I Have Made My Peace With Apple June 4th I have made my peace with Apple. What was I tense about in the first place? A number of things that date back some time now. Cloning was the biggest issue. I was a big fan of Power Computing. They had style. They had an attitude that more closely resembled a company like Nike or the recently energized Gatorade product line than a computer company. They made me proud to be a Mac user, excited to be a Mac user -- two things at which Apple was somewhat inept at the time. They also made faster machines than Apple* and were more responsive to customer desires than Apple. Apple killed them and this made me mad. It's hard to argue with success though. Apple is stronger than it has been in at least 5 or 6 years and is healthier than it has ever been in its entire life. The rebel inside me still thinks that Apple ended cloning because they could not compete with Power Computing. The Objectivist inside me is still appalled at the idea that Apple could only compete by eliminating those that were doing a better job. The Mac fan inside me has finally come to peace with this. Another thing that made me mad was the end of OpenDoc, and by default, the end of Cyberdog. Cyberdog was the best puppy I ever had. He was good to me. He fetched my mail, found my web pages, and even knew how to get the news and deliver my electronic files when I called on him to do so. He was especially good at getting my mail. Apple killed him. For a long time, my signature line on my outgoing e-mail read "This e-mail was brought to you by Cyberdog, another canceled technology from Apple." I was a rebel. I guess I showed them. I realize this is all ancient history in Computer Time now. It happened more than 18 months ago. At that time, a 240 MHz computer was really fast. When Cyberdog was put to pasture, a 180 MHz computer was equally exciting. Ancient history indeed. But I realized not too long ago that I had come to terms with the inner demon of hating and loving Apple at the same time. Sure I still used my PowerCenter Pro, lamented giving the prototype PowerTower Pro G3 review unit back to PowerComputing ONE day before the only person at Power who knew I had it left the company, and proudly hung the framed last Power Computing ad run in MacWeek. It's the one with the mean ol' cop (read: Apple) asking the innocent young driver (read: Power Computing) for his license because he was driving too fast (read that one how you will). But despite all this, there were two events that told me the times of being a rebel were over. The first one was very innocuous. I had bought a car at the end of the cloning period. It was a new car. There was something I didn't do when I got the car that each and every one of you has probably done at least once in your life. I didn't do that thing because I was that rebel you see. Not too long ago I finally did it. I put the Apple sticker, a six-colored one because I am old-school of course, in the back window of my car. I didn't let myself think too much about it, but when I did the second thing it all hit me. The second thing was actually a painful event for me, unlike placing the sticker on my car. You see, I was still using Cyberdog for my e-mail client. I was a rebel after all, wasn't I? I used Cyberdog for more reasons than to somehow shake a virtual fist at Apple for canceling it though. It really was a great e-mail client, but I had gotten to the point where I was getting too much e-mail for the Cyberpuppy to cope with. He is only one tired pup after all, not having been updated for two years. So the second thing I did that made me realize I was no longer angry with Apple was to switch to Eudora Pro 4.x for handling my e-mail. I simply had to do it because my out-of-control e-mail was starting to cause me problems. Sure Eudora doesn't have the same personality as Cyberduck, but it was a far more powerful program. Once I made the switch, I thought about the rainbow-colored sticker that now adorned my car, showing my Mac pride to everyone behind me. I realized that it was more than Mac pride, it was my Apple pride showing through. I thought about the retired Cybermutt now serving simple Mac-news surfing duties during my daily quest to put The Mac Observer together**, and I realized that my anger was gone. I was no longer a rebel against Apple. I was back to being a full-time Mac and Apple nut, rebelling against the Evil Empire in Redmond. I was proud of Apple and I was proud of Steve Jobs and the job he was doing. I had put the demons to rest, probably sometime before either one of the events I described, but it took both of those events to help me realize it. I don't agree with everything Apple does, but I am a big fan. So, so long Cyberdog! Hello six-colored Apple! I'm back. I welcome your comments. * In fact, it took Apple over a year to come out with a faster PowerMac G3 than the PowerTower Pro G3 that Power Computing was ready to ship in late 1997. The same unit that helped break the camels back in the first place. ** Cyberdog is a very handy web browser for this because it is fast when switching back to a previous page and automatically opens multiple windows when opening multiple links, imperative when gathering large quantities of Mac news.