🚀 go-pugleaf

So we all know that Steve Jobs has shit for brains - except when it came
to dumping his MAC
stock just in the nick of time.  I'll keep my 7100/80 for graphics but
it's goodbye Apple when
I buy my new computer next month.  They are reprehensible as a company and
have the
marketing savvy of a clam.

In article <mike1-1409970255460001@13-91.dynamic.visi.com>,
mike1@nospam.visi.com (Michael^Schneider) wrote:

> If you feel no reason yet to despise Jobs and his *rape* of Apple, read at
> *least* the first two paragraphs of this, to see what he has cost Mac
> users.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.macworld.com/daily/9.12.tatung.html
> > Tatung Drops Mac Systems Plans
> > 
> > Had CHRP systems ready to go for Asia and Europe
> > 
> > By Galen Gruman
> > 
> > Motorola Computer Group is not the only company to have publicly given up
> > on Apple because of the turnabout on licensing. Tatung, a major Taiwanese
> > electronics and durable goods manufacturer that supplies some systems
> > components to Apple, has withdrawn its plans to ship CHRP-based systems to
> > the Asian and European markets.
> > 
> > Tatung developed its TPC-6600 nearly two years ago based on IBM's Long
> > Trail design and added the first 75MHz system bus to be found on a desktop
> > computer (see News, Macworld, November 1997). That system has been ready
> > for manufacture since spring, awaiting only certification and a Mac OS 8
> > agreement from Apple.
> > 
> > Although Tatung's Asian focus matched one of Apple's stated market targets
> > for licensees, Apple's refusal to let other companies use CHRP technology
> > gave Tatung no choice but to withdraw from the Mac market.
> > 
> > "Tatung has sincerely supported Apple's Mac OS licensing policy, because
> > Tatung had good OEM relationships with Apple and IBM. Believing that CHRP
> > would have good prospects, Tatung has made great efforts to become one of
> > leaders in CHRP development with a Mac OS sublicense contract with IBM,"
> > said J.L. Tsay, general manager of Tatung Systems International. "We are
> > really disappointed at Apple's decision, because our customers have been
> > eager to buy the machine. It is our sincere hope that they will not lose
> > their enthusiasm about Mac," he added.
> > 
> > Tsay expressed hopes that Apple, which will use CHRP technology in its own
> > forthcoming systems, might use Tatung's CHRP expertise in engineering and
> > manufacturing to enhance its market position.
> 
> 
> See also: http://www2.maccpu.com/maccpu/letter.html
> for more hideous details:
> 
> (If you have seen the following elsewhere already, skip down to the prior
> end, as Moriarty has extended his remarks. BTW, he works for MacCPU, not
> Newer Technology)
> 
> 
> > An open letter to Apple's Board of Directors
> > 
> > There are some 20-million or so Mac users or vendors in the Mac ecosystem.
> > If Apple disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow, graphics
> > professionals would still produce ads on old Macs, the little kiddies
> > would still be planking away on their Apple IIs in school, developers
> > would be writing code for somebody, and people would be buying and selling
> > computers - they just wouldn't be computers with colored Apple logos on
> > the front. And at the end of the day, I doubt it would make an iota of
> > difference to anyone.
> > 
> > Apple is irrelevant now to the vast majority of those in the Mac
> > ecosystem. Whatever stupid decisions were made last week, Mac users will
> > still buy computers and resellers will still sell them. No matter if Apple
> > makes computers or not. And while Steve Jobs may believe people are lining
> > up to buy computers from him, I don't see any lines forming. I just hear a
> > lot of people grumbling about getting screwed.
> > 
> > Steve Jobs has personally driven more Mac users into the Wintel camp in
> > the past three weeks than all the poor management of Apple Computer
> > accomplished in the past five years.
> > 
> > Steve Jobs is fundamentally dishonest. Basic honesty is so important a
> > part of any business deal, that no vendor or developer, indeed, no
> > computer buyer, will ever again enter into any deal with Apple without
> > serious consideration as to how Steve could screw him.
> > 
> > Steve Jobs is the Fuehrer or Czar, or whatever you want to call him, of
> > Apple Computer. He is calling all the shots. He doesn't have the guts to
> > call himself CEO and his actions over the past six weeks have guaranteed
> > no one in their right mind would even consider taking over now. He says he
> > is a board member and just a consultant but if he quacks like a duck and
> > waddles like a duck and has feathers like a duck, he's a duck. Jobs has
> > made earthshaking decisions for Apple which could easily be very wrong. He
> > can do that, he owns one share of stock and has absolutely nothing to
> > lose.
