Headline Feeds
After the raging blog activity surrounding the launch of iPhone OS 3.0 and the new iPhone 3GS, the Apple-focused blogosphere has finally slowed down to catch its collective breath.
Still, there's plenty to talk about, like Michael Jackson music sales 
going through the roof on iTunes, CEO Steve Jobs returning to Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Cupertino campus, the Mac mini's relatively high build cost, and MacBooks selling like text books in Maine.
Chart-Topper
"Michael Jackson is likely make more money in death than he ever did in life -- the Elvis effect. And it's already started. Jackson sold a record 2.6 million digital downloads in just one week, according to preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan," writes Cult of Mac blogger Leander Kahney.
"Michael Jackson has broken Billboard chart records! He has captured 9 of the top 10 spots in the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. Amazing, right?" added Michael123.
Of course, Apple iTunes users have no doubt at least seen the effects of Jackson's popularity and death in the iTunes online store -- the top songs list has been filled with Jackson tunes over the last several days.
Attention Turns to CEO Steve Jobs
An Apple media representative confirmed that Jobs has returned to work, noting that he's in the office a few days a week now and working from home the rest of the time. Details, of course, are nil. Earlier thing month, Jobs' doctors revealed that he had a liver transplant about two months ago, and at the time, he was the sickest patient on the transplant list.
Jobs' illness has sparked controversy with investors concerned about the lack of details on his condition offered to the public. Still, the company seemed able to charge ahead without him just fine over the last six months, delivering new MacBooks, a new iPhone OS, a new iPhone, and a packed Worldwide Developers Conference. In a few weeks, Apple will disclose its latest quarterly earnings report, and Jobs may or may not chime in during the conference call with investors.
Most Apple-focused bloggers and readers, not surprisingly, seem pleased to see he's back at work.
"Good to hear! Looking forward to the next steve-note," commented alhasa on the MacRumors.com post on the subject.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Uncle Steve deliver the iPod updates in September. Glad to hear he is officially back at work," added ouimetnick.
"Excellent news, although I expect we'll see in the coming months that Tim Cook will take over as CEO and Jobs will probably become chairman or something along the lines of being involved in development and strategy of new products. A reduced role for him makes sense seeing as the company did very well without him the last six months," noted dwman.
All things considered, how might Jobs' role at the company change? Are Stevenotes a thing of the past? How does this affect investors?
"I think if you look at Apple's history, they have had a tendency to do things on their own terms regardless of what the media is thinking or wanting. I think at the beginning, they wanted to relay just enough information and downplay this -- and that turned out to be the case," Frank Cioffi, editor and publisher of Apple Investor News, told MacNewsWorld.
"I have a feeling that in the next six weeks, they'll have an event where he'll show up ... and Apple will have reintroduced him on their own terms," he added.
"As far as investors, I think we discovered back in January when Apple announced his leave of absence, when everyone expected the stock to go down, it actually held very steady," Cioffi explained. The big issues have settled down for now, he opined.
"Apple is both blessed and cursed by all this media coverage," he added.
Mac Mini Sports Big Build Cost
The teardown analysis service at iSuppli has turned its attention to the diminutive Mac mini. Upon dissection, they found that the entry-level version of the new-generation Mac mini carries a bill of materials (BOM) of US$376.20, which increases to $387.14 when manufacturing costs are added. The low-end Mac mini retails for $599, which reflects a relatively thin BOM/manufacturing margin compared to Apple's lower-cost consumer items, particularly the iPod line, iSuppli reported.
The higher cost, it turns out, comes from Apple's use of the smaller components that usually go into its MacBooks. While Apple no doubt gets great volume pricing, using notebook components still typically results in a higher cost to build than if Apple used cheaper, larger components and slipped them into a bigger case.
iSuppli pegs the cost of the mini's 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo P7350 processor at $118.35, while the 2.26 GHz version comes in at $150. The Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics and I/O (input/output) controller hub is estimated to cost $65.16, while the hard drive costs $46 and the optical drive $32.
"Did they include somewhere in there the cost of the love installed? There's love installed standard in these, right?" commented PollockRoc on the Gizmodo post on the subject.
For the record, iSuppli didn't note the cost of love. It could very well be free to Apple.
Meanwhile, Maine Loves Macs
The Maine Department of Education has placed an order for more than 64,000 MacBooks for students and faculty in grades 7 through 12 and will place an additional order for up to 7,000 more notebooks in the coming weeks, reports AppleInsider.com. The Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) has provided Apple notebook computers to all Maine middle school students since 2002, and the high school expansion will reportedly see the initiative become the world's largest educational technology program of its kind.
That's a nice boost for Apple. Might it also generate a halo effect?
"I think in a few years Maine may easily have the highest per capita Mac use in the country. I could be wrong but this seems like a long-term seed for Mac adoption," commented solipsism on the AppleInsider.com post.
Still, when it comes to education, not everyone sees tangible benefits to students.
"I agree that a computer is good for learning, but these school districts have seen no return in higher test scores for the multi-million dollar purchases of computers, Mac or otherwise. The three R's are best taught in the traditional way," noted chuckmoser.
Talkback: 
