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SEPTEMBER 17th, 1997
Happy Endings Todd Stauffer
(tstauffer@webintosh.com)
Will Apple Keep My Business?
I bought the PowerCenter Pro system over its closest competitor -- the Power Mac 7300 -- because it was $300-400 cheaper, available in a minitower case and rated faster in nearly every benchmark I'd seen, thanks to its 60 Mhz system bus.
I couldn't really see myself choosing any of the other clones, since most of the models based on Motorola's sub-license didn't come with upgradable daughtercards. But I figured with a solid Adaptec SCSI II interface, accelerated video and that fast system bus, the Power machine could survive close to five years on little more than daughtercard upgrades, if I'm lucky.
But I'll probably buy other systems in the meantime for employees, contractors and other uses. Will I buy an Apple-produced system? They haven't given me much choice in the matter, and I don't appreciate that. In August, our household bought an Apple system (a Performa 6400) that offered a price point that couldn't be beat by Power -- plus, that Performa owner says she prefers the "real thing" over any imitiations, so she buys Apple. (In fact, she says it this month in Mac Home Journal magazine.)
That's loyalty from an Apple owner -- one of Apple's strengths. But Apple doesn't have everyone's loyalty in that respect -- especially on those mid-range systems where cloners added a lot of value, as well as the top-end, where CHRP was about to give people systems they'd been lying in bed awake just thinking about. I, for instance, don't want any of Apple's current machines. Not one of them.
Get the Buyer Back
Power built the system I wanted. 3-D acceleration, fast SCSI, minitower, Zip drive, daughtercard. Apple didn't. Not that they were incapable -- just that they didn't have the time or inclination to build the "perfect" system for me. They can't please everyone. Power built different systems for slightly different customers. And, in some cases, they won the sale.
Was Power cheating Apple of its customers? Maybe so. But Apple could have recovered enough in licensing fees to make it worth their while -- or even bought the company and made it an active division of Apple. Let's call that point moot -- Apple didn't buy Power's assets because they couldn't come to terms on licensing. Apple bought Power's license because Apple wouldn't come to terms on licensing.
So Apple has my name on the $100 million list. But am I going to buy a system from them?
Spec it Out
If Apple's going to win back people who were converted by the clone makers, they're going to have to do two things. First, they need to respond quickly to the market. Second, they need to offer about as much choice as the market had with cloners around. If they can pull off the "Dell model" of custom-built mail-order systems, maybe they can keep most of their customers. But there are good reasons why they can't do it.
Response to the market? That means PowerPC 750 machines right now. Not in March. Now.
DVD right now. Accelerated video inside Apple boxes. 60 Mhz or faster bus. Does Apple OEM the new 3Dfx card? How about a 4 MB ATI Rage? And Apple should have built a CHRP system by now. If I want to use a PC keyboard, or a parallel printer, now is the time to let me do that -- especially if, as is rumored, Apple has alienated their printer manufacters.
Number of choices? That means the equivalent of a 7300 in a mini-tower case -- preferably a cool case like the 8600's. It means daughtercards on the Power Mac 6500 series. Right now I get to pay $3000 for a 300 Mhz system that can't be upgraded. That's old school, Apple. And why is the "Creative Studio" edition available only in certain configurations? Why are you pulling the DOS compatibles without ever writing 32-bit drivers? This is not choice.
Can Apple Do It?
Apple has zero history of creating marketable, flexible computer systems that respond quickly to the market. Apple does have a history of creating excellent computers with compelling technology, then pricing them into the stratosphere and playing Field of Dreams re-runs ("build it and they will come") in the marketing department. And I can't even begin to imagine that Steve "No Slots in the Mac" Jobs is going to change that. A customer-driven Apple? We're waiting.
When Apple does come out with cool mid-range systems next year, will they be $1995? That's how much my cool Power system cost (with 64 MB of RAM, although the Zip drive was extra). Or will they be the typical Apple Cool Price of $2795? That seems more likely. Apple builds some great systems, but I've seen what can happen when you let someone build systems that I can appreciate. If you didn't see the Motorola booth at MacWorld Boston, consider yourself lucky. I already miss those choices.
In the short term, Apple may find profitability in this move to kill cloners. NCs and Rhapsody should be cool -- maybe we can buy Intel clones if we want choice when we run Rhapsody.
But unless they completely reinvent themselves, I think Apple has lost some customers in the long term. How do I know? Because a couple hundred thousand Mac owners read Macworld magazine. In their Mac Superguide, they list 16 different Mac OS systems that they recommend for various reasons. Four of them are Apple-branded. Only two of them are "Editors' choices."
Next year, Macworld's recommendation may all be Apple systems again. But will those systems really deserve the honor?
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