Ellison: Digital appliances in Apple's future (Apple is a CUBE customer)
news.com
Excerpt:
As for Apple's product strategy, Ellison said, "Right now I use an NEC flat panel, and I see
what's coming from Apple," and it is impressive. He added that Apple could be a provider of
"the world's coolest TV-computer combination you have in your room."
"Just as televisions are becoming computers, computers are starting to become
televisions with different displays. Apple has a great chance of being the best name in
digital appliances," like Sony in the analog electronics business, he said.
By Wylie Wong and Jeff Pelline
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
March 23, 1999, 8:45 p.m. PT
REDWOOD SHORES, California--On the eve of Apple's annual shareholder
meeting, board member Larry Ellison said the personal computer pioneer is
poised to become no less than "the great provider of digital appliances."
"I've seen some of the new products coming downstream and you want them like a
teenage boy wants a cool-looking fast car," Ellison, who is chief executive of Oracle, said
during a wide-ranging interview this afternoon at the database giant's headquarters.
"You'll see more affordable machines for students, you'll see us [Apple] continue to work
on price, work on portability, work on great new display technology," he said.
During the interview, Ellison also said:
• It "certainly makes sense" for America Online to have low-cost appliances like the ones
being developed by Oracle's Network Computer Incorporated to access the Net. NCI's
involvement with AOL has been reported. Ellison made it a point that Jim Barksdale, until
last week Netscape's chief executive officer and now a member of the AOL board of
directors, also sits on the board of NCI, adding to a strong relationship.
• In the future, Microsoft's most popular operating system should be Windows CE, not
Windows NT. The latter is too complicated, bulky, and "dare I
say, ridiculous" on the desktop, while CE is cheaper and can
be used widely on the low-cost machines that he thinks will
proliferate.
• Oracle is close to a deal with NEC to sell its Oracle 8i
appliance, code-named Raw Iron. The company struck
previous agreements with Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and
Siemens. Ellison said Oracle is continuing to negotiate with
Compaq on a Raw Iron deal and is optimistic that it will be
completed. Raw Iron is an all-in-one product that features an
operating system, database, and Java Web server.
• Oracle plans a public offering of NCI and its Business
Online outsourcing service. Ellison said Oracle has been interviewing investment bankers
to take NCI public and expected an offering "very soon." He indicated that the Business
Online IPO might come later but still by year-end. Business Online allows customers to
rent Oracle applications through the Web.
As for Apple's product strategy, Ellison said, "Right now I use an NEC flat panel, and I see
what's coming from Apple," and it is impressive. He added that Apple could be a provider of
"the world's coolest TV-computer combination you have in your room."
"Just as televisions are becoming computers, computers are starting to become
televisions with different displays. Apple has a great chance of being the best name in
digital appliances," like Sony in the analog electronics business, he said.
When pressed if any product announcements were imminent, Ellison replied: "I can't
comment. We have a board meeting tomorrow, and Steve will just kill me. Steve's my best
friend. He gets so depressed [at pre-announcements]."
At last year's shareholder meeting, Jobs hinted at major announcements in the coming
months regarding the company's consumer strategy. In May, the iMac was announced.
When the colorful computer was rolled out in August, it took the PC market by storm and
helped fuel the company's return to prolonged profitability.
In his interview today, Ellison would not confirm that Jobs had any plans to drop the word
interim from his chief executive title. He called Jobs the "best iCEO in history" and credited
him with engineering the turnaround. "I think he's going to keep working there as long as
he's helping the company and enjoying himself, and that's the mode he's in," he said.
Apple's shareholder meeting will take place at the company's headquarters at 10 a.m. PT.
Among routine business matters, Apple is expected to re-elect Bill Campbell, chairman of
Intuit, Gareth Change, executive chairman of StarTV, and Jerome York, vice chairman of
Tracinda, to the company's board. |
