From the current issue:
[MacWEEK] Mac the Knife
01.09.95 Volume 9 Number 2 THE NEWSWEEKLY FOR MACINTOSH MANAGERS
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[San Francisco hosted MacWorld Expo last week]
Cheerleader sidelines 8100/110
Mass gatherings of the kind witnessed last week on the outskirts of San
Francisco's cold but relatively well-heeled heart are a lot like a big
on-line conference with an abused software vendor running the show. The
difference, of course, is that you get to see the face of the poor
unfortunate who's on the receiving end of whatever the complaint du jour
might be.
Those of you who have been paying attention know the Knife is not the only
one going gray trying to isolate the cause of his Power Mac 8100/110's
power-on diagnostic RAM error, and you, too, may have entertained fantasies
of giving those at Apple more than a verbal lashing for neglecting to
inform us that the error message was caused by a known bug. Apple probably
figured that first-generation 8100 buyers would already have sprung for the
hot new 8100/110 by now anyway, right?
Wrong, actually, considering that since the model's introduction it is
easier to get an income tax increase past Speaker Newt than to find a
dealer with an 8100/110 in stock. It's taken a couple of weeks to pin it
down, but the person ultimately responsible for the shortage of the
flagship Apple product is former cheerleader, sometime choreographer and
all-around MTV girl role model Paula Abdul.
What's really going in?
You don't seriously believe that Ms. Abdul is now in charge of Mac product
forecasting? While that might account for many manufacturing mysteries, her
role in this week's fiasco is less direct. But if her talents were less
compelling, Apple wouldn't be jumping through hoops to avoid a possible
copyright infringement. You see, an impressionable engineer, apparently
smitten with all that is Abdul, included a picture of the performer in the
8100/110's ROMs. So rather than tallying up orders, Apple has been quietly
retrieving the first manufacturing run to replace the offending ROMs. Apple
was going to keep this one to itself, too. Its faith in its ability to keep
a secret is straight up inspiring, isn't it?
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Mike Millard ([log in to unmask])
Computer Services, Capilano College,
North Vancouver BC CANADA V7J 3H5
(+1-604-986-1911, x2794)
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