Apple at the gates of dawn

1999-09-09

I like Apple. Always have, but then that’s because the technology has always been more important to me than the marketing. Apple’s demise hit hard, particularly when they had such good products. But now they are coming back.

It took Windows a good ten years to catch up with the Macintosh in terms of usability, but finally with Windows 95, it did. (OK, there’s a debate we could have there, but you get the point.) Unfortunately, in the meantime some particularly foolish management decisions priced the unclonable Mac out of a market which was growing like billy-oh. The company has suffered for its foolishness, but it is fair to say that it can leave such errors firmly in the past. The company is re-emerging – not as a gorilla that vandalises everything in its path, nor as a niche supplier with little to offer, but as a player in the game, with sufficient following and reputation to give customers confidence. Its new products are sexy and powerful, the software is there, the innovation is there and what is more there is a new track record developing which augurs well for the future.

For these and other reasons, Apple has seen its share price increase by 40% over the past month alone. Advance orders of its new laptop, the iBook, are running at 140,000 already and there are plans to launch it in Japan within the next month or so. Can nothing go wrong for the reborn company?

Of course it can, and it would be folly to suggest otherwise. However, this market is as much about keeping one step ahead of the game as anything, and for the moment, Apple appear to be doing exactly that.

(First published 9 September 1999)