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Apple, a premium technology company whose products and services generally command a premium price, announced the latest upgrade of its flagship desktop/laptop operating system last week at a price that had the tech world scratching its head.

OS X Mavericks would be free, Apple announced; free to download, free to install, free to use.

Common wisdom had held, and consumers had come to accept, that Apple products were more expensive that anything from their competitors. Mac Pro computers cost more that Windows PC; a MacBook came at a higher price than other laptops; an iPhone would set you back more than any comparable Android handset.

Whether it was actual or perceived superiority, or simply the cachet of buying a product from a company seen as a leader in design and innovation, consumers seemed willing to pony up, and Apple's coffers swelled accordingly.

So why not charge for OS X Mavericks and make even more money?

Because Apple is, at its heart, a hardware company, and if the computer industry has learned one lesson over the years, it's that software sells hardware.

An operating system has one use; to run a computer. Apple wants to sell computers, and will happily give up a few dollars on Mavericks if it can convince an Apple user to upgrade to the latest, fastest and shiniest Mac computer -- or even entice a Windows PC user into switching.

This likelihood of a free Apple OS has been coming for a while; Apple offered the previous version of Mac OS X Mountain Lion for just $19, pretty close to free as software prices go.

In comparison, the base version of Microsoft's current operating system, Windows 8.1, sells for $120, and the supercharged Windows Pro 8.1 version will set a consumer back $200.

Microsoft sees that as proper because, until recently, it has been at its core a software company; it's where it has made its money.

The rest is here:
Apple gives away free software. Crazy like a fox?

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Back in the pool: Michael Phelps. Photo: Reuters

NEW YORK: Michael Phelps has been working out with his former coach but there is no word yet on a return to swimming for the Rio Olympics.

Coach Bob Bowman said on Sunday that Phelps has been taking part in workouts with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club.

However, he's not yet committed to the sort of gruelling program that would be needed if he decided to return to competition.

In fact, Phelps attended an NBA preseason game in China on Friday, visiting a country where he has extensive endorsement deals and remains extremely popular.

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"He is occasionally training with the group to get back in shape," Bowman wrote in a text to The Associated Press.

Phelps and Bowman remain close friends and business partners.

Initially adamant he would never compete again, Phelps softened his stance after reports began swirling of an imminent comeback.

He said during the world championships in Barcelona, "I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

Read this article:
Michael Phelps back in pool, no word on Olympics

The up-and-coming economic development group Focus Forward Central Illinois has a new board, effective 10 days ago.

You probably never would have known it, though, because once again the group did a bang-up job of avoiding media attention.

No news advisories were sent about the meeting conducted over the phone to name 20 new members to the board. A release was issued a week late, only after we started to ask questions. About the only bow to transparency was that the meeting got tossed onto the FFCI websites calendar.

Because this is a group looking for public funding to bolster private dollars to operate, we asked them, frankly, what gives especially since wed been getting notices of meetings all through September after a summer full of complaints about lack of openness.

We are currently in the process of building our systems so that media requests as received can be accommodated per our commitment to transparency, FFCI communications chief Diana Hall said. I have added (your) request to our files and in the future you should receive information that we also have posted on the website.

Heres why we think Halls claims seem like nonsense:

The group managed to send meeting notifications last month even for some committees while they were also in a state of transition. The notices werent issued by the groups former parent, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, but instead by the assistant for one of the private-sector people leading this charge.

That person, Caterpillars Jim Baumgartner whom you may remember from his tacit participation in the secret effort to push the water company buyout was one of three people on the interim FFCI board.

In short, theyve proven they can keep the media and public in the loop when they want to.

We understood indeed, we used this space to observe previously that some of the private sector folks were having to learn a whole new way of thinking about operating in sunlight.

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Word on the Street: Taxpayers shouldn’t fund transparency-averse FFCI