| | March 20, 1998: In a Sybil-esque twist, it seems the mysterious "Columbus" project and the equally-mysterious Mac NC project may be one and the same. Meanwhile, there's more on Gil Amelio's aborted attempts to base the next Mac OS on NT, and Steve's about to be told to make up his mind once and for all... | | |
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One And The Same (3/20/98)
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As speculation about the exact nature of the much-ballyhooed "Columbus" project continues, Mac OS Rumors adds another possibility to the pile. According to one of their Apple sources, the project certainly exists-- but it's actually the Mac NC. That would make a certain amount of sense, given the similarities in the rumors. More than likely, the so-called "Columbus" project spans many form factors and functions; we tend to think that it's the whole "thin client" shebang which will encompass NC's, Newton-replacing handhelds, set-top boxes, eMate-style media players, etc. all running Allegro Lite. That's just our own little opinion. Regardless, we're particularly glad to hear that "Apple isn't interested in another Pippin." It's always a hopeful sign when a multibillion-dollar company can learn from at least one of its horrible, twisted, screaming car-wreck-style mistakes.
Rumors' source also claims that the project is not actually code-named "Columbus--" a fact which would make faithful viewers like Jim Crittenden very happy indeed. In Jim's own words: As a teacher of students of the Navajo Nation, whose district has literally hundreds of Apple computers (Hello!! We're talking about a serious cyber-presence out here), I am willing to bet that if Apple goes through with a project code-named "Columbus", then very soon Apple hardware will become about as popular as Borg implants around here. Maybe Apple should put that in their peacepipe and smoke it!
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Waffles, Anyone? (3/20/98)
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Hmmm, sounds like Jobs' decision not to become Apple's permanent CEO position wasn't quite as firm as we've been led to believe, at least if Business Week is to be trusted. A recent article claims that Steve has gone back to the board and asked for their best offer at least a couple of times, and has left them hanging on the decision.
According to Business Week, the board would still be quite happy for Jobs to take the post, but they can't wait any longer for a decision. They have a CEO candidate ready to leap in on the condition that Jobs leaves the board, and they are expected to make Jobs one last offer this coming Tuesday. And what an offer it is-- 8% of the whole company. But even though they'd like him to take the job, they aren't at all sure how long he's actually stay if he took it, given how long it's taken him just to make a decision. So they're considering hiring a very strong second-hand man just in case.
If he's really still considering signing on permanently (and has been all this time), that certainly explains why he's always so touchy about the CEO hunt. Recall, for instance, the time he walked out on a CNBC interview when the issue was raised. Personally, we at AtAT still hope he stays. It appears that we may know as early as the end of next week. Stay tuned.
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