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More Mall Visibility (6/17/99)
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So far, not a whole lot has come about since the appointment of Millard Drexler to Apple's board of directors-- at least, not on the surface. Sure, it's only been a few weeks, and we'd have to be pretty optimistic to expect any visible change already, but "Mickey" Drexler is the CEO of Gap, Inc., one of the most well-known consumer brands out there-- especially if you include Banana Republic and Old Navy. So we feel justified in our optimism; if Apple's serious about becoming "the Sony of computers," bringing Drexler on board was a good way to go about it.
In fact, a MacChat has quite a few interesting suggestions about possible partnerships between Apple and the Gap. For one thing, Gap's online store is currently powered by Windows NT; might it be time to switch to Mac OS X Server and WebObjects? And how about putting iMacs into Gap stores in a kiosk-type mode, allowing customers to browse the store's complete inventory online? Functional and attractive. Better yet, what if the Gap were to sell the iMacs themselves? There probably wouldn't be any Best Buy stocking qualms, either; as Victor Rhee states in his MacChat article, "Gap is great at managing inventory of items like pocket T's in 6 colors, so why not iMacs in 6 colors,too?" You could buy some socks and an iMac to match. Actually, if the upcoming consumer portable is as student-oriented as we've been led to believe, selling those in Gap stores may not be so far-fetched; it's just another back-to-school accessory.
Just keep in mind that inclusion of its CEO on the Apple board doesn't necessarily mean that a company is going to work with or support Apple. Consider Intuit; Bill Campbell was on Apple's board when his company decided to cease Mac development of Quicken. (That decision has since been reversed, but you get our drift.) And despite Larry Ellison's being on the board and enjoying best-friend status with Steve Jobs, Oracle still isn't particularly Mac-friendly. Nevertheless, we love the idea of fruit-flavored iMacs being used and/or sold in Gap stores everywhere; we'll add it to our list of favorite pipe dreams.
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SceneLink (1611)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 6/17/99 episode: June 17, 1999: Is Apple playing dirty by disabling G4 upgrades in current G3 Power Macs? Meanwhile, PC manufacturers continue to jump on the iMac bandwagon, this time by offering all-in-one space-saving systems, and while we haven't yet seen much come of the appointment of Mickey Drexler (of Gap, Inc. fame) to Apple's board, there are some really interesting possibilities to consider...
Other scenes from that episode: 1609: Finally, Some Dirt (6/17/99) Things sure have been quiet in the world of Apple lately. It seems like everybody's just waiting out the lazy days until the Next Big Thing™-- namely, Steve Jobs' keynote address at next month's Macworld Expo... 1610: What Comes After (6/17/99) As much as we like to see things shaken up every once in a while, it's nice to know that some things never change. There are three inevitabilities in this life: death, taxes, and other PC manufacturers ripping off Apple's innovations...
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