Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Marc Newman who wrote (9002)	3/2/1998 11:17:00 PM
From: Eric Yang	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213173

A friend and I were talking about Apple's decision to drop Newton. She has seen me use my MP 2000 for about 8 months now but the conversation got her to take a second look.After playing around with MessagePad she was very impressed and quickly came to the decision to get one. Ironic isn't it. These are some of the things are being ordered from Apple this week among my friends. Two 20th Anniversary Mac (ordered yesterday) Two more 20th Anniversary Mac (to be ordered on Tuesday) One MessagePad 2100 (ordered today) Q2 revenue is looking better every day. ;-) Eric

To: Marc Newman who wrote (9002)	3/3/1998 12:31:00 AM
From: Musubi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213173

Thanks for the response Marc. I agree Apple had a tough decision to make because it will likely help out with 2nd quarter results and as a shareholder, this would make me and everyone else happy because we all know what that means. On the flip side is any potential educational fallout (which might not be farfetched given what some of my colleagues in various states are saying). Apple cannot afford to lose revenues in this segments because education is one of Apple's core. I guess I should clarify and say that there is nothing wrong with the eMate technology as it stands. It can and should suffice for years to come. And no doubt will a healthy Apple be anything but a positive since it would mean we would not have to fight that battle. The problem comes about that those in the decision making role will not take this matter lightly because the larger issue will be the fact that Apple promoted a technology which they then abruptly cancelled and in their minds, they may not want to take that chance in the future. There are after all, no guarantees. To add insult to injury, this is also not a first time thing. We also bought into the Quadra's that were supposed to be Power PC upgradable. Though there were eventually solutions, they ended up not being cost effective. Then there were the PC-Compatible Macs. Just recently, Apple said they were no longer going to upgrade drivers and software for their PC cards (which also happen to be in the PC-Compatible). Now its the eMate. These are the things that they remember and that when we do our budgets and requests, have to always fight against. It is for these repeat occurrences that many school districts may find Apple Computer products a hard sell even though the company is returning to profitability and has wonderful products. This potential loss of revenue could counteract any savings caused by shelving Newton OS. This is just another catch-22 in the Apple world. Some of my colleagues are absolutely livid that this is how Apple would treat one of their biggest and faithful that have stuck with them through thick and thin and put their jobs and reputation on the line. As one of them put it, "Apple breached our trust and sold us into a dead end for the absolute last time". Some called their local marketing reps but were given the same line and not much more reassurance. As it currently stands, things do not look good on the education front in some districts. Many of us understand that Apple will provide support for a period of time and that the software vendors writing the applications will also be supporting their products so it is not like they are useless. It is the principle of how Apple is addressing the entire Newton thing. The line that they gave, "We're committed to the education field and we have a sufficient inventory of the eMate to continue for another quarter or two as we transition to Mac OS based products in 1999" shows a lack of understanding. Many of us are taking this as "buy an eMate now if you want them but in 1999, you can also buy a MacOS-based solution". This does not really sound like a committed response nor does it address the investment that we already made based upon the line that Apple gave us when promoting the eMate as a solution. Money doesn't grow on trees and how do we justify something that was purchased 3 months ago that will be replaced by something new and incompatible? It is under these circumstances that Apple will likely have to re-think how they address education. We may like the products and know that they are excellent (trust me, they would have to pry my Mac from my fingers), but many of us may not want to take another chance and buy into a false promise and place our jobs in jeopardy. On a side note, Steve Wozniak being in education might be able to offer some further insights to his feelings on this. I know he was a proponent of the Newton technology in schools. Hopefully he will write something in the future which could be beneficial to all parties. In the mean time, many of us are waiting and preparing to get roasted and it doesn't look like we are going to get much help from Apple.