AUGUST 18th, 1997 AppleCORE MIKE LAMBERT (mlambert@webintosh.com) Keep Your Chin Up In an emotional snit several weeks back, I banged out a Webintosh perspective in which I questioned Apple's future, based on fiscal quarter after fiscal quarter of multimillion dollar losses. My dramatic opinion concerning Apple's viability was formed after reading (and actually believing) a variety of one-sided stories in the print and online news media, including a column from another well-known online Mac columnist who predicted that Apple would be bankrupt in a year, based on its current cash reserves, if the money-bleeding continued on unabated. But let's face it -- Apple isn't in the same financial position it was a year ago, or even a month ago. With record-breaking sales of Mac OS 8 (far beyond what even Apple anticipated), market share slowly on the rise once more with the introduction (and improved availability) of kick-butt Power Macs, PowerBooks and Mac clones, an intense interest in the forthcoming Rhapsody OS (not to mention a financial shot-in-the-arm from Microsoft), it doesn't appear that Apple will have $50 to $100 million dollar quarterly losses for much longer, if at all. And realistically, companies worth $10+ billion a year, with more cash reserves on hand than 96% of all publicly-traded American companies (more than most high-tech companies, like Cisco Systems), do not go down in flames quickly or quietly. Apple's worth that much? Oh yeah. I culled that tidbit from David Every's MacKiDo Temple Web site, where Every maintains a pro-Mac information clearinghouse aimed at combating the misinformation propagated by the media about Apple. Two particular articles, one entitled "Apple's Business Stability" and another called "Running The Numbers: Is Abandoning The Mac Prudence or Paranoia?" include enough ammo to shut up the Wintel hecklers on the sidelines for at least a little while. Some other cool Mac facts include: Mac sales were up to 5.1 million in 1996, or 10% larger than the 4.5 million units sold in 1995. Mac users save nearly $5,000 annually on support and training, compared to their Intel counterparts (who estimate spending approximately $6,000 yearly on support). Mac users save just over $2,000 in three-year cost of ownership of their computers. * Mac-based firms earn 32% more net profit per project than Intel-based firms. * * From a study done by Gistics, a high-tech market researcher based in Larkspur, CA. Another study completed earlier this year by computer-market researcher Dataquest predicts an increase in sales for Apple and its licensees in the latter half of 1997, as many 680X0 Mac owners (who bought their Quadras, LC IIs and similar models during a peak sales period in 1991 and 1992) upgrade to the faster and even more reasonably-priced PowerPC models available today. So why am I telling you this? Why preach to the choir? Because there are many Mac-using folks out there who, like myself, don't have all of the facts. And after awhile, you're apt to start believing what the media (and your Windows buddies) are telling you -- that Apple is all but dead, and that Windows, in any flavor, is the wave of the future. I received an e-mail last week from a Webintosh reader who shared a recent encounter he had with a headhunter. "He asked me what my strength was, and I made the mistake of telling him -- all things Mac," wrote the reader. "I could almost HEAR the air cooling in the phone line." The headhunter offered to help the reader, based on his PC and Novell skills, but added, "You can work on the Macs 'til they go away -- but XYZ Inc. is going all (Windows) NT and lemme tell 'ya, that's where the world is going. MAC'S DYING EVERYWHERE, don't kid yourself." Don't kid yourself, indeed. Apple has had its share of troubles (financial, technological, and managerial) in recent years. But the battle-hardened computer maker is slowly changing its course, and its future hasn't looked any brighter than it does right now. Be a good Mac evangelist, and get all of the facts -- two great starting points, in fact, are Guy Kawasaki's premier EvangeList site and the "Why Macintosh?" Web site Be prepared to tell your Wintel-hugging bosses, spouses, family members, and friends that Apple is doing okay, and back it up with cold-hard facts, because (along with the one-sided biased reports from the news media) the facts are out there.