Only a couple of years ago, nearly everyone had written Apple off as irrelevant, dying, or dead. We were witnesses to the stark horror of massive layoffs, quarter after quarter of huge losses, mediocre products, the cutting of promising projects, market share spiralling ever downward-- in short, it wasn't very pleasant. Many of us had to come to terms with the very real possibility that there was no longer a place for Apple in a world where, say, Compaq was king. And we remember what we told everyone who said to us that Apple would be gone in two years: we're not the type of people who gamble, but that's a bet we'd take. (No one took us up on it, which is why we're not rolling in dough today.)

See, we were betting on two things, really-- the loyalty of the Mac user base, and the fact that two years in the computer business is a freakin' eternity in which anything can happen, and usually does. As you all know, Apple didn't die, and things are looking rosier for the company now than they have in many, many years. And conversely, Compaq, who looked unstoppable a few years back, looks to be in a bit of financial trouble; a CNET article notes that the company not only just announced a quarterly loss of $184 million, but they're also planning to cut about 8,000 jobs and shut down some plants. And those job cuts and closings mean that the company's next quarter might wind up looking like some kind of Dantesque circle of hell for big business, due to what might be a $1 billion restructuring charge. Granted, Compaq's probably unlikely to let things get as out of control as Apple did, and we're not predicting their imminent demise or anything, but we still consider it a clear illustration of how quickly things can change.

One thing we'll say about Apple's near-death experience: hopefully they're aware of the crucial part played by the Macintosh faithful. Hopefully they'll continue to build great products for us to buy, to use, and to fall in love with, and hopefully they'll nurture and respect our loyalty instead of treating it as something they're entitled to, instead of something they earn. Because if they do all that, the future's pretty much unbounded, wouldn't you say?