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

To: Zen Dollar Round who wrote (16878)	8/19/1998 4:28:00 AM
From: Doren	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

Help me make you more $$$. I was reading this article in thessaSOURCE page about how there is a perceived dearth of software for the Mac: thessasource.com Despite the wonderful array of software and hardware available at the CompUSA Macintosh stores, many titles still are hard to find. Several readers report they have gone to the Windows software sections and taken hybrid CD-ROM titles and put them in the Apple store where they should have been in the first place. The reality is simple: the Macintosh world has been so used to ordering software via mail order, the retail scene has been sorely neglected. But most consumers almost instinctively head to their local software boutique when looking for new software, and many new Macintosh users could be disappointed. Apple Computer understands this, and hoped that by focusing on CompUSA, the retail environment would improve. Oddly, it has. Despite having only one retailer, CompUSA delivers a great shopping experience for Macintosh users. Staff problems plague certain stores, but it is certainly better than most other places. In addition Macintosh users have somewhere to go instead of the way it used to be, with only a small aisle of Macintosh software in various stores. If every store looked like that, the perception Macintosh software is not out there becomes real to most consumers. So, what to do? Since no one knew just how much software was available, perhaps Apple should focus some marketing efforts in conjunction with its developers to sell Macintosh software while educating the public about its availability. The iMac certainly is a wonderful computer, but if everyone considers it to lack software, how many can you convince? Share your thoughts on the issue in our reader forum. It seems to me this is an opportunity waiting to be taken. Most of the people I know who buy software get it cheaper on the net. Duh. Of course! That's what the net is: information - what's cheapest. Apple could set up an online store that could be both comprehensive and an advertisement for what is available. They wouldn't necessarily sell it cheaper, just sell comprehensively all of it. One of you humans should call Steve now. Just a thought. Doren

To: Zen Dollar Round who wrote (16878)	8/19/1998 5:27:00 AM
From: Doren	Respond to of 213177

Ummm, yes Macs do design work faster with 2D rendering, easier file management and conversions, far easier maintenence, scanners printers, extra drives etc. Also most digital video editing is done on Macs. Running QT movies on Wintel or AVI movies on Wintel is a joke, no contest. Titanic effects were done on Alphas using Linux!! Digital MOVIE editing is done on UNIX. Some digital video is moving to Wintel due to no high end Macs, this is serious. Avid (I believe) which has been staunchly Mac oriented is now concentrating on Wintel compatible stuff, and they recently bought Softimage from Microsoft along with a deal. BAD news for Mac junkies. Another big hole in the Wintel army filled in. UNIX does most everything Wintel does better, but more expensive and even harder to maintain. NT supports 256 character file names now, Mac 32 character. 3D and the lack of high end machines are probably going to force me to buy a Wintel which I will use only for 3D. It'll be a pain but once set up I won't change it like I would my Mac. Every thing else I will do on my Macs. I have an 8500 with a G3 upgrade card and I may buy an AltaVec Mac, but we'll have to wait and see. I may have to wait and wait. Of course there is the IBM Motorola split too. This could be a huge problem for Macs. They are not out of the woods just yet. It seems Jobs just had a meeting with Jon Carmac (Quake) about OpenGL. I hope Steve gets it. They'll loose the entire graphics community if they don't wake up to the fact that high end digital graphics drives low end digital graphics. OpenGL was developed by SGI which is now partnering with Microsoft on a new 3D API. OpenGL on Windows was 1/2 of the equation that made Wintel machines usable for graphics. The other 1/2 was the Softimage port. After the port almost all high end 3D software was ported. It's still rough but every aspiring 3D graphics person at least considers getting a Wintel box and most do. Quick Draw 3D is good but Microsoft has a good imitation. If you look to the future you see that the web IS publishing. More and more animation, entertainment, 3D etc. will be done on the web. 3D will become just one more tool that serious graphics professionals will need to stay competitive. The money isn't in flat graphics anymore except on the high end, which is hard to break into. The web is where the opportunities are, and it'll wittle away at paper. With one serious port of high end 3D software and the inclusion of OpenGL Apple could take a giant step towards alleviating the fears of graphic people. If not guys like me will wait and wait, upgrade and upgrade but eventually we have to make a choice. You can see that with me my 8500/315 G3 is adequate to run Photoshop or any 2D stuff. So I'll buy a Wintel machine for 3D after Xmas. Then I wait, and if Apple doesn't make a good machine I'll have to buy another Wintel box. I have hopes. I know Apple is and probably has to concentrate on the iMac, will they drop the ball on graphics? Doren