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Apple : What Happened?
Back in November on 97, I took an indefinite leave of absence from my weekly editorial
here at Reality, and passed the buck on to John Paff who has done a great job with
Reality Bites. At that point in time, I noted that the column, in addition to the
news page, was just to much of a burden to deal with each week. But what I didn't
mention was the fact that I felt the column had become to difficult to write, in
a positive perspective, due to the recent problems at Apple Computer. Things were
really a mess, like the streets of NYC on New Years Eve; confetti spread all over
the streets, intoxicated citizens wandering aimlessly down 42nd street, and policemen
on horse back eagerly trying to keep some form of law and order in a crowd of millions.
I'll admit it now, I had lost a lot of faith in Apple Computer. Not in its products
and what it stands for, but where it was going and who was calling the shots. Today
I still have major concerns, but enough has happened in the last 30 days to set my
mind at ease. So what the hell happened?
Apple stock has more than doubled; rising from $12 straight to $27 at the time when
of this column being authored. Huge publications are sneaking in positive comments
about Apple Computer. I've noticed at least three of these little comments in the
NY Times in the duration of the past week. Unannounced products such as the WallStreet
and MainStreet PowerBooks, The Apple NC, and the infamous Apple Media Player have
been an 'all you can eat' $7.99 buffet for the media, drawing foreign eyes to the
world we've all had the pleasure of experiencing. Apple's World.
In my opinion, one of the most intelligent moves Apple has made, was to resort to
their old ad agency, Chiat Day. And what a job they have done! Chiat Day has proven
that they can capture and express both passion and humor, and in turn, relate it
to a Computer Corporation. That's something I admire. Both the Snail ad and the new
bunnies ad have had a tremendous impact with viewers, mostly non-Apple consumers.
It says something about a company when they can virtually rise from the living dead
to attack and humiliate the largest microchip manufacturer in the world. And the
average customer, in time, will begin to notice this if they haven't noticed it already.
So keep it up Apple!
For once we can finally see that their is more to Apple and its future than Rhapsody.
Apple is hard at work tweaking the award winning Quick Time 3.0 technology to perfection.
They will then announce their stunning Quick Time for JAVA libraries, code named
Biscotti And I promise you, JAVA is going to become BIG in the next few years. For
the home and education, Apple has planned the Apple NC, The Apple Media Player,and
the new all-in-one Power Macintosh G3, code named Artemis. Artemis is now rumored
to have been placed in more appealing, all-in-one, plastics. Apparently, the idea
of moving the hardware into the 6500 case has been scratched. A pull out drawer on
the Artemis casing will provide the consumer with easy access to the hard drive,
CD ROM, and other internal components. It will feature at least a 15" - 17"
display, and may even come with a standard TV tuner card. And impressively, G4 chips
planned for late 98 and 99 will leave Merced (Intel's answer to a 64 bit chip) looking
like a hungry Bill Clinton peering through the window of the Burger King stock room.
It's no secret that a few respected analysts placed AAPL (AppleC) on their charts
as a 'good investement', as you can see, Apple deserves most of the credit for this
sudden push in the right direction. Buyout rumors from such corporations as Disney,
are as we see it, true. But the reason corporations are now so interested in Apple
is because they see the potential for a revolution building up inside the Cupertino
headquarters. In the industry, Apple is no longer considered a 'cheap steal', now
they're a hard bargain
Despite all of this, Apple has yet to prove themselves to anyone, at least not developers
and the media. Who knows if they will ever prove themselves. Very few corporations
get a second chance at success. Apple has been one of the very few to be able to
make such an attempt at stardom, once again. Personally, I feel that Apple will always
have their place in the industry. However, it has become apparent that Apple (Steve)
wants a little more than just a 'place' in the industry. They want to enter into
the mainstream once again. This will take more than an extensive effort.
Lets take a recent decision by Apple to remove it's line of products from all national
computer reseller chains expect CompUSA. It's true that some resellers such as Sears
and Staples had little respect for the Mac, and didn't deserve to display Apple's
products, but Computer City and such, it's just too much. On top of this, the CompUSA's
Apple Store boutiques aren't staffed with the two Think Different employees that
Apple claims they are. In most cases, there are none. We are expressing this as fact,
based on the nearly 700 e-mails we have received on the subject. In the case of my
local CompUSA in White Plains, once out of every three visits I will see the single
Apple Store Employee in Wintel section of the store making a sale on a PC, or out
in front of the store bull shitting with other employees who are on break. The short
cut, blond haired teenager could care less about Apple's success or its products.