> > 
> > Let's look at Steve's background as a Computer Fuehrer.
> > 
> > Jobs and Woz met and determined the idea of making personal computers
> > might make them some money. They got into bed with Mike Markula and
> > founded Apple. Woz was the brains behind the computer, Markula had the
> > business sense, Steve Jobs was the shill. The con man who would drag the
> > marks into the tent. We all run around acting as if Steve Jobs is some
> > kind of computer genius. Actually he wasn't behind the success of the Mac,
> > he was the brains behind the Lisa. He hated the Mac and didn't take over
> > the project until it became obvious to everyone that the Lisa was a lemon
> > and the Mac a winner.
> > 
> > What did he do after being unceremoniously dumped by John Scully? He
> > founded Next where once again he could try to foist an over-priced,
> > under-powered nag onto an unsuspecting public. The Next computer proved to
> > be as popular as the Lisa and the 9600/350 soon will be. Customers aren't
> > actually all that dumb.
> > 
> > Was the Power Computing/Apple deal of last Tuesday a good business move?
> > The answer will surprise you. The Power Computing deal will be the subject
> > of a Harvard Business School study just as soon as they can type it into a
> > word processing program. The last time anyone made a deal like this, the
> > Indians on Manhattan sold the island for some pretty necklaces.
> > 
> > Steve Kahng sold something totally worthless to Apple Computer for $100
> > million dollars. He took his agreement with Apple, which by definition is
> > without value, and turned it into money.
> > 
> > From Fred Anderson, CFO of Apple, we learned Apple got a database of
> > 200,000 names of Power Computing buyers for their $100 million. So they
> > paid $500 apiece to get the names of people who had already made the
> > decision with their wallets to not buy Apple computers. Fred says Apple
> > will, "capture a significant amount of sales that they would have gotten,
> > going forward."
> > 
> > Duh. No kidding?
> > 
> > Think it through for just a few seconds. Let's say 10% of those nice
> > people get over feeling screwed by Apple and for one reason or another
> > they just have to have an Apple. So you just added $5000 to the basic cost
> > of the computer before you start to break even. Actually that doesn't make
> > sense either, the clone makers were paying Apple for the privilege of
> > producing machines. You need to add that cost, too. If every single person
> > determined they just had to have a Mac you have still added 15% to the
> > cost of production. Can Apple make money by loading every machine with
> > that sort of overhead? Not in a million years.
> > 
> > That's like the 8-year-old doing the financial planning for a lemonade
> > stand. If you just sell one glass of lemonade for $1000, you can make your
> > allowance for a year. Fred, are you kidding or is one of us crazy?
> > 
> > Fred, if you think a database of people who made a decision not to buy
> > Apple computers is such a red hot deal, I've got a Miami telephone book
> > with five times as many people in it who don't want Apple computers and
> > I'll give it you for free. Why not buy Dell's database, or even go for the
> > whole cookie?; Bill Gates would sell his list of Windows users for a
> > couple of hundred apiece.
> > 
> > Steve Jobs keeps mumbling about honoring all of Apple's signed licensing
> > agreements. First of all, his statement isn't true. Apple and the clones
> > agreed to renegotiate terms to include CHRP and System 8. In any
> > agreement, intent is an important portion. Each side presumes the other
> > side will deal in good faith and Apple hasn't.
> > 
> > When you go into Computer City and pick up a copy of OS 8, are you getting
> > OS 8 in the box?
> > 
> > No.
> > 
> > OS 8 was canceled last year by Ellen Hancock. OS 8 was Copland. Copland
> > never made it out of #1 Infinite Loop.
> > 
> > You're getting System 7.7 after it was renamed. And only a liar would say,
> > or a fool would believe, System 7.7 isn't covered under current, signed,
> > agreements. The clone makers had all the right in the world to distribute
> > 7.7 (aka OS8) systems. Apple and Steve Jobs can whine all they want about
> > how CHRP isn't covered under signed agreements. The real truth is that
> > Apple is terrified of actually facing real competition, so Apple tore up
> > the unsigned agreements and violated the terms of certification in the
> > existing signed agreements. In bad faith. Now Steve Jobs thinks people
> > actually want to buy computers from him. I don't think so. You can drop a
> > cow patty into a box and call it rose buds, but it still smells like cow
> > plop.
