April 1998
Issue 001COVER
The Return of a Legend
What the Hell Is This Thing??!!COMMENTARY
How it all began.
Clinton versus PalmerCOMMENTARY
An eerie coincidence? I don't think so.
Homer Did ItNEWS
Home denies he did it, surprise, surprise.
Rage Against the MediaCOMMENTARY
The media blames the public for the media's faults.
Apple: It's Own Worst Enemy?COMMENTARY
After years of loses and controversy, suddenly Apple's Wall Street's darling.
Giant Alien Maytag Cuts FingerNEWS
David Van Wagner stitched.
Publisher Hangs Himself!NEWS
Read how the publisher of the Havoc killed himself back in 1991.
World Cup 94 ReportNEWS
With World Cup 98 nearly upon us, this ancient report is curiously appropriate again.
The Guilt-free Drink for LiberalsADVERTISEMENT
The Ultimate Refreshment.
Apple: It's Own Worst Enemy?
by
Of any corporation in America, Apple's history has to be the most bizarre. Rising from two kids in a garage, the company was the first true Silicon Valley success, creating dozens of overnight millionaires. But the same media that promoted the sensation quickly turned on it, delighting in every business downturn.One minute Apple can do nothing right. Then it can do nothing wrong. Then everything wrong is right and right is wrong. Or vice versa. The media can't seem to make up it's mind about Apple.
Is Apple foolish for maintaining it's own proprietary hardware and software in a world dominated by Intel hardware and Microsoft software? Many think so, but millions of consumers continue to purchase billions of dollars of Apple equipment every year. Some see Apple as an antidote to Microsoft's dominance. Others simply prefer the more stable Macintosh architecture to Wintel's chaotic, every-changing, pseduo-standards.
One thing is certain: no corporation has made as many mistakes as Apple and survived. Look at the debris of the Eighties: Atari, Commodore, Coleco, Tandy, Digital Equipment Corporation, Cray, Burroughs, the "typewriter" companies, etc. Dozens of huge companies vanished nearly overnight simply because they couldn't adopt to the rapid changes in the technology market.
Why didn't Apple die? Everyone predicted it. In 1984, as the IBM PC was becoming the defacto business standard, Apple announced a completely new computer system, totally incompatible with everything else on the planet. People laughed, called it a toy, said it would never fly.
It did. It flew to such heights that people made millions off Apple stock.
Then Microsoft released a program called Windows 3.0 that purported to turn an ordinary PC into a Macintosh. Well, sort of. Close enough, anyway. Once again, Apple was pronounced dead.
Apple didn't die.
Microsoft released Windows 95. This time Windows was really like a Mac.
Apple didn't die.
This summer, if the government allows it, Microsoft will release Windows 98 (basically a more complex version of Windows 95).
Apple won't die.
In fact, Apple's stronger than it's been in years. Over the past 10 months Apple founder Steve Jobs has cut and hacked the '80s fat from Apple's business model, narrowing the product line and focusing the company on its core business. The plan has been a tremendous success. Not only has Apple scored two profitable quarters in a row, but the second quarter is traditionally the weakest in the computer industry. As stalwarts like Intel and Compaq announced lower earnings and layoffs, Apple announced healthy profits and new products.
The bottom line? People want alternatives. People don't want to be told what computer system they "have" to use. People want choice.
Not everyone, of course. Many are content to follow the crowd and buy the same thing the neighbor has. But enough.
Now if the media can just learn that Apple's not going anywhere. Like all technology companies, the going is never smooth. Technology just changes too rapidly for anyone to predict what's around the corner. Apple's going to make more mistakes. Apple's also going to have more successes. That's just the way things are.
