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>In a Way, the Web Acts as Apple's
> Safety Net
>
> By Victoria Shannon
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Monday, October 21 1996; Page F21
> The Washington Post
>
> Last week, Apple Computer Inc. reported
>its first profit in more than a year, but its
> chairman, in a restrained tone,
>acknowledged there's still tough sledding ahead: "The
> question before us is not `Will Apple
>survive?' but rather, `How will Apple establish
> leadership in the emerging digital era
>of the Internet and multimedia?' "
>
> The comments of Apple boss Gilbert
>Amelio made me wonder if Mac-heads the
> world over realize how much the stampede
>to the Internet has helped save Apple
> from oblivion.
>
> Think about it. What if the Internet
>were a Windows-only world?
>
> But the Internet is nearly blind to the
>logo on your machine. And the makers of
> browsers, which translate the cryptic
>behind-the-scenes programming of the Internet
> onto our screens, are keen on the
>Macintosh, issuing versions and features equally
> for the operating systems of both
>Microsoft Corp. and Apple.
>
> Java applets, chat, virtual modeling and
>3-D imaging -- none is "gender"-specific. As
> long as there's a single shareware
>developer out there willing to do the translation of
> the Internet language into a piece of
>Mac software, virtually nothing is off limits.
>
> Apple itself is in large part
>responsible for this. In what turned out to be a brilliant if
> accidental move, Apple first developed
>software to link the Mac OS to the Net in
> 1988, four years before the Windows
>operating systems did the same.
>
> Today, with only about a 9 percent share
>of the overall personal computer market,
> the Mac actually has a
>disproportionately strong alliance with the Internet.
>
> More Web authoring is done on Macs than
>any other type of computer, according to a
> study by the Chicago-based consulting
>firm Mirai. Forty-one percent of those
> surveyed did their Web site graphics on
>a Mac.
>
> And, according to a Georgia Institute of
>Technology survey, more than 20 percent of
> Web servers, the computers that hold the
>pages that you access from your desktops,
> are Macs. That makes the Mac OS the most
>popular server type behind Unix. Apple's
> share of Internet client and server
>stations is twice as high as its general market share,
> the company says.
>
> Probably a lot of this relates as well
>to Apple's traditional edge in multimedia. The
> advantage translates into nearly a 20
>percent market share of complete multimedia
> PC desktop systems worldwide, according
>to 1995 figures from the research firm
> Dataquest Inc. Simba Information Inc.
>reports that 33 percent of existing multimedia
> PCs are Macs.
>
> But survey numbers -- especially these,
>used by Apple to sell itself -- can be cast to tell
> a lot of different tales. The stories
>told by many Mac us\ers, on the Internet and off, is
> still marked by crowing about a graceful
>technology, one-button connections and ease
> of use -- and, of course, the coolness
>factor.
>
> Internet developers have been kinder to
>Apple fanatics than the commercial on-line
> services. The Mac versions of the spiffy
>new America Online and the equally fresh
> new CompuServe are far behind the
>Windows equivalents -- but at least we'll see
> them eventually. Despite hopes and
>promises, Prodigy never came out with a Mac
> version of its software that included a
>Web browser.
>
> But lo and behold, now that Prodigy is
>migrating to the Internet, the "universal
> translator" of the 20th century, any
>brand can play. The same will be true, yes, even of
> the Microsoft Network in the coming month=
s.
>
> The true fairy-tale ending here is not
>just the survival of Apple. It is the freedom that
> gives In\ternetizens the ability to use
>whatever mode of transport they choose. Like
> electricity, the Internet is a standard
>that lots of appliances can plug into, be it a Web
> TV, a "network PC," a Net telephone --
>or a Mac.
>
> So how will Apple "establish leadership
>in the emerging digital era of the Internet
> and multimedia?" It seems it already has.
>
> Victoria Shannon can be reached via
>e-mail at 75030,1167 on CompuServe,
> VShannon on America Online and MSN,
>BKAS27A on Prodigy and
> shannonv@twp.com on the Internet.
>
> PLACES TO GO
>
> One breakthrough technology Apple
>Computer has introduced on the World Wide
> Web is a new way of representing and
>navigating content on your desktop. You can
> try the Project X -- now called HotSauce
>-- plug-in for Netscape Navigator or
> Microsoft Internet Explorer (for
>Macintosh or Windows 95) at
> http://www.atg.apple.com/go/
>projectx/default.html.
>
> =A9 Copyright 1996 The
>Washington Post Company
--"The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand." ...Eric Schmidt, Sun Microsystems
<> tbyars@earthlink.net <>