Apple's Super Bowl Message is Ironic

It's amazing to see the excitement Macintosh users are experiencing in anticipation of Apple Computer's return to advertising on the Super Bowl. It's easy to understand, after all, it was Apple's "1984" commercial in during the Super Bowl that set the standard for "event advertising" in the big game.

A lot has changed in the 15 years since Apple first advertised in the Super Bowl. While the Macintosh set the standard for an easy-to-use what-you-see-is-what-you-get computer, most folks don't use a Macintosh to get their work done today. If you're not a graphic designer, composer or work in the public school system, the Mac has not become the computer for you. It's Microsoft Windows.

So as Mac users look to this Super Bowl with anticipation, what is the message from Apple they and millions of others will hear? It will about the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem. Isn't it ironic that the computer invented "for the rest of us" and for the most part is immune from the Y2K, bug hasn't become the computer for the masses.

For more read www.mercurycenter.com/premium/front/docs/superads27.htm

When Mac Faithful Lose Faith, What's Next?

I must admit I was disturbed recently by Ric Ford's year end column concerning the platform we all know and love. The reason I'm disturbed is that Ford is no "casual" Mac observer. Ford is a vintage Mac enthusiast and has followed Apple since the company's inception.

Ford made a statement at the end of his MacWeek/eMediaweekly column that is sobering for Mac users, if it pans out to be true. Commenting about Apple's problems with its customer service system, Ford said: "Following all the successes of the past year, this remains a big problem that Mr. Jobs needs to fix to keep his platform alive for a while longer." Read the full article at www.emediaweekly.com/1998/12/20/macintouch.html.

It was sobering for me when I read it, considering all the good Apple news of late. My habit every morning once was reading the morning newspaper, but these days, I turn to online news on the Internet. I read about world news, sports, the weather, and about the Mac right from my home computer.

I found Ford's column while checking out my favorite Mac sites one morning following Christmas. I had just returned from an trip visiting relatives in Little Rock where I had been pleasantly surprised by activity I witnessed at a CompUSA store. While I was in the store about an hour checking out the Apple wares, I witnessed an iMac being sold, along with lots of other Mac stuff, to other patrons. There was quite a buzz in the Apple section of the store.

As I stood there playing with an iMac on display, I observed that there seemed to be genuine interest in the Mac once again. The shelves of the store were stocked with Mac software and there were Macs and Mac accessories everywhere. Running on the iMac was the new Electronic Arts game Future Cop, which is nothing less than impressive on the machine with its fast graphics acceleration.

Less impressive was my visit to Best Buy across town. There was one sole (and pitiful looking) iMac sitting on an end shelf amid a sea of Wintel boxes. There were few accessories and software located nearby (when I saw it I wondered why would anyone want to sink $1,300 into a computer without a printer or software) for the iMac at the Best Buy store. But overall, I thought, for those seeking the "best buy" on an iMac, it's good that Apple has expanded it's retail horizons to Best Buy.

Anyway, I left the Little Rock area with a good feeling about what Apple is doing. I guess that's why I felt my balloon deflate a bit when I read Ford's column upon my return home.

There's evidence big things are up with Apple, if you believe what you read about its consumer portable and the new desktop machines on the way. It should all become much clearer once the Mac World Expo in San Francisco kicks up steam in early January.

As I've said before, Steve Jobs has learned a lot since being ousted by Apple in the 1980s. Jobs wants Apple to succeed and I wouldn't count him out in pushing the company to once again become the software and hardware innovator in the future. Jobs has an ego the size that can keep him at the helm of Apple and Pixar for many years to come; and don't think that he doesn't want both of this companies to succeed and succeed big time.

After I thought about it, I had to agree with Ford's statement about Mac technology coming to the end of its life cycle. But I'll add that Windows (in its present form) is doomed as well. I'm not a Java fanatic, but I'll say that something bigger than proprietary operating systems is coming to personal computers. Either Apple will create it or someone else will. One only has to look as far as Sun Microsystems, Oracle and others to see that the race is on to move us away from Windows, Mac, Linux, UNIX or whatever.

All of us Mac users can only hope, Ric, that Apple innovation that's coming will help extend the platform (whatever form it takes) well into the future.

Be Thankful

The past several years have been exciting for us "computer junkies" out there.

Just a few short years ago, few of us knew what the Internet was and certainly had not "surfed" it. For me, that all changed around 1995, about the time I moved to Missouri.

Like most computer users at the time, I was logged onto one of the popular (and proprietary) on-line services: CompuServe.

I remember thinking the first time I heard the Internet mentioned and a reference made to its vast resources. I asked, "How could it contain more than what's available on CompuServe?" My, was I in for an awakening!

Some time passed before I actually "logged on" and witnessed the Internet in action. I remember the first time I watched as someone surfed the web. I realized quickly what an amazing concept the Internet is -- that of linking thousands of computers together to form a hug worldwide database -- and I was hooked.

So were thousands of others and we all know how the Internet has grown since 1995!

The Internet is an interesting case study for the use of Macintosh computers. It is estimated that from 20 to 40 percent of all computers used to surf the Internet are Macs

When it comes to design on the web, one survey says 60 percent of all web sites are designed using a Macintosh. This makes sense considering that most "mission critical" publications use Macs for publishing.

All in all, the Mac plays a large role in the on-line community of the Internet, as it does at America Online, which is the last of the proprietary on-line services to survive and flourish amid the growth of the Internet.

I remember a time when local computer club bulletin boards were all the rage and the way club members communicated on line with each other. Then came some early efforts at national on-line services. Remember Quantum Link for Commodore computers?

All in all, computer enthusiasts have a lot to be thankful at this point in computer history: fast machines, better productivity software, exciting games; the list goes on and on.

However, it is at this time of year that we need to push back from the flicker of the screen and spend quality time with what matters most, our families. Because no matter how sophisticated or how good computers get (especially the Mac), they'll never replace the warmth of a human touch and word from a loving mother, father, spouse, son or daughter.

Enjoy your computer this holiday season, but don't forget those who make life worthwhile.

And be thankful.