspect the real number is around 10% with half of those serious infections.

Where I do agree with the OECD is the criminal element has taken over from the backyard script kiddie. This is more reason for governments to start acting.