(I’m hanging out with a friend who works for Microsoft this weekend and hearing really good things about the company. They hire good people.)

An article by Mike Elgan is being much debated right now:

PC World – Is Apple the New Microsoft?

Ten years ago, Microsoft was the company everyone loved to hate.

The most vociferous Microsoft haters slammed the company for being a greedy industry bully that used its monopolistic, clunky, copycat operating system to force software on users and coerce partners into unfair licensing deals.

Don’t look now, but the role of the industry’s biggest bully is increasingly played by Apple, not Microsoft. Here’s a look at how Apple has shoved Microsoft aside as the company with the worst reputation as a monopolist, copycat and a bully. …

PC World – Is Apple the New Microsoft?

I’ve only barely followed the controversy over the shocking $200 price reduction on the iPhone — then Steve’s open letter semi-apology and $100 rebate.

But — if you ask me — this “controversy” is so perfect for Apple that it may have been scripted right from the beginning.

Business students will be studying how Apple used HYPE to jump into the driver’s seat in a new, highly profitable business niche for many years to come.

And I, for one, will be buying an iPhone when it goes on sale in Canada.

To compare Apple to Microsoft is ludicrous, by the way.