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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FR1 who wrote (7113)	1/1/1998 5:33:00 PM
From: Doren	Respond to of 213173

All, Re: other vendors at MacWorld The December 97 issue of DV Magazine dv.com has some interesting realworld performance comparisons. Macs, NTmultiprocessor, DECs, and SGIs. Macs hold their own. Surprisingly Macs more than hold their own in price/performance (and of course usability/versatility). Other box vendors would have a hard time selling me. I think if I play my cards right, I can get a next generation 300-400 mgz G3 with a faster buss and fire wire for much less than any other comparable box. I'm gonna put a raid drive on it (wouldn't even try on an NT) and possibly a decent video card, then rent, beg or borrow Beta SP Video machines. I have 5 other similar minded partners. Together we will have the resources to challenge. We won't need 200 million to do a film. I suspect that many in Hollywood have similar ideas. Film&Video Dec 97 has several articles on smaller "Studio Boutiques". I was surprised to find that some of the financial solutions that I had thought of were being used by several of these boutiques. For instance: I plan to have two Macs (8500 & G3) one to render on and one to work on. My 8500 seems to have enough power to work on while the faster G3 renders. I guessed that using Jazz drives could obliviate the need to set up a network, one other owner is using this idea. Halfassed, yes, but I won't care, if I can PRODUCE without wasting my more valuable time. Bottom line for Hollywood start ups, can you compete aesthetically? YES. Its mostly the larger companies that are adopting NT boxes, due to fear mostly, the system administrators hear the hype, don't want to get blamed if Apple sinks, and can always blame the hype later. I suspect that if more advanced 3D software becomes available for the Mac and Rhapsody works, that most of these companies will regret getting bogged down in quirky, hard to administer NT machines. Especially when they realize that smaller more nimble companies are cutting into their business, and having fun at the same time. It should all be clear 6 months from now. Its Rhapsody & G3, do or die. BTW, if Rhapsody runs on Intels, or NT runs on Macs, I don't care what I use, as long as it gets done. Open GL is a big question here. Rhapsody should support it. However, I am waiting until spring to see how Rhapsody works out and how the next generation G3s look. I'm disappointed that Apple did not use the CHRP architecture, and mildly suspicious about Rhapsody. I do not like the OS 8 system, I want speed and ease of use, not do-dads. I don't care about 3D interfaces, and I HATE having to relearn interfaces if there is no reason for the changes. On a related note: Adobe Software meets my criteria for good updates. Macromedia stinks. Doren Design Major UCLA

To: FR1 who wrote (7113)	1/1/1998 5:39:00 PM
From: Phillip C. Lee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213173

Based on what I undersatand on Rhapsody's current situation, it will be used as a server OS, like NT now. Besides, only a few software are to be ported on Rhapsody. Therefore, even Rhapsody is available on the market in August, not many individual users (consumers) will buy it for home use. Rather, it has to be bought by higher educational institutions and Federal Governments, like Sun Micro's Solaris. If you are anticipated Rhapsody will have big impact on Apple's revenue in the near future, then probably you will be disappointed, Silicon Graphics is an example in the workstation market. Currently, Sun and HP-UX have a good position on Federal Government and education markets for workstation sales. Can Apple's Rhapsody breaks into those markets? It depends upon how much Federal Governments and Schools are willing to port COTS and GOTS onto Rhapsody, which then needs Federal Government's help. Well, the bottomline is still the same: price/ performance, as well as how esay to port. Nobody will be much appreciated on object C, rather, everybody now uses Java instead. I believe Jobs knows about what Rhapsody will impact on the severs market, hence he mentioned it will take 2-3 years to be mature. Jobs uses it to enter Apple helped by Ellison, and Gil uses it as an excuse to step down with huge paycheck. Being in this field about 20 years, I certainly know whether Rhapsody can get pieces of market from Sun, HP-UX, SGI, or even IBM-AIX. Please be more realistic about how to turn Apple around. The first and most important step is to show profits by selling more hardware (any kinds from low to high prices) helped by IBM and Motorola competitive chips price and sufficient supply. The second would be a need from Microsoft's help on porting more significant software on Mac, and willingness to merge Rhapsody with NT for bigger pie. I wouldn't like to say what I feel on Apple's future, especially on this new year's day, but the real situation is pretty clear. At least I didn't give up Apple's future via selling stock for tax purpose. Phil