We Are Not, Repeat ARE NOT, Dead...Yet? By George Edward Green III 10/17/97

Ever see Monty Python and the Holy Grail? If you haven't you should, but that's not the point. There's a scene in the movie where a man with a cart is walking down the street charging money to remove the dead. One man approaches him with a relative who's...not so dead. But he claims he's close. You don't really find out whether the guy is close to death or not, since the guy with the cart clubs him over the head, and disposes of him with the rest of the dead. It's funnier when you see it, but again that's not the point.

Apple is not dead. Some people would like to believe that Apple is dead, but they're not. Others insist their death is imminent. These are like the man with the not so dead relative. Then there's the public who for the right price will pretend like Apple was already going to die, and kill it, because the one man told them so. Ironic isn't it? That we, who love the Mac, could be the ones who destroy it?

I own a company. We have not since our 1995 creation had a profit. In fact we actually have a loss of 2000 dollars. Is my company dead? NO! Does the fact I post a loss prohibit me from doing business? NO! Does it stop me from doing work? NO! Why? Because I have the cash to keep it going indefinitely. It takes very little to maintain my business licenses, and I don't have to pay taxes until I make at least a 2000 dollar profit. My employees are all working on condition of sale, and seeing as we have yet to release a product to the public, I have yet to need to pay them. Am I concerned? NO! Do you have any idea the discounts I receive for being a business? It's more than worth it. Eventually I do intend to release software products, and possibly other products, but for the near future we don't plan to do anything major. We are researching, and training employees, and what not. Eventually all that will pay off, or at least we believe it is likely enough that we put the time and effort into it.

Do you know what our credit rating is? I won't tell you but Apple's is FAR better. And Apple is alive. They have 1.8 BILLION dollars in the bank. Apple could have reported a profit this quarter. It's all a matter of where and when you put the numbers. Gil arranged them real well for this same quarter in 96! Apple had a surprise profit, and Gil got a huge bonus. But Steve Jobs isn't like that. He's putting all the charges up front so that when Apple makes a profit it's a real and genuine one. Yet analyst who know far more about this situation that I ever care to sit there and pretend like Apple losing 161 Million Dollars is the end of the world. Apple's gonna die someday so we should put them on the cart today.

Recently I read an issue of Newsweek about Gates and Apple. Well Apple just lost 161 Million, guess what that 150 Million was worth? Apple loses that kind of money in a few days. The analyst know that too. And yet they pretend like 150 Million in preferred stock means Gates has taken over Apple. Here's the truth it means nothing. Jobs asked Gates to invest the money, because that would mean that Microsoft had a vested interest in maintaining their promises this time. Gates did not choose to do it on his own. Preferred stock cannot vote, Gates has NO control of Apple. Apple was not on it's knees begging for Microsoft's help. Instead Microsoft was on the losing side of the Look and Feel lawsuit over Windows 95, and decided it was time to deal. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.

Daily the analyst(just look at the route word there!) are lying to you. They are pretending that Apple is dying, and that all of these typical aspects of business are sacred signs that Apple is a gonner. Well Apple's not a goner they have new products, a new OS, better prices, and advertising, all of which are going to be better than EVER before. Apple Recon, which is a wonderful site, accessible in out links section, calls these analyst gurus dejour. They are people who haven't ever paid much attention to Apple who are looking for the publicity of ragging on them. Look at it, if Apple's rating gets dropped everyone benefits. The media get ratings, and the company that does it gets all kind of recognition.

The problem is that all of this has severely hurt Apple's public mindshare. That's how the average person thinks of Apple. If I were Apple I'd sue the piss out of half these so-called news agencies. They have severely hurt Apple, and if Microsoft can prove that they didn't rip off CPM, then Apple should have no trouble proving that these agencies are directly to blame for it's demise. Luckily though Jobs is not wasting his time with lawsuits, but is directly confronting the mindshare dilemma. Apple's Think Different Ad equates Apple with famous smart, different people. It does this during primetime. During Toy Story, where all the people who couldn't rent or see it in the theater are watching it, not to mention practically anyone with kids and a TV. It also aired during ER, another huge audience. You think of it as just another commercial the first time. By the third time you don't even care what it's for. But by the 18th time it is ingrained in your head that Apple=Einstein=Ghandi=Different=BETTER different! Why do you use a Mac? It's different than the standard so why do you use it? BECAUSE IT'S BETTER DIFFERENT! And your telling me these ads aren't gonna work?

And Steve Jobs has thought through a LOT more than just this! Come Christmas we're gonna see some real product ads. These will feature megahertz and buzzwords that people will think of when they shop for the holiday season. Then they will see a Mac in the places that Apple has left them, where they are treated with respect. They will see the Mac and think: Different:Better:Cool Buzzwords:Must Buy! That's how subtle advertising is. Then Apple will get a profit, and sustain it. Then people won't be able to say that Apple is dying, and therefore we must kill it. Apple will have good public mindshare. In fact by the time of Rhapsody Unified Apple should have a wonderful public image.

That is if we don't kill it ourselves. When we act like these normal everyday things carry meaning that they do not we contribute to bad images of Apple. Then all people here is Apple zealots complaining that Apple is doing badly. That's a very very very bad thing. If we are going to take on this responsibility of advertising Apple then we must BE a walking ad. We must 24/7 be perky Apple's doing great, all is wonderful. because ads don't show reality, they show what companies want reality to be. If you can't be perky 24/7 then don't advertise the Mac at all. Because you'll do more harm than good. Apple's not dead, and if we can all shut up for 90 days Steve Jobs is going to show that to you as clearly as the sun in the sky.

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