Sheesh. First thing I hear is that IBM offered about $60 a share for Apple and that Spindler and the board said no. Then I'm told that during the Windows 95 rollout, the demand for Power Macs soared but Apple couldn't deliver enough machines. Bad forecasting, it seems. Now, most recently, I hear that parts of Apple may have to be sold off to keep things afloat. Parts? I didn't know there were any "parts" to sell. Unless they mean the Newton PIE division, and who would want that?
Well, none of this sounds good, and the long delays for the Copland operating system aren't going to help as more and more people flock to Bill Gates' vision of a Windows 95 universe. More-cynical observers might see a sinking ship and the death throes of Apple, but I don't. I do worry, though, that Apple has strayed from the path that made it the only pioneer personal-computer company to survive this long. Let's face the facts: There's less personal computing happening at Apple than at just about any other microprocessor-based company today.
In 1977 and 1978, when Apple pioneered home and personal computing along with a few other hopefuls such as IMSAI, Processor Technology, North Star, and Altair, it was selling to Everyman. Back in those days, everyone's computer ads showed a happy family or a smart, only-slightly-dweeby guy with an Apple II using it to gain some sort of edge.
During this period, there was an interesting buzz about personal computers and how individual people were using them. People could do with their own computers whatever they wanted -- especially if they knew how to program them. They could play games or write letters. They could organize their finances or control model trains. It was up to them.
The companies that sold machines to these daring individuals were every bit as wacky as their customers. Remember Altair, with its 8800 and front-panel switches? This pure-hobbyist machine, which was sold through a chain of stores called Computer Kits, was going to be the "mainframe of the 1980s," according to Altair.
Another "mainframe of the 1980s" wannabe was Processor Technology's SOL-20, a machine more interesting than the Apple II but lacking any color capability. Color gave the Apple II a big edge, because it was what individuals -- not businesses -- wanted.
Throughout these early years, a slew of companies came and went. North Star, Morrow, Ohio Scientific, Digital Group, Sphere, Jupiter, Cromemco, Godbout, and others are only memories now. All the while, Apple kept growing. By comparison to the other players, it seemed solid as a rock.
Then came the IBM PC, and almost overnight everything changed. In the earliest years of the personal-computer revolution, everyone assumed that IBM was the enemy. Personal computing was aimed at destroying IBM and its mainframe hegemony. But when IBM arrived on the scene with its own personal computer, the attitude changed. And it kept changing as spreadsheets seemed to be driving personal computing more than anything else. Once the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program was introduced, the IBM PC became the de facto leader. Personal computers were now machines that businesses could use. Individuality didn't count for much. It was the beginning of the era of the clone.
Things looked grim for Apple. It was way behind the curve on business computing. Newer models of the Apple II were lame upgrades. The Apple III -- Apple's first attempt at a business machine -- was a joke. The storm clouds were looming. Then Steve Jobs, the Apple visionary, took a new tack. Seeing the cool Xerox Star machine, he realized that the GUI was the way of the future. Soon the Lisa was born.
But although innovative, the Lisa was a betrayal of Apple's origins: personal computing. At $10,000, the Lisa was too expensive to be a personal computer. Not until the Macintosh would the company get back on track with its personal vision. Users could at least afford the thing, even if it didn't do much. The promise of personal computing was kept alive.
But for how long? Again today we see Apple moving away from inexpensive computing toward high-priced workstations in an attempt to keep up with the big guys. The Power Macs are nifty, but they're not for everyone.
Years ago Timex-Sinclair developed a dinky little computer that sold for $99. People bought tons of them. Another doorstop, true, but also cheap computing for the masses. Somewhere along the way, we've lost the ability to feed the public cool little computers at low prices. Much of this loss is because Apple lost its edge, drive, and desire to make "personal" computers. Why not develop a box that costs less than $500 but lets people access the World Wide Web? I bet Apple could sell as many of those as Timex-Sinclair did of its doohickey.