> > 
> > But what about Apple having to subsidize the clones? That sounds like a
> > real bad deal.
> > 
> > Apple paid the development costs to design motherboards and then let the
> > clone makers look at the design. The clones made improvements of their own
> > and sold computers to a willing public who saw either better machines or
> > better service or lower cost or whatever. Then the clone makers wrote
> > checks to Apple for from $50 up to a couple of hundred. So Steve Jobs
> > wants the Mac ecosystem to believe, that by taking money from the clones
> > for duplicating a design Apple had already paid for, Apple made a bad
> > deal.
> > 
> > Actually the clone makers added more value to the motherboard designs than
> > Apple did in the first place. In every situation, the clone motherboards
> > gave more performance than the original Apple design. While Apple offered
> > 256Kb cache, clone makers gave 512Kb and 1Mb. While Apple offered 50MHz
> > system bus speeds, Motorola and Power Computing gave 20% faster speeds. If
> > Apple has any sense, they would have paid the clone makers for their
> > superior designs rather than whine about how the clones were leeches.
> > 
> > In his own words, leaked somehow to the world, (saying Apple Confidential
> > Please do not forward) Jobs says, "Our board is convinced that if Apple
> > continues this practice the company will never return to profitability, no
> > matter how well Apple performs. . ."
> > 
> > So, if Power Computing made and sold a bunch of the G3 powered Power Tower
> > Pro 275 computers and wrote Apple a check for millions of dollars, that
> > would be some kind of bad deal? And if Apple actually ever designed a
> > computer their customers wanted, and could ship it, Apple would lose? "no
> > matter how well Apple performs"?
> > 
> > Apple wasn't giving a subsidy to the clones, the clones were giving a
> > subsidy to Apple. And Apple came out with such brilliant machines as the
> > 8600 which they announced on February 17th and delivered in June. But did
> > Power Computing cause that? Did Power Computing cause the 62.5% DOA rate
> > on Apple 15" monitors reported recently on MacInTouch?
> > 
> > Losing money in business is a clue something isn't going right. Apple lost
> > almost 3/4 of a billion a couple of quarters ago. In most businesses,
> > managers would take time to reflect and often come to the conclusion maybe
> > they were perhaps doing things wrong. The time to get arrogant is when
> > money is flowing in, not when it flows out. Apple wasn't producing
> > machines that made their customers shell out enough money for them to make
> > money.
> > 
> > Apple suffers from poor management, over-priced machines and rotten
> > service. When they stop whining and put their noses to the grindstone,
> > they may have a chance of survival. But to fix a problem you must first
> > admit you have a problem and this Apple will not do. Everything wrong is
> > somebody else's fault.
> > 
> > MacInTouch has some interesting comments on what is really going on, in
> > the September 5th page. A reader reports Hewlett Packard is going to
> > cancel support of printers for the Mac ecosystem in response to a demand
> > from Steve Jobs for lower prices. Hewlett Packard in effect told Steve
> > Jobs to stuff Apple computers where the sun rarely shines. In one phone
> > call Steve Jobs just managed to kill the leading supplier of printers for
> > Macs. Is this a good move on Jobs part? Well, it makes about as much sense
> > as him marching into the governor's office, pulling a gun and demanding
> > lower taxes for Apple because they aren't making any money. And the
> > response would be about as favorable to the Mac ecosystem.
> > 
> > Not to worry. Back at the ranch Steve was in the midst of deep serious
> > talks with his partners in the AIM Alliance, IBM and Motorola. It seems he
> > has been deeply concerned with the PPC 750 being much faster than Apple's
> > latest over priced and underpowered offering to its long patient
> > customers, the 9600/350. Did he tear up the agreement with Motorola to
> > certify the StarMax Pro 6000 CHRP machine because it was 25% faster than
> > anything Apple could deliver? He bought off Steve Kahng in what will go
> > down as the deal of the century. For Steve Kahng.
> > 
> > Remember MacWorld Boston, just four weeks ago, where Motorola and Power
> > Computing and Newer Technology all won Best of Show for their brilliant
> > new systems driven by the fastest CPU around, the G3 or Power PC 750?
> > Apple told Motorola to forget all about the millions of dollars they spent
> > for research and development, Apple will not even look at the machine. In
> > total and absolute violation of every signed agreement in place, now. He
> > did buy off Power Computing and way down in the small print he mentioned
> > he didn't want them selling their brilliant and far cheaper machine.
