Think Big, Think Secret (1/21/98)
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Remember last year's deal between Apple and Microsoft? So far, not much visible has come from it, other than the imminent release of Office 98 for the Mac (which, to be honest, was already in the works as Office 97 at the time). However, it's only been five months, so any big repercussions from the agreement are still gathering steam. If MacOS Rumors is to be believed, several sources are predicting that something big will come out of the agreement in the next few months.
Okay, so what's "big?" The details are sketchy, at best, but it appears that because of the patent-exchange part of the agreement, Apple has access to Microsoft technologies that it plans to use in an attempt to "retake one of its traditionally weak markets." (How's that for vague?) The information should be made public by the WorldWide Developers' Conference in May, or maybe the inaugural MacWorld New York + Creative World (gag) in July.
Which "traditionally weak market," we wonder? Business? Low-end consumer? Whatever it is, we hope it works out well for Apple; to us, they appeared to be the big loser in the deal when it was announced last August. Hopefully we'll see them get more out of this than a small lump of cash and a temporary stock climb. Stay tuned.
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SceneLink (378)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 |  | The above scene was taken from the 1/21/98 episode: January 21, 1998: (Sorry—this was before we started writing intro text for each episode!)
Other scenes from that episode: 379: Whipping Boy Extreme (1/21/98) Uh-oh, Don Crabb's going off about the Newton again. For a technology that launched the whole PDA category, he says, Apple sure has been kicking it around for the last few years. High prices, marketing strategies that span the range between "lousy" and "non-existent," spin-offs that get spun back in, rumors of cancellation just before each new product's rollout-- you know the drill. But it's the price structure of the Newton MessagePad that makes us take issue with Don's claim that the Newton "still dominates its product category."... 380: Two Faces of Bill (1/21/98) In an irony almost too heavy to bear, Bill Gates yesterday praised competition in the computer industry while speaking via satellite to a financial conference in London. According to a Reuters story, he publicly claimed that he and Microsoft are "the biggest believers in what competition can do to drive this market forward." Now, of course he has a point...
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