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Irony Is For Suckers (4/17/98)
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Say goodbye to Quicken, everybody-- the current version, Quicken 98, is the last we'll see. MacCentral discusses Intuit's recent decision to cease the development of Quicken for the Mac, citing a MacWEEK article that broke the news. The reason is the one we're all so used to hearing these days-- further development is simply no longer very profitable, as Mac Quicken sales have declined for three straight years. (This all comes following MacCentral having been assured just a week ago that there was no basis to the rumors of Mac Quicken's imminent demise.)
Just in case you didn't get your recommended allowance of irony this week, consider the fact that Intuit's CEO is Bill Campbell, who not only used to be a president of Apple USA, but is also a current member of the Apple board of directors. Apple's board's got more irony than most people see in a lifetime, with a chairman who owns just one share of Apple stock, and now a board member whose company kills the premiere personal finance software for the Mac platform. What's next? Perhaps Larry Ellison killing Oracle's recent commitment to the Mac platform?
Intuit's move further underscores that Apple will have to address the dwindling market share problem sooner rather than later, or else soon there really will be no software available for the Mac. Personally, we at AtAT have never used Quicken, preferring to track our finances with a curious combination of custom Filemaker Pro databases, cryptic notes scribbled on the backs of junk-mail envelopes, and lots and lots of "educated guessing." But for those of you who do use Quicken, we feel for you-- perhaps Big Bad Steve can grab a lead pipe and "persuade" Bill Campbell to reconsider.
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/17/98 episode: April 17, 1998: For the first time ever, Apple's barring the press from attending its annual shareholder meeting next Wednesday. Meanwhile, Intuit cans Quicken for the Mac, despite the fact that their CEO is on the Apple board of directors, and doubts continue about whether Apple's profitability is sustainable...
Other scenes from that episode: 635: No Media Allowed (4/17/98) "Investors Only," reads the big flashing neon sign outside the clubhouse. That's the scenario next week for Apple's annual shareholder meeting. Apple has announced that only shareholders of AAPL will be permitted to attend, and non-investing analysts and reporters will have to get past Bruno the Impressively Violent Bouncer if they expect to get inside... 637: There's Always Doubt (4/17/98) About that recent $55 million profit for Q2: a ZDNet story discusses whether or not it actually means anything positive about Apple's future. Just how much did the company's "slash-and-burn" streak contribute to the bottom line?...
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