> > Which, by the way, Apple stockholders just paid all the development costs
> > for. So two of the three winners of Best of Show will never have a chance
> > to sell any of the machines.
> > 
> > But that left Newer Technology. Newer won Best of Show at MacWorld Boston
> > and Apple didn't. Fortunately there aren't any Apple/Newer agreements for
> > Apple to sign and then tear up. Apple promised users an upgrade path for
> > their 7500, 8500 and 9500 computers when they were first released, over
> > two years ago, and has never felt the market was worth developing. So
> > Newer developed the aftermarket upgrades and presents no threat to Apple
> > in the slightest. Newer sells products for the 2 million of so PCI Macs
> > already delivered. But it just happens Newer's MAXpowr PRO and PRO+ are
> > far faster than the very best that Apple can ship.
> > 
> > Steve Jobs asked both IBM and Motorola to delay sending the PPC 750 and
> > cache parts to Newer Technology, so Newer wouldn't be able to compete with
> > Apple. Apple's not making money just because Power Computing makes
> > computers or something. It's so complicated that only Steve Jobs
> > understands, I think. Or at least that's what he wants us to believe.
> > 
> > Steve Jobs didn't catch IBM and Motorola at the best of times. Both
> > companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars in development of the PPC
> > 750 and the ultra high-speed cache necessary to make the CPU perform. And
> > Apple had just backed out of agreements three years old. IBM told Steve to
> > stuff his computers and assured Newer they would get all the cache and CPU
> > chips they need, as did Motorola.
> > 
> > Motorola actually took their frustration with Steve Jobs and his giant ego
> > one step further. The Chairman of Motorola passed around an internal memo
> > stating they would cease all development work on the PowerPC and would no
> > longer ship CPUs to Apple as of sometime next year. So if you want a real
> > good deal on an overpriced and underpowered machine from Steve Jobs, you
> > had better sign up now. Apple won't be delivering any PPC powered machines
> > as of next year. Rumor has it that CEO Chris Galvin of Motorola may have
> > included some comment about where Apple and Steve Jobs could place their
> > computers. It had something to do with the sun never shining.
> > 
> > Newer will be delivering their PPC 750 MAXpowr PRO and MAXpowr PRO+ CPU
> > upgrades just as they have always planned. Somewhere around 3rd week of
> > September.
> > 
> > If Apple has a stable operating system they call System 8, which is
> > actually System 7.7, and a CPU three times faster than anything Intel has
> > to offer and they can't figure out how to make money except by destroying
> > their natural allies, maybe Steve Jobs needs to rethink his business
> > model. At the beginning of August of 1997, Apple and the entire Apple
> > ecosystem was on the verge of the biggest sales jump in computer history.
> > Steve Jobs changed that model and now Apple computers are going to be hard
> > to give away. Maybe it would make more sense for Apple to go back to the
> > table, hat in hand and figure out how everyone can win, not just Steve
> > Jobs.
> > 
> > The brilliant new computers which you can only buy from Steve Jobs as of
> > next year will be much cheaper. You can save a lot of money by not
> > including a CPU. But you won't need a CPU in your new machine since you
> > won't be able to print on any printer from Hewlett Packard. There won't be
> > any.
> > 
> > As long as they are lead by Steve Jobs and maintain a longstanding cult of
> > arrogance, Apple is dead. And it won't make the slightest difference to
> > anyone in the Mac ecosystem. The Mac ecosystem is a lot more important and
> > is bigger than the ego of Steve Jobs.
> > 
> > Steve, it is dead easy for you to bet the farm, you haven't got any money
> > on the table. But the jobs of millions of Mac lovers depend on the board
> > waking up as soon as possible and dumping you. You're not the solution,
> > You're the problem.
> > 
> > And please don't whine about how people are undercutting your program by
> > criticizing you. You screwed up, you didn't tell the truth, and you broke
> > the faith with millions of us. And if you can't take the heat of
> > competition, one alternative is to get out of the kitchen.
> > 
> > Here's what the Board of Directors needs to do.
> > 
> > (1) Send Steve Jobs back to Pixar. He's just a consultant with one share
> > of stock which he only owns for token reasons. You need a leader with
> > something more than a token investment in the future of the Macintosh
> > ecosystem.
> > 
> > (2) Drop Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison from the board. If they have some
> > "Insanely Great" idea for network computers, they have the money to
> > develop the concept themselves. Wish them luck and send them on their way.
> > Let them find solutions without problems all by themselves.
