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To: Andrew Danielson who wrote (20820)	11/17/1998 11:06:00 AM
From: soup	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

Slate's coverage of MSFT trial. via NY Times >Michael Lewis was replaced on Nov. 10 by Herbert Stein, the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. Stein -- who opened his first column with a lengthy, drowsy football metaphor -- wrote only two columns, turning it over last Friday to Jodie T. Allen, Slate's Washington editor. Ms. Allen began her column by announcing her fidelity to Microsoft: "I will not pretend to be an objective observer of the Microsoft trial. You wouldn't believe me if I did."< nytimes.com Michael (Liar's Poker) Lewis's comments are as funny as they are damning.

To: Andrew Danielson who wrote (20820)	11/19/1998 8:45:00 PM
From: Andrew Danielson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

Dell comparison It's been awhile since I've seen an Apple/PC pricing comparison, so I thought I would do one of my own. I chose Dell as a typical but reputable PC company with an extensive online store (just TRY navigating Gateway's site--blech!) Apple has a pre-packaged G3/300 configuration for $1,999 and comes with the following: G3 300 processor 64 mb RAM 6 gb IDE hard drive 24x CD-ROM Zip drive 2 mb SGRAM no modem listed Now, for the comparison. I chose a PII/400 for comparison. You might argue that the G3 is faster, but let's just put that aside for a moment and pretend that processor-wise, these are comparable. PII 400 processor 64 mb RAM 8 gb UltraATA hard drive (faster than IDE) 32x CD-ROM Zip drive 8 mb SGRAM 56k v.90 modem Price: $1,502.00 So, the advantages of the Dell computer are: bigger hard drive, 56K modem, more VRAM, and $500 less. Advantages of G3: maybe a slightly faster processor?? This of course stays away from advantages/disadvantages inherent to each platform. In this case, we could weigh Apple's ease-of-use and elegance with Dell's better/lower-cost software and hardware availability. Ouch. And Dell isn't exactly the cheapest PC box maker out there--they're known for selling relatively high-end, away from the nasty low-end, low-margin markets. For those involved with high-end graphics applications, the advantages of ColorSync, Quicktime, etc. make Apple products worth the extra cost. For the first-time computer buyer, Apple's ease-of-use takes on a higher priority, making Apple potentially the choice, despite the higher price. For intermediate-to-experienced repeat computer buyers who are buying a computer for home or non-graphics business, Dell's offering would look awfully tempting. Why spend $500 more just to limit your hardware and software choices? Ease of use, while still a factor, just doesn't have the sway it once had when the Windows world was dealing with 3.1. Conclusion? If Apple wants to lure the mainstream repeat computer buyer, it has to start being more unique than it is. Offering better prices is a start, but you'll never out-price Dell. But Apple needs more. Could OS X be the answer? Possibly. But it needs something. Until then, Apple's market share potential has its limit. Andrew