October 29th, 1999

[8:00 AM] Apple Picks eCommerce Standouts For New Small Business Seminar Apple Computer's upcoming small business seminar is set to feature a host of popular third party applications focused on the internet, and specifically, ecommerce. Blue World Communications, Inc. Lasso, StarNine's WebSTAR, and Imacination Software's Ch-Ching! are going to be the featured products at the upcoming seminar. The Small Business Seminar is going to provide suggestions for running and managing a small business. Apple is recognizing the outstanding software on the Mac platform for simplifying the needs for the small business user, and is focusing a large part of the seminar on those products. According to Apple Computer: Small business is booming again! The Internet now offers a powerful way to set up and run your entire business from front to back. New easy-to-use and affordable resources enable you to establish first-class infrastructure online. These resources are powerful enough to use anywhere you have access to the Internet, and will help you lower costs, improve customer and employee communications, and achieve greater overall results quickly and affordably. You are invited to a special small business seminar to explore the new world of the Internet Office. This free seminar, hosted by Apple Computer, Inc. and SCORE, will feature two exclusive tracks on how to set up and run your business on the Internet. You will learn how to leverage the Internet with the very latest products from Apple Computer and how to set up your own "iOffice" using the latest "dot-com" services tailored directly to the needs of entrepreneurs and small business owners. And this, according to StarNine, Lasso, and Imacination: WebSTAR is a full-featured yet easy to administer Web server which includes SSL encryption, a critical requirement for secure e-commerce. The Lasso Web Data Engine provides advanced Web connectivity to FileMaker Pro and ODBC databases along with a sophisticated Web programming language for dynamic data handling. Ch-Ching! delivers an elegant interface to rapidly configure your online store and administer database content with various options for real-time Internet based credit card processing. Apple's Small Business Seminar is free, at locations throughout the country. You can find more information at Apple Computer's web site. The Mac Observer Spin: This is a very important effort from Apple. With eCommerce still in its infancy, especially with small and medium sized businesses, Apple has a lot of room for growth. Since small companies become big companies, this could even be a sort of slow trojan horse for Apple to gain strength in the corporate market. In any event, it is vital that Apple promote itself in cost effective ways like this to the business world. With their servers being so much easier to maintain, configure, and use than their Wintel alternatives, Apple could really gain new ground. Another consideration is their choice of outside products as components for these business solutions. When Apple helps developers sell software, this makes for happy developers. Happy developers, particularly in booming areas like the Internet and eCommerce, make for a healthy industry. Apple Computer