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Ready For The Cheap Stuff (4/5/98)
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Okay, so Artemis finally got here and it's not the $1000 wonder many of us expected it to be. For those of you who still wonder about whether Apple is ever going to address the needs of the sub-$1000 computer market, you may be interested to know that Mac the Knife is discussing some very intriguing possibilities in the upcoming Mac lineup. If he's right, the all-in-one Mac unveiled scant days ago will only be available for a couple of quarters, after which it'll be replaced by a completely different set of low-cost Macs.
Now, it's unclear whether those new low-cost Artemis-replacing Macs are the same as the sub-$1000 models that the Knife reports as slotted for arrival this summer. Those particular ultra-cheap Macs will be based on the hitherto-abandoned Santa Fe design, which was originally expected to be used in the eMate line. (Given that the eMate as we know it is now history, it's nice to hear that not all of the development done for it is going to waste.) There are two rumored configurations of this low-cost wonder: one is a network computer version, with fast Ethernet and no hard drive, but with the ability to boot from a network server; and the other is a home version, with a hard drive for local storage, a 56K modem, and the option for a DVD player. Both configurations will sport a color LCD display. Oh, and did we mention that the code name for this project is "Columbus?" We're more convinced now than ever that the Columbus project encompasses many low-cost products, including NC's, set-top boxes, eMate-style portables, and more.
Incidentally, the Knife also mentions that insiders are predicting a Q2 Apple profit of $80 to $100 million-- even higher than predicted by Mac OS Rumors' source. Blimey! Keep all this in mind, as we plan to launch our quarterly "Beat the Analysts" contest before the week is out. If your guess is the closest to Apple's actual posted results, you'll win an as-yet-unspecified fabulous prize from our Baffling Vault of Antiquity!™
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/5/98 episode: April 5, 1998: The masses still wait and hope, but Apple may in fact enter the sub-$1000 market this summer. Meanwhile, PC chipmaker Cyrix plans to create a chip that will drive prices down still further, and a former co-founder of Microsoft finds himself embroiled in a particularly sleazy sexual harassment case...
Other scenes from that episode: 600: And Even Cheaper Still (4/5/98) We certainly hope that Apple's preparing to enter the sub-$1000 market before they miss the boat entirely, but it seems the competition in that arena is about to get even nastier. Cyrix, a producer of x86/Intel-compatible chips for low-cost PC's, plans to announce tomorrow that they are working on a new processor destined for sub-$500 computers... 601: The Sleaze We Crave (4/5/98) The following is not directly relevant to anything we're usually dealing with. In fact, it's not even indirectly relevant, really, but it's just too apt for our show to ignore. It appears that Paul Allen, Bill Gates' co-founder of Microsoft, is being sued for sexual harrassment by a woman who claims she was fired after she rebuffed his advances...
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