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Popularity's A Funny Thing (11/9/00)
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One could think of computer sales figures as a sort of popularity contest, right? Unfortunately, by that measure, Apple's G4 Cube is barely even Miss Congeniality. But while the Cube isn't very popular at the checkout line, it scored rave reviews from the pundits who gave it a test spin, and continues to rack up honors from various and sundry sources. Remember how the Cube won a Design & Engineering Award from Popular Mechanics a week or so ago? By extension, we'd logically have to assume that Apple's mini-Mac is, well, popular among mechanics. So that's one market that Apple should target, presumably with some kind of cross-marketing campaign with Car-X or something.
But when it comes to Cube-friendly markets, the mechanic population is just one slice of the pie. Another is perhaps less surprising: scientists. The Cube is wildly popular among scientists. Don't believe us? Well, what would you say if we told you that the Cube just won the "grand award for computers and technology" from Popular Science? That's indisputable evidence. We can't exactly prove it to you, because the magazine's web site still shows info about the November issue, but faithful viewer Shayon Ghosh swears to us that the Cube is the big winner in the December mag. So congratulations to everyone's favorite little inventory overstock item, and with luck, now that it's won these two accolades, swarms of mechanics and scientists will descend upon Apple retail outlets the world over and buy all those Cubes collecting dust on the shelves.
Since that's obviously going to happen any day now, we figure Apple should start cranking up production on more Cubes and lobbying for awards from other popular magazines, such as Popular Woodworking, Popular Ceramics, and Popular Hot Rodding. In addition to mechanics and scientists, soon the Cube will be sought after by legions of carpenters, sculptors, and automotive enthusiasts everywhere. Oh, and Apple? If you're tuned in, feel free to use our brilliant sales strategy at no charge. We'd ask you to send us a Cube as a token of thanks, but we realize those are going to be mighty scarce any day now-- so your undying gratitude is payment enough.
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SceneLink (2668)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 11/9/00 episode: November 9, 2000: Apple announces that Oracle's E-Business Suite runs on the Mac; is this the start of a push back into the enterprise market? Meanwhile, the sales-poor Cube wins another popularity contest, this time from Popular Science, and IBM's CEO declares that the personal computer is dead-- so long, Apple...
Other scenes from that episode: 2667: Getting Back To Business (11/9/00) When it comes to priorities, we at AtAT place the welfare of our faithful viewers above all else (except for perhaps television, baked goods, and fried food). That's why we're a little hesitant to tell you that Apple may finally be trying to expand its market horizons and tackle the lucrative business market... 2669: Flanders Was A Zombie? (11/9/00) Big news, people-- there's been a death, and IBM discovered the body. It seems that IBM's CEO, Lou Gerstner, has been chatting to TechWeb about his company's ongoing revenue trouble, and at some point during the questioning he dropped the bomb that-- brace yourselves-- "the PC is dead." Yup, personal computers are pushing up the daisies, saith Lou, which came as rather a shock to us, since we're using one right now...
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