AppleCORE: Is The Sky Falling Yet?

Is The Sky Falling Yet?

On September 30, another fiscal quarter will come grinding to a halt at Apple. Anyone care to wager on the outcome of this one? I didn’t think so. How about next quarter, or the quarter after that (if there is one)? Probably another sucker bet. Even Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Fred Anderson, gave up predicting Apple’s fabled return to profitability awhile ago — a wise choice on his part.

Buying out Power Computing’s "core assets" will be a major factor in this quarter’s outcome, but more than that, I believe the single biggest influence will be Steve Jobs’ dubious actions over the last month or so. I find myself wondering over and over: how has one person, holding no official position at Apple, made such sweeping and monumental decisions that affect the future existence of the OS and computers on which we depend?

Before some of you start leveling your flamethrowers in my direction, accusing me of Jobs-bashing, hear me out.

A couple months ago, I succumbed to the wave of doom-and-gloom reactions when Gil Amelio was forced out of Apple, and another dismal quarterly loss was announced. However, my reaction back then was positively euphoric compared to my current take on the situation. Some of the Mac faithful are remaining valiantly optimistic, convinced that Steve Jobs is ably piloting the mothership, albeit temporarily. I’m not one of them. Dr. Amelio wasn’t the perfect Apple CEO — nobody is, nor ever will be — but I don’t believe he ever placed the future of the Mac platform in jeopardy either.

Is that really where we’re at in the game? That’s a tough call, but the future of the Mac OS and Power Mac hardware (which is once more an effectively closed platform, thanks to Steve Jobs) has never seemed so ominously unclear. Most users are in agreement on the licensing issue — taking Power Computing out of the clone business, and alienating Motorola and IBM is hardly the solution to helping Apple return to in-the-black status. The closed market approach didn’t work for Apple in the 80s, and there’s no evidence to suggest that it will work now.

Steve Jobs told Ric Ford (publisher of MacInTouch) in a recent phone conversation that his future strategy is "completely centered on the PowerPC and Mac OS," but I fail to see how that jives with Jobs’ unsettling demands for deep discounts on PowerPC chips sold to Apple by IBM, it’s sole remaining supplier. Ford also vaguely reported that "Steve’s unannounced plan for early next year should expand the Mac market." Ummm, how so? I keep hearing conflicting rumors of Apple-branded network computers (NCs), and even of Macs powered by Intel chips instead of PowerPC. I’m sick and tired of hearsay — when can I expect some real answers and a concrete strategy? Is it too much to ask Steve Jobs to justify his current rationale?

I realize that us "little people" can’t see the big picture like the Board of Directors and other leaders at Apple can. I know we don’t have all of the facts and numbers on the table before us. But I think, given the recent turn of events, that we deserve some answers and reassurance now, rather than making us wait until after the beginning of the new year. I’m not just talking about die-hard Mac users either — many people will soon be venturing out to buy computers for Christmas, and will be looking for a compelling reason to choose a Macintosh over a Wintel box (especially since the selection of Mac OS-based models has been so drastically reduced).

Finally, lest I receive a venomous note from Steve Jobs himself, accusing me of yellow journalism, let me set the record straight: this is nothing personal, Mr. Jobs. You’ve been in the business much longer than most of us "armchair CEOs," and I respect your industry experience. However, given your history of abrupt and impulsive decision-making, I believe you owe Mac users and developers some explanations concerning your Apple-related decisions, and perhaps just a glimpse of the future course you’re plotting for us.

Is the sky is falling yet? No, not quite. I’m willing to give Apple’s as-yet-unnamed CEO (and yes, even Jobs) a little more time and leeway to prove their course of action, because I want Apple and the Macintosh to succeed as much as the next guy. I just hope that the powers-that-be at Apple sincerely feel the same way.