Scott,
Good news about UMAX. As you know, I'm not surprised.
The discussions about Apple's clone strategy have sometimes been downright bizarre. In the past, management has ben criticized (rightly) for running Apple more like a cult than a company. Now that has changed, and its being criticized for being too focused on the bottom line, often by the same people. Anyway, glad to see Apple getting UMAX on board. MOT will be next, I think.
Speaking of MOT, did you see this on the Macintouch site, www4.macintouch.com?:
"Anonymously PLEASE: I'm not sure if anyone has told you this, but very credible sources in Motorola (who attended high-level meetings) told me that Motorola Inc. CEO Chris Galvin has issued an internal edict to halt all further design and development work on PowerPC microprocessors for Apple. Motorola will definitely cease to be a microprocessor supplier for Apple effective some time next year. Errata, design fixes, yield enhancement activities will continue as normal, but the last order will be delivered to Apple no later than the end of 1998. This is now an open secret to all technical employees of the RISC Division as well as the MOS13 fab. This decision is fact, but the rumor is that it resulted from recent discussions between Chris Galvin and Steve Jobs who essentially told Galvin he wanted Apple to become an X86-based NC company."
Negotiating ploy perhaps? Given Rhapsody, it doesn't seem credible to me.
BTW, the same site says HP will no longer produce printers for the Mac. According to the article, HP pulled the plug after Steve Jobs called asking for better prices. Again, with Apple dominating the graphics and desktop publishing market, this sounds like a negotiating ploy too. Anyone got any further info?
Good write-up on Rhapsody: thessasource.com.
Bob
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