July 13, 1998
iMac might just resuscitate Apple
By Bob O'Donnell
Last week's MacWorld Expo in New York brought renewed attention and some much needed
positive publicity to Apple Computer. The seemingly permanent interim CEO Steve Jobs was
able to announce yet another profitable quarter for the beleaguered company and once again
threw the spotlight on the company's sleek new, highly anticipated iMac.
In addition, Jobs highlighted the all important efforts of software developers --
including several new Mac games, some of which were previously only available on the PC --
as well as the company's own development efforts on the forthcoming Mac OS 8.5, which is
apparently now due at the end of September.
All in all, it was a relatively rosy picture, certainly a better one than most people
(myself included) had predicted even just a few months ago. Important questions remain,
however, regarding how much of a turnaround the company can make and whether it has enough
going to maintain the momentum it has begun to build.
For most corporate enterprises, Apple still doesn't have a particularly compelling
story. Certainly the company's successful launch of G3-based desktops and Powerbooks shows
that they are capable of producing high-performance hardware. Also, the release of
Microsoft's Office 98 for the Mac has made the Mac a potentially equal partner with their
Windows-based brethren. However, the fact that Apple hardware still holds a fairly large
price premium over Wintel machines and that few, if any, Macs come with Office
pre-installed is an issue for most businesses.
In addition, while reports about Apple's new G3 Powerbooks have been very good, the
machines are big and heavy, especially in comparison to many of the new ultrathin
Windows-based PCs that have started shipping (or have at least been announced). As far as
I can tell, all signs point to these new ultrathin portables as being the next big wave in
notebooks, and if Apple doesn't come up with a powerful, lighweight alternative, they run
the risk of once again falling behind in the portable market.
Of course, the real feather in Apple's current cap is the iMac, which the company is
targeting toward consumers. At $1,299, the machine -- which will ship on August 15
according to Jobs' keynote last week -- is a little toward the high end of the low-cost
market, even despite its built-in monitor. Many similarly configured Wintel machines are
now available for under $1,000, including a monitor. Still, I think the iMac's features
and design are compelling enough to make it a big hit (especially since they've now
upgraded the modem to 56Kbps instead of the previously announced 33.6Kpbs), at least among
current Mac aficionados.
I also think the iMac can attract first-time buyers who haven't made a philosophical
commitment to any particular platform. However, I have serious doubts about the iMac being
able to convert many PC users. Apple has never really had much success in this regard --
even when they made machines that combined a Mac and PC into one -- and as cool as the
iMac is, I still don't think it will convince that many people to make a switch.
Ironically, while Apple hasn't said anything in this regard, I also think the iMac
could be a good enterprise machine, although I don't really expect it to make many inroads
into most corporations. After all, the iMac is the end result of what was originally
rumored to be Apple's "network computer." The fact that it has built-in support
for 10/100Base-T Ethernet and is easily portable would make it ideally suited for many
network situations. Even its lack of a floppy drive and relative paucity of plug-in ports
-- which could prove problematic in the consumer world -- could be seen as a real positive
for corporate network environments.
Ultimately, I think the iMac and its successors will shore up the company's previously
dwindling market share and maybe even eke out a gain of a few percentage markets (which
would certainly be a great thing). However, the company clearly still needs to make some
other big developments if it wishes to achieve the levels of popularity and acceptance
that the Mac once enjoyed.
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Copyright 1998, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
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