Everything's Getting Normal Again

“Now, regarding the charge that Steve Jobs can't run a company, those Wall Street cokeheads couldn't be more wrong. This is the guy who started it and the guy who brought it all back after a Wall Street veteran nearly drove Apple into the ground.”

Hey, We Have a Newsletter, Guys!

Sign up for Mac Alert, the weekly newsletter from the producers of Creative Mac. You'll get news, reviews, features and tutorials, all delivered to your e-mail box. You'll even get links to some features that non-subscribers can't access until later in the week! Plus, you'll have a chance to win something fancy-schmancy. (I think this week it's a Sony Mini-DV camcorder.)

Sign up now!

OPINION • OCTOBER 9 , 2000
Talkin' Smack: Everything’s Getting Normal Again
[Page 2 of 3]

If you want to talk about who's doing it right in the computer industry, it's those few companies out there operating outside the constraints of Windows to put out truly innovative products. SGI is one of them. Apple is another.

The difference is that Apple's actually making a profit on increasing revenues. Sure, it's a smaller profit than previously expected. But guess what? Two processors are not only smarter than one, they're also costlier than one. But for one of the very few times in its history, Apple actually thought of the user first and offered these dual dynamos at the same price as previous single-processor models.

Is Apple a good company? Probably not. But they make the most kick-ass computer on the market. And that's good enough for me. And it's good enough for a country whose businesses are more interested in talking about synergies and paradigms than putting out exceptional products. When in the future, schloars debate the collapse of this country's economy, they'll be saying, "If only there had been more companies like Apple."

In defense of the master
Now, regarding the charge that Steve Jobs can't run a company, those Wall Street cokeheads couldn't be more wrong. This is the guy who started it and the guy who brought it all back after a Wall Street veteran nearly drove Apple into the ground. Yes, the iMac was already in development at the time Steve Jobs stepped in. But without Jobs, nobody would have ever heard about them. We take for granted all those clever Apple ads that now decorate the otherwise dull airwaves down in the state-owned broadcast TV nether regions. But remember that before Jobs came around, Apple's idea of marketing was advertising in MacWeek. Uh, guess what? MacWeek subscribers already knew about Apple. I'm a big fan of MacWeek, but there was very little reason for Apple to advertise there and all the reason in the world to move those advertising dollars into television.

And let's not forget that, before Jobs, Power Computing made the best Mac around. Apple was putting out absolute garbage. Any time I pull my 7300 apart for maintenance, I'm thankful for the emphasis Jobs has placed on design quality since his return. (Did you ever try to install RAM into one of those 8- or 9-series towers?)

So don't tell me Steve Jobs and Apple are off track. They're right on. So all you Wall Street freaks can shut your filthy holes before I punch you. (Actually, keep flapping your gums until Apple shares hit $10 so I can buy them all up. Then shut your holes.)

GO TO PAGE [ 1, 2, 3, Home]

Post a comment or question on the Creative Mac World Wide User Forum!