Re: Amelio's ouster

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article Geoff Kaiser <SuperKais@MacConnect.com> writes...

>I hope Apple tries to regain this attitude they once had, and keep pushing
>it in everyone's face; most people are unaware of all the things Apple Mac
>machines can do

    Unfortunately, most people are unaware of all the things the Macintosh
_cannot_ do, and sadly, many parents, educators, business people and first
time computer buyers are ignorant on this fact. Apple's entire selling and
marketing philosophy seems to be based around one thing today: Fear.

    Yes, that's right, fear (and insecurity). Fear of the "other" option,
that big scary thing called a PC. They build up (or should I say blow up?)
a great sense of fear and anxiety about using a non-Macintosh computer,
feeding on a people's fear of the unknown. To many individuals who've
never touched a computer before, learning to use (and especially work
with and operate one independently) is most definitely an anxiety. There
are no doubt people who actually believe pushing the wrong "buttons" will
cause the expensive machine to break or even explode!

    True a computer should be relatively easy to operate and understand,
but there is MORE to what makes a good computer than just how simple it
is to use. It's quite sad the only selling point Apple can come up with
is "fear of the unknown" and not about strengths. A person asks, "Why
should I buy a Macintosh?", and the only justification Apple can give
is PC's-will-make-you-feel-defective, PC's-are-too-hard-and-confusing,
PC's-are-strange-and-unfamiliar, Beware-the-evil-PC, run-for-cover!
Talk about avoidance of the issue, what of the Macintosh itself? I
almost never hear Apple state the other strengths, and that is simply
because there are relatively few today. Not only that, this whole thing
about fear is an old smoke screen that's wearing thin. The way Apple
talks of PC's, you'd think PC's were all still DOS-boxes that work
only by typing obscure commands on monochrome amber screen (it's 1997,
not 1984, things have changed).

    Remember the movie the Wizard of Oz, with the man behind the curtain?
Well that's the same kind of show Apple is putting on to scare people from
the PC. The majority of Mac users have never even used PC's (or the oh so
common, "I've used one at work") yet claim how impossible they are to use,
spouting back the same random fears Apple ingrains on them: Config.sys!,
IRQ's!, and DOS prompts!......Oh My! ;). Not knowing what something is,
or even understanding it, is the reason for fear.

>(examples: can your PC use two monitors with different display
>content?

    As was stated earlier in this thread, that can be done and even
taking it a step or two further.

>Can your PC be turned on/off from the keyboard? Can you switch
>keyboards/mice without rebooting?)

    If these are the strength Apple is failing to mention while caught
up in promoting the fear tactics about PC's, then it is no wonder the
company is hanging on the edge of collapse.

    How about this instead: Can the Mac do wavetable music synthesis?
Can you do preemptive multitasking? Do you have multiple choices for
OSes? Can you play complex game software? (remakes of late 70 and early
80's games with just a nicer color palette and digitized sound effects
do not count). Can you add a 3-D video hardware board? Can you run
full-screen video on low-end models? (hint: processing speed). Can you
exit your windowing/icon environment when it just gets in the way? Can
you pop in new CPU's or motherboards when you want to upgrade?

    I'm not particularly fond of PC's if you can believe that, but I can't
believe how Apple can still sell systems that are so limited and behind
yet expect to stay afloat. Apple used to be a company of innovation and
new exciting ideas, now they're as dull and boring as IBM was back in
the early 80's.

>> "Here is what Apple needs to do, IMHO...
>> 1. Sell off the hardware manufacturing divisions
>> 2. Design and license software only."

    Isn't this what NeXT did and eventually got bought up? (ironically,
by Apple Computer recently, who'd probably be swolled-up like a link in
a business-like food chain). If the Macintosh OS is any indication of
the type of software Apple is capable of, I doubt they'd be a very good
software-only company. Just look at how poorly and bogged down the PPC
processor runs with Apple's software on top.

    "What Apple needs to do..." Funny, I keep hearing that as they sink more
and more. There are things Apple can do to stay afloat and even become a
leader in the computer industry once again, but it doesn't involve the Mac
or a revamped operating system for it. Apple lacks any kind of vision and
apparently, any kind of common sense. A year ago Apple brought in Amelio
who promised he would completely turn around the company and make it
profitable again. He was Apple's last stand and savior, the man who would
was going to save the company from destruction. Well over a year has past
and the company is still losing tens of millions; so where is this visionary
CEO? He quit and walked away! That is truly a bad sign, I feel Amelio
saw the end is very near with no hope, and wants to leave the helm before
the ship goes under and he is blamed.

    My only hope is once Apple disappears and there is nothing available
but the PC clone, _someone_ will step in with something new, innovative,
exciting and fresh to counter it. Something akin to the Amiga or even
the Apple IIgs back in the mid-80's, which were both very exciting when
there were mostly only boring "business" PC's and monochrome Mac boxes
(as well as the large variety of 8-bit machines, which although offered
more choices and made nice home computers, were still getting kind of
stale). I want something that will make me stop dead in my tracks; faster
Pentium and PowerPC chips with updated OSes thrown on them are not exactly
exciting. If Apple can invent this new machine, by all means let them and
all best of luck, but I really don't see that kind of vision from them.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca