Banner day for AppleApple didn’t just dominate the technology pages today; it took over the business pages and in many cases the front pages of the major dailies—and not just the papers you would expect, like the hometown San Francisco Chronicle. London’s staid Guardian went on at length about the iPod Shuffle and Apple’s plan to dominate digital music on its front page. It was a banner day for Apple, despite the fact that Wall Street did its best to rain on the company’s parade when it discounted the company’s stock almost 8 percent. Apple returned the favor yesterday by bulldozing earnings forecasts with a stunning financial performance based on sales of its popular iPod. The company reported that it earned $295 million, or $0.70 per share, in its fiscal first quarter. In the same period a year ago, the company earned $63 million, or $0.17 per share. Revenue for the quarter was $3.49 billion, up nearly 75 percent from $2 billion in the year-ago quarter. That represented the highest quarterly sales in the company’s 30-year history, said USA Today. The dazzling performance drove Apple shares nearly 12 percent higher in late trading, to $73.25 on the Nasdaq, above its 52-week high of $70.70 set on Monday.Apple urges cautionEvery great story has its downside. Even as the stock surged, Apple executives were warning Wall Street not to expect similar success in upcoming quarters, said Newsday. The executives cautioned that the introduction of two relatively low-priced products would make it difficult to provide accurate financial guidance for the rest of the year. “We’re very pleased with the reception that we’re getting today,” said Timothy Cook, executive vice president of worldwide sales and operations. “But frankly it’s too early to gauge demand on these.” Apple’s pessimism had its effect. Jeff Embersits, an analyst with San Francisco-based Shareholder Value Management, told Newsday he planned to issue a research note Thursday morning downgrading Apple from “sell” to “strong sell.” He thinks the stock is overvalued and could become a target for short sellers, who make money when a stock falls quickly. “Frankly, I think this is as good as it gets for Apple,” said Mr. Embersits. “We’ve been through Christmas, so they’re not going to get that kind of boost again. It’s great they have a sub-$500 PC, but so does everyone else, and everyone will do a knockoff iPod Shuffle in three to six months. I just don’t see the upside.” MacWorld or iPodWorld?Here comes the iPod, there goes the neighborhood. Apple’s headlong plunge into the mainstream computer market is troubling some traditional, hardcore Macolytes. According to Wired news, they are troubled by the iPodization of MacWorld. There are more vendors at the show this year (400) than last year (280), and many are showing off iPod accessories. The old Mac accessories vendors are being pushed to the back as the sexy, popular iPod takes center stage. There seems to be a distinct separation along cultural lines between the old Mac enthusiast and the new iPod fan and the mix is not working for the true believers. David Jude Thomas, a San Francisco artist, told Wired that he thinks the Macolyte community is becoming a “homogenized, packaged community, rather than one grown organically.” He believes that Apple is “not going to have the kind of devotion as it had from users who knew the roots and the history.” And it’s not just the Apple computer aficionados that are being alienated, so too are the local mom and pop stores. They are being squeezed out by Apple’s corporate retail outlets. Cisco acquires AirespaceToday’s news wasn’t all about Apple. Cisco Systems said it agreed to acquire Airespace for around $450 million in stock and assumed options. This will certainly strengthen its portfolio of wireless, local area networking products. Cisco, based in San Jose, California, expects the deal to gain antitrust clearance and other standard approvals and to close in its fiscal third quarter that ends on April 30. Airespace, also based in San Jose, was founded in 2001 and employs around 175 people. The company is a leading maker of wireless equipment based on the wi-fi standard. Its products include access points, controllers, and software. Airespace sells primarily through resellers including Cisco competitors Alcatel and Nortel Networks, says CNET. It is unclear what will happen to these relationships once the deal goes through.Spawning searchWho knew that search technology could be parsed in so many profitable ways? According to InfoWorld, web search leader Google will market Google Mini, a new search appliance designed for small and mid-sized businesses. It’s a scaled-down version of its product for larger organizations. Google Mini is limited in search capacity to 50,000 documents. The company also announced an upgrade to the larger capacity product—Google Search Appliance. The Mini hardware and software appliance is sold exclusively online and priced at $4,995, which is a fraction of the cost of the larger capacity appliance versions. One of the holes in earlier enterprise search appliances has been the inability to access relational databases. Google added an integration API that allows IT managers to feed content from legacy systems, which include database technology, into the search appliance. TechSpin is Red Herring's take on today's headlines.