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Biting Social Commentary (8/11/99)
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Uh-oh. If you thought Apple was out of the woods just because they've got seven consecutive profitable quarters racked up, the best-selling consumer computer in the country, and a stock price that's more than quadruple its levels a year and a half ago, you're fooling yourself. Do you read the newspaper? If so, you may already be privy to one of the most worrisome and visible defections from the Macintosh platform to "the Dark Side" to happen in recent memory. We're speaking, of course, of Jason Fox.
That's right-- faithful viewers Bongo and Tony Lucarelli both noted that Foxtrot's boy genius, the kid who's proud to be a geek, was last seen computer-shopping with his journalist mother. And longtime fans of the comic strip should already be aware that Jason has always been a Mac guy; we recall several Christmases ago he was dreaming of receiving a fully-loaded Quadra 900. So what was he drooling over in Wednesday's strip? None other than a tower system with dual processors, a "state-of-the-art" 3D accelerator card, and "slots galore." That sure doesn't sound like any computer Apple makes; dual-processor systems won't surface again for the Mac until the G4 ships, a game geek like Jason would never call an ATI Rage 128 "state-of-the-art" these days, and no one, geek or otherwise, would call four slots-- one of which is gobbled up by a video card-- "slots galore." Yup, Jason's lusting after a high-end Wintel PC. Need more proof? His mother describes it as "awfully plain." Case closed.
But it looks like Jason's probably going to stay with the platform whether he likes it or not, since his mother is the one with the cash-- and she's looking at the "cute ones in all different colors." And in Thursday's strip, we see that the "darling" computer that's caught Mrs. Fox's eye is none other than the "iFruit." Needless to say, Jason's not too happy about getting a general-purpose computer that can't be tricked out as the Ultimate Game Machine, but of course the iFruit (er, iMac) isn't targeted at the hardcore gamer. Mrs. Fox, may we make a suggestion? Perhaps a Power Fruit Gee-3 would be a nice compromise...
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SceneLink (1718)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 8/11/99 episode: August 11, 1999: Apple's stock shoots even higher, even without the benefit of a Steve Jobs keynote. Meanwhile, Jason Fox of Foxtrot fame attempts to defect to the Dark Side, and charitable viewer Charles Martin keeps us up to date on the government's virtual lock in the "Redmond Justice" battle...
Other scenes from that episode: 1717: Somebody's Getting Rich (8/11/99) As my dear, sweet grandmother would say, holy yikes! Have you seen Apple's stock price lately? Everyone knows it's been climbing overall since January of last year after it bottomed out at around 12 the month before... 1719: Winning The Bloat War (8/11/99) Regular viewers of AtAT are aware that we're moving the show into spacious new studios-- and anyone who's ever moved knows just how much time and energy the whole process can suck up. That's why we're so happy to have faithful viewers like Charles Martin, who decided to pitch in by lightening our AtAT load...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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