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Objection Overruled (10/3/99)
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So were you wondering how Japanese iMac cloner Sotec was able to get a "remodeled" version of its "e-one" system out the door so quickly? Maybe you weren't; after all, the only design difference in the new "e-one 500" model is the use of uniform "Millennium Blue" silvery plastic instead of the more derivative blue and white in the original. (Of course, we're using the term "original" very loosely, here.) The thing is, we imagine that even something as basic as switching over to different plastics would generally introduce a longer production delay than Sotec experienced, but now we know why they were able to scramble so quickly once Apple won the preliminary injunction barring Sotec from shipping the blue and white e-one: the new e-one 500 has been waiting in the wings for months, now.
According to an Asia BizTech article, Sotec president Soichi Obe claims that the e-one 500 was originally slated for a November release, targeted at businesses who would prefer its more conservative stylings to the garish blue and white of Sotec's first copycat. Once the injunction hit, they simply switched gears and got the e-one 500 out the door a month earlier. So far there's been no word from Apple on whether they plan to get the injunction extended to include the "Millennium Blue" model as well, given that even with the new plastics it still looks so much like Apple's own cuddly consumer computer, rumor has it that eMachines is considering dropping the "eOne" moniker and selling the new model with the product name "I Can't Believe It's Not An iMac!". Just because the new one is silver doesn't mean there isn't a solid likelihood of customer confusion; sure, it may not be mistaken for a current iMac, but it wouldn't surprise us if prospective customers assumed it was a new iMac based entirely on its shape.
Predictably, Obe states that his company plans to file an objection to the preliminary injunction barring the sale of the first e-one. His argument? "We are not talking about goods that cost only several thousand yen. I can hardly believe that there is a consumer who buys a PC priced more than 100,000 yen without knowing basic specifications such as the operating system." Which, of course, just goes to show that Obe doesn't get it. Maybe things are different in Japan, but here in the U.S., the consumer who doesn't even know what an operating system is just happens to be Apple's target market for the iMac-- and there are plenty of people out there who fit the description, for better or for worse.
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SceneLink (1819)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 10/3/99 episode: October 3, 1999: While hordes of foaming Mac fanatics still await their iBook pre-orders, unclaimed Tangerine and Blueberry units sit on the shelves at Sears. Meanwhile, Sotec vows to fight the injunction preventing it from selling the "e-one" iMac clone, and speculation mounts that "Think Different" may be retired at Tuesday's event...
Other scenes from that episode: 1818: Goofy Distribution Model (10/3/99) Where have all the iBooks gone? The answer may surprise you. It's no secret that Apple's supply of the luscious new consumer portables is pretty heavily constrained, and that availability's not going to improve very much for probably at least a month due to lingering production difficulties in Taiwan following the earthquake... 1820: Thought Different (10/3/99) You probably think that, when Steve Jobs takes the stage on Tuesday to address the world at this mysterious "event," you know exactly what he's going to show us all. First, there's the new iMac; Apple's been running itself ragged trying to shut down all the sites posting the alleged "Kihei" images, and the "event" was announced just days after the dam broke and Kihei pictures and specs were plastered all across the Mac webscape...
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