Re: Amelio's ouster

[Geoff Kaiser <SuperKais@MacConnect.com>]

> John Johnson wrote:

> "I bought a new PC...and then found out 
> that the Macintosh has had a 32 bit OS for a decade. Apple does not advertise 
> this in any PC Magazine..."

I agree that it's been a long time since Apple's advertising was "in
your face", like in the days of the high-flying Apple II when Apple
sneered at IBM's first entry in the PC market in the major newspapers,
or in '84-85 when Apple's TV commercials showed a stack of IBM PC user
manuals next to a light Mac user booklet (!). 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 (examples: can your PC use two monitors with different display
content? Can your PC be turned on/off from the keyboard? Can you switch
keyboards/mice without rebooting?)


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

I doubt this will ever happen. Apple has always made most of its revenue
from selling boxes, starting with the Apple II. Its software has usually
been free or cheap.  Expecting Apple to make any money from just selling
software is pretty unrealistic. It's like telling Microsoft to sell only
its joysticks, mouse devices and keyboards. 
However, Apple's Rhapsody will start to mark a shift towards more
software based business (Rhapsody for Intel, Rhapsody for Windows NT,
etc.). Even then, it will be awhile before that business is substantial
enough to rely on.

> "3. Program a top notch word processor, spreadsheet, and database from scratch, 
> in 32 bit language, and bundle it all with Macintosh clones.

Apple tried that a couple of times, first with the Lisa (it bombed),
then with AppleWorks for the Apple II (much more successful; in fact the
new Apple-derived Tiger learning computer uses a version of this old
gem). The first Mac was bundled with MacWrite & MacPaint; I agree that
Apple (or Claris or somebody) should come up with some great new
business program--an Office 97 killer. But sadly, most everyone's
resources are committed to internet software, so I don't see anything
like this happening in the forseeable future.

> "4. Write 64 bit OS and put 128 bit OS on the design plans."

I'm not so sure of the importance of the bit numbers, but you might be
interested in Rhapsody; it looks to be a killer OS. It will be much more
ready to exploit the power of the chips it runs on, much more than
anything Apple's ever done (so what if they had to buy the company to
get it? Microsoft does that all the time...) If you know anything about
NeXTSTEP, you'll appreciate its robust foundation. Rhapsody will have
the stability of UNIX,  the interface / ease of use of the Mac and NeXT,
what's even better, it'll run on Intel boxes.

Geoff Kaiser