Notes from the Editor #8, Dec. 95

Last month in my Notes column, I ran a piece called Mac OS vs. Windows 95. In it, I never said one was better than the other, but as most of you suspect, I think the Mac is the best operating system. Period. However, once again, we look at

Windows 95 Vs, Mac OS Part II

And the winner is….Microsoft Windows 95.

WHAT!?!? Yes, in the business world, Windows ‘95 is easily the clear winner. And that is the fault of Apple Computers, and their lame advertising campaign. Microsoft has convinced the business world that it needs Windows ‘95, and the sales figures reflect that. (Although sales of windows ‘95 is only HALF of what Microsoft had predicted)

“Imagine That”. That was the big battle cry from Apple, in combat of the Windows campaign? Wow. Apple really knows how to hit them hard, eh? What Apple needs to do is stop laying on it’s laurels and kick that advertising campaign into high gear. So what if Windows ‘95 is just a rip of Macintosh ‘87? In some respects, like multitasking, Windows ‘95 blows the Mac OS away. Of course, Windows ‘95 is suppose to work with hundreds of other manufactures computers, while the Mac OS only needs concern itself with one. (Not counting the clones makers like Radius and Power Computing).

“Imagine That”. Who cares if the Mac had long file name first? Or plug and play? OR a trash/recycle bin? Who cares? They have it now, and truth be told, that’s all that really matters. How often does a car shopper ask which automobile had the first air bag? Or which had the first all wheel drive? Once every manufacture has these features, it really becomes a moot point, correct?

So, Apple, stop preaching to the choir. We already bought a Mac! WE KNOW! What you need to do is focus on the business market, new buyers, and hire a better advertising firm. (Or hire out, if it is in-house). Better yet, give me a call. I have some awesome ideas that could turn your sales around faster than you can say “Newton”.

Besides, what do you have to loose? So far, you are loosing. And Microsoft, with Windows ‘95, is winning. You have the better product. It’s time to let the rest of the world know.

It’s true. As many of you already know, Apple has given up on eWorld, as reported in Macworld, MacWEEK, and other publications. By mid-1996, eWorld will lose its “America Online” like interface, and become an Internet Access server.
Perhaps my “Farewell to eWorld” column (My Mac #7, November 1995) did not get there early enough?
I still think Apple could turn eWorld around, and make it THE place for Mac user’s to be. It’s really not to late. But Apple, in all their wisdom, will turn it into an internet provider? Yeah, there are not enough of THOSE around already…
I really wish Apple would hire me. I could turn that company around so fast; it would outsell EVERY computer manufacturer in the world. What would I do? Look for the answer to that in the January issue of My Mac!

They say the only difference between men and boy’s is the cost of our toys. A truer statement has never been written!
Before I got “into” Mac’s (and computer’s in general) I was what many of you would call an Audiophile. While in high school, as all my friends bought cars and such, I was out there spending big money (for me) on Audio equipment. And though I still consider myself a true audiophile, my taste in high-tech toys now favors more the computer variety than the audio type. But at times, I still feel like buying the latest high-tech goodies offered by companies like Onkio, Eclipse, Adcom, Carver, Harman/Kardon, and Paradigm.
The two industries, audio and computer, really share a lot of similarities: Brand loyalty. High end vs. low end. Upgrading. Specialty stores. And many others.

My wife, when we first bought our house, thought it was silly to have the TV. and VCR wired to the Stereo. “What difference could it really make?” or “You hear all the important stuff, like music and voices, just fine on the TV. Speakers” she would say. Well, after a long year of listening to that, I have come to suspect she is a converted Audiophile.
How so? I heard her comment, while watching Star Trek Deep Space Nine, that without the stereo on, you could not hear the deep bass rumble of the space stations power plant. Or that the sounds of the computers in the background were barely audible. It really “took the whole feel out of it”
Spoken like a true Audiophile!

And now, with Multi-Media the big rage, the two industries have truly merged! You don’t know what a “Quack’ sounds like until you hear it in surround sound at 150 watts! Yeow! So get out those old speakers, that old Amplifier you never use, and wire your computer into it! Trust me, if you have even halfway decent home speakers, it will sound better than the small speaker in your Mac, as well as most of the “Multi-Media” powered speakers on the market today. My Paradigm speaker system has never before sounded as good as when I play “Mist” over them! And don’t even get me started on what my Sony MDR-V4 headphones sound like;-)

Question, what do ALL of the following people have in common?

Sly Stallone, actor, Tom Hanks, actor, Tim Allen, actor, Tom Cruise,actor,Nicole Kidman, actress, Harrison Ford, actor, Sandra Bullock, actress, Rosie O’Donnell, actress/comedian, Wesley Snipes, actor, Sinbad, actor/comedian, Dustin Hoffman, actor, Mel Gibson and family, actor, Kevin Costner, actor, Dan Aykroyd, actor, Ann Jillian, actress,Jodie Foster, actress, Lauren Bacall, actress, Valerie Bertinelli, actress, Samuel L. Jackson, actor, Sharon Stone, actress Geena Davis, actress, Andrew Shue, actor, John Laroquette, actor,Dabney Coleman, actor,Mariel Hemingway, actress, Sally Field, actress, and SEAL, musician

Answer, they all use Macs!