As the Apple Turns: Scene 782: "What's a Spin-Off?" (6/17/98)

"What's a Spin-Off?" (6/17/98)

Good heavens, could Filemaker Pro be in trouble? We certainly don't want to be unnecessarily alarmist, but Mac the Knife reports that Filemaker, Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple) is currently discussing whether or not they should sell off the database program. Yikes! Hopefully there isn't much to this rumor, since Filemaker is a consistent winner in the sales figures and can always be counted on to give Apple's financial results a little boost. And more importantly, despite its quirks and shortcomings, Filemaker Pro is an incredibly powerful database that allows non-programmers to build complex and sophisticated solutions.

The other Knife tidbit that has us a little concerned is the rumor that Apple is dropping Filemaker Pro from the list of software to be bundled with the consumer-friendly iMac, due this fall. Filemaker Pro is a $200 value, which made the $1299 iMac an even more attractive buy for small-office/home-office buyers. If the Knife is right about either or both these rumors, we hope Apple will reconsider.

Incidentally, the Knife's Filemaker revelations come in the context of WebObjects ruminations; Apple is reportedly considering either selling off the hyper-cool object-oriented web development system, or spinning it and its related personnel off into WebObjects, Inc. We just hope that's not an omen... Remember the final outcome when Apple spun off the Newton group?

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The above scene was taken from the 6/17/98 episode:

June 17, 1998: Is Filemaker Pro is danger of being sold off? Mac the Knife seems to think so. Meanwhile, a rare Spartacus has been spotted on the set of MTV's the Real World, and AOL refuses to sell out to AT&T, despite an offer of about $20 billion...

Other scenes from that episode:

783: The Real Spartacus (6/17/98) Those of you who were regular Seinfeld viewers know the loss the Mac world suffered when that show recently ended its nine-year career. Jerry, after all, pretty much always had a Mac on his desk in the last several seasons...
784: Truckload of Money (6/17/98) The world's largest online service is apparently perfectly happy remaining independent. According to an Associated Press article, they just turned down a buyout offer from AT&T, who was willing to pay "comfortably above" AOL's current market value...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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