Apple's plight upsets loyal core

Customer cult / For Mac devotees, these are tough times. Some are angry that the personal computer pioneer might be sold, while others wonder why things got this bad.
By Janet McFarland. Toronto Globe and Mail Report on Business. January 27th, 1996.

Simon Banton is an Apple apostle. "We Mac people do strange things", says Mr. Banton, who works for an Internet Web site design company in London, England.

Mr. Banton, for example, tries to sell macintosh computers to first-time buyers he finds crowded around non-Mac personal computers in stores.

"I'll show them around the display Macs and tell them that learning to use one is like learning to reach out and touch things, instead of learning a new language."

Tarique Qayumi, a Vancouver Macintosh owner, says he has given his computer a name, which he does not identify in his response to an Internet request for comments on the cult of Macs.

Everyone, apparently, names their Macs.

"You don't see any PCs with names, do you?" Mr. Tarique notes. "Humans get attached to things, like a cat, an old baseball cap. The Mac is kind of like that perfect obedient pet that supports you and won't let you down."

Few companies have earned the customer devotion of Apple Computer Inc., of Cupertino, Calif. Its fans, legendary for their over-the-top dedication, have staunchly supported the scrappy computer company for its in-your-face refusal to bow to standardization in the IBM clone-based world.

Now, however, change is in the air.

Apple, the pioneer in the creation of the personal computer, last week reported losses of $69 million (U.S.) in its first quarter of fiscal 1996, and announced it will lay off 1,300 people.

This week, the company is rumoured to be in talks that could lead to a takeover by Sun Microsystems inc., in a massive stock swap estimated by some observers to be worth more than $4-billion.

For devotees, these are tough times. Apple advocacy groups on the Internet are clogged with confused supporters, some angry with the rumour mongers and denying a merger will occur, others angry with Apple for letting its strength erode through a series of strategic missteps.

"Many, but not all, users of Apple products want to see Apple remain independent, a kind of maverick in the world of computers," says Jim Conner, a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a dedicated Mac user.

"Having Apple sell out would be like selling out on your beliefs, for some users anyway."

Many fans, however, are coming around. They say a merger will be the end of an era, but may be the best chance to keep Apples beloved products strong and innovative. Clearly, the company's bosses under the stodgy leadership of CEO Michael Spindler have not earned the same loyalty as its computers have.

"I don't feel any loyalty to Apple 'the company,' just to their products," says Jim Woodgett, an associate professor and a senior scientist at the Ontario Cancer institute in Toronto, who has set up his lab to use only Macs.

"I guess a lot of Macintosh users are either evangelists or are defensive simply because they believe the Macintosh system is superior to Windows. Since 90 per cent of computer users don't realize this, there's a feeling they need to be shown the light."

Prof. Woodgett says he doesn't fear the product is in jeopardy even if there is a takeover. After all, the company sold 1.3 million computers in the quarter ended Dec. 31.

"The stories of their imminent demise are laughable," Prof. Woodgett says. "In the final analysis, we need healthy competition. After all, if Apple were to disappear, where would Bill Gates get his ideas?"

Many users know the story of Apple's counter-culture beginnings in the mid-1970s in the garages of founders Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, growing to a company with $11-billion in annual revenue.

Since its humble inception, Apple has worked to create a mystique as a cool, alternative computer company. Its products have been embraced by creative types in the arts, entertainment and advertising.

Toronto's ad firms are all Mac shops, says Andrew Schachter, who is in charge of technology at agency TBWA Chiat/Day Inc.

"They're cheaper to support, without a doubt. And they are extremely easy to use, and they really are cost-effective."

Mr. Schachter says loyalists would likely accept Sun Microsystems as a buyer because the two companies could be complimentary.

The story of Apple's erosion is tragic because of its unusually strong customer base. The Wall Street Journal has said the success of the Apple "cult" laid the seeds of its demise, because the company began to believe its own public relations.

Apple computers have always sold for a high premium above IBM-based clones, and the company did not cut costs until it was too late.

Apple turned down an opportunity in the 1980s to licence the Mac's operating system to create Mac clones, before finally moving in that direction in 1994.

Apple also failed to introduce updates of its operating system for so long that Microsoft Corp. was able to step in and play catch-up, duplicating many of Apple's most popular features in its Windows 95.

The errors have not been lost on dedicated fans.

"It seems that after being a consumer of Macintosh products for almost 10 years, I would be upset about rumours of a sale," says Wisconsin student Thomas Stanis.

"The reality is, we have to let go of our nostalgia because Apple has changed a lot in 10 years. There seems to be no sense of urgency at Apple about anything until now, when things come crashing down."