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

To: Marc Newman who wrote (11861)	4/20/1998 2:06:00 AM
From: Sam Scrutchins	Respond to of 213176

Marc, There is not much to tell. I recall asking several questions, but I don't remember what they were except for one (I am an auditor, and its my job to ask questions, so the moment was not all that big to me). Apple had just come off a profitable quarter (which proved to be the one where Spindler jury-rigged the results, but I didn't know it at the time nor anything about the inventory problem), and there was a lot of talk about someone buying Apple out. I basically told Spindler that I had been a shareholder since around 1983 and the last thing I wanted was for someone to buy Apple. I then asked him what was his position. It struck me that the Board sitting up on the stage was very uncomfortable with that question. They all started moving around in their chairs and looking very serious. Finally, Spindler after looking at me for a long few seconds, said that he would let whom I believe was his CFO answer the question. The CFO was very curt and to the point, as I recall. He basically said that it was the Board's responsibility to do what was best for Apple shareholders and that Apple would examine all possible avenues. It sounded to me that what he was really saying was if someone came along with a big enough offer for Markula, then they would agree. Before I could get a chance to tell him how displeased I was with his statement, Spindler directed attention to a different microphone. I did not have a later opportunity to address the issue. That's about it. If I go this year (I have to check my schedule when I get in tomorrow morning), I'm not interested in make waves. However, I do want to try to get a sense of where Apple is going over the next five years. I intend to ask one or more questions along that line, and I also intend to make sure my question is answered in some meaningful fashion before I sit down. Again, while I'm not sure I'm going, someone on this board other than Eric probably is. Consequently, if there are any questions that need asking, NOW is the time to post them. Sam

To: Marc Newman who wrote (11861)	4/20/1998 7:56:00 AM
From: Linda Kaplan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213176

One comment about the online store... since there are no clones, people can ask questions at the online store and buy somewhere else, at a discount, and Apple still ultimately gets the sale. No matter where you buy the Mac, Apple gets the sale. Mac products have traditionally been available through greater discounts than PC products. When I had to shop for some PC software I was surprised that the mail order houses for the PC, often the sister companies of the Mac mail order houses, were not discounted and all had standard retail pricing, with expensive shipping. While the Mac side had about a 30% discount on retail pricing and cheap shipping. For this reason, the Maccers might shop around more, after questioning on the online store. I did, though I'd have gone for the store if they'd been able to ship faster. I bet Dell ships right away from their online store. One negative thought I had about an unrelated comment. Someone mentioned that people don't stop buying Compaq, saying the company is going out of business, when CPQ comes up with really bad sales results. The difference is that the PC platform won't go down with Compaq even if Compaq does entirely fail. The software will still be supported and compatible hardware will still be made, because IBM and other clonemakers will continue. When Apple starts to go under we lose our software base, possibly forever and we also lose our third party hardware enhancements. Without a significant clone industry, and maybe even with that, as long as Apple controls so much related to the Macintosh, the platform goes down with Apple. The software I personally published was truly excellent and I still use it and appreciate it, on System 8.1. Today is the first time I have realized on more than an intellectual level, that I might be wealthy today if I'd published on the PC instead of the Mac. A lot of Mac software and companies have folded, not by choice, but because they didn't have the money to continue as if they were charities. Linda