| We have been staunch supporters of Apple and the Mac OS from the beginning. We have written any number of columns on behalf of the platform, including one in support of the recently departed Dr. Amelio's "comeback plan" some 18 months ago.
We have appeared on an Apple Internet chat program to promote the Macintosh, and we have fought back for the Mac against ignorant, self-serving IT departments in a number of different companies. We have been good "EvangeListas," and have used the information in Guy Kawasaki's invaluable mailing list to supplement our own experience and help first-time computer buyers make the right choice.
We have never ceased to believe in the Mac as a creative resource. The machine's elegance, unsurpassed hardware-software integration and unparalleled ease of use give it a fluidity and power that Wintel machines simply cannot match. We continue to believe in the Mac, and (by default) in Apple.
But we have had enough. Apple cannot continue on its present course and expect to survive.
Apple and (by default) the Mac are in a downward spiral that, unless reversed soon, will prove fatal. (Don't let the early, limited success of the Mac clone market mislead you—most of this growth has come at Apple's expense. And, contrary to popular opinion, we do not believe the Macintosh can survive without Apple.) The popular press, the corporate marketplace and the public at large all believe Apple is dying, or dead.
This perception is by far the greatest threat Apple faces—greater than the management turnover, the quarterly losses, the declining market share. Unless it is removed, and soon, we believe Apple will die (or be acquired, which we think would amount to a slower, more painful death).
Nothing Apple has tried has worked. The conventional advice now being proffered by the usual "analysts" will not work, either. A new CEO ... a build-to-order policy ... further staff and cost reductions ... none of these, in and of itself, is capable of reversing Apple's decline.
The only way out is drastic and heretical: Apple must start building Intel-based Windows NT machines for its key markets. The leading Mac clone maker, Power Computing, has already announced its intention to do this, thus causing a drop in Apple's stock price and great consternation in the Mac community.
But Power is right: in the current, blinkered environment, growth and credibility can only come if you play in the Windows mainstream. Since Apple needs both desperately, it must follow Power's lead.
Please take a moment to complete the survey below. The majority of this column's readers—and nearly all its subscribers—belong to the Mac community, so your response is important. We will of course publish the results, and pass them along to Apple if warranted.
(Reviewed July 14, 1997)
Save Apple Survey
1. Should Apple offer Windows NT machines?
Yes No Unsure
2. Should Apple abandon Rhapsody (or at least put it on the "back burner")?
Yes No Unsure
3. Should Apple separate its hardware and software units more completely?
Yes No Unsure
4. Should Apple "open up" the clone market—i.e., license PowerBooks, sign current licensing deals, recruit new licensees, etc?
Yes No Unsure
5. Should Apple create a cross-platform business unit especially for content providers?
Yes No Unsure
6. What do you think Apple should do to reverse the decline?
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