The Mac is back, and Apple isn't far behind. Neither ever really went away, of course. But the major business media have reported both to be in critical condition for months; only recently have stories reporting stabilization or predicting recovery begun to emerge. But the trend is there. Peter Lewis of the New York Times used his August 13 column to say flat out that "the Mac is coming back," something he could not have comfortably asserted in that newspaper even a few months before. (The Times business section remains suspicious of all things Macintosh.) Business Week, source of the infamous "Fall of an American Icon" cover story last winter, has had kinder things to say lately—its August 26 issue carries a highly positive report on the new super-fast Mac clones. The Wall Street Journal has joined in this new consensus as well, noting in its August 19 issue that Microsoft has set up an all-Macintosh Internet development center in San Jose. The Journal has also carried approving reports on Mac Evangelist Guy Kawasaki and his fervent, 10,000-strong band of Mac "EvangeListas".

What accounts for the turnaround? Any number of things, including:

• The Macworld show in Boston, which generated large, enthusiastic crowds (as usual) and some impressive new technology (also as usual).
• The reappearance—and immediate disappearance—of Apple PowerBooks at retail. There has been enormous pent-up demand for these machines, and people are buying the re-introduced 5300 and 190 models as quickly as dealers can stock them.
• The sheer dedication and infectious enthusiasm of Mac users around the world (see Guy Kawasaki, above).
• Performance—at this writing, a Mac (from Power Computing) is the world's fastest desktop PC, and PowerPC chip performance is accelerating.
• The future—Motorola will join the Mac clone ranks this fall, and will join IBM and many other companies in producing machines for the multi-OS-capable PowerPC Platform early next year.

There are many other reasons for the Mac's resurgence, including a ongoing series of improvements to the OS itself. But the main thing is, the Mac is back. And the entire computer-using universe is the better for it.

(Reviewed August 24, 1996)