I have also been following the discussion here for sometime. I have used the Mac, the Next Machine, the PC & workstations. IMO,
- Macs clearly have the best interface & ease of use- the new Windows interface is better than the earlier windows interface, but the Mac Interface is still better & a lot easier to use.
- In Windows, the NT system is better than the Mac because the Mac crashes a lot without any memory protection.
- The Next computers I used in 1991 were great at handling Multi-media: I could send video mail on them easily back then even.
- The Mac is much easier to setup than a Windows machine (which is a real pain). And if you want Windows95 & NT on the machine, you better be careful with each step you take, otherwise we can really mess things up. Setting up a Mac is a piece of cake.
- Customizing the Mac is a lot simpler than the Windows machines.
Overall I felt the Mac could be better than the Windows machines if they had Windows NT like memory protection. The company I worked for did its primary development on the Mac but they switched to Windows overnight because (the quarter mac reported losses) many of their customers starting dumping macs thinking that Mac is dead.
I went through Dr. Amelio's speech to Shareholders and felt that he is a person of integrity and has a clear vision for Apple. Moreover, technically, he has the best people today who can help integrate the best of Mac and Next. I hope that this time Apple delivers what it has promised (they have not done so for a long time on Copland). He is also promised to become aggresive in advertising (which I feel reflects faith of the company in itself & its ability to deliver).
Most of the big stock players dont care if Mac is good or not, they just care if Apple is making a profit & how much- that is why the stock price is low. They probably asked technical people if there is a promise in the technical merit of Apple, & so held on for so long (1 year), but since nothing turned around, they dumped the stocks.
Currently at the present stock price (at its bookvalue) & with a clear direction and with the technical know-how & the will to deliver the best system in the world, I believe their stock is a great buy. I am investing in it in a big way today. Will re-evaluate in Feb of next year to see if I was right or wrong.
Jaidev. |
