psc@lzwi.UUCP (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (06/26/85)
< I can use my magic to change the color to red -- but I don't do windows. > Quoted from the Wall Street Journal, Monday the 24th of June, 1984: APPLE IS EXPECTED TO REVISE MARKETING AS COMPANY'S OVERHAUL TAKES HOLD Now that Steven P Jobs, chairman, is out of the day-to-day picture at Apple Computer Inc., the company he co-founded is likely to take some important steps that would change the way Apple markets its two personal computers. For its Macintosh computer, Apple has begun strengthening relations with outside companies that make and sell accessories. Some of those companies complain they were disreguarded by Mr. Jobs. The new bridge- building effort could make the Macintosh more desireable in offices, where Apple's marketing drive hasn't caught on. Customers say there aren't enough add-on products for the machine. Only two weeks after Apple announced the corporate overhaul that relegated Mr. Jobs to a new "global" role, General Computer Co., which makes information-storage devices, said it won a long-sought concession from Apple that will make it easier to connect a General hard disk to the Macintosh. . . . Most hard disks for the Macintosh are plugged into the back of the computer, but HyperDrive is attached directly to the machine's inner circuits. Closely held General, based in Cambridge, Mass., says that difference makes the producet five times faster than conventional rivals. To connect HyperDrive, a dealer must remove the back of the Macintosh. Until recently, that voided the products warranty. "Steve Jobs had put down a little dictum that nobody would screw around with the inside of his Macintosh," says Steward Alsop, publisher of an industry newletter. "It made it real difficult for third parties to work with the Macintosh." But this month, General Computer says, Apple agreed to modify its warranty to allow installation of HyperDrive. Apple itself may be preparing to go so far as to market HyperDrive, an increasingly popular product at the company. Many Apple managers have the hard disks on their desks, and Mr. Scully reportedly has one at home. One Apple engineer recently told a trade journal that the company plans to market a version of the Macintosh in Japan with HyperDrive build in. General Computer won't comment. Apple's Mr [Delbert W.] Yocam [executive vice president for product operations] says the company hasn't announced any such plan. . . . -- -Paul S. R. Chisholm The above opinions are my own, {pegasus,vax135}!lzwi!psc not necessarily those of any {mtgzz,ihnp4}!lznv!psc telecommunications company. "It must be fast, and it must be red, and it must have windows."