He refuses to stay within the Apple section even when being asked. After all, he
gets paid by the hour. Standing around or outside, and selling PCs when he feels
like it, only work to his advantage. And I wouldn't hesitate to bet that this situation
exists in 80% of the CompUSA stores. Put that in perspective, and you can clearly
see that Apple's main source of retail sales within the united states will be at
a minimum, when the potential is so great, given the superior product.
Apple also continues to do a horrible job with promoting their mobile products, or
what is left of them for that matter. PowerBooks receive close to no recognition
from Apple, out side the occasional 3400 ad we saw in MacWEEK a half a year ago.
Oh, and all the good that does; advertising within a Macintosh publication multiple
weeks in a row. That money could have been used wisely. An ad, once a month, within
Macintosh publications will do. Apple continues this practice to this day with its
Think Different ads. Space should be purchased in PCWEEK before they worry about
MacWEEK. Just where is Apple aiming? Back to the PowerBook; possibly, one of the
most elegant, feature rich pieces of hardware one will ever see on the face of the
earth. Yet, it has been overlooked by the customer continuously. Why Apple?
The MainStreet, and WallStreet line of PowerBooks are right around the corner. MainStreet
being the low end, 2 thousand dollar ranged laptop, and WallStreet, the product of
superior technology, and passionate industrial design. Apple should just be able
to flash the WallStreet and attract customers. If you've seen pictures of the PowerBook,
you know what we mean (we briefly posted images of the WallStreet PowerBook a few
weeks ago, but removed them the same day due to copyright reasons). This line of
PowerBooks represents both a revolution, and a pressure point for Apple. The way
I see it, if this line fails to break through the mainstream, nothing they can ever
produce, will.
Apple is also known for developing great technologies and then letting them dwindle
away to the competition. For example: the Newton , the Pippin, the eMate. In some
cases, you can even say, 'the Macintosh'. However the competition never could replicate
the Macintosh to its fullest in the product called 'Windows95'. They came damn close
though; close enough to fool a majority of the consumer world. This is one of the
main concerns for developers and companies who wish to support future products from
Apple; say the Apple Media Player. Apple needs to learn to take these new technologies
and come out of the box strong, aiming to dominate the market. That includes competitive
pricing. And they need to prove to these developers that they are committed to the
product.
The most recent mistake Apple made was with Rhapsody. They hyped the whole OS so
far, and then altered their technological plan and pulled all press relations revolving
around the OS. Now people are just plain confused about Rhapsody and the whole road
map: how the blue box will function, will the yellow box be extended into the MacOS,
and when. Will Rhapsody still be considered a high end client? or are they going
for the full server side platform now. There is no white paper on Rhapsody. Developers
and potential customers must be so confused, it is enough to outweigh the excitement
over the technology. We here at Reality are still scrambling for some answers. This
isn't good. Apple either has to put up, or shut up to begin with.
To conclude briefly, Apple has taken a giant step in the right direction, but they
are still dragging their tail. Their presence at the SeyBold NY show is the kind
of presence they need at every major event. Maybe not as large, but with the same
charisma. It's hard to say this, but Apple has to be pretty perfect to succeed these
days. There lies little room for mistakes when you are down 80 to 5. It's been great
watching the beginning of an Apple comeback these past few months. Though, a lot
can pull Apple's locomotive to a screeching halt. Lets all pray that Apple's second
fiscal quarter results reflect everything we know Apple has fought for. Apple's fate
lies in those figures.
Jeff Valvano
jeff@macnn.com
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News Index
1)Apple Script Advanc- ements
2)A Second Apple Studio Display?
3)MacOS & Rhapsody Java Advancements
4)Reality Bites - Apple : What Happened?
5)Seybold Special Report
6)Reality Online Chat: Open!
7)Jobs Keynote At Seybold
8)Artemis Images
9)Further G4 Information
10)Apple Media Player Prototype?
11)The Apple Media Player
12)This Week's Apple News
Return To Reality
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