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Mr. Appliance-Guy Is Back (2/19/01)
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Wow, now that takes us back a bit! It's been quite a while since Larry "Me And Steve Jobs Are Bestest Buddies" Ellison last mouthed off to the press-- not about his own little venture known as Oracle, but about that other little company on whose board of directors he sits. (That's, uh, "Apple" for those of you keeping score at home.) What's it been, over three years since he let slip that Apple would be focusing on "client-server NC-style architectures"? (Whatever happened to that, anyway? For a while, there, you couldn't spit with your eyes closed without hitting Blabby Larry chatting up some reporter about the "top secret" Apple Network Computer...)
Anyway, in an apparent fit of nostalgia, Larry's at it again. According to The Register, the topic of our favorite Mac-maker came up when Larry addressed BusinessWeek's "Captains of Industry" conference, and he still thinks that Apple's future success will rely upon "digital appliances." And while the man clearly has appliances on the brain, if he keeps this up long enough, he just might turn out to be right. After all, that's what this whole "digital hub" hoo-haa boils down to, right? Says Larry: "I think Apple can be the greatest provider of digital appliances in this market... I think Apple's biggest competitor is going to be Sony."
Sony? So, by "appliances," Mr. Ellison evidently doesn't just mean those "Internet appliances" we always hear are going to take over the world-- you know, those cheap things with the little screens, no hard disks, proprietary software, and required monthly subscription fees that are going to be all the rage any minute now. Nor, apparently, does he mean that Apple's future lies with washing machines, refrigerators, and coffee-makers, or else he would have listed, say, Maytag as the enemy in this fight. No, he specifically mentions Sony-- which means that Apple is going to be a provider of computers, stereo equipment, digital cameras, home theater equipment, game consoles, and camcorders-- and, perhaps one day, country music and movie theaters. A sounder strategy for Apple's long-term growth we've yet to encounter. Bring it on, Larry!
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SceneLink (2872)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 2/19/01 episode: February 19, 2001: Whassamatter, now you want your DVD back? Well, Apple's repairing PowerBook G4s whose DVD-ROM drives aren't quite so accommodating. Meanwhile, Larry Ellison is at it again; this time he says that Apple's future lies in "digital appliances" that will compete with Sony's market share. And the first SuperDrive-equipped Power Mac G4 has shipped, more than a week before Steve's keynote-delivered deadline...
Other scenes from that episode: 2871: Aww, Is Baby Gonna Cry? (2/19/01) Well, all we can say is that if we were lucky enough to be in Steve Jobs's tennis shoes right now, we'd be wondering just what it takes to keep you prima donna Mac fans happy. We're talking about the grumbling coming from some PowerBook G4 owners... 2873: DVD Ho! Get Ready To Burn (2/19/01) Heads up-- the SuperDrives are a-comin'! Just as Apple shipped its first PowerBook G4 by the end of January as Steve promised during his last keynote, today the company issued a press release confirming that the first SuperDrive-equipped 733 MHz Power Mac G4 has rolled off the line, been slapped in a box, and is now winging its merry way to some lucky customer somewhere out there in the wild blue yonder...
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