Notes from the Editor #10

After sending in my registration for TechTool 1.0.9, I received a nice thank you note from the manufacturer with the following quote attached:

“DOS Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq, Tandy, and millions of others are by far the most popular, with about 70 million machines in use wordwide. Macintosh fans, on the other hand, may note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans, and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form.” (New York Times, November 26, 1991)

With all the talk of Apple in decline, I thought I would share this tidbit of old news.
In 1984, Steve Jobs (Co-founder of Apple with Steve Wozniak) and John Sculley (then president of Apple) were talking deals with AT&T, Wang, and General Motors about joining forces to better take on IBM. Could you imagine where the Macintosh would be today if they had indeed joined with AT&T? When Apple released Macintosh, they only had a couple hundred engineers. AT&T, at the same time, had over thirty thousand! It would also have given them instant credibility world wide, as AT&T was the only American company able to take on the IBM behemoth. But here we are, twelve years later, and Apple is still going strong. (Regardless of what the press would have us believe).

Most of you know who Steve Jobs is. Some of you may also know that it was Steve Wozniak working out of Jobs garage who built the first Apple Computer. Most people, incorrectly, also assume he created the Macintosh as well. He didn’t. Macintosh was started by Jef Raskin, working on a small project with a handful of others. However, it was never Raskin’s desire to use Windows, Icons, or a mouse with his Macintosh (named for his favorite Apple). It was, no surprise, Steve Jobs who insisted the Macintosh be given these things, which was being developed into another new Apple computer at the time named Lisa. So when you look at your Mac, you can thank not only Steve Jobs for taking over the tiny Macintosh division at the time, but Jef Raskin, for starting it. Hey, credit where credit is due.

(Would you like to see more of some Apple history here in My Mac? Let me know!)

How good is the Intel Microprocessor? Is it as good as the Power PC family? Well, here is a little food for thought: The “Intel Inside” ads (like the jumbo jet or dolphins in the computer) were created using a Macintosh. “Imagine that…”

I have a confession to make. I want to buy a PC. Yes, a PC. It’s not that I do not love my Apple Macintosh, but from what I have seen, a PC is just as good, if not better. And the word is that a 250 MHz PC will be out perhaps as early as next Christmas. So, after much thought, I have decided I want one! (Not that I can afford one at the moment!) Oh, and by the way, when I say PC, I mean a Power Computing Macintosh. Guess I cannot bash “PC” anymore, eh? The term will be “Wintel” when talking about the “Dark Side”.