[WinMac] Re: The Emperor (Jobs) has no clothes

Dan Schwartz(expresso[at]snip.net)
Mon, 11 Jan 1999 11:32:53 -0500

Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
Next message: Thomas Roth: "[WinMac] New G3s keyboards"
Previous message: Kurt Witowski: "Re: [WinMac] Re: Graphic production, which is the better platform?"
In reply to: Liam Helmer: "Re: [WinMac] Re: Graphic production, which is the better platform?"

Yes, but it should have been the *PROMOTER'S* (IDG's) decision to send
Intergraph packing... Not Apple's pressure on IDG. THAT'S the crucial
difference. IDG *invited* Intergraph; but was then was pressured BY STEVE
JOBS to expel them.

Like I said, The Emperor has no Clothes...

Let me re-quote the original article from Computer Reseller, <bold> this
time with emphasis on key points (added in bold by me) by IDG's
Crawford:

</bold><bold>

</bold> ----------------------

From <<http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990106S0008>:

Technology News

Macworld Expo Touchy About NT Exhibits

(01/06/99, 3:28 p.m. ET)

By David Richards, Computer Reseller News

SAN FRANCISCO -- The organizers of Macworld Expo, held here, have stopped
workstation manufacturer Intergraph Computer Systems from displaying
Intel-based systems at its booth.

Intergraph, whose booth is located next to Apple's on the show floor, was
set to demonstrate new Intel Xeon workstations running at 400-MHz and
450-MHz chips on Microsoft Windows NT-based multiprocessor workstations.

Sources said this conflicted with Apple's focus on its next-generation
family of Macintosh G3 desktop systems, which are designed to compete
with NT machines.

"We warned Intergraph prior to arriving that they could only run a
Mac-clone environment running off an Intergraph Windows NT server," said
Colin Crawford, president and CEO of Macworld Expo, a unit of IDG Expo
Management Company. "What they turned up with was Windows NT workstations
expecting to run them in a Mac-only environment. This was a sensitive
issue: Apple didn't want it, I didn't want it, and we had to negotiate on
it."

"It was unethical of them to turn up at a Mac function trying to woo Mac
people to a Windows NT platform," Crawford added. "They were warned and
now they have been banned. It is not our fault." IDG refused to comment.

<bold>

But an IDG insider who asked not to be named said Intergraph would be
compensated for having to leave because IDG feared a lawsuit. The source
also said IDG enforced a clause in the contract that gave IDG the right
to remove from Macworld anyone it deemed wasn't acting in the interest of
the event. During his keynote Tuesday, Apple interim CEO Steve Jobs
boasted about a powerful new 400-MHz G3 workstation, comparing it to an
Intel-based workstation similar to what Intergraph was planning to
demonstrate.

</bold>An Intergraph employee, who asked not to be identified, was
skeptical about Jobs' demo.

"I would like to run the demo again on our systems, this time running
ours or SGI's [Silicon Graphics Inc.] proprietary accelerator cards," the
Intergraph employee said. <bold> When asked whether it was good business
sense to market NT workstations to Mac users, Macworld's Crawford said,
"It may be smart in their eyes, but I think it is plain dumb at a Mac
function. <bigger> I was under pressure from Apple, and we had to act."

</bigger></bold> ----------

At 10:35 AM 1/11/99 -0500, Jim Royal wrote:

>Darrl Lee wrote:

>> what _is_ the deal with Intergraph? i

>> think it _is_ fear. Or indignation. Steve says Macs beat PCs. God

>> forbid anybody on the floor says (or demos) differently.

>It was Mac show. A Mac show. End of story.

>People would react exactly the same way if an Apple rep showed up at
WinHEC.

>Jim Royal

>Technical Publications

>"Understanding is a three-edged sword"

-----------------------------------------------------------------