> > 
> > (3) Hire a CEO and give him responsibility. Try getting someone with a
> > vested interest in preservation of a thriving Macintosh ecosystem. Try
> > getting someone with some sense.
> > 
> > (4) Sit down with the representatives of the clone makers and sign an
> > agreement with them in accordance with all the agreements which were made
> > over the past three years and lately rescinded by Steve Jobs.
> > 
> > (5) Certify and allow sales of the Motorola and Power Computing machines
> > using the G3 chip in accordance with signed and current agreements. Do it
> > now.
> > 
> > (6) Evaluate Apple and determine why Apple is not making money. Where you
> > find you have problems, fix them. These may include poor quality control,
> > a lack of direction, underpowered and obsolete design. Try talking to your
> > customers to figure out what their needs include. It's clear you have lost
> > touch with your customer base.
> > 
> > (7) Tell everyone at Apple to lose their attitude of arrogance at least
> > until Apple begins to make money again.
> > 
> > (8) Get down on your hands and knees and pray for the forgiveness of both
> > your suppliers and your customers.
> > 
> > You don't have to wake up now. If the actions of Hewlett Packard and
> > Motorola over the past week haven't at least shaken your stupor, you may
> > want to consider the ramifications of the Chairman of Adobe Systems when
> > it occurs to him there may be no future in betting on an Apple Computer
> > headed by Steve Jobs. What happens to the Mac ecosystem if Adobe announces
> > they will not develop software for Rhapsody? If it hasn't occurred to him
> > yet, it will soon.
> > 
> > If anyone would like to believe this comes from some disgruntled vendor
> > with a big ax to grind, you're wrong. We sell CPU upgrades and only CPU
> > upgrades, and the actions of Steve Jobs probably have increased our market
> > ten-fold in the past three weeks. We are the only industry in the entire
> > Mac ecosystem guaranteed to thrive.
> > 
> > The fabulous new machines from Power Computing and Motorola would have
> > been a welcome and healthy addition to the ecosystem. MacWorld called them
> > "Best of Show" and they could only expand the Macintosh market. For crying
> > out loud, how on earth can you lose if you have a stable and powerful
> > operating system driven by a CPU three times faster than any Intel chip
> > made? Especially when, in the curtains, you have waiting, a full, native
> > code operating system, which will take full advantage of the incredible
> > power of the Power PC CPU.
> > 
> > Easy. All you have to do is destroy the Mac ecosystem and what Steve Jobs
> > has pulled over the past three weeks isn't suicide, it's pure,
> > cold-blooded murder.
> > 
> > Robert J Moriarty     September 7th 1997
> > 
> > The opinions expressed are of the writer and MacCPU only. Unless, of
> > course, you agree.
> >
> > opinions � this page has been accessed.. 15570 ..times
> > 
> > (Added remarks:)
> > 
> > It has been pointed out that I am risking our company's credibility, with
> > my blunt and harsh honesty. But there is something wrong going on in
> > Cupertino. And a lot of people have been saying this for a long time and
> > it has fallen on deaf ears.
> > 
> > I have heard people say users should boycott Apple. Some guy said everyone
> > should break up their OS8 CDs and send them back in pieces. Boy, that
> > would really teach Apple a lesson. But no business can, or should, be a
> > popularity contest and I would expect that kind of option to be an
> > exercise in futility.
> > 
> > I expect to take an enormous amount of flak, and that's just part of
> > saying 'follow me' when you charge up a hill. But I got shot at in Vietnam
> > for two years and I somehow survived.
> > 
> > There are two kinds of people in the world. There are people who need to
> > be screamed at, to get them to do what they should have done in the first
> > place; and those who will do what they should, without being yelled at.
> > 
> > I'm one of the latter and that's how we have earned our reputation at
> > MacCPU; one customer at a time. Apple does have, and always has had, a
> > problem with listening. And while I regret my tone and I'm certain it will
> > be offensive to many, there are 4 people who need to be smacked up the
> > side of the head and I could think of no other way. Apple is a great
> > company and will be a great company in the future, they just need to alter
> > course.
> > 
> > Did you see the funeral of Diana? I will never forget the words of her
> > brother. Harsh but true, and if someone had had the guts to say it while
> > she was alive, she might still be alive.
> > 
> > Steve Jobs has the power to bury Apple. But he's going to have to crawl
> > over my cold, dead body first.
> 
> 
> Feedback to Robert J Moriarty: bob@maccpu.com