Power Resurrection (12/13/97)
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Power Computing, the hardest-hit casualty in the Great Clone Wars of 1997, plans to rise from its own ashes next year, according tothe Austin-American Statesman. CEO Steven Kahng wants to leap full-force into the Wintel battefield, unencumbered by any ties to Apple.
After fighting Apple for months over the right to cloning independence, Power eventually succumbed to Apple's continued refusal to certify new Mac models based on CHRP or the G3 chip. Power, unable to ship its new PowerTower Pro G3 and claiming that Apple's proposed Mac OS 8 license fees would kill the company, finally consented to sell the Mac OS portion of its business back to Apple-- thus marking the turning point in the largest civil war in Mac history. That deal was recently approved by the Department of Justice and could close within days. While the deal was being reviewed, Power sold off its remaining Mac clone inventory to exit the Mac business entirely by year's end. Its first foray into the Wintel world, the PowerTrip notebook, met with dismal failure, only selling a thousand units or so. Now Power has shut down operations and is liquidating all of their equipment in an online auction, and once the final Apple buyout goes through, Power Computing will be no more.
That defeat hasn't dampened Steven Kahng's spirits, however. He is negotiating with U.S. and Asian companies for the $50 to $100 million he needs to launch a new company, also bearing the Power Computing name, which he intends to compete with giants Dell and Gateway 2000. Talk about a David and Goliath scenario. We at AtAT wish him all the best, and we'll miss Power's presence in the Mac arena.
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| | The above scene was taken from the 12/13/97 episode: December 13, 1997: (Sorry—this was before we started writing intro text for each episode!)
Other scenes from that episode: 265: Turf War at Moscone (12/13/97) After Mac the Knife had hinted at such a thing a few weeks ago, we mentioned that certain Wintel manufacturers are reportedly planning to hawk their wares at next month's MacWorld Expo, in hopes of pulling Mac users over to the Dark Side of the Force... 267: Breaking Windows (12/13/97) And while NT continues its threat to Apple in the professional graphics arena, Microsoft's general-use/consumer operating system prepares to emerge as Windows 97 98. Not counting potential setbacks that may arise as a result of the ongoing Department of Justice flap, Microsoft hopes to ship the updated OS before the middle of next year...
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